Kate McKinnon Gets Choked Up in SNL Cold Open About This ‘Very Crazy Year’: ‘We Realized We’re More Than Just a Cast, We’re a Family’

For their season finale, the cast of Saturday Night Live used the show’s cold open to reminisce about this “very crazy year” during the pandemic, and Kate McKinnon got a bit choked up talking about how the year had taught them that they were “more than just a cast, they were a family.”

“This year was crazy,” said Aidy Bryant.

“It was so crazy that it made a lot of us crazy,” added Cecily Strong.

“It was actually a pretty fun year for me,” said Kenan Thompson, “but I discovered that people don’t love hearing that. So I’m just going to say, yeah, it was crazy.”

“I hosted the first episode of the season,” said Chris Rock. “That feels like six years ago. Here’s how messed up the world was then. When I hosted, Kanye West was gonna be the musical guest, but he couldn’t because he was running for president. Remember that? Also the week I was here, the sitting president, who said covid would disappear, got covid! That was this season, okay? That was this season.”

“Mostly we remember how lucky we were to have a job when so many people were out of work,” said Thompson.

“We remember losing members of our SNL family like our beloved music producer Hal Willner,” said Bryant. Willner died on April 7, 2020, a day after his 64th birthday.

“And so many members of the cast and crew who we thought of every time we did a show,” said Thompson.

“This is the year — ooh,” McKinnon started, taking a moment to collect herself before continuing, “we realized we’re more than just a cast, we’re a family.”

“And, like a true family, we are kind of sick of each other and we need a little break,” said Bryant.

“So we’ll see everybody — fingers crossed! — at Thanksgiving,” said Thompson

“Thank you for staying with us through an election, an insurrection, and an objection that there was an insurrection,” said Strong.

“As someone who played Rudy Giuliani and experienced the year through his eyes,” said McKinnon, “I can tell you it was one wild ride, baby.”

Watch the video above, via NBC.