Saturday Night Live is back and spotty as ever, but between last week’s opening monologue from Phoebe Waller-Bridge and this week’s genius new movie parody, it looks like the show’s still got it. During the Saturday’s episode, host David Harbour starred in a fake trailer about another Joker-style origin story about a very different—but equally as beloved—anti-hero: Oscar the Grouch.
“From director Todd Phillips and the writer of P Is for Potty,” the trailer says, as we catch glimpses of all our favorite Sesame Street residents, from Grover to Big Bird and beyond—and no one is, uh, doing too well. Bert get killed during an alleyway mugging over his rubber duckie, Wayne family style, Mr. Snuffleupagus is a pimp, and the Count is just counting pills now. Elmo gets busted for selling crack at one point, too.
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But as fun as the Sesame Street references are or whatever, it’s Harbour who really makes the parody work—he nails it perfectly, right down to his Joaquin Phoenix impression. He even came up with the idea himself, according to the sketch’s writer.
“If everyone calls you trash, and everyone treats you like trash, why don’t you just become trash?” Harbour whines over shots of Oscar walking down a very dark and decrepit version of Sesame Street. “Can you do me one favor? Can you call me the Grouch?”
Give the whole thing a watch above and prepare yourself for the inevitable dark Arthur reboot about DW rising through the ranks of the Elwood City criminal underworld or whatever.
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