I have no idea who Amy Poehler is more remembered for her eight-season run on “Saturday Night Live” or for her seven seasons on the endlessly reviewed “Parks and Recreation,” but two of her favorite projects collapsed together last night when she suddenly appeared. Aubrey Plaza hosted SNL last night and stopped by the Weekend Update as her Parks & Rec character April Ludgate, and luckily for fans, she also brought along her old boss: Leslie Knope from Poehler.
Initially, the purpose of the sketch was for April to explain to young people how they can interact with local authorities. Given her character, she didn’t do it with much enthusiasm; so Leslie Knope had to step in. You can see a really funny moment below…
For me, this is a great example of why Amy Poehler is one of my favorite Weekend Update hosts. She has just the perfect intonation in the way she speaks, which makes it feel like a real news program, and as a comedy performance. Tomorrow she could go full-time and be as brilliant as ever.
Poehler, of course, hosted the Weekend Update during her time on “Saturday Night Live.” She first got this job in 2004 and became one of the presenters together with Tina Fey. The two women were extremely successful and later became partners in projects outside of SNL, such as Sisters and the criminally underrated Baby Mama. After Fey left the show, she briefly chatted with Horatio Sanz before establishing another long-term partnership with Seth Meyers. Thus, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that she has brought her latest dog joke to perfection.
As for the rest of the episode, Aubrey Plaza clearly crushed him. The comedian presented a great parody of “White Lotus” called “Black Lotus”, as well as a parody of “Avatar” and a more traditional sketch comedy that you would expect, such as night games for couples. Plaza was supposed to be a really good presenter, given her comedic timing and willingness to behave strangely, and she lived up to high expectations.
“Saturday Night Live” was interrupted a bit due to the holidays, but it will return next week with upcoming host Michael B. Jordan and musical guest Lil Baby. It should be a great episode, although it will be the second cast without longtime SNL mainstay Cecily Strong. She left the show at the end of the year and, of course, received a send-off, which was very appropriate for someone who had such a tremendous impact on the long-running series.
The head of SNL, Lorne Michaels, called this a transitional year at the beginning of the season, and it’s easy to see why. Fortunately, many of the new actors continue to find their footing. It will be fun to watch the cast continue to come together and rally as we approach the landmark 50th season of SNL, which should be filled with a lot of fun and, I’m sure, a lot of returning players from the show’s glorious history.
