'SNL' Crowd Was Filled With First Responders During Season 46 Premiere

Saturday Night Live returned this weekend, and there were some extraordinary guests in-studio. After a series of "at home" episodes that featured cast members performing remotely, the SNL operation returned to Studio 8H inside 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The live audience of the New York City-based NBC variety show was also present, and first responders made up the main portion of the crowd.

Host Chris Rock gave a special shoutout to the floor-seated guests (who were tested for the novel coronavirus before the broadcast) during his opening monologue. After showing them off to the camera, Rock cracked a joke to note how special these essential workers are. He said, "They're so good, we let people die tonight so they could see a good show." Scroll through to see Rock's monologue and the at-home viewers' reactions to the first responder shoutout.