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John Mulaney’s hosting stint on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live may have included a number of celebrity cameos and absurd looks, but one sketch that was cut for time brought about the most impressive costume of the week.
In the short titled Fish Dreams, Kyle Mooney plays The Shape of Water‘s star, Fish Man. While his acting prospects seem positive — including Martin Scorsese requesting he topline a mob movie set in Atlantis called Fishfellas — Fish Man clearly wants to take a new professional path: pursuing his passion of creating art.
When his best friend and fellow fish-man Roger (Mulaney) shows up at his gallery opening, however, he asks for Fish Man’s permission to star in Fishfellas. “Congrats on this,” Roger tells his friend about the gallery. “I mean, you like your work. Who cares how it turned out?”
Following the gallery opening, Fish Man’s career as an artist steadily declines. Roger comes to visit Fish Man one day after the premiere of Fishfellas, which has made him a household name. He then asks Fish Man why he continues to work as a struggling artist when he was once a successful actor. “You know I love this stuff. It’s incredible as a side thing, but we miss you as an actor,” says Roger. Disgusted by his old friend, Fish Man demands Roger leave.
Fish Man is later seen drinking a beer and watching SNL as Roger hosts the show. During his opening monologue, Roger announces that he married Star Wars star Adam Driver. “I’m the swimmer. He’s the driver. Together we’re two-thirds of a triathlon,” Roger jokes before Fish Man chucks his beer at the television screen.
The story then jumps eight years into the future to show that Fish Man is now homeless. Roger stumbles by his old friend on the street and introduces him to Driver — who made a guest appearance for the cut short — as well as their half-fish son, Crispy. After the two old friends apologize to each other, Crispy requests that his fathers buy a painting from Fish Man. After asking if it’s for sale, Roger hands Fish Man a check for $50,000 and tells Fish Man he knows of a great acting project that he would be perfect for.
The sketch concludes with Fish Man and Roger starring in the Broadway production of Fishfellas: The Musical. “And that’s what a fella/ Yes, that’s what a fella/ Oh, that’s what a fishfella does,” the two sing together. “Tonight we all sleep with the fishes,” Roger proclaims — before an audience member shouts, “You suck!”
See more from Mulaney’s April 14 SNL episode here.
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