This season of Saturday Night Live was his best in years and the series’ hot series continued into the new year as the first episode of 2022 was chock full of hilarious sketches. Here are four must-watch moments from the episode presented by west side story actress Ariana DeBose.
Cold open
Since SNL took its winter break, a brand new variant of COVID has emerged and the show addressed Omicron in the Cold Open with a classic press conference by Joe Biden (played by James Austin Johnson). Biden had a simple three-word solution to stop the Omicron variant from booming across the country: “Stop looking Spider man. ” The President then pointed out that the boom started just a week later No way home started dominating at the box office and when a reporter asked him if there was any data behind his theory, Biden remarked that “everyone in America has seen Spider man like eight times. ”
Urkel
Since it’s announced, fans have been wondering why NBC decided to recharge a hilarious sitcom like Fresh Prince as a dark and dirty drama. And SNL had a little fun with that concept with a fake trailer for Urkel, a “serious, high stakes remake” of Family business. The trailer shows Urkel as a tragic figure instead of a sweet nerd, as the program promises “the goofy characters you loved in the ’90s with absolutely nothing of fun or charm.”
Elmo teen Rocko
Elmo has unexpectedly taken over the internet over the past few weeks and SNL has offered the feud between the high-pitched red puppet and rock aptly named Rocko. Elmo is excited to be invited to be a guest on Weekend Update, but that excitement quickly disappears when they realize they share the spotlight with Rocko. As Rocko begins to forge a bond with Michael Che and is announced as the host and musical guest for a future SNL episode, Elmo’s anger builds and they eventually try to commit stone murder. Even if you have no context as to why Elmo hates Rocko, you will still enjoy watching Chloe Fineman nail her Elmo impression.
Winter Formula
As the show progresses, SNL sketches tend to get stranger and this week’s most hilarious bizarre sketch was “Winter Formal.” Pete Davidson and Sarah Sherman starred in an ad for Ron and Donna Lacatza’s Formal Emporium, a “one-stop shop for all your daughter’s school dance needs.” Things start out relatively normal, with the couple talking about corsages and dresses, but then they tell parents that if they are worried about their daughters having sex, they can hire their son Donovan (Andrew Dismukes) because he “would not know where to start. . ” It’s one simple and reliable joke that keeps sharpening and towards the end poor Donovan shows his swamp hole while dancing like a maniac “Get Low.”
