The last time the CBC logo was on Saturday Night Live, host Sandra Oh was wearing a CBC T-shirt while hosting the show about 18 months ago. Saturday Night Live came up with a skit over the weekend about a morning news show called Bonjour Hi from Montréal. Bowen Yang and Kate MacKinnon were Jean-Lawrence (John-Larry) and Anne-Marie, the bubbly hosts.
Jean-Lawrence asked Anne-Marie about her weekend. She suffered an injury after having sex with a Cirque de Soleil performer. She pointed out her surgery was free. Her traffic report mentioned Jacque Cartier as many times as was feasible.
SNL host Issa Rae hosted a Drake Watch segment where she spoke of near sightings of the Toronto rapper. She thought she saw Drake in a wheelchair but realised that Drake was only in a wheelchair on Degrassi. Rae was nominated for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Insecure, but lost out to Catherine O'Hara for Schitt's Creek.
There was an American journalist in the sketch (Mikey Day) who was from De-troi (Detroit). His prize for staying through the sketch was a basket of Montréal bagels.
Bonjour Hi plays on the unofficial greeting in Montréal, showcasing the bilingual status of the city. Some want to see the Hi part of Bonjour Hi phased out.
Rachel McAdams even got some love in the sketch.
The theme of the sketch felt more French than French-Canadian. Jean-Lawrence noted that Montréal was the best parts of Canada and the worst parts of France.
CBC or Radio-Canada would never have a show like this. The sketch had a CBC joke that Schitt's Creek would have been followed by the reboot Schartt's Cavern. An okay joke but funny that Saturday Night Live made a Schitt's Creek joke.
The episode also featured Justin Bieber as a musical guest. The show has been using Canadian Jim Carrey as Joe Biden since the season started on October 3. Carrey does a very good job as the former vice president, though his characterization is greatly exaggerated.
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Saturday Night Live creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels is Canadian. Michaels hasn't used Canada as a background too often in sketches. As SNL sketches go, this was pretty funny. A bit silly and a bit too much French. There was definitely knowledge of Montréal in the sketch. Thought we heard Yang say "tabarnac."
The sketch might have also been a nod to missing Montréal since normally there is an unofficial pipeline between Montréal and New York City for tourism. J'adore Montréal bagels.
Saturday Night Live airs on NBC in the United States and Global in Canada.
video and photo credit: Saturday Night Live/NBC
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