Saturday Night Live recap: Bill Burr hosts, with replacement musical guest Jack White
Bill Burr #BillBurr
Welcome back, Coneheads, to SNL in Review! We continue our deep sea exploration of Saturday Night Live season 46. As always, the goings-on at Studio 8H stay interesting. As a result of New York City guidelines around the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, TV productions are not allowed to host audiences unless they consist of employees — so last week’s audience was apparently paid, as if they were NBC hired hands. Paid … to laugh? Let’s put that one on the back burner…
Meanwhile, country music star Morgan Wallen’s debut musical performance on the show was canceled after videos surfaced of him partying with a large crowd of people and not wearing a mask. He has been replaced by Jack White, who makes his fourth appearance on the show — three solo gigs and a 2002 gig as a member of The White Stripes, performing “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” and “We’re Going to Be Friends.”
Tonight’s host is stand-up comedian and F Is For Family star, Bill Burr. This should be a treat. I am always a big fan of watching stand-up bred comics adapt to the SNL format — that is partly why the ‘86-’93 golden age is my personal favorite. But Burr also costarred alongside cast member Pete Davidson this summer in The King of Staten Island. Davidson considers Burr a mentor and friend.
And speaking of a #BurrFriend, we are joined tonight by former SNL cast member Jeff Richards, who recently launched a brilliant podcast, The Jeff Richards Show. In each episode, Richards is always mysteriously absent, replaced by a celebrity “guest host,” played by Richards. (As proof of concept: Deep Fake teasers with Jamie Kennedy and Bonnie McFarlane are already out.) In fact, one of Jeff’s first guests is first-year cast member Punkie Johnson, making her second appearance on the show tonight. So buckle up everyone, let’s see what the show has in store … for her and us!
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