This week’s Saturday Night Live was hosted by Aubrey Plaza, whose 2022 included acclaimed turns in the film Emily the Criminal and the second season of White Lotus. Plaza is also capable of bringing both pinpoint comic timing or intense dramatic energy to a scene, as this episode’s ads demonstrated – and her getting the nod to host was an eminently understandable decision from the show’s producers.
Things got especially meta when Weekend Update came around and Plaza appeared as her Parks and Recreation character April Ludgate, there to offer advice for young people interested in working in government. Her appearance was entirely in keeping with her disinterested character over Parks and Recreation‘s run, with advice that included, “If you’re young, you should get a job as a garbageman or something.”
The advice continued in this vein for a while, with the apex of Plaza’s commentary coming with some oddly practical guidelines: “Be a dogcatcher and just say you couldn’t find any.”
At that point, Plaza pointed out that her boss might have some more engaging ideas; cue Amy Poehler’s return to Weekend Update, albeit in character as Leslie Knope. “I used to watch this when Seth Meyers did it by himself, with no one else,” Poehler said.
It’s not the first time there’s been something of a Parks and Recreation reunion since the show ended its run, and Poehler and Plaza fell back into their old rhythms seamlessly. As intra-network crossovers go, it was a thoroughly solid one.
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