Kylo Ren with some of the stormtroopers he seeks to understand in Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base. Image: Lucasfilm/Disney
I can scarcely believe I’m saying this, but, in a rare moment of genuine humour and clever writing, Saturday Night Live has actually managed to make us laugh for once – with the help of Star Wars.
Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a long way from its heyday, with iconic comedians like Bill Murray, John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler gradually phased out in favour of a bunch of people whose names you’re unlikely to remember two years from now.
The general reaction post-SNL sketch is an utterly underwhelmed ‘meh’, with a few, very occasional smirks to temper the sadly pervasive feeling of dissatisfaction.
With “Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base”, however, SNL took full advantage of host Adam Driver’s arguably most iconic role to date – Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens – to craft a stellar pre-taped segment riffing on Channel 4’s Undercover Boss.
The sketch sees Kylo – undercover as the gloriously unconvincing radar technician, Matt – interact with the crew of Starkiller Base in an effort to understand what’s going on ‘behind the scenes’.
Bobby Moynihan, Leslie Jones and Taran Killam – certainly some of SNL’s more consistent cast members – round out the segment.
This – and, again, I can barely believe I’m saying this – should tickle just about everyone, but Star Wars fans and fans of reality TV will get a special kick out of it.
