Last weekend, a Saturday Night Live (SNL) skit about a dog acting school went wrong in all the right ways, reported TV Line.
Hosted by Ana de Armas and Chloe Fineman, the skit featured the pair as acting coaches Yolanda Batista and Donna Colonoscopini. Both actors presented an infomercial for the “semi-accredited” Enter Stage Woof: Acting School for Dogs. While presenting their canine acting school, the duo brought out several dogs as part of their performance. However, in the end, almost none of the dogs follow the script.
A dog acting school commercial gone awry
Of course, it’s the unpredictable nature of the animals that makes the sketch funny. For the first part of the three-part skit, a large Golden Retriever named Henry immediately goes off-script by burying his head behind the table. Despite trying to get him in front of the camera, Henry continues his improv. Afterward, de Armas asks Henry to show some emotional range. Hilariously, when asked to show shock and fear, Henry’s facial expression doesn’t budge. However, an off-camera crew member did happen to find some perfect props to cover Henry’s eyes.
Next, de Armas brings in Coco the Pug, who ostensibly will go full-nude in any scene “for the right price.” Hilariously, de Armas says Coco will do it even if the price isn’t right.
In the next gag, Romeo—another dog—is introduced to perform the “patented Lady and the Tramp technique” with Fineman. Based on the memorable Disney movie scene, Fineman tries to get Romeo to share a plate of noodles with her. With much comedic effect, Romeo is not interested in the pasta and tries to get off-stage immediately. Not surprisingly, the bit’s failure arguably works better than if it went as scripted.
The next segments only elicited a few scattered laughs. There are some poorly-Photoshopped images of dogs wearing various costumes or being caught in an inter-special relationship with a cat. Compared to the unintentionally perfect canine performances earlier in the sketch, these bits fall a bit flat.
No matter how things pan out, dogs always make us laugh
However, the final skit features Jelly Bean, who’s also a Pug, but this time a puppy. According to Fineman, Jelly Bean was recently cast as an alien from outer space sent to destroy Earth. After bringing out a scale model of the Seattle skyline, Jelly Bean reluctantly sniffs some of the buildings. After Fineman topples over the model Space Needle, a recorded track of explosions and screams goes off, contrasting ironically with Jelly Bean’s gentle nature.
The sketch highlights that the beauty of animal sketches is that if they go well, everybody laughs, but if they go horribly, everybody laughs too.
