Saturday Night Live - 11/16 Charli XCX

[Ben Wyatt]

Jan 22, 2017 1:38:11 GMT -5 sfvega said:

That To Sir With Love ending was mad over the top. SNL needs to dial it back on the politics.

That whole thing was ridiculous.

[Pooh Carlson]

Definitely could've done without the ending and the Kellyanne Conway song. But to be fair, a lot of that has to do with the fact that it's really not a good Kellyanne Conway impression. Kellyanne has an eastern accent and McKinnon doesn't even try.

[wildojinx]

The thing about parodying polticians (or any public figure) is that its best when you only use a few elements of their real life persona and create an original character for the rest of the parody. Look at Norm's Dole, Carvey's Bush, Ferrel's Bush II, even Hartman and Hammond's Clinton. Those were practically original characters who just happened to be well-known politicians. Hopefully whoever plays Trump after Baldwin remembers that. On a completely different topic, I have that Pizza song from the next to last sketch stuck in my head (just so ridiculous that it was funny).

[WoodStoner1]

Huh, I guess I did another [Heyman] POST TOO EXTREME FOR FAN [/Heyman]. Fine, I apologize. All I'll say is parody is parody, but SNL is doing what we have The Daily Show for, really. If it keeps on going, I'd prefer continuous repeats of the entire 1980-81 season. "S" means Saturday, not Soapbox.

[sfvega]

There's a point of diminishing returns. Trump is such a ridiculous character that it'd be weird if they DIDN'T play off of it. But not only are they going completely over the top with it, but it seems slanted when you sing a song about how much you're gonna miss the last Pres. Baldwin does a great Trump, but it should stick to the opener as they did with Ferrell's Bush. Hijacking other skits and basically dominating Weekend Update is wearing on everyone, regardless of politic affiliation. Not to mention it's harder to be funny on a subject that EVERYONE is making fun of.

[Ben Wyatt]

Jan 23, 2017 8:29:13 GMT -5 sfvega said:

There's a point of diminishing returns. Trump is such a ridiculous character that it'd be weird if they DIDN'T play off of it. But not only are they going completely over the top with it, but it seems slanted when you sing a song about how much you're gonna miss the last Pres. Baldwin does a great Trump, but it should stick to the opener as they did with Ferrell's Bush. Hijacking other skits and basically dominating Weekend Update is wearing on everyone, regardless of politic affiliation. Not to mention it's harder to be funny on a subject that EVERYONE is making fun of.

That's kinda where my head is at, too. 

Like.....I just think the writing is lazy. Having 80% of your show be tearing into Trump, no matter how much you might feel warranted, is lazy. The other 20% of the show is Leslie Jones playing the same person in every skit and Kate McKinnon being crammed down everyone's throat.

The show kinda needs a boot in the ass, because it just seems like they don't know what they're doing beyond "Go after Trump"

[sfvega]

Jan 23, 2017 13:18:50 GMT -5 Ben Wyatt said:

Jan 23, 2017 8:29:13 GMT -5 sfvega said:

There's a point of diminishing returns. Trump is such a ridiculous character that it'd be weird if they DIDN'T play off of it. But not only are they going completely over the top with it, but it seems slanted when you sing a song about how much you're gonna miss the last Pres. Baldwin does a great Trump, but it should stick to the opener as they did with Ferrell's Bush. Hijacking other skits and basically dominating Weekend Update is wearing on everyone, regardless of politic affiliation. Not to mention it's harder to be funny on a subject that EVERYONE is making fun of.

That's kinda where my head is at, too. 


Like.....I just think the writing is lazy. Having 80% of your show be tearing into Trump, no matter how much you might feel warranted, is lazy. The other 20% of the show is Leslie Jones playing the same person in every skit and Kate McKinnon being crammed down everyone's throat.

The show kinda needs a boot in the ass, because it just seems like they don't know what they're doing beyond "Go after Trump"

I think they under-utilize Strong and Davidson. I also don't know if Che has the range, but I feel like they could use him in more than just WU as well.

[Ben Wyatt]

Jan 23, 2017 13:30:40 GMT -5 sfvega said:

Jan 23, 2017 13:18:50 GMT -5 Ben Wyatt said:

That's kinda where my head is at, too. 


Like.....I just think the writing is lazy. Having 80% of your show be tearing into Trump, no matter how much you might feel warranted, is lazy. The other 20% of the show is Leslie Jones playing the same person in every skit and Kate McKinnon being crammed down everyone's throat.

The show kinda needs a boot in the ass, because it just seems like they don't know what they're doing beyond "Go after Trump"

I think they under-utilize Strong and Davidson. I also don't know if Che has the range, but I feel like they could use him in more than just WU as well.

Agreed. Pete Davidson is terrific and could be a big breakout star.  They could do more with Vanessa Bayer as well. 

[Ben Wyatt]

Also: Baldwin is hosting on Feb 14th. I......just don't care to see it. He's been playing Trump this whole time, so seeing him in other skits (assuming they do more than 4 non-trump skits) has no appeal to me

[wildojinx]

Baldwin? I get why they're doing it, but it's kind of a lazy choice. At least Eddie Murphy hosting the show while he was a cast member was a last-minute thing.

[Toilet Paper Roll]

Just got around to seeing that "to sir with love" ending. Yikes, that's some North Korea level propaganda there.

I know people always say "it's not as good as it used to be". But the handful of episodes I've seen the last several months don't let me see it any other way.

The political satire used to poke fun and make charactatures out of politicians. It looks more like hit pieces now and it dominates the show (admittedly not seeing every show)

[sfvega]

Jan 23, 2017 15:54:06 GMT -5 Ben Wyatt said:

Also: Baldwin is hosting on Feb 14th. I......just don't care to see it. He's been playing Trump this whole time, so seeing him in other skits (assuming they do more than 4 non-trump skits) has no appeal to me

Baldwin is fantastic though. SNL has been on the downturn all year outside of the Chappelle episode, but if anybody is good enough to get a decent episode, it's Baldwin. His impressions (that 30 Rock episode tho) are amazing and his timing is great. They could have 3 Baldwin hosted episodes a year and I wouldn't complain.

[chazraps]

Jan 23, 2017 16:45:31 GMT -5 Toilet Paper Roll said:

Just got around to seeing that "to sir with love" ending. Yikes, that's some North Korea level propaganda there.

I know people always say "it's not as good as it used to be". But the handful of episodes I've seen the last several months don't let me see it any other way.

The political satire used to poke fun and make charactatures out of politicians. It looks more like hit pieces now and it dominates the show (admittedly not seeing every show)

But this is a case where a politician is directly going after the show. It's unprecedented. If the targets in question weren't blatantly antagonizing, and the subsequent ratings/views were matching that this is something people clearly want to see, it'd be a different story.

[Ben Wyatt]

Jan 23, 2017 17:00:31 GMT -5 sfvega said:

Jan 23, 2017 15:54:06 GMT -5 Ben Wyatt said:

Also: Baldwin is hosting on Feb 14th. I......just don't care to see it. He's been playing Trump this whole time, so seeing him in other skits (assuming they do more than 4 non-trump skits) has no appeal to me

Baldwin is fantastic though. SNL has been on the downturn all year outside of the Chappelle episode, but if anybody is good enough to get a decent episode, it's Baldwin. His impressions (that 30 Rock episode tho) are amazing and his timing is great. They could have 3 Baldwin hosted episodes a year and I wouldn't complain.

On the surface, I agree but I don't trust that they won't just be lazy and go Trump centric.

[Ben Wyatt]

Jan 23, 2017 16:45:31 GMT -5 Toilet Paper Roll said:

Just got around to seeing that "to sir with love" ending. Yikes, that's some North Korea level propaganda there.

I know people always say "it's not as good as it used to be". But the handful of episodes I've seen the last several months don't let me see it any other way.

The political satire used to poke fun and make charactatures out of politicians. It looks more like hit pieces now and it dominates the show (admittedly not seeing every show)

It's shameless. If Hilary won, Id bet everything I own that bit wouldn't have aired. Nor would McKinnon (in Hillary's getup) doing "Hallelujah" post election.

[Toilet Paper Roll]

Jan 23, 2017 17:03:25 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Jan 23, 2017 16:45:31 GMT -5 Toilet Paper Roll said:

Just got around to seeing that "to sir with love" ending. Yikes, that's some North Korea level propaganda there.

I know people always say "it's not as good as it used to be". But the handful of episodes I've seen the last several months don't let me see it any other way.

The political satire used to poke fun and make charactatures out of politicians. It looks more like hit pieces now and it dominates the show (admittedly not seeing every show)

But this is a case where a politician is directly going after the show. It's unprecedented. If the targets in question weren't blatantly antagonizing, and the subsequent ratings/views were matching that this is something people clearly want to see, it'd be a different story.

I guess I'm just a bigger fan of the old style where the opening was 9/10 something topical regarding politics than you wouldn't really hear anything else until WU.

[chazraps]

Jan 23, 2017 17:25:52 GMT -5 Toilet Paper Roll said:

Jan 23, 2017 17:03:25 GMT -5 chazraps said:

But this is a case where a politician is directly going after the show. It's unprecedented. If the targets in question weren't blatantly antagonizing, and the subsequent ratings/views were matching that this is something people clearly want to see, it'd be a different story.

I guess I'm just a bigger fan of the old style where the opening was 9/10 something topical regarding politics than you wouldn't really hear anything else until WU.

Oh, I completely agree, my comment was moreso in regard to it being "near propaganda." If the leader of the free world wasn't calling out a show every week that isn't then written that same week, I'm certain that would still be the case as historically going back to Chase as Ford, that's how they've always done it. But now, they're in a situation where the show is the news and the back-and-forth is what people want to see. I don't think it's really any sort of implicit political bias as much as it's that's the show's found a popular enemy.

[arrogantmodel]

I am eagerly awaiting another Ben Affleck and Jon Hamm episode. Those guys bring the funny, and have no problems taking the piss out of themselves.

Baldwin, Goodman, Walken, and Hanks could be SNL's Mt. Rushmore though.

[wildojinx]

Getting away from politics, anyone think Nick Offerman would be a good host?

[Spiderf 4]

Jan 23, 2017 18:04:05 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

Getting away from politics, anyone think Nick Offerman would be a good host?

Totally.

Also, why has Adam Sandler never hosted even once???