During this time of social isolation, plenty of people have become very familiar with Zoom. For some, it’s been a way to stay in touch with co-workers; for others, it’s useful for reaching out to family and friends. But sometimes, even the best plans on Zoom can go horribly awry. And, in a special quarantine edition of Saturday Night Live, one sketch showed just how wrong one Zoom call could go.
The premise of the sketch is simple: a company’s two receptionists, played by Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon, have difficulty navigating the ins and outs of Zoom during a meeting held using the service.
The setup — that people of a certain age might have issues with technology — feels overly familiar, but soon the sketch allows both Bryant and McKinnon to play to their considerable comic strengths. All of which is to say, things get very strange by the end, to hilarious effect. (An ad hoc bidet and The Good Doctor both play a part.)
As befits an episode of television in which the cast was all self-isolating, the episode’s format differed somewhat from the norm. There were some pleasant surprises, including an opening monologue from Tom Hanks — and revamped credits featuring the cast at home. (In case you were wondering, several SNL cast members’ pets make appearances.) Besides the humor, it’s also fascinating to see how a show pulls off an ensemble sketch comedy when the ensemble can’t be in the same place together.
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