There was, blessedly, no reason to cringe at a tone-deaf Saturday Night Live cold open while the nation of Ukraine is fighting for its continued existence.
The live sketch comedy series returned from a month-long hiatus on Saturday with its typical “cold open” segment — the frequently political sketch that airs before the credits, always ending with the call-out “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” — given over to something much more poignant. A performance from Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York kicked things off, with the group singing a moving rendition of “Prayer for Ukraine.”
The segment ended with stars Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong, who also introduced the group, returning to deliver a solemn read of the “live from New York” catchphrase. In our last view of the scene, the camera tracks in close to a small wooden table holding a cluster of memorial candle, some of which are positioned to spell out the name of Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv.
SNL navigated this tricky moment with class and thoughtfulness. There’s nothing to laugh at in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the show’s writers and producers rightly recognized that and created space for an expression of solidarity in the most high-profile moment of any episode (cold opens are regularly the most-watched sketches). The rest of the show that followed got back to the business of laughs, but skipping the cold open was the right choice.
