Saturday Night Live broke new ground two weeks ago when the iconic show aired its first-ever taped episode produced from the homes of the cast, host and musical guest. It was an impressive, if somewhat gimmicky, feat. Now itâs the new status quo.
Unlike the debut of SNL at Home, this week saw a legitimate cold open sketch, with none other than Brad Pitt as Dr. Anthony Fauci.
âFirst, Iâd like to thank all the older women in America who have sent me supportive, inspiring, and sometimes graphic emails,â Pittâs Fauci began. âNow, thereâs been a lot of misinformation out there about the virus. And, yes, the president has taken some liberties with our guidelines. So tonight, I would like to explain what the president was trying to say. And, remember, letâs all keep an open mind.â
Over the next few minutes, the doctor presented clips of Trump lying about the coronavirus and his administrationâs response. And unlike the real Fauci, Pitt refuted them unequivocally one by one.
When Trump said there would be a vaccine ârelatively soon,â Fauci said, âRelative to the entire history of Earth, sure, the vaccineâs going to come real fast. But if you were to tell a friend, âIâll be over relatively soonâ and then showed up a year and a half later, well, your friend may be relatively pissed off.â
When Trump said the virus would âdisappearâ like a âmiracle,â Fauci said, âWho doesnât love miracles? But miracles shouldnât be plan A. Even Sully tried to land at the airport first.â
And then there was Trumpâs latest suggestion that UV light inside the body or injecting disinfectant could be an effective cure. All Fauci could do after that was facepalm and say, âI know I shouldnât be touching my face, butâŚâ
Until the president ultimately fires him, Fauci promised, âIâm going to be there, putting out the facts for whoeverâs listening. And when I hear things like âthe virus can be cured if everyone takes the Tide pod challenge,â Iâll be there to say, âPlease donât.ââ
Taking off his glasses and wig, Pitt dropped the character and said, âTo the real Dr. Fauci, thank you for your calm and your clarity in this unnerving time. And thank you to the medical workers, first responders, and their families for being on the frontline.â
âAnd now, live, kinda, from all across America,â he concluded, âitâs Saturday night.â
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