SNL SIGOURNEY WEAVER BUSTER POINDEXTER SERIES

SNL will be back before long, and the perfect storm of issues that led to a night in which no one uttered the words live from New York is unlikely to occur again. But now, with a variant that is contagious enough to cause a spike in breakthrough infections among the vaccinated? The road map is less clear, even for an institution that has dealt with many crises before.

SNL SIGOURNEY WEAVER BUSTER POINDEXTER SERIES

In 2020, SNL could cancel shows, move to doing a series of 'at-home' episodes, and then implement rigorous safety protocols. Rather, I found it remarkable to watch, as the night went on, the way the performers’ professionalism melted into an exercise in grinning and bearing the emptiness of the room they were in.As chipper as Rudd and the cast tried to be, the truth is that contending with a new threat in a pandemic that has lasted almost two years has dealt a psychological blow unlike what has come before. And yet, last night’s pseudo-episode may be the one I'll remember the best from this year’s collection-not in terms of the individual sketches, though Aidy Bryant’s pronunciation of grandchildren from 'HomeGoods' will stay with me. Not even the combined charm of Hanks and Rudd could overcome the gloom of having to put on an irregular show. This was a bleak, strange night in SNL history. During 'Weekend Update,' Thompson, Hanks, and Rudd sat in the audience to offer reactions, but their enthusiastic applause couldn’t distract from the rows of vacant seats. No laughter greeted the jokes in the pre-taped sketches. 'Yet more often than not, the rigid format-with every sketch introduced by one of the performers reading a hastily written lead-in-yielded a disconcerting, even apocalyptic, atmosphere. 'Given the bare-bones camera crew and band, the show felt loose and intimate at times, like staying in the classroom too long after the final bell of the day,' says Shirley Li.

Host Paul Rudd, guest-stars Tom Hanks and Tina Fey and cast members Kenan Thompson and Michael Che were the only performers to appear on camera last night as the Omicron variant disrupted Saturday Night Live's Christmas show plans hours before airtime.

Snl sigourney weaver buster poindexter