If there’s been an overarching theme to this season of SNL‘s hosts, it seems to be people with a background in sketch comedy. Consider: Amy Schumer, Dave Chappelle, Martin Short and Quinta Brunson all did memorable work in sketch shows before setting foot on the stage of 30 Rock. All of which made onetime SNL cast member Molly Shannon’s return to the stage this weekend feel like the apex of a certain theme.
It doesn’t hurt that Shannon is also, you know, very funny. She also raises the level of the people around her, a talent that was on display in several ways on Saturday’s episode. This included her joining the Please Don’t Destroy guys for a sketch about playing a Molly Shannon-themed video game.
The sketch leans in to the inherent absurdity of the video game in question, and also gets in a few digs at comedians griping about cancel culture. The actual video game takes some truly bizarre turns, ultimately ending up as a de facto tribute to Shannon herself.
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In 2015, there was skepticism over whether “SNL” could do her work justice. Things are very different now.Longtime Please Don’t Destroy viewers might note that PDD member Martin Herlihy has ventured into similar territory before, with a 2021 sketch about a Shailene Woodley video game. The end of the earlier sketch posited a world in which nearly every celebrity has their own Madden-style game franchise. The mind boggles as to where that might take then next.
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