Cut SNL Sketch Imagines Morning Show Bummed Out By Ferguson News

Delivering perky, upbeat news on a local morning show is tough—honestly, who’s really that happy at 5 a.m.?—but you know what’s really hard? Being perky and upbeat while your city is burning and army tanks are rolling down residential streets as your viewers are bombed with tear gas. SNL spoofed that very moment in a sketch that got cut from Saturday’s show — a pity, because it’s kinda great.

Kenan Thompson and Cecily Strong played beleaguered St. Louis morning show hosts struggling to be bright and shiny the morning after National Guard-filled protests in their hometown following the death of Michael Brown at the hands of former Officer Darren Wilson. As funny as it is, the pair illuminated what real life hosts of Live With Kelly and Michael!, Today, Good Morning America, The View and Wendy Williams have been grappling with over the last few weeks — how to cover cops killing people without being indicted or punished and America’s widening racial divide because of it. Some did it well (Wendy, surprisingly) while others probably just shouldn’t have discussed the issue at all (Hi, View ladies). Maybe canceling the day’s show, like Thompson and Strong, is the best solution if a show doesn’t add to the conversation or do well at distracting us?