Saturday Night Live: Discussion Thread

[Vee]

Shocking!

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by Vee

[Khan]

Now THAT is FUNNY.

 

But seriously.  I never worry about SNL displaying a liberal bias.  If anything, I think it's been the other way around for a very, very, VERY long time.  However, I never minded (that much), because James Downey, who was the leading conservative on the writing staff for many years, managed to be both biased and funny.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Khan

[DRW50]

SNL has been a center-right show for the last 30 years, aside from the early '90s, when they loathed the Clintons to such a degree that they made fever dream pieces about Whitewater, comparing Hillary to the Joker, Vince Foster's death, Hillary beating Bill, and Madonna making a pass at Chelsea. 

 

The problem is Lorne is too old and out of touch to have any real idea that there is no longer any center-right. There's a reason why his ghoulish old pal Guiliani no longer appears on the show, and the younger, more liberal writers instead make fun of him in sketches. There's a reason why other right wing pals like McCain, very hard right wing as it was, still ended up being spit on by their party in their last years. 

 

One of the writers at Vulture said SNL doesn't vet new hires very closely. I can believe it more now, because I don't think they would have hired this slug if they'd known just how extreme he was. 

Edited September 19, 2019 by DRW50

[Khan]

 

That was such a bizarre moment in my SNL-watching life.  Madonna's making a pass at a minor?  Okay, she isn't REALLY making a pass, but...wha??

 

I think SNL has been center-right for longer than 30 years, though.  The Dick Ebersol era, in particular, couldn't have been more pro-Reagan.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Khan

[DRW50]

 

I think that's the sketch that Hillary complained about (rightly so). Just insane. That whole period of watching is insane. The Real Stories of the Arkansas Highway Patrol/COPS double bill with Bill and Hillary is probably the most vicious political piece I've ever seen on the show. It's just nobody cared as that was typical of the time. Now if you say boo, you have Trumpers boycotting. 

 

I tend to see Ebersol's era as nonpolitical, but you have a point. 

 

Outside of the very dark Michael O'Donoghue material in Ebersol's first season, this is probably the closest his run came to political punches. Mostly down to Harry Shearer, who always did whatever he wanted anyway:

 

https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/the-chosen-pray/n9267

Edited September 19, 2019 by DRW50

[Khan]

 

Unless, of course, it's yet another hit job on those "comedy evergreens," the Clintons. 

Please register in order to view this content

Edited September 19, 2019 by Khan

[Khan]

 

Frankly, I think you would be VERY hard-pressed to find ANY political humor from that period that was even SLIGHTLY critical of the Reagan administration.  I think that is one reason why conservatives today tend to "wax nostalgic" so much about him.  They have been conditioned by all those warm, congratulatory and toothless jokes that SNL, HBO's "Not Necessarily the News," Johnny Carson, David Letterman and everyone else told about him.  They either do not know or do not care that, in fact, the Reagan years were hell for a lot of people in this country.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Khan

[DRW50]

 

True. You'd probably have to have somehow managed to catch Spitting Image episodes...by flying to the UK I guess. 

[Khan]

And if we were being fair and honest, we could further admit that SNL took it REALLY easy on Gerald Ford (all they could say is that he fell down a lot?) and even Richard Nixon (less about how he upended the political system for his own craven agendas, more about the fact that he was that crazy, drunk uncle who could make you cringe-laugh at family gatherings).  In fact, the most venom that even the brief (and garishly unfunny) Jean Doumanian era displayed was toward -- you guessed it -- Jimmy Carter.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Khan

[DRW50]

 

Probably the only tough thing they did against Ford was, in their last episode before the election, playing the video of him pardoning Nixon.

 

https://onesnladay.com/2018/08/06/october-30-1976-buck-henry-the-band-s2-e6/

 

If you or anyone else is ever bored, this site reviews every SNL episode, day by day. They're up to 94-95 now. 

Edited September 19, 2019 by DRW50

[Faulkner]

One of the better SNL parodies in recent memory during David Harbour’s episode last night.

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

[DRW50]

That was great. Apparently according to Streeter Seidell, who co-wrote it with Mikey Day, the idea was from David himself and Lily Allen (?!?). 

 

I also liked the podcast daddy issues pre-tape he did with Kyle Mooney. 

 

Harbour was a great host and if they have any sense they'll ask him back. The episode as a whole was one of the easiest to watch in a while and reminded me of why I became a fan a very long time ago. 

Edited October 13, 2019 by DRW50

[Gray Bunny]

I am loving new castmember Bowen Yang! What a great new addition. 

[Faulkner]

HISTORIC!!!

 

 

[Khan]

Seeing Eddie on SNL again after all these years was...well, it was just fantastic.  Maybe not the best episode, writing- or performance-wise, but the fact that his return happened at all more than made up for the deficiencies.