The opening of the 11 April 2020 episode of Saturday Night Live has to be one of the best SNL openings in the show’s history.
Why is that? Let me count the ways.
1 – The public would have understood if the episode hadn’t been produced, but it was produced anyway.
2 – The episode wasn’t really live, but who cares? It serves its purpose.
3 – The opening shows the cast members as regular people.
4 – The cast members are seen with their natural appearances.
5 – Cast members are able to show their families.
6 – Kenan Thompson directs the Zoom gathering of the cast. That is a show of respect for him as the show’s longest-tenured cast member.
7 – Kate McKinnon: “Live from Zoom, it’s sometime between March and August!”
8 – Tom Hanks is the ideal host for this episode since he is a survivor of COVID-19.
9 – Tom is candid about the episode: “Will it be weird to see sketches without big sets and costumes? Sure, but will it make you laugh? Eh. It’s SNL. There will be some good stuff, maybe one or two stinkers. You know the drill.”
10 – Tom comes across as more comforting to the public than any politician: “Stay safe. We are in this for the duration. And we will get through this together.”
Saturday Night Live is known for its sensitivity to tragedies and respect for tragedy victims.
One of the show’s best openings took place on 29 September 2001, which was the show’s first episode to be produced after 9/11.
Click here to watch it.
The musical guest that week was Paul Simon, who, clad in an FDNY hat, performed a poignant version of “The Boxer.”
It was after this performance that SNL creator Lorne Michaels joined Mayor Giuliani and asked, “Can we be funny now?” eliciting a few titters from the audience.
“Why start now?” the mayor quipped. The audience roared.
Perhaps the best SNL opening ever (in this bloggers opinion) is the one delivered on 14 November 2015. It is a response to the terrorist attacks on Paris that took place one day earlier.
Now that is class.
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