Howard Stern and Saturday Night Live Reference Bitcoin as Popularity Grows

The Year of Bitcoin is finishing strong, as its spread into the mainstream, from finance to popular culture, gains traction apace with its price increases. From The Big Bang Theory dedicating a bitcoin subplot, to an episode of Startup creating an entire series around the topic, the world’s most well-known cryptocurrency is getting a new boost, with giants like The Howard Stern Show (Stern) and Saturday Night Live (SNL) now entering the fray.

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King of All Media, Howard Stern, Doesn’t Know Anything About Bitcoin

“Well, they’re now bitcoin billionaires,” Robin Quivers, co-host and news anchor on Stern, announced during a brief segment 4 December 2017. “Are you into this whole bitcoin thing?” she asked Howard Stern, radio broadcast icon currently under contract at Sirius XM Radio, a satellite paid-content provider.

“No, no I am not,” Mr. Stern answered dismissively. “Good for those guys,” he said, alluding to the ecosystem’s most well-known twins. “They’re all bent out of shape losing out on” Facebook, as detailed in the movie The Social Network (2010).

“The investors made famous by suing Mark Zuckerberg,” Ms. Quivers continued, “claiming he stole the idea of Facebook from them, have made bank on the digital cryptocurrency. They owned about 11 million dollars worth of bitcoin four years ago. Its value has grown by more than 10,000% just this year, skyrocketing their investment to more than a billion dollars,” she noted.

Mr. Stern, 63, has broadcast professionally in one form or another for over 40 years, and is well-known to his largely American audience for ribald commentary and irreverence. Ms. Quivers, 65, is Mr. Stern’s long-time on-air companion, serving often as the show’s voice of reason in addition to her news vignettes.

“You can’t spend bitcoin anywhere, can you?” Ms. Quivers wondered.

“You’re asking the wrong dude,” Mr. Stern answered, bewildered. “Bit…coin. I don’t know anything about it,” he declared. “All I know if I was Mark Zuckerberg, I would buy bitcoin just to f**k with those two guys. You know what I mean?” he smiled.

Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!

Belushi. Murphy. Ferrell. Crystal. Fey. And now add Bitcoin. That’s right, crypto joins the longest-running sketch comedy show in American television history, NBC’s Saturday Night Live, during its 43rd season.

This weekend’s cold open, “Visit with Santa,” added a silly twist: kiddos brought up rather adult topics, shocking the jolly good fellow.

The skit features two prominent cast members, Kate McKinnon (Justin Bieber, Hillary Clinton, Jeff Sessions) and Kenan Thompson (Big Papi, Steve Harvey). Ms. McKinnon was also in the female Ghost Busters. Mr. Thompson is the most tenured cast member in the show’s history (since 2003).

The scene opens to Amy (the elf) and Santa. Children ask for presents, and then quickly pepper poor Santa with questions regarding present controversies including sexual harassment allegations, Israel, tax cuts, opioids, and even Trump. Mr. Thompson’s character breaks and asks, “What the hell is wrong with these kids?!”

Finally, Jenny ascends to stand beside Santa, assuring him she does not want gifts this year. “I just want everything to be okay,” she announces. Amy the elf tries console Jenny.

“Eventually, good people will fix our country,” Ms. McKinnon’s character explains.

Jenny nods, “Okay, good. But just in case I’m putting alllllll my money in bitcoin.”

What are your favorite bitcoin mentions? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of SNL, Howard Stern Show.

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