Super relatable 'SNL' skit about calling Dad is striking an emotional chord with viewers
People are calling it “oddly profound and sentimental.”
We've all had these types of conversations with our dad, apparently.
While Saturday Night Live is normally meant to produce laughs, every so often a sketch comes along that unexpectedly tugs on the heartstrings. “Calling Dad” is one of those sketches.
The scene, as part of the November 9, 2024 episode featuring comedian Bill Burr, shows two grown men (Andrew Dismukes and Devon Walker) attempting to call their fathers (Burr and Kenan Thompson) and establish an emotional connection. Unfortunately, they struggle to talk about "anything real.”
Thompson’s dad character can’t seem to delve into anything deeper than surface level sports chat—primarily how the Philadelphia Eagles were doing—while Burr barely gets out two sentences before saying “Well, I’ll let you go.”
Dismukes decides to call his dad back for another attempt, which doesn’t prove much better as Burr is solely focused on whether or not his son has had the oil changed in his car.
As the scene progresses, however, both sports and cars become metaphors for something else weighing on the dads’ minds. Thompson wistfully shares how, even though the Eagles have “been around for a while,” he was “starting to feel like maybe the Eagles don't got much time left.”
On a much more blunt note, Burr admits the real reason behind his oil change concerns, saying “my car just wants to be closer to your car because my car’s car died around the age your car is now.”
When Dismukes tries to suss out whether his dad is trying to share something a little more vulnerable than auto maintenance, Burr insists they’re only talking about cars…just before suggesting that their “cars” go to Ireland together to see where “our cars’ family is from.”
And the pièce de résistance: when Dismukes says “I love you” to dad, he is met with “Well, I’ll let you go.”
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Though the scene did have some funny moments, it clearly struck a deeper emotional chord with viewers who have clearly had these exact same types of conversations with their own fathers.
“This made me CRY. And then laugh. And then cry,” one person commented. “Make those calls. You truly will not know when they’re gone.”
“The older you get the more you will understand how real this is. Made me cry~my dad exactly!” another added.
One viewer called it “oddly profound and sentimental,” adding, “Didn’t think SNL had this kind of father/son messaging up their sleeve.”
Quite a few were compelled to revisit memories of their own late dads.
“My dad died last year. He was from Boston and when I called him he ALWAYS said ‘what's going on, buddy?’ And now I'm in tears,” said one person.
Another wrote, “My dad always asked if I've checked the oil lately and always told me to drive safe when I left my parents' house. ‘I love you’ is said in many ways. <3”
And of course, many were inspired to call their own dads immediately, even if they knew the conversation would be about the same old trivial subjects. Because maybe they're not so trivial after all. Maybe in a world where men being affectionate is still a somewhat novel concept, we cherish being told “I love you” in whatever way they can manage. After all, we won’t hear those messages forever.
