“Saturday Night Live” poked fun at the lack of recognizable titles and hit-making movies coming out of the 2020s, shooting at fish-in-a-barrel targets like “To Leslie,” “Women Talking” and “Ginny & Georgia.”
After Bowen Yang came out swinging as a game show host with a snappy tune lauding Hollywood greats like James Dean and Jean Harlow, he introduced the eager contestants for “The Big Hollywood Quiz,” whose roles as a film studies professor (Pedro Pascal), an entertainment writer (Ego Nwodim) and a Hollywood history aficionado podcaster (Chloe Fineman) promised a deep and current knowledge about the beloved industry.
Though the game started strong with references to Hollywood classics like the Bette Davis-led “All About Eve” and the Korean War-set “M*A*S*H,” the so-called industry vets faltered when it came to the 2020s section, beginning with a simple fill-in-the-blank for the current No. 1 show on Netflix titled “Ginny & …”
“Juice?” Pascal guessed alongside his dumb-founded colleagues, as Nwodim asked, “Is that from Europe?”
When the Awards category came up, the embarrassment to the contestants and the award-winning projects themselves continued as the experts’ limited knowledge of 2023 Oscar-nominees was on full display.
Despite being nominated for Best Picture, “Women Talking” became the sketch’s prime target as the contestants blanked on the title of this renowned flick even with hints of having an all-female cast and featuring Oscar winner Frances McDormand.
“80 for Brady,” Pascal buzzed in with confidence before Yang lightly roasted the contestants, asking, “Do you all watch much TV or movies?” “I do, at least 12 hours a day,” Nwodim responded, which got a pitiful “yikes” from Yang.
Unsurprisingly, the experts were asked to name the film for which Andrea Riseborough was nominated for an Oscar — a moment that stumped the contestants more than any previous question before Yang jumped in to offer the answer: “To Leslie.”
“It’s great — you should really see it because so far it’s made $27,300,” Yang said. “That’s not a lot for opening weekend,” Fineman chimed in. “It’s been out for four months,” Yang responded.
As the contestants struggled to get themselves back in the game, Pascal asked the host for some questions with some big movie stars who all the experts would recognize. Though Yang gladly accommodated the request, the contestants still struggled with this round, tearing into the ultra-limited viewership of Nicole Kidman-led “Roar” and Samuel L. Jackson’s “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.”
“I’m sure these shows are great but where did all the big, popular movies go?” Pascal lamented. “Oh, they’re still here, they’re just on your phone and you can watch them on the toilet,” Yang chuckled.
Yang promised to shake things up with a speed round, which prompted contestants to name any three movies from the past five years — which Pascal won on a technicality after struggling to guess anything beyond “Top Gun: Maverick.”
“When we come back, these three will try to guess what Julia Roberts is doing on Starz,” Yang said.
You can watch the hilarious sketch in full at the top.
