Every now and then, Saturday Night Live addresses a very real issue with a surreal dose of humor. In 2021, that issue was loneliness, and the solution was — essentially — a dog park for lonely men. This weekend, the show addressed another medical issue, the fact that a lot of men are avoiding going to their doctor for regular checkups.
The solution, at least as outlined in this sketch, is something called Medcast. As Heidi Garner’s narrator explains, “Medcast is not a podcast. It’s a real doctor’s appointment that feels like one.” And so we see a medical team seeing a number of patients, doing everything in their power to keep things like reflex tests and blood pressure checks feeling like, well, a podcast.
Neither host Timothée Chalamet nor Lin-Manuel Miranda — who memorably appeared in this week’s cold open — showed up in this particular sketch. That said, the wig and facial hair on Andrew Dismukes absolutely left me wondering if that actually was Andrew Dismukes, so — credit is due to SNL‘s hair and makeup department.
“SNL” Addressed Male Loneliness and Social Media — With a Twist
Feautring a memorable role for Maya RudolphThe small details help make this one really click, from the cans of Liquid Death all over the office to the way the sketch combines the format of a podcast with the expected elements of a regular checkup. It’s not the first time SNL has riffed on the ubiquity of podcasts, but it’s made for quality sketches on multiple occasions now. And who knows — maybe some enterprising medical office will see this and be inspired.
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.