Saturday Night Live (SNL) 2019-2020 45th Season Thread

Ya know, if Gillis had displayed any actual contrition, maybe he could've kept the gig. Probably not, but maybe.

However, he went with the cheapest of all possible apologies: the "I'm sorry if anyone was offended" thing.

That says "I'm not sorry I did what I did, but I'm sorry you're such a wuss that it bothers you".

Granted, I don't know how sincere any apology could've seen given all his controversial comments were brand-spanking-new.

You can go with "I was young and foolish" when something happened years earlier, but a lot of Gillis's remarks were only months old!

It's hard to sell "I've matured and changed since May"!

 

Sure, but if "SNL" had been on the ball, he never would've gotten the job to begin with.

It'll be curious to see where his career goes from here. On one hand, this would seem to be a net negative - he didn't get the "SNL" gig and now he's gonna be a pariah in some comedy circles.

On the other hand, there's a not insubstantial audience that will embrace him solely because of his comments, so I guess he can make a career with that crowd...

 

This generation needs its Andrew Dice Clay.

 

I think Clay had a level of irony there, and he played a character.

Don't sense that with Gillis. I mean, every comedian plays a character of sorts - usually an amplified version of themselves - but I didn't sense that irony with Gillis's comments.

With Clay, you sensed he made fun of lunkheads. Gillis just seems to think bigotry is hilarious!

 

I just watched that podcast on YouTube. If it was a stage show in front of an audience then I would stand behind the guy. But the podcast is all serious with a couple of dudes talking crap with no hint it is supposed to be a comedy segment. Too iffy to call.

 

nah, they've got enough to deal with without that ****.

 

I "stand by" Gillis's right to spout whatever he wants, but that doesn't equate to support for him to be on "SNL".

If "SNL" had known about this stuff from the start, he wouldn't have gotten the gig...

 

He was hired and then un-hired which to me is losing a job. If he is a comedian and just doing what they are supposed to do then he should be given some slack. But like I said it is "iffy" because it wasn't obvious to me he was doing a comedy routine. If that podcast was meant to be funny then it failed. I am not a producer for SNL and have no stake. Also SNL is ready for prime time.

 

Did people laugh at his jokes? Then it's funny. Real, cutting-edge, quality comedy is migrating to podcasts and leaving establishment shows like SNL behind anyway.

 

"SNL" definitely messed up since they apparently did not check into this guy's history - they should've inspected his history better than they did.

Whether or not his bigoted comments = "doing what he's supposed to do" is eye of the beholder, but it remains clear that if "SNL" had been aware of the comments in question, he wouldn't have gotten the job.

So I don't cut him slack and feel he's being unjustly condemned.

Also think if he'd had a legit apology - not "sorry if anyone felt offended" - he might've had a better shot!

 

I'm sure some thought Gillis's comments were funny. Humor is subjective.

Doesn't mean what he said wasn't obviously bigoted, though...

 

There was a time long ago that Eddie Murphy was hired. Back when SNL was good.

 

Yeah. This is really a fine line. I do think comedy is an art form and I respect people who do it well and they should have some artistic license. Now this guy took a big risk and used a racial slur without any irony or comedic purpose. I have never seen this podcast before and don’t know if it was supposed to be funny and this bit certainly wasn’t. I said I would back him if certain conditions were met and they were not met. It wasn’t obvious to me it was all played for laughs. If he genuinely thought he had nothing to apologize for then he should have made a better statement.

 

this is excited..all seasons of SNL will be airing on the NBC streaming service Peacock starting in April..Wonder how edited they will be and if the music guests will be included?
NBCUniversal Introduces Peacock, Its New Streaming Service

 

Back then, casting decisions for SNL were mostly based on scouts having heard a standup/improv artist perform at a club. An audition was held, and that was pretty much it. The Internet has now made it possible for an entire record of someone's output to be immediately searched, dissected and analyzed. Frankly, this is the fault of SNL that they offered the job to someone they didn't vet thoroughly for meeting their requirements.

Let's be honest here: SNL hasn't been in the business of giving fringe or boundary-pushing comics/improv artists a voice since the very first season. It has been mainstream entertainment ever since the second season. And there's no way that this guy - funny or not - should have ever been considered given his history.

 

SNL past seasons (the way old ones) were on Netflix or Hulu several years ago and a lot of them were severly edited of any any musical cues. Some shows were barely 30 minutes long so I'm in if at least most of the content was able to be put back up.

The first 5 seasons were a non issue as it was cleared a long time ago due to the DVD box sets so the first 5 seasons should be up in full.

 

The 17-35 minute edits were a joke. Hopefully they can restore the episodes to at least all of the sketches. Except for some acts, I don't care too much about the music.

 

Funny how some of these copyright deals work. Around the turn of the millennium, the Comedy Network here in Canada ran the complete (as far as I recall) run of SNL from the beginning through the early '90s with few if any edits.

 

This is kind of an ironic post, since SNL was at its lowest point when Murphy was hired. (Everyone had quit except for a couple of producers and one writer.)

Also, the hiring of Murphy was really a random and fateful moment in entertainment history -- they realized at the last minute that they needed an "ethnic" person to replace Garrett Morris, so they hastily assembled a bunch of local stand-up comedians for auditions. Murphy was a total unknown at that point -- just a 19-year-old kid who had never done any acting, had never been a headliner, and had never played in any comedy clubs outside of New York City. He wasn't even a consensus choice after the initial audition -- supposedly, a guy named Charlie Barnett (one of Dave Chappelle's early influences) was in the lead for the job, but he was self-conscious about his ability to read cue-cards, so he skipped a followup audition.

 

Out of curiosity I attempted to listen to one of the podcasts and was bored. I know people loooove these hours-long poorly recorded podcasts that litter the internet, but I can't stand them.

But to give him the benefit of the doubt I looked at some of his standup routines posted online and I can see the appeal. He's too "bro" for me, but he's confident, self-depricating and polished. I guess he's a throwback, going for cheap laughs but in a seemingly funny way.

My guess is this could be the best thing ever to happen to his career. The bros and put-upon "anti-PC" types have a new outlaw hero.

dan c

 

Surprisingly, for a show that prides itself on ripping their comedy from the headlines, what with the news these days, and it being right-up-against premiere date...the irony is killing me!

Just about the funniest thing SNL has done in a couple of seasons, and it wasn't even intentional - just inept on their part! This is "meta" beyond belief.

And no, I am not going to explain this to those who don't understand forum regulations, and don't ask.

 

Yeah, I mentioned that earlier. Whatever damage his career took will be compensated for by the new audience he'll get.

Question is whether he wants that crowd!

I also watched the actual standup routines - not laugh out loud funny, but not bad. The guy can deliver a joke, even if some seem easy and cliche.

No idea why he thought podcasts where he spouted basic bigotry were a good idea...

 

I bet for the same reason any comedian not worth his seasoning does...you can be more "open and honest", without having to face real, general-audience people to reach the crowd you intend to make laugh with the jokes.

You're spared the embarrassment of bad reactions for being out-of-step, and you still get positive feedback. Everything a growing comedian doesn't need: reinforcement for not listening to your audience.

 

Didn't you stop watching SNL because of a Pete Davidson bit?

Saturday Night Live (SNL) 2014-2015 Season thread

Whatever you do, don't watch this. It's offensive.

 

They showed a sense of cleverness and insight with their comics. Gillis's remarks are more along the lines of "[minority group] sucks!"