There was a tremendous amount of anticipation for this week’s episode of Saturday Night Live, as Dave Chappelle was once again hosting the first post-election episode and, finally, on Saturday morning all of the major news networks called the election for Joe Biden, who gave his victory speech along with Kamala Harris on Saturday evening.
For NBC, Saturday was a massive day as they had SNL as the nightcap but prior to that, they had No. 4 Notre Dame hosting No. 1 Clemson in one of the biggest games of the college football season. The problem with having a live sporting event ahead of something as big as Saturday’s episode of SNL is that, well, sometimes football games go into overtime and run well over their TV slot. Wouldn’t you know it, but that’s exactly what happened in South Bend, Indiana as Clemson and Notre Dame found themselves deadlocked at 33 at the end of regulation and it took two overtimes for the Irish to pull out a 47-40 win.
Not only was the game a double overtime affair, but it featured numerous lengthy replay reviews that further slowed things down, and by the time it was over, SNL had been pushed back significantly — in part due to NBC still needing a brief window after the game for local news. This, unsurprisingly, led to some very upset people who flipped over to their local NBC affiliate on Saturday night looking for Chappelle and SNL, only to be treated to two of college football’s best teams slowly battling for ACC supremacy. They did not enjoy that gift of free football.
Don’t go anywhere. We’ll see you soon!
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) November 8, 2020
i cant believe i got tricked into watching a sport tonight
— charles (@gaywjbab) November 8, 2020
Stop the game put SNL on
— Monique (@StarsMoonsNight) November 8, 2020
#SNL fans waiting for the #CLEMvsND double OT game now realizing they have to watch local news first … pic.twitter.com/QKfK3FVLF5
— Andy Paras (@AndyParas) November 8, 2020
NBC affiliate in Baton Rouge bombarded by calls during Notre Dame-Clemson asking if SNL will still be on. Yes.
— Glenn Guilbeau (@LSUBeatTweet) November 8, 2020
Im going to be PISSED if this college football game just interfered with the most ICONIS SNL to date.
— Megan RAGE (@Megan_Rage) November 8, 2020
Man if y’all don’t cut this shit off so I can watch chappelle on SNL
— CEADDA (@CeaddaTheGreat) November 8, 2020
Nothing is stopping NBC from sending this minor league football game to CNBC and putting #SNL on the air.
— Bill Kuchman (@billkuchman) November 8, 2020
The SNL we all were waiting for and I have to sit through…sports? https://t.co/2W4PBdV6w3 pic.twitter.com/tumIcY33aw
— David Friend (@dfriend) November 8, 2020
can u cancel this football game
— kelly (@lovercatkelly) November 8, 2020
Those waiting to watch SNL also had plenty of thoughts about the Notre Dame students storming the field in the midst of a pandemic (which, to be clear, should not happen).
No big deal, just watched a super spreader occur…. pic.twitter.com/QLtaFgzJ1H
— Katie Mitchell (@mitchsbetrippin) November 8, 2020
The only thing more enraging than @nbcsnl being delayed for this game is watching all the fans crawl on top of each other in celebration as if COVID isn’t a thing
— Deena Lang (@itsdeenalang) November 8, 2020
Cool that America could tune in just in time to see the student section rush the field, during COVID-19, while attending in-person classes, and just before heading back to points across the country for Thanksgiving. Just awesome. pic.twitter.com/eCUIsvDeAm
— Brock Wilbur (@brockwilbur) November 8, 2020
I’m cringing SO HARD. I just wanted to watch @nbcsnl and now I’m watching a super spreader event??? https://t.co/ANML96Ygyt
— Cassidy Quinn (@CassidyQuinn) November 8, 2020