In it’s first show of the new year — and U.S. presidency — Saturday Night Live‘s (SNL) cold open parodied a show centered on asking what still worked in American society.
The show, aptly named “What still works?” was hosted by cast member Kate McKinnon, and featured GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s QAnon conspiracy theories, the Gamestop stock market surge, social media censorship on right-wing voices and America’s progress on its COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Starting off with an interview with Greene, who was played by cast member Cecily Strong, McKinnon began to ask the Georgia congresswoman a slew of questions in order to get the bottom of whether or not the U.S. government still worked.
“Thanks for having me,” said Greene, who then offered a gun to the host.
The congresswoman then began to list some of her “theories,” starting off with her belief that the 2018 Parkland shooting was a hoax.
“The teachers were actors and the children were dolls,” she said. “I believe 9/11 was a hoax — did anyone actually see it happen?”
“I also told my supporters they should physically murder Nancy Pelosi … oh and this is the new one that came out — I think that the California wildfires were caused by Jewish space lasers.”
In response, McKinnon asked if those were real things she believed and told other people about.
“And you’re a U.S. representative — you represent the U.S? People can Google you and it’ll she say she’s a real member of the U.S. government?” she asked, later concluding that government doesn’t work.
Next up in the show was the topic of the stock market, and featured the new majority owner of Gamestop, played by cast member Pete Davidson.
“First of all its pronounced the ‘stonk market’ — I put all my money in Gamestop and I can’t lose,” said Davidson’s character, who was clueless about the business and the stock market itself.
According to Davidson, the whole model was a dying business and that the stock price should of went down but instead it “went up the most,” with both of him and McKinnon coming to the conclusion that the entire system was a joke.
“The stock market no longer works, next let’s look at social media,” said McKinnon, who introduced Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, played by Mikey Day and Alex Moffat, respectively.
McKinnon’s question to them was on those platform’s moves to suspend the accounts of prominent conservatives who were inciting violence.
“How did that go?” she asked, to which Dorsey said that it didn’t go well, and that it forced people to “darker, scarier apps where their delusion and bloodlust can go wild.”
“And fundamentally, Facebook still works. Not only does it help form communities online, it has helped people meet and connect in real life, for example — at the Capitol,” added Zuckerberg, who started to laugh maniacally and perform a dabbing motion with his arms.
For McKinnon’s next segment — whether or not the U.S. vaccine rollout was working — she questioned O.J. Simpson on how he got his dose of the vaccine before teachers or those with long term health conditions.
“So among the first three per cent of all Americans who got the vaccine was O.J. Simpson?”
“Hey, guilty as charged — about the vaccine,” piped Simpson, who was played by Kenan Thompson.
The last topic found that Tom Brady, played in the segment by John Krasinski, might be the only thing in America that was still working, but almost no one was rooting for him.
“You know what, I’ll be rooting for you Tom Brady, because you might be the only thing this goddamn country can still rely on and it’s not like you’re a weird Trump guy or anything right?” asked McKinnon, to which Brady says thanks and abruptly leaves.
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