In a rare example of using a same-day event as fodder for its usual “cold open,” NBC‘s “Saturday Night Live” lampooned Saturday’s shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon by the U.S. military in a sketch that had to be prepared and written the same day it aired.
Cast member Chloe Fineman played a fictional version of MSNBC anchor Katy Tur, trying to provide analysis to viewers who had no doubt heard of the much-scrutinized weekend incident. Kenan Thompson played a military authority who suggested that vanquishing a balloon wasn’t the most difficult task faced by the U.S. armed forces.
Bowen Yang raised the sketch’s tenor by playing the actual balloon — aggrieved by the U.S. action.
“You can relax. You shot a ballon!” he complained. When asked why he was flying over Montana, the balloon replied that he loves the program “Yellowstone.”
“Everyone’s being spied on constantly, but it’s always ‘Shoot the balloon,’ and never ‘Unplug Alexa,'” the downed balloon complained.
The “SNL” cold open usually takes on an issue or incident that is the talk of the week. But more often than not, the show’s writers have chosen an event that has already taken place.
Actor Pablo Pascal, known for his recent role in HBO’s videogame drama “The Last of Us,” relayed his recent acting history and gave a shout out to his family in his monologue.
Watch the cold open and monologue below:
