On Monday, TV expert Bob Thompson joined Boston Public Radio, where he gave his thoughts of this weekend's first-ever work-from-home edition of “Saturday Night Live.”
Despite having a few gripes, the Syracuse professor called the show “a noble effort.”
"I thought that is was amazing that they pulled it off as quickly as they did,” Thompson said. "It had some real moments that promised that if this goes on for a long time... you could actually do a show like this.”
The episode included an at-home monologue from actor Tom Hanks, who many will remember as one of the first public figures to be diagnosed with COVID-19, back in March. Thompson called the choice to have Hanks host a “stroke of genius."
“He’s got the street cred of having had the virus — that was both funny and kind of macabre,” he said.
In a deviation from the show's traditional format, most of the weekend's Zoom-edition of “SNL” was pre-taped. Thompson said he hopes to see the show’s creators stage a fully live Zoom-edition of the show.
“That could be a train wreck,” he said,"but it would sure be interesting.”
Thompson is the founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and a Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
