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Saturday Night Live made its return this weekend after a month off and things were far from the usual. Residing in the comfort of their own homes, the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live featured the cast members in a video conference call setup and performing sketches while inside their homes. The opening monologue, performed by Tom Hanks, and segments like the Weekend Update were all continued as planned. The show also had a musical guest, who performed from home as well: Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
Instead of performing a song of his own, Martin dug into Bob Dylan’s catalog and delivered a performance of his 1975 track “Shelter From The Storm.” Guitar in-hand as his piano and setup of candles sat in the background, Martin performed the track with a black and white filter on the screen. He even made some signage that read “entrance to trains,” a nod to the current setup of the stage where musicians usually perform on SNL.
This is also not the first time Martin has delivered a livestream performance. Joining the World Health Organization’s #TogetherAtHome series, he performed a few tracks from his catalog, including classics like “Yellow,” “Viva La Vida,” and “Trouble.” Bob Dylan also made headlines recently after he shared “Murder Most Foul,” a 17-minute track about John F. Kennedy’s assassination to close March. Topping the rock digital sales charts, the song became Dylan’s first No. 1 on any chart according to Billboard.
A quarantine episode of Saturday Night Live was certain to be unconventional and contain some unique guest appearances. Tom Hanks “hosted” the show, which basically amounted to putting on a suit in his home and performing a monologue and saying goodbye at the end. But the show also featured a remote musical performance from Coldplay’s Chris Martin and a guest spot from Alec Baldwin, who called into Weekend Update as Donald Trump to talk coronavirus.
Coronavirus was an extremely prevalent topic on the last few live SNL episodes, and as New York City continues to be the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States it certainly makes sense that the show bring back Alec Baldwin to play Trump and address the issues at hand.
The show made sure to put an image of Baldwin-as-Trump on screen, not just the actual president. But the impression certainly carried a lot of the hallmarks of what we’ve heard from Trump during his wild daily press briefings.
“Well I’m happy to report, Colin, that America is number one in the world for coronavirus,” Trump says, sounding almost proud of the bleak feat. Pressed on this, he explained why he thinks things are going so well.
Well, my approval rating is up, my TV ratings are through the roof and every night at 7 p.m. all of New York claps and cheers about the great job I’m doing,” Trump said.
Michael Che suggested that those cheers are for hospital workers, not Trump, but he disagreed.
“You’re wrong, LeBron,” Trump said to Che. “You’re wrong.”
Both hosts pressed Trump on his inconsistent statements about coronavirus, but Baldwin’s impression remained spot on.
“I always said it was a giant hoax that everyone had to take seriously,” Baldwin said.
The later parts of Weekend Update returned to its usual joke format, including riffs on Bernie Sanders dropping out and various odd stories in a world of social distancing. But it also had a somber note, as Che acknowledged that his grandmother passed away earlier in the week. In her honor, Che asked if Jost would do a Joke Swap, which he says his grandmother wanted him to do before she died. But it was just a setup in which Jost was forced to make a racially suggestive joke at Che’s urging. Che later admitted that his grandmother had never watched the show, but the scene got a big laugh out of everyone involved, including the SNL castmembers listening in on the call and providing the laugh track for the segment.
Despite the challenges, it was refreshing to see this segment largely play out like it does in the studio. There’s something about Jost getting uncomfortable during Weekend Update that feels oddly nostalgic these days.
Three years after sharing A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, an album that won him a Grammy for Best Country Album, Sturgill Simpson returned this past September with his fourth album, Sound & Fury. In support of the album, Simpson would begin touring across the world, starting in Europe and the UK in January before returning to the states in mid-February to continue the tour. Presumably, due to coronavirus, Simpson was forced to cancel the tour on March 12, but in an Instagram post Saturday morning, he revealed that it affected more than his tour as he recently tested positive for the virus.
Posting a photo of himself to Instagram, Simpson revealed that he was admitted to his nearby hospital ER on March 13 after coming down with symptoms associated with COVID-19 but despite his symptoms, doctors refused to give him a coronavirus test.
This photo was taken at 9am on March 13th when my wife took me to our local hospital ER due to chest pains, fever, and pre-stroke blood pressure levels. I spent an hour listening to a (highly condescending) Doctor refuse to test me because I “did not fit testing criteria” and tell me why it was impossible that I had contracted the virus due to its extreme rarity and that it was not in western Europe yet during that same period (which we now know is incorrect)
Nearly a month later, Simpson finally received a test after finding a “free drive-thru testing facility outside a National Guard depot.” Taking the test with his wife, a few days later he received a call and was told that he tested positive for the virus. Before signing off, Simpson revealed that he will be in quarantine until April 19 and that he wishes he “put a bathroom in the floor plans” all before taking a jab at the government’s approach toward fighting coronavirus.
Sturgill Simpson is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The entire nation is taking Larry David’s lead and staying home, even the cast of Saturday Night Live. But that doesn’t mean he was able to avoid making an appearance on the show following Bernie Sanders’ exit from the Democratic presidential pool earlier in the week.
David, who had played the senator from Vermont while the primary campaign stretched through the last few months, took part in an address from Sanders to the American people as the sketch comedy show’s quarantine edition aired on Saturday night. Sitting in his home, David-as-Sanders addressed Joe Biden’s presumptive nomination for president, the coronavirus pandemic and what he plans to do now that he has a bit more time on his hands.
But first, he said he’s doing just fine. The real-life Sanders had stopped campaigning and fundraising and turned to battling the spread of COVID-19 and raising funds for first responders and legislation in congress. David’s version of the senator is his usual cranky self.
“People have been very nice, asking how I’m doing. If I have enough toilet paper,” he said. “Please, I’m a 78-year-old man living in Vermont. I have a whole room full of toilet paper.”
David also said he will “finally have the time to relax and finish that heart attack for October,” which is a medical issue the candidate had that feels like it happened years ago at this point. And for David, the appearance may be a bit bittersweet. With him out of the race he no longer has to appear on the show as often, which certainly seems like a relief.
“Imagine if he had become president, what would have happened to my life?” he told the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd in an interview last week.
Ending the sketch, David delivered a message that’s likely appropriate for both himself as a person and the character he’s played on the show for so long.
“Stay safe, stay healthy and please, whatever you do, stay the hell away from me,” David said.
