Saturday Night Live

agree

Ta. If the general audience could be expected to have your level of recollection, he would have missed two big opportunities for callbacks in last night's show: his shock at "a white riot in Portland the other night" hits different in November 2020.

And one wonders if he remembered saying, there, that ongoing mass shootings were a bigger problem than anything Trump might do to the country, when he was writing last night's joke about it taking an unchecked pandemic to slow down mass shootings in America.



(I was startled at the number of N-words last night, and he got a couple in the old one too - are these bleeped on TV, or is there a watershed NBC's allowed to skate or pay fines for, given the specifically off-junction start time?)

I found those unsettling too (not bleeped)...and, last night, not particularly funny.

(I wasn't unsettled, just surprised, given received wisdom on US TV standards.)

yeah I was kinda surprised by the n-bombs too, but maybe we just don't understand Black people

still, no more offensive than Pete Davidson intentionally spitting out his Count Chocula fangs when he broke character like the phony-ass Jimmy Fallon biter he is

Contemplating the presupposition that there's a genus of sincere, honest Jimmy Fallon biters.

She needs better material to work with, but does Maya Rudolph ever have Kamala Harris's voice down. Caught the (not-very-good) VP debate on repeat last night.

How in the world is Morgan Wallen not actually an SNL sketch?

Nice to not have Baldwin/Trump in the cold open!

yes, but it was still not funny. which is something considering the source material.

really, maybe they should have taken this year off.

farting Giuliani!

yes and still less funny than the actual event. SNL seriously hamstrung by the absurdity of the actual proceedings which transcended satire

I've said it before but political satire on SNL was funnier when the state of the state was more benign. I get very little relief from the Trump sketches cos the reality is pretty damn scary.

i do wonder how much last minute rewriting they have to do on SNL these days due to the fact that by the time Saturday rolls around, 75% of the potential jokes about anything topical have already happened on Twitter and elsewhere

I don't think that stops them from using those same jokes.

It doesn't stop Weekend Update, for sure.

Weekend Update wouldn't be funny with good material due to the terrible delivery of each joke

https://i.imgflip.com/1kec70.jpg

I love that he was the one guy that would say "here's the fake news"

and explain half of the jokes

Caught the opening last night. I don't know all the cast members now, but the guy who does Pence might be the worst political impression they've ever regularly aired. These can work because someone looks the same, sounds the same, or says funny things that are either lifted verbatim or--even better--are purely imaginative but capture something elemental about the politician. The best ever for me remains Tina Fey's Palin, which covered all four. The Pence guy isn't even close on a single count.

that's Beck Bennet; that sketch sucked like all their political sketches lately (and moffat isn't filling me with confidence with his Biden either) but he's done a better job as Pence in the past. Pence is so absolutely personality free it's kind of hard to parody him.

Other than that sketch, this episode was good almost the entire way through which is some kind of achievement for this year, even if some of the recycled Wigg bits weren't really different from the past. She's just really good.

Did Jim Carrey cancel at the last minute or was it just a coincidence they had Biden and the Grinch on that ep

Jim Carrey said some time ago he wasn't going to do Biden on an ongoing basis.

I think last week's episode was good? I can't even remember. But last night's definitely was; lots of credit to Dan Levy who was pretty effortless in everything. Does anyone who isn't an asshole dislike Dan Levy?

I love Phoebe Bridgers but her voice sounded kind of weak last night, not sure if it was the mix or what. Smashing the guitar was funny, wish she hadn't had to cut a whole verse out of that song for time though.

Can't speak for the whole episode, but I thought the Super Bowl opening was pretty bad; didn't hang around any longer.

oh yeah that sucked, it was one of the worst parts of the show as almost all cold openings have been for years now. There was some bad direction happening too (I think this happened last week also) where the camera didn't cut to the right person while talking.

That’s been happening all fucking season and it’s kinda embarrassing

Haven't watched a new episode since the Eddie Murphy one, but the recent (I'm guessing?) clip of Bowen Yang as Fran Lebowitz that my husband showed me was pretty great.

the zillow ad made my morning.

I keep on getting suckered into watching clips from this show and they're never very funny (sorry but the Zillow ad is just the latest example.) The Fran Lebowitz thing was -- well, to be honest, it wasn't exactly funny, but at least it was an impersonation that showed some real study had gone into it.

the zillow ad was so well done. I am a basic bitch like that.

the zillow ad was v funny

eephus is a tough audience and knows it. nothing wrong with that.

Dear @SNL, since you stole my Zillow joke last night please Venmo me the sum of 1 million dollars. My full special Cut/Up is on youtube if you need more ideas. pic.twitter.com/lC3yBpcs1h

— Ted Alexandro (@tedalexandro) February 7, 2021

tell it to eephus, ted.

nah, this is a pretty zeigeist-y joke, thus the basic bitch comment. the entire commercial was still really funny. TO ME, not a tough audience.

The Lebowitz impression worked for me entirely on the strength of Yang's impersonation, though I did enjoy some of the non-sequiturs: "Gender doesn't exist anymore. You know why? Ed Koch died."

i like his zoomer Chinese trade rep weekend update character too.

I bought a house last year and I have two friends that were/ are actively looking (one’s closing in the next few weeks) in the same general area and price range. Suffice to say there have been a lot of horny house-hunting Zillow texts between us. We all three got a pretty good chuckle out of this clip.

However (bc I’ve probably had too much coffee) I’m going to be annoyed that they have to tell you the joke. Like explicitly: “the pleasure you got from sex now comes from looking at other peoples houses”

Yeah. No shit. That’s the joke. that’s the whole joke. You don’t have to pre-digest it so I know what I’m watching. You can trust me to “get it”.

It’s a dumb weird mostly inconsequential thing to harp on for an otherwise relatable and funny bit, but I just don’t think it was always like this? Is it internet meme brain? Sound bite for viral traction? Idk it’s just weird. And I feel like current day SNL is the worst offender.

the surprise of what the ad was for caught me by surprise when I watched it. I drink a lot of coffee. So it's probably you.

fair enough

Yeah. No shit. That’s the joke. that’s the whole joke.

Yup. But it wasn't the punchline, which was delivered in the first ten seconds when it was revealed that it was an ad for zillow. By the time the "other people's houses" line was delivered they'd been ringing the changes on the original joke for a couple of minutes already.

xxpost This was perhaps one of the better SNL episodes of the year. You can tell when a performer is also a talented TV writer like Dan Levy. Even the bad sketches (outside the cold open) had little funny bits. But I hear what you're saying re: telling the audience the joke. And they're totally shooting for a younger audience, hence the ascendance of Pete Davidson or Keenan playing straight man and basically telling the audience how to react in every other sketch. 22 year olds are dumb

ftr i think Lorne is dumber than most 22 year olds

again, it's a v good bit (inadvertently stolen or not); Levy talking about a big, gross mansion in NC had me rolling

i meant to post something about Wu-Tang torture. It seems so weird to me for like the most popular sketch show on earth to be expecting everyone in their audience to know what happens in an A NON-SINGLE ALBUM TRACK on an an album that only went one-time platinum. It would be like doing a skit about a deep cut on Pearl Jam's No Code

A) The sketch makes no sense unless you're intimately familiar with the Wu track

B) If you ARE intimately familiar with the Wu track, you know every single line of dialogue before it comes. So I have no idea why the audience keeps laughing like he's surprising them with jokes.

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:17 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

because that's how comedy works? even if you know what's coming, the anticipation + payoff is what's funny

― the itsytitchyschneider (s1ocki), Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:22 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

but otherwise i agree

― the itsytitchyschneider (s1ocki), Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:22 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

comedy is about defying people's expectations iirc.

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:25 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

otherwise it's just sharing an in-joke?

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:26 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Sometimes the expected can be unexpected.

― no gut busting joke can change history (polyphonic), Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:26 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

A) if you don't know the sketch you've got Dave Chappelle describing crazy ass scenarios involving rappers in a ridiculous voice B) if you know the sketch you may lol at hearing it described as an actual event (which, i, for one, did)

― da croupier, Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:26 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

by "sketch" i mean "skit" obv

― da croupier, Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:27 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

A) That's not a joke, though
B) I guess. But then it's really a funny PREMISE with no real payoff, but that's just me

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:28 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

of all people to complain about a sketch show celebrating one of the more memorable skits in rap history I wouldn't expect it to be you, Whiney

― da croupier, Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:29 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

also between "comedy is about defying expectations" and "that's not a joke" I think you may have more rules about what's allowed to make you laugh than some

― da croupier, Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:31 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

tbh if i had a sketch comedy show on comedy central that was as well loved as his show, i might devote one minute of my airtime to a sketch about a rap in joke

― J0rdan S., Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:36 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

it wasn't like he had a two hour special about rap skits

― J0rdan S., Sunday, August 8, 2010 8:37 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

it's about the recontextualization imo.

― proud teabagger from rim country (arby's), Sunday, August 8, 2010 11:46 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

im not saying it's genius but ya sometimes just reciting something like that matter-of-factly is funny

that's what's unexpected about it

the fact that it is being reported on a news show

― the itsytitchyschneider (s1ocki), Sunday, August 8, 2010 11:56 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Right, I def agree the idea/premise is funny! But its like one joke with a 90 second punchline. And everyone in the audience is laughing like it's 7 or 8 jokes!

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Monday, August 9, 2010 12:05 AM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

well... you know that laughter on tv comedy shows isn't necc totally spontaneous right

― the itsytitchyschneider (s1ocki), Monday, August 9, 2010 12:06 AM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

and also

i kinda laughed a few times

throughout the skit

as the lines kept coming

― the itsytitchyschneider (s1ocki), Monday, August 9, 2010 12:08 AM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

s1ock, do u smoke the pot?

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Monday, August 9, 2010 12:08 AM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

i mean, when you first saw it, did you just give one loud bark-like laugh when the premise registered and then sit stone-faced through the rest of the skit?

― the itsytitchyschneider (s1ocki), Monday, August 9, 2010 12:08 AM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

ahahaha, that's essentially what happened

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Monday, August 9, 2010 12:09 AM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

hahahaha

― the itsytitchyschneider (s1ocki), Monday, August 9, 2010 12:09 AM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

At least the most recent time i saw it, that's the gist of my emotional range during the sketch, yes

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Monday, August 9, 2010 12:10 AM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

A good start, occasional snickers as it builds, wondering what the punchline will be, who has dug up a 10-year old post just to clown Whiney - and then, boom!

My gf DVR-ed this because Dan Levy, and if I do get around to actually watching the whole thing it'll be the first since my post-Trump soft boycott of the show. Maybe not the best point to jump back in but hey, Dan Levy.

As I watched the opening credits I was kinda sardonically saying to myself 'gee, wonder if ol' Kenan's still hanging around' and if I'd been drinking something at the time I would've done a legit spit take when he popped up. Congrats on being a cast member for fully half of the show's 50-year run, I guess? Although honestly more shocking was the realization that he hadn't aged a day since I last saw him on there (or probably since he started, tbrr).

It was a good episode. I hope Kenan is one of the higher/est paid cast members.

Kenan should honestly never leave. He's the MVP of the show and has been for a long time, you can absolutely rely on him to be funny almost always, even bits he's done a trillion times (Maurice de WHAT) are funny to me. Kate McKinnon, on the other hand, is perfectly capable of being really funny but too often isn't for whatever reason. I did really like her in the It Gets Better sketch which I have a feeling she wrote.