Following social distancing guidelines, Saturday Night Live returned with another edition of SNL At Home. Kicking off two weeks ago, SNL returned with many of their beloved segments as well as a performance from Coldplay’s Chris Martin who covered Bob Dylan’s “Shelter From The Storm.” Back for a second episode a fortnight later, Miley Cyrus joined the crew to give a quarantine performance of her own.

Residing by a campfire, Miley Cyrus delivered a warm cover of Pink Floyd’s 1975 track “Wish You Were Here” as a strong red light was cast on her outdoor setup. Accompanied by Andrew Watt, who previously revealed that he tested positive for coronavirus, the cover marks the second time in the span of a year that Cyrus has covered Pink Floyd in a performance. Back in 2019, she performed “Comfortably Numb” during her iHeart Radio Music Festival set.

Cyrus’ performance also comes weeks after she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. On the music side of things, she recently revealed that her upcoming album, She Is Miley Cyrus, “is sounding super rock and roll” and that fans would not have to wait “too much longer” to receive the album. Originally intended for a 2019 release, the upcoming album would mark her first since her 2017 album, Younger Now.

During the current worldwide pandemic, movie studios are no longer providing box-office figures because theaters have been shut down around the nation and the world. Because we are less interested in the actual figures themselves and more interested in what people are watching over the weekends, each week we will dive into Most Streamed and Bestseller Lists on Fandango, iTunes, Netflix, and Hulu to pinpoint the weekend’s most watched films.

We have reached that point in the pandemic when the VOD charts begin to look the same each week, as we are seeing fewer new releases (although, that will change in May). There has been some movement within the top five, but it’s among the same titles. Bad Boys for Life is back in the number one spot, bumping Trolls World Tour to number two. Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne’s Like a Boss, which was in the top five two weeks ago but fell into the teens last week, is back at number three this weekend, while Sonic the Hedgehog claims the four-spot, followed by Vin Diesel’s Bloodshot, which has been all over the charts since its release.

With relatively little new competition, it is nice to see that some smaller movies that wouldn’t otherwise get much notice break out, like Will Forte’s amusing indie ghost comedy, Extra Ordinary. It’s also interesting to see which older movies viewers return to for comfort, like the Harry Potter movies, Pretty Woman, The Greatest Showman, and some dystopian/end of the world films that feel right at home now, like Contagion, Seth Rogen’s The End of the World and Hunger Games, all of which are in the VOD top 100 this week over on Fandango.

The iTunes rental charts are about the same, too, but it is worth noting that Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood has jumped into the number two spot this weekend as it is being offered for a $.99 rental.

Meanwhile, Parasite — a record-breaking streamer for Hulu — rightfully continues to lead all movies on that streaming network, although Isn’t it Romantic (a Rebel Wilson rom-rom with Liam Hemsworth, Adam Devine, and some pretty good reviews) has taken the number two spot. It is followed by the family film, Abominable, which jumped from six to three this weekend, and I’m going to go ahead and take credit for that after my recommendation last week.

There is, however, a lot of churn over on Netflix, as it continues to pump out a ton of new content and remains the pandemic salvation for many. This weekend, it debuted the Chris Hemsworth action film (co-written by Joe Russo), Extraction, and it quickly took the top spot with mixed reviews (63 percent) over on Rotten Tomatoes. We don’t know what the numbers are on that, but I imagine they’re big, probably even more than the 85 million people that Netflix reported watching Spenser Confidential

The very-well reviewed new family film, The Willoughby’s, took the number two spot. It scored 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and features Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, and Terry Crews, among the voice cast. I haven’t seen it yet, but my twin daughters are already planning a virtual sleepover around it.

Meanwhile, Despicable Me, Green Hornet, and Angel Has Fallen, which started streaming on Netflix in recent weeks, have taken the 3-5 slots, followed by last week’s number two film, Code 8.

Next weekend will see the release of Guns Akimbo — a Daniel Radciffe movie parody of people who are too online — as well as The Photograph, a romantic drama starring Lakeith Stanfield And Issa Rae. Netfix, meanwhile, has several new original movies, including All Day and a Night, Get In, The Half of It, and Mrs. Serial Killer.

Sources: Fandango, ITunes, Hulu, Netflix

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Donald Trump’s comments about injecting the body with disinfectants were not well received by pretty much anyone in America. But just because Alec Baldwin addressed them as Trump on Instagram didn’t mean SNL would skip the subject.

SNL At Home’s Weekend Update segment was heavy on Trump and jokes about his pondering about ultraviolet light and the healing power of Lysol as the show stepped up its production values for its signature segment. Colin Jost and Michael Che appeared with the show’s traditional globe background behind them, likely aided by green screen. With no audience — or an audience listening in via Zoom like last time — things were a bit different. But the jokes were to be expected given the reaction folks had to some terrible medical advice.

Jost hit on Trump’s comments as well as protests from some small segments of the population that want the country reopened. He also made sure Fox News got some ire, too: “Fun fact if an American flag and a diaper are struck by lightning they become a Sean Hannity.”

Weekend Update also had Pete Davidson appear to riff on a coronavirus pamphlet for a bit.

The segment wrapped up with another blind joke moment, with Jost paying Che back for something he made him say on the last episode of SNL At Home.

It’s all a setup for a charity initiative, which is nice, but it probably means more questionable jokes are on the horizon.

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The second episode of SNL At Home featured the cast of the New York-based sketch comedy show performing from the comfort of their own homes. It featured ‘host’ Brad Pitt as Dr. Anthony Fauci dispelling some bad medical advice, sure, but it also included a reference to the biggest story in the sports world.

Charles Barkley appeared from home right after the cold open as a guest during Keenan Thompson’s sketch ‘What’s Up With That?’ Appearing remotely along with DJ Khaled, Barkley was brought on by the musical show and given a strict rule: you have a minute to appear, so you don’t waste anyone’s time.

If you’re familiar with the bit here, you already know that Barkley won’t need that clock to keep him brief. Thompson’s music-happy host constantly interrupts his guests with song, usually sparked somewhat based on what they say. And that’s exactly what happens here, even if Chuck sounds like he has an interesting story to tell that didn’t make ‘The Last Dance,’ the 30 For 30 Michael Jordan documentary which he shows up in and is apparently on the show to promote.

“It was special, and the documentary is excellent,” Barkley says. “But it doesn’t show everything.”

Charles starts winding up on some “incredible stories people still don’t know” but the music was just too much for Thompson. He has to cut him off to sing the line “incredible stories,” which is a signal that Charles might not get to actually say what he wants to say.

“Yeah, you might actually hear them if you let me talk,” Barkley says at one point, interspersed with singing from Thompson as the show’s theme music rises. Chuck is definitely not used to getting cut off on TV, which is what makes this so fun. The sketch is faithfully done to the bits of the original despite the At Home nature of the show — the editing adds in a ton of irreverent effects and Bill Hader as Lindsey Buckingham never gets to speak — and everyone seems to be a good sport about showing up to keep continuity up.

And credit SNL’s writers for knowing the hook here would be a valuable one. There are still plenty of good stories from that era that fans would love to hear. It’s why The Last Dance is proving so popular in a period of time without sports. Perhaps we’ll get to hear those stories someday, just don’t expect anything interesting to be revealed on What’s Up With That.

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“Probably the best impulsive purchase I’ve ever made.”

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One band. One dream. One Direction.

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