Saturday Night Live (SNL) 2020-2021 46th Season Thread

I remember the skit where SNL Reagan -- an actor who thinks he's playing the President in an interminable movie production -- complained about getting a stunt double for the next assassination attempt . . .

 

worst excuse for a musical guest ever

 

Maya Rudolph reminds me a bit of Aidy Bryant. They both play variations on the same character in every role.

Kamala Harris has a fairly distinctive high-pitched voice which would be perfect for spoofing if the right actress got the job. But Rudolph isn't that person.

 

Now look, here's the deal: The debate itself was ripe for mocking. I don't think you cancel that sketch based on subsequent developments.

If things had progressed further, then they probably should have taken a different tack. But thankfully that has not happened.

 

I'd say it's because of the specific illness he's got and the sense that he brought it on himself with carelessness. If he'd had a stroke or a heart attack I don't think there'd be any mockery.

 

I can't wait for next week and them doing a parody of the Vice-Presidential debate..His Mike Pence is excellent as well.

 

Yeah, I agree completely. There's never any variation to Rudolph's performances. She is always the same character. If she wasn't made up/dressed to look like Harris, there'd really be nothing to indicate she was trying to do a Harris impression.

 

Lest we forget, the first ever political impersonation on "SNL" was Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford.

Chase did zero to look and sound like Ford. He fell down a lot and was bumbling - that was the impression!

 

Stand by initial response, but I got to shout out Heidi Gardner for being super hot AND not being afraid of playing very silly comedy.

 

I don't remember that - might have to do a search to see if I can find it!

The question is when that sketch would've occurred, though. Making fun of the assassination attempt a few weeks/months down the road is different than doing so days after event.

FWIW, I looked and Hickley shot Reagan on 3/30/81. "SNL" wasn't on that week - they wouldn't return until 4/11, and that was the season finale.

There was a long gap there, as they'd been off since 3/7 because Jean Doumanian got fired as executive producer and they needed time to retool.

They only churned out one episode - the 4/11 show - before a writer's strike canceled the rest of the season.

So either the sketch appeared on that 4/11 show or not until the 1981-82 season...

 

"See how she shapes it"? She's done the Harris impersonation many times already - it's not a new role for her...

 

I get why they didn't drop the debate sketch or modify it... it just still feels like uncharted territory, and I remain surprised they kept it, even if I understand the rationale.

Like I said, could anyone imagine that they would've done that sketch as is under any other president? I can't!

 

IMO, the sketch would have absolutely remained in the show if any other politician was involved. It's about the story, not the person.

 

I'm not sure why Chloe Fineman isn't a main cast member by now, but she's a LOT better than most
of the regular cast. Every impression she does is absolutely hilarious and spot on.

 

I haven't seen enough of Chloe to make an authoritative observation, but my guess is that she's seen as being more of an "impressionist" than a "comedic actress" -- and that sort of stereotyping can hamper a career.

 

But, truth be told, isn't that how Kate McKinnon became a main cast member? She now does more, but her
impression of Justin Bieber (among others) is what brought her to the forefront...

 

I think the unofficial rule is you need to be a supporting cast member for three years and then year four you become part of the main cast. This is year two for her.

 

Generally it’s two years. There have been exceptions — I believe Kate McKinnon came in toward the end of a season and then only spent one full season as a featured player before being promoted.

 

Well yeah, but Chevy Chase's Ford was deliberately an anti-impression. They made no effort to make him up to look like Ford, and he made zero effort to try to sound like Ford or imitate his mannerisms. That was part of the joke. They basically just selected a couple elements of the public perception of Ford (that he was clumsy and not especially bright) and played those up to the exclusion of everything else. That's clearly not the case with Rudolph and Harris. Rudolph was selected for the role in the first place because of the perception that she resembles Harris (at least moreso than any other current or former cast member). And they try to enhance the resemblance with makeup and hair styling. The fact that Rudolph doesn't sound much like Harris isn't because she is not trying, but because she isn't really much of an impressionist. I mean really, there wasn't a whole lot of difference between her portrayal of Harris and her portrayal of "angry NBA wife" on yesterday's episode.

 

I think if there was another president who was in an identical situation (contracting a serious illness after publicly refusing to take medically-recommended safety precautions and actively discouraging the American public from taking those precautions) then they would have done the same thing. And I do think that if Trump had say, had a heart attack, they would not have piled on him like that.

 

Very true.

When Maya was a regular cast member, she was great at characters like the awkward teenage girl in Wake Up Wakefiled or an American Idol contestant doing the national anthem before a baseball game. But she wasn't a real impressionist. Which is fine. But she's on the show now to do Kamala Harris, and really, I don't expect that she will take it any further than portraying her as sassy and in command. That's the extent of what we'll get.

 

Let me modify: I can't imagine "SNL" would've been so willing to mercilessly mock any other sitting president the day after that president was sent to the hospital with a potentially life-threatening illness.

If Biden had gotten COVID and gone into the hospital, I think rewrites occur, even though Joe comes across better in that sketch.

This isn't to attack "SNL" and/or defend Trump - not at all.

Just saying I still believe that "SNL" wouldn't have treated any other POTUS the same way if something similar had happened...

 

A lot of "SNL" impersonations are more about a vibe than mimicry. That's what Rudolph's Harris is about.

Not saying it's the best choice or whatever - just saying that this isn't an unprecedented choice...