Saturday Night Live (SNL) 2018-2019 44th Season Thread

He has always been a first, second and third class jerk.

 

Who was that tuneless schmuck warbling at the end? Dreadful.

 

Kanye West

 

I dunno about the rest of you, but while watching the opening skit I went back and forth between (1) thinking it was tasteless and (2) laughing my butt off.

 

I've never seen Kanye perform before and whoa.......that performance was some first-class talentless crap. I'm speechless. How is he famous? That was terrible x 10. Oh, and the episode was crap too.

 

I thought Matt Damon was pretty good.

 

The Saturday Night Live (SNL) 2010-2011 Season thread

 

That was one of the weakest episodes in years. The only thing I found remotely amusing was the Career Day / Your Father at School bit.

 

The other schmuck.

 

No love for Garrett Morris?

 

Actually, the only thing I found remotely amusing was Kate McKinnon's Lindsey Graham impression.
I am always amazed at her remarkable talent season after season. Here's a link...
Brian Tyler Cohen on Twitter

 

How is a spot on imitation tasteless? I laughed my butt off, too.

 

I believe Mr. West gave an unplanned political statement which NBC chose not to broadcast.

 

You mean Ye.

 

That was after the song ended. It also came after 1:01, so the show was going off air no matter what.

 

Even his fans thiught last night was horrible. I'm not a fan, but apparently his early stuff is actually great.

 

I choose to LMAO. Quite spot on, but the overall situation is rather sad.
Made a sandwich when Kanye came on.

 

Loved the Ginsburg.

 

Oh, no—I’m not going there!

Hey, the funny eventually won. I’ll leave it at that.

 

Do we still have to call it comedy when adherence to one political ideology takes priority over being funny?

Too bad, the country could use a way to laugh together.

 

Don't worry, the United Nations found one.

Re: Kanye -- I am becoming convinced that he thinks he's doing provocative performance art, and that it's a self-conscious response to realizing he blew any artistic integrity he had left when he married into that family. His worsening mental problems (he's not been right in the head at least since his mother died) are undoubtedly also a factor.

 

I'm not quite sure how anyone can discuss SNL without venturing into taboo territory, but I'll try.

In fairness to all parties, fans or critics of SNL, I've only seen clips from last night's broadcast. So, I can't assess the program in it's entirety from an objective standpoint one way or the other. From a more general perspective I'll agree with folks who find the show less funny these days. Maybe the writing or tastes in humor have changed ...my tastes in humor may have changed... or the regular comedians on the show aren't connecting with SNL's core audience as well as show alumni from 30 years ago (...I'm using the term "alumni" in the more traditional sense). Perhaps the deadly serious nature of our divided/divisive culture is what makes it impossible to parody current events. It might even be a combination of all these factors or something entirely different.

Keeping in mind that Kanya's performance wasn't an interview, I sincerely believe that SNL probably did "Ye" ...or whatever Mr. West is calling himself these days... a BIG favor by not allowing the show to run over in airing his non-music related political diatribe. Apparently he got booed by the audience and only two or three claps of applause for his performance in the room after he concluded. That kind of response can leave an indelible, highly negative, impression of any live performer.

Also, the clip I watched of Kate McKinnon just didn't work for me. I think there was an opportunity to do a much cleverer parody of Lindsey Graham's vitriolic performance from the Senate hearing room without the stiff neck approach that suggested he was less than coherent and more goofy than effective. What I'd love to have seen is an aide bringing out a straight jacket and keeping it at the ready as he went on the attack. Perhaps invoking the legendary James Brown routine with Graham stopping to take a breath as an aide put the jacket over his shoulder, Lindsey throwing it off and continuing his defense of the indefensible, ...but that's just my sense of humor playing out; other's mileage would probably vary.

Anyway, there were a number of moments from the confirmation hearing that could've been parodied, but weren't. IMO, there were missed opportunities for humor by SNL regardless of where you position yourself on the politics of the judicial appointment.

So, what about SNL in the current environment? One of the reasons it's more difficult to sell comic parody these days is that the reality is so over the top that comedy writers can't make up stuff that's visibly that different from what we're experiencing in real life. For some folks, the reality is a nightmare that just can't be laughed off. For other's it's an attempt to ridicule policies and/or the guy perpetrating policies they support who's very sensitive to public criticism and ridicule. SNL was founded on comic parody skits and music that is reflective of contemporary culture. In my estimation, SNL holding onto a declining audience share in the current environment of a seriously divided country with many more outlets for entertainment is a no win scenario.


Cat

 

Who exactly are you talking about when you say "SNL's core audience"? Like, who do you think that is?

 

He was Great. Had all mannerisms down pat.

 

Folks who watch it regularly. The audience based solely on demographics will probably be different, dependent upon age, political persuasion, etc..


Cat