The final Saturday Night Live episode of 2021 did not exactly go as planned after the live audience was sent home and the vast majority of the cast was either out sick with COVID or declined to risk their health for the sake of the show.
So the pressure was on to deliver something better resembling what fans expect from SNL when the show made its big return to Studio 8H this week for the first new episode of 2022.
And they kicked things off with a message from James Austin Johnson’s President Joe Biden about the one thing America can do to end the pandemic for good: “Stop seeing Spider-Man.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“Think about it,” he explained. “When did Spider-Man come out? December 17. When did every single person get Omicron? The week after December 17. Stop seeing Spider-Man.”
For the rest of the cold open sketch, Biden took questions from reporters that mostly ended with him reiterating his plea. “See anything else,” he begged. “I saw the first half hour of House of Gucci. That’s more than enough movie for anyone.”
It wasn’t until the one “nerd” reporter asked the president if he believes that “elsewhere in the multi-verse, there’s a version of you that wants people to see Spider-Man” that the sketch started to pick up.
“Finally, a good question!” Biden said. “I’ve actually thought about this a lot. I’ve consulted with Dr. Fauci and Doctor Strange. As far as I can tell there are at least three Joe Bidens. One of them is me. One of them is a Joe Biden that lost to Trump. That Biden hosts a show on CNBC called ‘T-birds, Tacos and Trains.’ And then there’s a third Joe Biden that was the greatest president in history. My approval ratings are sky high, I’m actually supported by my own party, and I understand the show Euphoria.”
In the end, Pete Davidson showed up as the Biden from the “real universe,” warning that the one we are all living in is about to collapse. “Everyone on Earth is better off in the real world except one man named Pete Davidson,” he joked. “This world is maybe more fun for him.”
For more, listen and subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast.
