Scrolling through Netflix is an impossibly passive action that exists directly between doing something and doing nothing. In a parody ad for the streaming service this weekend, Saturday Night Live imagined the thought process behind the confusingly random assortment of old game show episodes, series reboots, book adaptations, lauded docuseries, pretend journalism, and Oscar-contending original content that puts users in this kind of indecisive daze: “Our goal is the endless scroll. By the time you reach the bottom of our menu, there’s new shows at the top and thus the Singularity will be achieved,” explains the voice over.
How do the Red Bull–saturated, money-hurling Netflix producers in the SNL parody universe manage this? They “buy everything!” That includes, apparently, a show called Leslie Jones in a Van Getting Batteries and that random drama that has been running for three seasons but has only ever been viewed by one person, in this case Kate McKinnon as an enthusiastic old woman named Ruth.
Two years ago SNL reduced the number of ad breaks in the show, instead opting for the occasional sponsored sketch. While it’s unclear whether the Netflix parody ad falls into this category, the streaming service is extremely easy to promote and make fun of at the same time.
