Weekend Update on 'SNL' reports on Tucker Carlson, rats carrying COVID, and the Oscars

"Saturday Night Live" more than lived up to my expectations to be part two of the Sunday entertainment feature as the show opened with a send-up of Oscars red (but not this year) carpet coverage and Weekend Update: Tucker Carlson's Texts About Trump, Biden's Billionaire Tax included a joke connecting Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the apparent snub of Viola Davis.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Tucker Carlson releasing edited footage from the January 6 capitol attack.

I'll return to the Oscars at the end of the post. Right now, I'm glad that 'SNL' gave its own take on Tucker Carlson and Fox News, along with other stories I should write about, like Biden's tax plan. The next segment I'm embedding features one of those stories, Weekend Update: New York City Rats Carry COVID, Berlin's Topless Pools.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like a man's plan to live underwater for 100 days.

I'm not the least bit surprised that rats carry COVID-19. Deer carry COVID, so why not rats?

One bit of silly political news deserved its own segment, Weekend Update: Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally on Gay Instagram Thirst Traps.

Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (Molly Kearney) stops by Weekend Update to address getting caught commenting and liking on gay thirst traps on Instagram.

*Snork* As the meme says:


Also, projection is the Right's favorite defense mechanism.

Follow over the jump for two more segments that qualify this as part two of the Sunday entertainment feature.

Weekend Update ended with James Austin Johnson's Random Celebrity Impressions.

James Austin Johnson stops by Weekend Update to share some short celebrity impressions.

Leftovers for dessert. I would have left this video out except for Johnson's Donald Trump impression, which never fails to impress me.

I conclude with Oscars Red Carpet Cold Open.

Celebrities like Mike Tyson (Kenan Thompson), Jamie Lee Curtis (Chloe Fineman), Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson (Mikey Day, Molly Kearny), and George Santos (Bowen Yang) get interviewed on the 2023 Oscars red carpet.

My prediction that, as long as George Santos remains in the news, he will be an inspiration for comedy continues to come true. Also, I think Bowen Yang's recurring impression of Santos will be a factor in his earning another Emmy nomination.

Since I included two mentions of the Oscars in this entry, I'm going to conclude with the following linkspam. Yes, this is officially an Oscars post.

Previous entries about the 2023 Academy Awards

• 'Fire of Love' and 'All That Breathes' — two Oscar-nominated documentaries I'm recommending to my students
• 'Navalny,' 'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,' and 'A House Made of Splinters' — three political and social issue documentaries nominated at the Oscars
• 'The Elephant Whisperers' and 'Haulout' - two Oscar-nominated short documentaries for World Wildlife Day
• 'The Martha Mitchell Effect,' 'Stranger at the Gate,' and 'How Do You Measure a Year?' — three Oscar-nominated short documentaries
• Nominees for Original Song plus my borrowed predictions of the Oscar winners