On the May 6 episode of Saturday Night Live, "The House" sketch didn't have an introduction or an identifying bumper. It just started like any other sketch and featured host Chris Pine, but it soon included long, lingering staredowns, tense music, and arguments about margaritas. It became clear that "The House" sketch on SNL was a spot-on parody of house-based reality TV shows like Big Brother and '90s favorite The Real World. The audience didn't even learn the title of the show until the end of the sketch, but it didn't matter, because the skit expertly portrayed all of them and really could have been any of them.
The sketch begins with Pine and Beck Bennett's characters playing video games while sitting on a couch. Bennett decides he's done playing and asks Pine to watch TV with him later. In a wide shot, the audience sees a camera and hears some music punctuating the promise — clear indications that this is definitely a reality show. Once Bennett's character leaves, cast member Kyle Mooney enters to remind Pine that he's making margaritas later and Pine says they'll be perfect as he and Bennett watch TV. This does not sit well with Mooney's character, who then speaks to the camera, reality TV show style.
"Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?" Mooney asks no one in particular. The confusion and drama escalates from there, over these small things made super dramatic with staredowns, tense music, surprise pina coladas, random rivalries, and, of course, forgiveness. It totally reminded me of The Real World and Big Brother housemate arguments.
Well, until an armed robber bursts through the door and he too gets an on-camera interview. "Welcome to my awkward life," the robber declares. Check out the sketch in the video below.
