-What's going on?
-Hey.
-Hi. -Well, you start.
You're the smart one. -Let me go. Okay?
-Okay, you go. -Okay. This season --
-This season... -I would say in a normal week
of making the show, it's normal to cry
once or twice. And in a pandemic version
of making the show, you might cry every day.
-Uh-huh. -And that's comedy. -[ Laughs ] ♪♪ -We got the call that we were
gonna come back for September for the new season. I think I called you.
I was like, "Oh, hell no." -Lorne knocked on my door. He got down on one knee
and asked me to come back. -I think there was
never any point of which I wasn't coming back. I just knew that
if we worked at it somehow, we'd be able to figure it out. -And I was like,
"You got to be kidding me."
-Uh-huh. -"I'm not going inside." -"How are we gonna do that
and be okay?" -People didn't know physically
how the show was gonna happen. We didn't know,
like, would there be sets, would there, you know --
could we get -- -We didn't know anything. -When we did the
"At Home" shows, it was extremely difficult. You were your own camera,
sound, makeup, hair. On some level, I think it was
like a relief to be like, "Okay, we'll be back
with each other, back with our crew." -It was comforting but also
confusing and confounding just because it was like,
"How's that gonna work?" -As you might have noticed,
this is a little scary. Everything will be different --
where we make our decisions, how we make our decisions,
what rehearsal is like. And then when you're on the air,
it'll feel pretty much the same. I know we can get through it,
and I know that we can do it. So we're gonna start now
and see what we got. [ Cheers and applause ] -Felt like we were in
a postapocalyptic kind of future, right? Like, those early shows,
there was some fear. -Yeah.
-Daily. -For a lot of it,
we were the only people
in the building, really. -That's what the security say --
We're the only people dumb enough
to be in the building. -Oh, I didn't --
I missed the "dumb" part. 'Cause of the mask,
I couldn't -- -I remember he said. -I was really afraid of COVID. I was wearing like two masks
before it was cool. -Just, I've had so much anxiety. -I had a lot of anxiety
about COVID. It was crazy, 'cause on the set of our very first
pre-taped shoot of the season, this music video called
"Bottom of Your Face"... ♪ Bottom of your face ♪
-♪ What it look? ♪ -♪ Bottom of your face ♪ -...we had this COVID scare
that day. [ Bell rings ]
-Okay, everyone out. -We are just waiting because I'm having the COVID
cleaners come in and sterilize. -It made our day
like five or six hours longer. Usually doing those days
is nothing because we do them all the time. But, like, add COVID,
it just hit different. It felt like a different
kind of truck hitting me.
-Mm-hmm. -I definitely thought
we were not gonna get through even the first run
of six shows. -I wish I could say
I knew it was gonna work or that we'd pull it off. But we've never done
six shows in a row. We did four once. And [chuckles] it's hard. [ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ -20 seconds! -For the premiere
with Chris Rock, Mikey and I wrote
this very stupid sketch about basically dirty names. -10 seconds! -I remember feeling like,
"Is this gonna work anymore? Like, are people gonna
laugh at, like, silly?" -Tell us your names
and what happened. -Edith Puthie. -Um...I'm sorry? I said Edith Puthie. -Um, I'm flattered, ma'am,
but, no, thank you. -When that worked, it was like, "Okay, I think there's still
a place to do our show in this kind of weird new time
we're in." [ Cheers and applause ] -It's "Saturday Night Live." Ladies and gentlemen,
Chris Rock. [ Cheers and applause ] -This is a special show. This show is quite different
than every other show. All week I've had things
going up my nose every day I come in here. I haven't had so much stuff
up my nose since I shared a dressing room
with Chris Farley. Well... -This was definitely the hardest
year that I've been here for. -It's so different.
It's really different. We have no social contact
with any cast member. -I'm here, but I'm in
my dressing room by myself. These people I love are right
next door, and I can't see them. -This is what rehearsals
looked like. -And this is what the
writers' room looked like. [ Laughter ] -It is socially distanced. -We all have masks.
-Two masks and a shield. -There are fewer group smooch
parties than there used to be. -Yeah, our kissing parties
have been canceled. -We worked with the governor's
office and the mayor's office. We were tested every day. -1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10... -How many times do you think
we've been tested? Going on 100? -I was gonna say more than --
-More than 100?
-Way over 100. -Yeah. I'm, like, so good
at rapid tests. My nose doesn't even get sore
anymore. -How can I say this
so you can get it? A room have air, right,
we noticed. And everybody have a nose
we noticed. Everybody's face have a hole. Everybody get the virus
we noticed. Okay. -I think there was one point
at which they said, "You know, you're the leader.
People will look to you, so you're gonna have to
behave a certain way." And I went, "No, no, no, no, no.
No. Don't look to me for that. We're gonna need COVID cops." -You start getting into
a conversation with someone, and then a COVID health person
will be like, "Oh!" -I don't know if the foam
noodles are still happening. -I'm sorry. Excuse me, sir.
Six feet, please. -Saturdays, sometimes you have
to make changes really quickly. We have 20 minutes till this
is gonna be on television. So you'd be super stressed out.
And they're like six feet apart, and you're like...[groans] They're just doing their job
and keeping us safe, but... -Six feet apart
with two masks and a shield while the latest teen
is belting her hit, it's really hard
[laughing] to work that way. -♪ I heard ♪ ♪ That you're settled down ♪ -Adele? -♪ That you found a girl ♪ ♪ And you're married now ♪ -Adele? -The table read
feels like the U.N. We all are at our own table and little microphones that you
have to push a button to speak. -I have a joke.
I have a funny -- -I know.
-Yeah. -"And I'm the wacky character
now." -The table read used to be
at a conference table with mad people in a room. -Sitting almost
in each other's laps. -Nothing caught fire
at the table read in a way it normally would because it was a lot harder
to see performance... -It was tough.
-...in that spread-out space. -It's hard to emote, obviously,
with a mask on. -Especially with impressions,
like [deep voice] 'cause you have to see
the mouth thing that I'm doing. Because if it's hidden,
you don't know what -- -It's the Drew Barrymore show. -How Drew you do? I am just like you --
a boho free spirit, mommy, mother, movie star
since I was 6. Then the mics blowing out a lot
was gorgeous. -Oh, yeah. You're, like,
full-on performing, and no one can hear you. [ Static ] -It's like... -"Oh, my God,
I stayed up for 17 hours and wrote something
that is absolutely not audible because her microphone is off and it's just
going into the void." -People are getting up
on their feet more. And, I don't know,
you have to do different things with all your sketches that you didn't have to do
before. -♪ We're strolling
to the polls ♪ -♪ To the poll ♪ -♪ We're headed west, uh-huh,
'cause that is the best ♪ -We're closed.
-♪ Okay ♪ ♪ We're heading east, uh-huh ♪ -Sorry, this one's also closed. -It's hard to even recall everything
that's happened this year, but it was an election.
-Yeah. There was an election. -Let's now welcome
the Democratic candidate... -Boo.
Here comes the booing. -...former Vice President
of the United States... -Allegedly. -...and senator from Delaware... -Not even a real state. -...Joe Biden. [ Cheers and applause ] -Any time when there's new faces
and new combinations, I think people are excited
to see it. -Mr. Vice President. -One second, Chris. ♪♪ -Having Jim Carrey, I mean,
available for the cold opens was crazy.
-Anything different? Do I look different at all? -He was flying in from Hawaii
to come do the show. I think Jim was wanting to show a different side of Biden.
-Yeah. -And, I mean, a reference
we definitely talked about was, like, Clint Eastwood. [ Western music plays ] -It was fun to be a part
of that rehearsal. We're in this room,
and there's, like, just chairs spaced like 20 feet apart
almost. That was so strange. We've never
done it like this before. -Absolutely. Scout's honor. -Vice President Pence,
there's a, um... -War on police in this country?
I couldn't agree more. -No, no. There's a, um -- There's a giant --
-Lack of respect for militias? You're darn right. -No. Senator Harris,
help me out. -Oh, no, I'm good. -That fly became such a meme and
such a viral thing immediately. It's like, "What are you guys
gonna do about the fly?" -They built a Pence head
immediately. -Where Jim became the fly.
And that was wild. He's, like,
doing that fly thing. I was like, "I can't believe
what's happening right now." -Mr. Vice President,
there's another one. -Another antifa rally?
No surprise there. -Friend, you look familiar. -Well, I better. I'm Herman Cain. Sliding off Pence's mock head
with Jim Carrey saying, "Live from New York."
-And live from New York, it's Saturday night! -It was the craziest thing ever. -To quote the great 1995 Adam
Sandler film "Billy Madison," everyone in this room
is now dumber for having... -Because it was the election, people got really deep into
every political figure, and people played people
on the show that normally no one would
even follow or recognize. -I think I found out I was
playing Ted Cruz, like,
the morning of. -Wow, Senator Cruz,
welcome to the show. -There's kind of a smarmy weasel
that I identify with. -Hello, Colin. Ooh,
I think I sat on a gun. We were trying to do a rewrite. I said, "Tucker, is it weird
if maybe I do something like...? Sorry, Colin, I have to sneeze. Sorry. It's my allergies. -That was a --
That was a sneeze? -Oh, yeah, see,
when I was a little girl, I sneezed once,
and nobody said "bless you." So a demon got in. Excuse me. Sorry. ♪♪ -CNN can now project
that Joe Biden will be the next president
of the United States. -They called the election
for Biden on the Saturday
of the Chappelle show. -Pretty incredible day. -And was getting ready
to go into work -- like, I was
putting on my shoes -- and being like, "Oh,
the whole show is gonna change." -There are situations in life, and this is one of them, where there must be
a winner and... a loser. [ Cheers and applause ] L-hoo...s-her.
[loser] -Every different department is so insanely good
at what they do. Like, the wardrobe department
pulling off Kamala's outfit, like, an hour and a half
after it happened. -Two people
were reconstructing the jacket. Someone was working
on the pants. Half of a blouse was made
because literally we're like, "Well, you only need the front." -The fact that they did that
at all during a pandemic, it's like, "Whoa, they really
are the best at what they do." -Yeah, I felt the same way
when I was Count Chocula. -I didn't know how much, like, Count Chocula
Pete was gonna look. People probably didn't even
realize that was Pete until he said it, I bet. -America...look at
Pete Davidson's lips. [ Laughter ] -"America"... -I think the makeup team should definitely be lauded
for their work. -Baby Groot, we ain't friends. -Normally when somebody needs
to get a quick two-minute
makeup change, there's an army of people
that just surround them, do whatever they got to do,
and then send them out. With COVID, one person,
one cast member, one hair person.
You can't have that army. But you still have the same
two-minute turnaround. -"Hot Ones," the show where
celebrities answer hot questions while eating even hotter wings. -We'd been wanting to do
a "Hot Ones" for a while. Maya's Beyoncé impression
is so funny. -It is truly an honor.
-[ Chuckles ] Yeah, I know. -They had to run in and
make her sweaty while
the camera was on me. -Yeah, I'm under the table
behind them, and I constantly have to pop up
and spray Maya and pop back down and hide. -Are you okay? -It's not like we lessened the
production demands of this show. Like, it's the same show it was. It's just now being done under
these ridiculous circumstances. -Last week, I had a quick change from the very last sketch
into goodnights. And, you know,
I'm ripping pants off, and they're taking my wig off,
and then I ran up to goodnights, and I didn't have a mask on,
and everyone else had a mask on. And I was like, "Oh, my God." I felt naked. Cecily had two on, and I'm sure
this is not okay for protocol, but she took one off
and gave it to me. So I had a taste of Cecily
that night. -Can I get the new cast
out here? Send them out. [ Cheers and applause ] -I can't imagine being
in my first year here this year. -Yeah, those poor guys.
-This is incredibly hard, and this is, like,
our ninth year. I can't imagine coming into this and having it be
your first season. That seems bad. -It's a lot.
-Mm-hmm. -None of what they experienced
was normal. -There's no practice,
there's no class for "SNL." My dad was like, "You should
take, like, a cue card class
or something." And I even looked it up,
and they don't have those. So, I was like,
"Got to learn it somehow." I think that doing
the high-heel hostess with Adele would be really fun.
-That sounds great. She's got prescription
roller skates that they need to be --
It's, like, a medical thing that's being treated.
-[ Laughs ] -They have been fairing
incredibly well.
-Yes. -I would not have survived
this situation and how bizarre it is.
-No. -For sure, this season
has definitely been
the most isolating. Like, we've been so separated.
You know what I'm saying? So that's been
the toughest part of it for me. -It certainly affected
the writing process. -I mean, this job
is so collaborative, and I'm used to going in
to a room and joking --
joking around with someone. -There are so many times
where you truly will just run in to
a cast member or a writer and just start riffing and then
that will become a piece. -We kind of didn't have that
this year, so you're kind of writing
almost in a vacuum through Zoom. -Like, being on Zoom and trying to convey
what's funny is humiliating. -My Internet sucks. So it's, like, we're trying to
do a rewrite, and I'm like... -At some point in the year,
everyone working here had a full nervous breakdown. -This is the saddest interview. -I know. -♪ It's been a whole year
since a dude touched your butt ♪ -♪ Oh, right, I forgot ♪ ♪ Guess I've gone a little bit ♪ ♪ Loco ♪ ♪ Loco ♪
-What? -I haven't seen friends.
I live alone. I'm a single woman.
And I do have 10 plants. That's the sketch where I go,
"Oh, my God, every department here
is so, so good and such visionaries." My brain still breaks about it,
and I shamefully still watch it because I just feel like
the visuals are so cool. And then the editing? Anyway, very special moment
for me because it also felt cathartic,
as well, to get to do that. -♪ Loco ♪ -The film unit did probably
the best work it's ever done. -We had a Brooklyn studio to
shoot all of our pre-tapes in, which we never had before. -The stuff that the film unit
had been able to pull off in there is mind-blowing. -They build sets, you know,
within two days' notice. -Yeah, like, building
the rooftop for the weed gummy sketch
really blew my mind. -Wild.
-That was amazing. -Mars. Mars looked good. -Chad, this is Elon Musk. -You'll need to pull
the release lever slowly because of the pressure. [ Feedback ]
Chad? -A few shoots where it's just
been, like, apartments. Normally we would just go
to an apartment instead of building one
from scratch. -It would have been easy
to just say like, "All right, we're gonna do
like one tape a week, given how hard it is
to do all this stuff now." But we didn't let up at all. -Are you bored?
-Mm-hmm. -You need something new.
-Something exciting. -I need a new fantasy. -Then you need...
-Zillow. -Zillow.
-Zillow.com. -Streeter Seidell,
a writer on the show, is so into real-estate porn,
as it's called. -I'd never
live in North Carolina, but if I did,
I could buy a big gross mansion. -Zillow. -You brought NFTs
to the world's attention. -♪ Now, what the hell's
an NFT? ♪ ♪ Apparently cryptocurrency ♪ ♪ Everyone's making
so much money ♪ ♪ Can you please explain
what's an NFT? ♪ -We want to hear
about the iceberg, baby. -Here to explain his side
of the story is the iceberg
that sank the Titanic. [ Cheers and applause ] -The entire week
leading up to Saturday, Anna and I would just look
at each other and be like, "This is never
gonna be on TV." Okay, fine, you want to do this?
Let's do this. First of all, you came to
where I live, and you hit me. And I'm literally injured,
but all anybody cares about is that like 40 or 50 people
died or whatever. -Well, it was 1,500 people. -Why are you attacking me?! -I'm really proud of
my Dolly Parton "Update." ♪ Have a holly,
jolly Christmas ♪ ♪ It's the best time
of the year ♪ -I had friends text me
the next day that were like, "Well, her
Dolly impression's amazing, but, I mean, she wasn't,
like, singing, right?" I was like, "Yeah, no,
that includes the singing." -It was just pure love,
that piece, and it felt really, really good. -I mean, Adele was really cool. She sang right into my face. -♪ There's a fire
starting in my heart ♪ ♪ Reaching a fever pitch, and
it's bringing me out the dark ♪ -That was amazing.
-She was the best. -♪ Forget your troubles and just get happy ♪
-♪ Happy days are here ♪ -♪ You better chase
all your blues away ♪
-♪ The skies above ♪ ♪ Are clear again ♪ -I just kept thinking like, "I just want to
put out something positive, joyful, you know?" I just want to say,
I think, as long as we have each other,
we'll get through this. -The pandemic
or the performance? -Ohh! -When we actually started doing
it, we were the only show in New York with an audience, -The audience,
this floor right here, are first-responders,
all the audience right here. -Privileged.
Absolutely privileged.
-Yeah, I've never, never felt more grateful for
an audience in my entire life, just knowing, even in the city, how many venues
are empty right now. -It was hard early 'cause
audiences were really small
and nervous. Like, the first one,
the audience was a little bit of shell-shocked. -Understandably.
It's a strange time. Even though it is
a sparser audience, they're here with us,
and that means so much. ♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] -Listen, almost everything
is in this show already, so... It has been something that
everyone will remember. Not so much the audience,
but I think we'll remember it. Gone all the way to the end, and I think should all
be proud of yourselves. And, certainly,
I'm proud of you. And let's send it off
the right way. [ Cheers and applause ] -I think it's a miracle that
we finished the whole season. -It's such an "SNL" thing to do to, like,
be able to pull this off. -It is such an honor to be here hosting the season finale
of "Saturday Night Live." And ---
wait, wait, wait, wait -- And this show
is even more special because it's the first time
this year we have a completely full
audience -- fully vaccinated. [ Cheers and applause ] -Coming back and doing the show in spite of how many
more obstacles there were, I think, was really special. -To have a job,
the fact that it is this job in this building,
and then we get to still do it when it seemed impossible is like, "Whoa, we're very lucky
to get to do this." -And being able to create
and have people at home laugh at something. -Just beyond blessed
and thankful. -There was a moment when Bowen
and I were watching Dua Lipa, and we just were like, "No one else can go to live
concerts or shows right now. And we're here."
I don't know. I get tearful. -I have the utmost respect
for what you're doing. It's amazing. And I didn't want to miss it.
And that's why I'm here. -And to get to see a friend
in person. I mean, I really mean it when,
like, when it's written
into sketches where we get to hug or pat
each other on the back or sit. I remember when we first
were sitting next to each other on that couch in that pre-tape,
we both were like, "Ooh." -Like, I made it.
I made it a year,
and I'm still at the show and we're all still here. -We had each other. And so, even though people
were six feet apart, they were as close
as they've ever been. And I think we just
saw the best in everyone. -It's Saturday night! -Now that it's over, it's
kind of crazy that we did it. -Yeah. -This sucks.
-Love you, man. -I hate this guy.
I hate this guy so much. -I think that's a good ending. ♪♪
