The return of Nate Bargatze and his now-classic George Washington sketch points to the surprise viral hits that have kept the show going 50 years on.
It seemed like just another sketch, fated to oblivion or niche fandom at best. When “Washington’s Dream” first aired on Saturday Night Live last October, it lacked the timely setup or spirited hijinks that typically go viral on the program. Then-host Nate Bargatze played General George Washington giving a pivotal pep talk to his weary Revolutionary War troops, inviting them closer to the campfire of his vision. “We fight for a country of our own,” he said, “a new nation, where we choose our own laws.” What followed was a lengthy bit about breaking with the metric system, but thanks to Bargatze’s deadpan delivery—typical of the staid disquisitions and slow pacing his stand-up has become famous for—the scene became an instant classic.
Last night, with Bargatze returning to host during the show’s 50th season, SNL reprised the moment. “Washington’s Dream 2” took place during the Founding Father’s famous crossing of the Delaware River and focused not on numbers but on words. “We fight to control our own destiny, to create our own nation, and to do our own thing with the English language,” Bargatze said, wistfully but tonelessly. That “thing” involved several aspects: creating a name for the number 12 (a dozen) but no other numbers; having two possible spellings for donut and Jeff (“the stupid way with the G”); and educating children about these nuances in a process that begins in kindergarten and continues on to the second level, inexplicably called the “first grade.
