Rewatch Chadwick Boseman in hilarious 'SNL' Black Jeopardy sketch (original) (raw)
Published on August 29, 2020 10:19AM EDT
When Black Panther competed on Black Jeopardy we were all winners.
Two months after the release of Marvel's blockbuster hit Black Panther, its star Chadwick Boseman made his Saturday Night Live hosting debut to prove his comedy chops and issue a warning to all Karens: "Keep your bland ass potato salad to yourself."
Boseman, whose death from colon cancer at age 43 was announced Friday, got back into character as Black Panther's T'Challa to play Black Jeopardy for the April 2018 episode's sketch of the night.
While Tom Hanks in the previous version of the recurring sketch highlighted some of the similarities between Donald Trump supporters and Black people in America, the sketch with Boseman served to highlight cultural differences between Black Americans and Black Africans.
"This might be the blackest Black Jeopardy yet," host Darnell Hayes (Kenan Thompson) exclaims while introducing the ruler of fictional African nation Wakanda.
T'Challa gets off to a rocky start, not quite thinking the same way as his competitors, Shanice (Leslie Jones) and Rashad (Chris Redd).
After Darnell reads the clue: “The policeman says there’s been some robberies in your neighborhood and asks if you have ‘any information.’” T'Challa rings in to answer in the form of a question: “What is not only do I tell this man what I know but I also assist him in tracking down the offender. After all, our ministers of law enforcement are only here to protect us. Is this correct?”
“I mean, it should be," a shrugging Darnell replies. "I’m thinking, you haven't spent much time in America”
T'Challa finally catches on during the category "White People" when he gets the question: “Your friend Karen brings her potato salad to your cookout.”
T’Challa admits he’s never had potato salad, but can sense that “this white woman does not season her food."
"So something tells me that I should say… 'Ah, hell naw, Karen. Keep your bland ass potato salad to yourself,'" T’Challa answers.
"Yes! Yes! Oh, man, you got it, T’Challa!" Darnell replies enthusiastically.
In an appearance on EW's The Awardist podcast earlier this week, Thompson discussed the popular recurring sketch with EW's Sarah Rodman, revealing the pressure the writers felt to get it right when Boseman hosted because of the importance of Black Panther.
"We were like, Oh, s—t. Black people are having probably the biggest action superhero moment in history right now," Thompson recalled. "We can't just, like, go downwards with this. This is a big moment for him, for Black people, for Black Jeopardy, for everything Black. So we found the common ground of Africans and African-Americans being quite different."
"You can find that common ground and keep that bland ass potato salad to yourself," Thompson laughed.
After news of Boseman's death on Friday, Thompson posted a photo of the actor on Instagram with the caption: "Rest in power King!!!! Thank you for it all!!!"
Watch the full sketch above.
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