Saturday Night Live (SNL) 2017-2018 Season Thread

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Turnaround, Aug 23, 2017.

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  1. peteham

    peteham Senior Member

    Location:
    Simcoe County
    Those two performances of Nicki Minaj were - for me - the nadir of popular music in the 21st century -
     
  2. I was expecting more from the finale. Not a lot to recommend except for a couple laughs at the opener and the royal wedding reception.
     
  3. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    I think that the last two shows were very solid and quite funny. The finale has that 'last day of school' exuberance.
     
  4. deepscan

    deepscan Active Member

    Considering the cameos, yes.

    But now that the season is over, here is my personal assessment.

    I still believe the show went cheap and went with a former cast member to take season 43 home. Yes, sadly this was not the best ever season for SNL. I think had they gone for other hosts with more talent than what we ended up with, it would have been on par with the original five seasons.

    Still season 43 set some milestones. For the second straight season (and in two of the last four years), the show came full circle, beginning and ending with a solo host and solo musical guest, and the seventh straight year a season finale had a solo musical guest. In fact, this past season produced 16 solo musical acts (vs. 5 groups), the most in one season in SNL history. And, for the first time ever, every episode had a cameo (eerily, we have the Las Vegas Massacre to thank for it. Had it not occurred, the show that aired after the shooting would have had no cameo at all) . That is to say there was not one episode this season that didn’t have a cameo.

    I guess Lorne Michaels could only afford to have a more solo acts than groups. But SNL still needs some reconstruction work in how it chooses its hosts and musical guests before it can truly return to its former glory.

    Carrie Underwood (who has musical guested twice) will have a new album out in Sept., but it is doubtful she will appear in the Season 44 opener since we won’t see any new shows until October, so the best that can be done there is to rerun the Peyton Manning/Carrie Underwood show again to promote both the new CD and the upcoming NFL season. Celine Dion is slated to have a new CD this fall, so there is a better chance she will host a show in the fall, but so far we have not seen her on SNL, having turned the show down numerous times.

    I say once again, SNL right now needs sone serious fixing before it loses viewers.
     
  5. Diamond Dog

    Diamond Dog Cautionary Example

    The Morning Joe spoof is outta gas. As much as I like Kate's Mika, the sketch only has two real (recurring ) jokes - the Joe/Mike smouldering sexual tension ( cut to disgusted panel member faces ) and Scarborough talking over all the alotted time for guests and then shoving them off.

    D.D.
     
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  6. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    I noticed that at one point they showed Lorne Michaels making a comment (can't remember the sketch) and no one clapped for him. They hardly ever use him on camera anymore; there was a time when he appeared every episode. A lot of new(er) viewers were probably like, "Who is that old guy?"

    So who in the cast is leaving/getting fired, who is returning, who is getting promoted to feature player? I can't believe that Mikey Day and Alex Moffat were still featured players this year. They're onscreen more than half the regulars. I have a bad feeling Luke Null may get the axe.
     
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  7. tomhayes

    tomhayes Senior Member

    Location:
    San Diego, Ca
    The Don Jr/Eric stuff is classic. It's a very light jab at the Trump's politics - but it's a deeper examination how someone can be dishonest/arrogant/douche-bag-er-y AND still be a good brother.

    I seriously like their interactions as brothers a lot.
     
  8. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

    Location:
    NYC
    It was a prerecorded sketch (Mean Girls), so that may be why. People still typically clap for him.

    Luke is almost definitely getting axed. I called it since I first saw him.
     
  9. Aggie87

    Aggie87 Gig 'Em!

    Location:
    Carefree, AZ
    I don't think most of America would notice or care. He's rarely in anything. I only remember one sketch with him in it (was it a high school classroom sketch?) and he was distinctly unfunny.
     
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  10. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    I know. I just feel for these kids who show up, are seen in a few sketches, and disappear forever.
     
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  11. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    I feel sorry for Luke. Never given much of a chance. He was very funny in a recent wedding toast sketch (from the Mulaney episode), but it was one of the "cut for time" bits only seen on youtube. I wonder how the guys (particularly the little used Luke) feel when even male characters like Bob Mueller and Rudy Giuliani are played by Kate McKinnon. With Jeff Sessions I get it, as they want to portray him as small and weaselish. But why is she playing Bob Mueller and Rudy? Surely the guys could take those roles.
     
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  12. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Well, she's not playing Mueller anymore... not that someone from the cast is.
     
  13. modrevolve

    modrevolve Forum Resident

    She plays Rudy imho because it bothers Trump irl that his most trusted ally is being portrayed by a woman. Same thing happened when she started doing Sessions and Melissa McCarthy did Spicer.
     
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  14. modrevolve

    modrevolve Forum Resident

    I believe that 7 years is usually the contract that a cast member signs. Kate hit her 7 year mark this year and both Aidy and Cecily are up next year. I would think if Lorne knew Kate was leaving, that would have sent her off in style.

    Besides Luke Knoll getting the axe, I'll go with Kyle Mooney for the surprise exit.
     
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  15. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Yeah, that's true, they used Deniro most recently, right? And Ben Stiller for Michael Cohen. Again, I wonder how the guys in the cast who aren't getting used feel about that. I'm not crazy about the constant stream of celebrity cameos. I wish they would use the cast they have for the most part. The cameos just seem designed to elicit "teen girl at a Michael Jackson concert" like screams from the audience who go beserk every time they see a celebrity they recognize.
     
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  16. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    I wouldn't be surprised if they went ahead and promoted Heidi Gardner to regular. But what about Melissa Villasenor, who has been there for 2 years?
     
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  17. tomhayes

    tomhayes Senior Member

    Location:
    San Diego, Ca
    Heidi Gardner is pretty.
     
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  18. modrevolve

    modrevolve Forum Resident

    I was listening to Melissa McCarthy on Maron the other week and it sounds like her and Heidi are pretty tight so I'm sure that helps.
    Melissa Villasenor will be staying at her sistas.
     
  19. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    That's because she's the baddest girl in the 6th grade!
     
  20. Yeah, good question. She did a bunch of voices in a sketch last year that was awesome and I was sure her career was going to skyrocket but nope, back to playing the friend or only getting a few lines per show. Bummer.
     
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  21. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Heidi is wonderful. I really love how she commits to her characters (particularly the Youtube movie critic) and will take them to uncomfortable, rather than just be a series of punchlines for audience laughs.
     
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  22. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

    Location:
    NYC
    To be fair, who would play Mueller or Cohen in the cast? Theoretically, you could need the Trump brothers in a sketch with them (as we saw in the finale), so that takes Alex and Mikey out of the equation. Same thing with Pence being played by Beck. So that leaves Pete, who's too young to play Mueller, even with make up, but could maybe pull off Cohen. Kyle could potentially play Cohen, but definitely not Mueller. Colin tends to not play characters. Luke maybe could have pulled off one or the other, but he's not funny enough. I would say the best candidate would be Pete, but he wouldn't be able to pull it off, I don't think. So, I think it makes sense they went to Kate and then outside sources.
     
  23. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

    Location:
    NYC
    She was only in the last few episodes of her first season, so this would likely be considered her sixth season, not seventh.
     
  24. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    If Alex, Mikey, and Beck are already used in the sketch, as in your example, Kyle or Luke could do it. Why couldn't Kyle play Bob Mueller? If Kate McKinnon can, Kyle could. And maybe Luke would be good at it. We don't really know, as he's been given so little opportunity. In the sketch where Kate played him (that was a spoof of The Bachelor, I think), I can't think of anything there she did as the character that Kyle couldn't do. And presumably that Luke could do.

    And in the sketch where Stiller was Cohen, it was just Cohen and Mueller, right? So its not like all of the other characters where there tying up the other actors.
     
  25. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

    Location:
    NYC
    Kyle has a distinct style that I can't imagine working for Mueller. Cohen, yes.
    And Cohen, Trump, Giuliani, Trump Jr, (and Eric, though that seemed taped), and Mueller were all in the cold open of the last episode.
    Yes, Luke could play them, but we've seen so little of him, and less of him actually being funny, so I'm not sure he could pull it off, or if the show would even want to entrust such big roles to him. And who knows, maybe all these guys have auditioned for all these roles. We aren't at 30 Rock.
     
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