By Travis M. Andrews
"Saturday Night Live" returned this weekend after a nearly month-long hiatus, days after Russia invaded Ukraine in the biggest European conflict since World War II.
As Ukrainians fought to hold their capital city of Kyiv for another night, "SNL" skipped its usual comedic cold open in favour of solemnity.
It opened with cast members Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong introducing the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York.
The chorus sang "Prayer for Ukraine," a patriotic hymn and something of a spiritual anthem for Ukraine.
“Prayer for Ukraine” performed by Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York pic.twitter.com/5pi2l1Olpx
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) February 27, 2022
As the song concluded, McKinnon and Strong returned to offer the iconic "Live from New York, it's Saturday night" opening line in subdued tones.
The camera zoomed in on a table full of flickering tea candles, which spelled out "Kyiv." Bushels of sunflowers, the Ukrainian national flower, rested on each side of the table.
"SNL" is no stranger to serious moments. After 9/11, the show opened with then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani standing in front of a group of firefighters and police officers and flanked by then-police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and then-fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen.
In a brief speech, Giuliani praised the first responders and said, "We will not let our decisions be made out of fear. We choose to live our lives in freedom." Paul Simon then performed a triumphant version of "The Boxer."
Country singer Jason Aldean, who had been playing at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas when a gunman opened fire on the crowd, appeared in the first cold open after the shooting.
"I'm struggling to understand what happened that night," he said, before playing a cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down," which also paid homage to Petty, who had recently died.
They haven't all been well-received. Following the death of Leonard Cohen and the election of Donald Trump, one cold open found McKinnon dressed as Hillary Clinton and performing "Hallelujah."
While the open received some praise, it was heavily derided by people on both sides of the political spectrum for being both partisan and, for lack of a better word, corny.
Russia's attack wasn't mentioned again until the Weekend Update segment of the show. .
"This week Russia began their invasion of Ukraine. President Putin launched the attack with support from allies like Belarus and Tucker Carlson," Jost said, likely a reference to the Fox News host dismissing the conflict as a "border dispute" before re-characterising the situation as a conflict that "could become a world war."
Your Weekend Update pic.twitter.com/5zK8IjKSbJ
"Many analysts were surprised Putin went through with the invasion, even though it was obviously going to be a colossal mistake.
“But they couldn't back down after all that build-up. Kind of like how NBC still had to go through with airing the Winter Olympics," Jost continued, needling the network for its airing of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which drew criticism and record-low TV ratings.
"After the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian stock market fell by 30%, to negative 90%," added Michael Che. "This is a tough subject to make jokes about. I mean, in my lifetime I've seen footage of attacks like this on other countries, but never a White one."
Much of the rest of the show was typical "SNL" fare. John Mulaney returned to host the show after a particularly tabloid-heavy year replete with a drug relapse, two stints in rehab, a divorce, a new celebrity relationship and a pregnancy.
He discussed his "very complicated year" in the opening monologue, joking that "it is wonderful to be in a place that's always emphasized sobriety and mental health."
Later in the show, the cast performed one of Mulaney's signature musical theatre mash-ups that pay tribute to various aspects of New York City life. This one, which found featured player Andrew Dismukes buying a churro in a subway station, riffed on "Fiddler on the Roof," South Pacific," "The Music Man" and "Little Shop of Horrors," among others.
Steve Martin, Candice Bergen, Tina Fey and Elliott Gould appeared at one point to welcome Mulaney to the "Five-Timers Club," an elite group of people who have hosted the show five times.
In a twist, they also welcomed Paul Rudd, who technically achieved the honour in a December episode that had to be mostly scrapped because of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York returned at the end of the show for the final goodbyes and wrote a note of gratitude on its Instagram Stories.
"It was such an honour to represent Ukraine and Ukrainians today on @nbcsnl. Please continue to stand with Ukraine and remain strong!" it read, closing with "Slava Ukraini," which means "Glory to Ukraine."
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