‘SNL’ uses fictitious Phoenix shopping mall as setting for hilarious skit
Dec 6, 2017, 10:03 AM | Updated: 1:20 pm
A young girl was almost struck by falling glass after a gas main exploded at a Phoenix clothing store as first reported by Action News 9 at five.
That was the scene as the news station’s anchors went to a live shot of the fictitious incident at a made-up shopping center in downtown Phoenix.
The video was a Dec. 2 “Saturday Night Live” skit with mainstay Kenan Thompson as reporter Ben Hartley.
Hartley had a serious demeanor when he began his interview with two shoppers.
Shortly after, the attitude turned from chaotic to comical because of an account of a man at the store who was obsessed over his purchase of a doll that was apparently a gift for himself.
In the skit, Hartley interviewed a woman and asked her if her children were OK.
The woman said her children were fine, but the incident was almost an afterthought.
She quickly turned her attention toward the man who bought the doll.
“He was arguing with the salesperson, saying his doll’s hair style looked sort of sloppy and not of the period,” the woman told the reporter.
The man, standing next to the female shopper, interrupted.
“Yeah, and then the explosion happened. It was just like a boom,” the man said, motioning with his hands.
The woman said she “instinctively” grabbed her daughter and pulled her close because she was freaked out by the man’s presence. She said her daughter missed getting hit by falling glass because of her quick response.
The reporter responded, “Thank God you were obsessed with your doll’s hairstyle, sir,” the reporter said.
As if those accounts weren’t enough, the anchors got more people involved.
The anchors went to a gas company spokesman live via satellite.
The gas company spokesman told the anchor there was no trouble.
There’s no reason to panic,” she said. Just because a grown man collects dolls, it doesn’t means he’s a predator.”
The anchor replied, “I was referring to the gas main explosion.” The spokesman reacted, “Oh, yes, that’s very bad.”
The man becomes visibly shaken after the anchors go back to the scene with their reporter. The man again interrupts a person who was at the scene.
This time, it’s a member of emergency personnel after the doll, who was injured, is held up for the camera.
The man stopped the interview to put a hat on his doll.
The reporter asked the anchors if they “could believe” how the event unfolded and that the incident would result in the closure of the store for several months.
“No, it’s definitely his doll, right?” the anchor asked.
