Saturday Night Live

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.

this week was pretty meh aside from "ima ima ima ima weed gummy" which is going to stay in my head for the rest of my living days.

gorilla glue sketch: my friend (who is not black) maintains that this was a full blown racist sketch. I disagree, mainly because I don't think that many black cast members would have done this sketch if they thought it was racist. Im not sure my friend knows about the gorilla glue story though, and I don't know if most people do if they don't follow black twitter.

*opens this thread, immediately closes this thread*

xxp hard agree on keenan, 2 weeks ago the stand out highlight was he and redd as the FIRST TIME HEARING youtube kids on wkend update.. the whole bit was good but particularly keenans expressions were killing me

It’s very befuddling to me how popular this show is considering so much of it revolves around knowing about the workings of niche Internet communities

Like the ideal person for this show listens to the Serial podcast but also watches Lil Pump videos

Actually, I think the show has for a long time aimed to appeal to different audiences with each sketch/segment. It's a variety show. Few people will like each episode from beginning to end, but enough people will like enough of each episode to keep tuning in.

I think a lot about the time Kenan as Quincy Jones made a joke about Nipsey Hussle in 2010, and exactly what it was trying to convey w/r/t how much fame Nipsey Hussle had in 2010 vs. the perception of Nipsey Hussle's fame in 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUkBhVnFxdM

vs. my own understanding of Nipsey Hussle in 2010 vs. 2019

yeah even accounting for me being old, it often feels like a roundup of "This Week In The Internet"

akm you could argue that the Gorilla Glue sketch was bad (it certainly wasn’t great) and it was definitely mean but it wasn’t racist

out of curiosity, i gave the glue sketch a half a gander and obvious point: i could certainly see how someone unfamiliar with #gorillagluegirl could easily see it as racist, i.e. "lol, black people are dumb enough to use glue as hairspray"

I watched it and it’s kind of racist that Kenan says “boo boo” but the captions say “doo doo”

It’s like a black character can’t be named Latrice Commode and say things like “we will get you monies” without being called racist these days

hahaha. I'm going to give Kenan the benefit of the doubt, always.

the dating sketch was saved by Mikey Day, which it pains me to say because I refuse to believe an adult man is named "Mikey".

Although Kenan finally got his own sitcom that starts tomorrow, wondering if that takes off if he'll stay on for another year. He's bringing Chris Redd with him for that.

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,

otm

also would like to know his secret to eternal youth he looks amazing

he tends to get a lot of mileage out of thin premises, even if they seem like a non-starter

like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzOrj3LiT38

Looked up Martin Short's Nathan Thurm, and found this video where he explains the inspiration - hilariously, it's an impersonation of SNL's head make-up artist, but as they point out, the whole key or strategy for writing that character is basically the blueprint for the previous four years in Washington:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noLHVHxh6JU

Chloe Fineman as Britney Spears is weak spot in SNL cold open episode of "Oops I did it again"....Aidy as Ted Cruz (with resort given braids) , Pete Davidson as Cuomo, & Cecily as Gina Carano

The white rap trio schtick is really tired

This episode mostly worked though.

Other than taking down Cruz and some jabs at Cuomo, this one was remarkably non-political after years of politics dominating the humor. Soon we'll all be back to talking about how SNL has become boring and shitty and we'll know that life is slowly returning to its normal channels.

I thought this week's was decent. The host was game for all kinds of stuff and there were some decent bits. I liked the community organizer who dressed like Freddy Kreuger, for some reason.

Soon we'll all be back to talking about how SNL has become boring and shitty

some of us never left

i enjoyed the mr. chicken legs sketch, and the ad agency one

Did not like chicken legs. Loved ad agency. Surprised there isn’t more chatter about Che’s Israel joke.

i like chicken legs because it was just absurd and stupid and Cecily Strong really got into singing that dumb song.

I'm sure everyone on ILX is fine with Che's Israel joke. It certainly made some people on Twitter angry.

oh I didn't mean here. I just didn't notice it on twitter. Not that I was spending a lot of time on twitter. But I figured it'd be enough noise that I'd have seen it! I thought it was great.

Decent episode over all.

Chicken Legs sketch felt a bit like body-shaming some of the dorky male cast members, but we always made fun of my grandpa for his chicken legs, so I liked it nostalgically.

imo when snl stops hiring skinny white dudes en masse i will give a shit about chicken leg ass dudes' feelings about their legs

I... liked a lot of this episode. More weird sketches please. It felt like they were having fun.

Rough episode

Baby boomers getting vaccinated rap was good bcz it made a couple of jokes, and pegged the style at exactly the mid-90s point when the boomers would have switched off from having a concept of current rap, so any lameness was on brand. (Meanwhile the white rapper guy who was musical guest can confirm to boomer viewers that they were right to cut off at the shiny suit era.)

Not sure there was an actual joke in anything else? Kamala Harris making out with her husband was an embarrassment- are we supposed to have any idea who she’s married to? Shame her into giving me my $38,000 or fuck off. Barfly awards feels like the sort of thing that could recur twice a year, if you actually have enough gags to fill it and aren’t too scared either to reach for a touch of pathos (Rowley Birkin style), or to have a character or two that celebrate their drunken joie de vivre. Playing the school teacher w/ enthusiasm might have managed both? I did chuckle at a couple of set-ups in the sketch though.

this was awful; was the audience severely reduced? because even in a bad episode there is usually audience laughter, and it was dead silent through a lot of this (as it should have been).

I love Maya Rudolph but she was not good in a single sketch here, and my wife was pretty put off by the accent in the opener.

The filmed musical rap was amusing but this reminds me that someone said recently the problem with SNL now is that its run by musical theater kids and really rings true.