SNL cold open features exclusive interview with the balloon: 'Can't believe I'm ... trends now
Saturday Night Live mocked the nation's fixation with a Chinese spy balloon which has been overflying the country for the past several days.
In a hastily written and arranged sketch, the show's cold open joked about the obsession with the object and its subsequent popping earlier on Saturday.
A missile strike sent the balloon into Atlantic ocean off the coast of South Carolina.
SNL began its show with a mock news report on the latest developments with MSNBC reporter Katy Tur, played by Chloe Fineman attempting provide analysis to viewers.
SNL's cold open was a hastily arranged sketch based on the U.S. military's downing of a Chinese balloon earlier on Saturday with Bowen Yang playing the downed balloon
SNL began its show with a mock news report on the latest developments with MSNBC reporter Katy Tur, played by Chloe Fineman attempting provide analysis to viewers with mock tweet
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Tur also have the opportunity to interview the balloon, played by none other than Asian castmember Bowen Yang.
'Our long national nightmare is over. We got the balloon,' Tur announced.
'The discovery of the massive surveillance balloon earlier this week inflamed already volatile U.S.-Chinese relations, and had many on the right calling the Biden administration's response soft.
Tur mocked the right-wing hysteria pointing out joke tweets from Donald Trump Jr. saying, 'If my Dad was President, there would be no balloons!!!!!!' and one from Marjorie Taylor Greene stating, 'Look it’s the real moon!'
Tur then interviewed Pentagon official and aviation expert General William Hamilton, played by Kenan Thompson, who announced deadpan: 'We popped the balloon'
Tur then interviewed Pentagon official and aviation expert General William Hamilton, played by Kenan Thompson, who announced deadpan: 'We popped the balloon.'
'General, we have never seen an object like this gain entry into our airspace before. How did that happen?', Tur asked.
Hamilton answered, 'That's an excellent question, Katy. The balloon was somehow able to get past our West Coast anti-balloon defense system — the Seattle Space Needle.
'But once it was here, we were able to keep an eye on it with our sophisticated tracking technology of going like this,' he stated by looking up, to laughter from the audience.
The General explained how the military were able to keep track of the balloon by... looking up!
The General showed a 3D rendering of the balloon which turned out to be a blow up toy balloon.
'I want everyone to know that we will not tolerate any form of Chinese spying,' the General said. 'But to be honest, they have everything they need from TikTok, so scroll away kids!'
Tur then turned to the remains of the balloon itself, with whom the network had secured a live interview.
'Well, ya got me! Congrats, you shot a balloon,' Yang's balloon mocked.
'Well, I'm sorry you are in the water, but thank you for speaking to us,'
