SNL's High School Graduation Commercial Captures the Day's Surreal, Chaotic Vibe
The commercial parody takes on ALL the tropes, from salty speeches to pregnant teens.
Get ready for the most highly anticipated event in town: high school graduation!
Saturday Night Live turned the typical graduation ceremony into a production worthy of a local TV promo in Season 43's "Graduation Commercial."
It has the vibe of a low-budget ad for a monster truck rally, but the action instead centers on class speaker Amy Mitchell (Kate McKinnon) who, as the commercial's announcer (Beck Bennett) says, "doesn't know how to work that mic." She's followed by valedictorian Oliver Klein (Kyle Mooney), aka "the smartest kid in class giving the world's saltiest speech."
"Some of us weren't considered 'cool' or 'popular' and girls didn't 'notice me,' but in a few years boy oh, boy things are going to change and you wish you had gotten with me," Oliver tells the crowd, as the announcer chimes in with, "BITTER MUCH?"
There's the student who needs to make a political statement, the kid who keeps claiming he'll do. back handspring, "an when visibly pregnant senior Courtney King takes the stage, watch that hit the parent section like an atomic bomb!"
All while dads hold up iPads and grandparents try not to pass out from the heat. Whether you graduated this year or 20 years ago, "Graduation Commercial" is so relatable it hurts.
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SNL's "Graduation Commercial" filming was captured by satellite on Google Maps
"Graduation Commercial" was written by Mikey Day, who plays a graduate promising not to break up with his sophomore girlfriend, alongside co-head writer Streeter Seidell.
The faux ceremony was filmed at Queensbridge Park in Long Island City, Queens — which is confirmed in screenshots shared by an eagle-eyed Redditor in a post titled "Turns out SNL was filming 'Graduation Commercial' at the same time Google Maps took their latest satellite pictures of Queensbridge Park."
The screenshot overlays a photo of Kenan Thompson in the sketch against the Google Map view, which indeed reveals the entire production set in its satellite shot (including the telltale gold "2018" balloon).
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SNL loves a graduation ceremony gone wrong
SNL has taken on high school graduations many times over the years. In Season 46, a commencement ceremony was interrupted by parents who were unable to hold in their reactions until all the names were read. Ego Nwodim and Host Keegan-Michael Key bragged about their kid's Gucci belt and the fact that he never read a single book, and when their godson walked the stage, they unsuccessfully begged him to do a backflip.
In Season 33, Host Steve Carell led the graduation ceremony for students from The Pounder School for Students With Special Needs, where it turned out every single student had a ridiculous and/or offensive-sounding name.
One of the best remembered graduation sketches aired in Season 34 when Zac Efron hosted the show. He reprised his High School Musical character Troy Bolton and spoke at East High's commencement ceremony. He controversially decided to tell the graduates what happens after high school, and they were all shocked.
"Here's the deal: No one sings at college," he revealed. "And from what I can tell, this is America's only singing high school. I was as shocked as you are!"
He recalled singing a song called "Nervous but Excited" on his first day and being horrified that there was no choreography, but that wasn't the worst part. Apparently, East High taught its students absolutely nothing, and not even Troy's basketball skills will save him.
Congrats to all the grads out there!
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