Hey so the Super Bowl is this Sunday, so of course that’s what “SNL” focused on in the latest episode’s cold open. And while, for the second week in a row, the cold open practically ignored the intense political news of the week, it did mine them for some funny punch lines –like the Papa John’s Pizza commercial in which the company advertised strictly to adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
The skit was a parody of CBS Sports coverage, with Kenan Thompson as commentator James Brown leading a panel discussion of various NFL topics, like the league’s attempts at inclusion, and of course the spread of COVID-19. And naturally there were plenty of gags about the attention-getting ads that run every years during the Super Bowl.
But the highlight was definitely when Aidy Bryant showed up to portray both of the Super Bowl teams’ coaches in a spot-on parody of how football coaches never actually say anything interesting or cogent during the pre-game interviews.
“Speaking of both sides, let’s talk to both of these incredible coaches about how they’re preparing for the big game. Joining us first is Chiefs coach Andy Reid,” Thompson’s Brown said.
“Hey there, Jim, appreciate you having me,” Bryant as Reid replied.
“All right coach. how do you win this game?” asked Brown
“Well, we’re gonna pass it, and then we’re gonna run it and when they have the ball we’re gonna stop it,” Reid replied.
Seconds later, the sketch brought Bryant back this time as Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians.
“Yeah, you’re just heard coach Reid’s plan. How do you match up against that?” Keena’s Brown asked.
“Well we’re gonna run it first, then pass it. And then when they have the ball we’re gonna try to take the ball back,” Bryant’s Arians said.
Earlier, the sketch did an extended parody of Super Bowl ads, which is where most of the political jokes came from. The best, in our opinion, imagined what if Papa John’s pizza, whose founder is a well known Trump supporter, went all-in for QAnon.
“At Papa John’s, we know you want real ingredients, no additives, no preservatives, and no child sex trafficking in the basement,” the ad said. “Sorry, Democrats, you’ll have to get your child sex pizza over at Hillary’s pizzeria. It’s A-OK. Stop by with your Q-pon today.”
Watch the whole thing above.
But for those who haven’t watched yet, this means Maya Rudolph did not return as Vice President Kamala Harris, and Alex Moffat, who on the last 2020 episode of “SNL” was revealed as the surprise choice to replace Jim Carrey as Joe Biden, didn’t play the new president. And yep, no Alec Baldwin as Trump either.
Moffat was surprise-debuted as the show’s new Biden on the “SNL” Christmas episode back on Dec. 19, just hours after previous Biden Jim Carrey announced he was stepping down. Carrey of course played Biden in the first six back-to-back episodes of the current Season of “SNL,” but he got a mixed reception at best so perhaps that’s why he decided he was done. As for Moffat, it was unclear at the time whether or not he was the show’s permanent new Biden or just a placeholder until they found someone else. Looks like we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the answer.