Posted in: NBC, Opinion, TV, TV, YouTube | Tagged: gunna, Jerrod Carmichael, nbc, saturday night live, snl, studio 8h

Saturday Night Live Goes Rock While Please Don't Destroy Goes Goth

After taking some time off to recharge the batteries, NBC's Saturday Night Live returned this weekend with actor & comedian Jerrod Carmichael (Netflix comedy special Rothaniel) as host along with musical guest Gunna. And if there was ever a time for the long-running sketch comedy/music series to return, it would be this week. Because if anyone thought that after the FOX "News"-themed cold open that SNL wasn't going to talk about the Will Smith/Chris Rock Oscars slap, their minds were quickly changed once Carmichael took the stage for his opening monologue (which you can check out later in the article). But just to be clear? It wasn't a topic that Carmichael was looking to revisit. "I'm not going to talk about it. I want to be clear up top: I've talked about it enough, kept talking about it, kept thinking about it. I don't want to talk about it, and you can't make me talk about it." But after (joking?) that SNL creator Lorne Michaels visited to convince him that he needed to address it because "the nation needs to heal," the SNL host went on to offer some excellent observations about how the whole thing has made him feel but without taking a position or side. But the same can't be said for SNL, which looked to be leaning hard towards Rock's side in two big ways. Plus, Please Don't Destroy (Ben Marshall, John Higgins & Martin Herlihy) is back with another "Cut for Time" sketch where the trio pitch a sitcom that would definitely be binge-worthy (with The Cure on in the background).

In the first sketch, Carmichael plays a set filler during the Oscars broadcast who ends up running into one of his favorite actors (Chris Redd) at a very, very bad time. Following that, head co-writers Colin Jost & Michael Che take to their "Weekend Update" anchor desk for what would turn out to be nearly three minutes covering the controversy- and none of it was good news for Smith, either (though bonus points to Che for brining up how Rock physically reacted to Smith coming at him on the stage).

And in the following sketch from Please Don't Destroy, "Three Normal Goths" is the perfect sitcom pitch for those interested in the wacky & zany antics of three goths who live completely normal lives (and yes, there's a dog):

Though he addressed the issue during his HBO comedy special Rothaniel, Carmichael used his opening monologue to further discuss his coming out to a live national audience. "It's actually why I live here. If you say you're gay in New York, you can ride the bus for free and people just give you pizza. Honestly, if you're gay in New York, you get to host 'Saturday Night Live,'" he joked at one point during the approximately six-minute opener. "This is the gayest thing you could possibly do. Like, I came out right onto the stage. We're basically in an Andy Warhol fever dream right now."

Carmichael previously discussed his sexuality in his 2019 HBO special Home Videos when he was relaying a story about a conversation he had with his mother where he asked her if she ever did cocaine or had a same-sex relationship. In response to her no, Carmichael told her, "I've hooked up with dudes before." Nearly three years later, Carmichael found himself addressing his mother and father's dynamic during a February 2022 performance at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York that was filmed for his cable special (now streaming on HBO Max).

Learning that his father was unfaithful to his mother for years, Carmichael internalized the information and applied it to how he had been living his own life. "After that was out in the open. I was left alone feeling like a liar because I had a secret. One that I kept from my father, my mother, my family, my friends, and you. Professionally, personally," Carmichael explained. "And the secret is that I'm gay." Later in the special, Carmichael returns to discuss why he waited as long as he did before coming out. "I rebelled against it my whole life. I thought I'd never, ever come out," Carmichael explained. "At many points I thought I'd rather die than confront the truth of that, to actually say it to people. Because I know it changes some people's perceptions of me. I can't control that." Looking ahead on April 9th, we have Jake Gyllenhaal (Ambulance) hosting with musical guest Camila Cabello. And finally, we have Lizzo (Watch Out for the Big Grrrls) doing double-duty as host & musical guest on April 16th.

NBC's Saturday Night Live Season 47 cast includes Aidy Bryant, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Ego Nwodim, Chris Redd, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, Melissa Villaseñor, and Bowen Yang; feature players include the returning Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson, as well as new players Aristotle Athari (Future Man, All Rise), James Austin Johnson (Silicon Valley), and Sarah Sherman (The Eric Andre Show).

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