‘SNL’ opens cold weather with NFL theme before playoff games

TELEVISION

By Jack Hobbs

It definitely wasn’t a touchdown.

“Saturday night live” ruined his NFL-themed cold open after proclaiming that football is “the only thing that everyone still watches.”

Saturday’s kickoff of the long-running sketch show featured cast member Andrew Dismukes as former Dallas Cowboys quarterback turned commentator Tony Romo and James Austin Johnson as announcer Jim Nantz.

“Hello everyone and welcome to the AFC championship game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs,” says Johnson, 34, like Nantz. “I’m Jim Nantz, along with Tony Romo.”

“A quick shout out to one of our sponsors,” Johnson continues. “Do you love to shake, rattle and roll? Because you will do all three in a Boeing 737 Max. Boeing, because that’s the sound it makes when the screws fly away.”

The satirical version of the sports broadcast also poked fun at how after the game, which Dismukes, 28, joked will be “an all-out battle for the next three hours,” the real football season will be over.

After the superficial statement, Nantz reminds his colleague that they still have the Super Bowl, to which Romo responds: “That’s not real football. “The Super Bowl is for commercials and Usher and people who have never watched football asking how many points a touchdown is worth.”

“Today is the last day of real football just for us,” he continues, earning some laughs from the live audience.

Disturbed by his colleague’s statement, Nantz sends it to a much larger panel of CBS broadcasters who are equally dismayed.

“I’m realizing that after this game is over, there’s just… nothing left,” says Phil Simms (played by Michael Longfellow).

“What are men supposed to do on Sundays now? Just go to your friends’ houses for no reason? Adds Bill Cowher (played by Mikey Day).

“Without football, what are we going to talk about? I mean, does anyone have anything remotely interesting or insightful to say? Devon Walker stars as Nate Burleson.

“This is not just about us,” Day, 43, says. “America needs soccer. “It’s the only thing everyone keeps seeing.”

“Especially live,” jokes James Brown, played by “SNL” veteran Kenan Thompson, 45, cracking a small smile. “There is no other live television that can be viewed even remotely.”

The segment then went on a tangent where commentators compared the football loss to the “Barbie” team’s snub during the Oscar nominations.

“I understand they snubbed Margot Robbie, really,” Day says. “But are they coming after Gosling? “Ken was the first time I felt seen in a movie.”

Taylor Swift, who has garnered much of the attention this NFL season, also received recognition after Chiefs head coach Andy Reid (Molly Kearney) said he was sad she would no longer be able to date him. “Bad Blood” singer. , 34, who is dating tight end Travis Kelce, 34.

The segment ends with Walker stating that despite not having football, “they still have each other.”

“To quote ‘Fast and Furious’ 3 to 7,” Walker says, “it’s about family, and not counting my wife and three kids, you’re the only family I have.”

The group then sings a parody rendition of “See you later” called “When there is football again”.

Several social media users received the inauguration very coldly.

“This was terrible,” said one viewer. wrote in X. “This year’s writing has been terrible.”

“The worst!! Could have been fun with Taylor Swift swinging out of her box window. So many possibilities,” a second person aggregate.

“This was one of the worst cold opens I’ve ever seen,” it crashed a third person.