What would have happened to the astronauts in Gravity if the federal government had been shut down during their outer space mishap? The cold open from this week’s episode of Saturday Night Live shows viewers just what that would have been like.
In the parody, SNL actors Cecily Strong and Taran Killam play two astronauts, based on George Clooney’s Matt Kowalski and Sandra Bullock’s Ryan Stone in the sci-fi movie Gravity. The two have lost physical contact with the Hubble Space Telescope and are having trouble making contact with NASA — because there’s no one there except the janitor.
“Well, uh, this is awkward, but the government has shut down,” janitor Carl, played by Kenan Thompson, informs the pair. “It turns out I’m the only essential employee in the place, but I could have told you that months ago.”
Carl tells the astronauts he’ll take down a message for them. But after the duo convince him they need a strategy, he agrees to help them. His only suggestion, however, is to release tiny burps to get back down to earth — like Charlie and his grandfather used in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
A second janitor, a Ukrainian woman played by Kate McKinnon, joins Carl in trying to help the astronauts — but she can only speak in broken English about the space-themed television shows her son likes to watch.
“Maybe you get him job,” she barters with the astronauts. “He need money so he can move back to Ukraine where government is more stable.”
When it’s clear the janitors will be no help, one of the astronauts laments that she is running out of oxygen and can’t think.
“Neither can Congress,” McKinnon’s character says.
Watch the clip below:
