Do you love TV? Who doesn't?! Day and night, people are watching TV, especially when stuck at home with stay-at-home order due to the coronavirus. TV has been a great escape for people ever since its conception. People want to turn on the tube after a long day and turn off their brains.
A little escapism is necessary while the world is going through a pandemic, but with TV production halted, how are the TV shows supposed to create new content? Many of them have switched to at-home broadcasts via webcam, which at worst serve as a reminder of the horrible situation we're in.
One show that has switched successfully to a jerry-rigged at-home version is Saturday Night Live. The legendary sketch show has its performers film their sketches at home and packaged similarly to the live show. It has ranged from good to bad, but it looks like SNL has no plans to stop.
Saturday Night Live is still bringing the laughs despite all of their staff in self-isolation in New York. New York has been hit incredibly hard by the coronavirus due to the high population density, so it's no wonder they are keeping strict guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. That hasn't stopped them from presenting three new episodes of their longrunning sketch show during quarantine.
The sketches have ranged from good to bad, which is no surprise for longtime fans of the show. It's a hit or miss show whether you love it or hate it. While many of the sketches are directly about the pandemic, others are broader to bring in the laughs without reminding everyone of the situation we're all in. One of the stunners from last weekend was a fake ad that struck a chord with people who have had a hard time finding food at the grocery store.
The pandemic has caused food shortages which have been a terrible inconvenience. Saturday Night Live highlighted the comedy of it all with their Bartenson's Market Sketch. The sketch is a fake ad starring Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant. In the ad, the two actresses play owners of Bartenson's market who are pleading for the customers to buy their products since they are the products that no one wants.
"As you know, staples like chicken, milk and bread have been flying off the shelves. We wanted to alert you to some items that despite the pandemic, we have in absolute abundance.” That's when they begin showing the items no one wants like Hawaiian pizza, a bag of beans, and cauliflower pasta. The sketch gets hilarious from then as they up the ante with more ridiculous items like mint Pringles, Boy Scout Cookies, and other fake items.
The sketch features a bunch of fake products that are utterly hilarious, like Pepsi crab and oat milk pizza. For anyone who has struggled to find regular food at the market, it should strike quite a chord. To top it all off, the two actresses share socially-distant high fives and handshakes throughout it.
While Saturday Night Live is trying hard to bring the laughs, watching a show that's completely filmed at the homes of the actors is only a reminder that we're all stuck at home. The intention might be good, but the escapism isn't quite there. We will have to wait and see how long this goes on. It could reach a point where all new programming is done in some at-home, DIY way. For now, at least we have more laughs to look forward to while we wait.
