-Same weekend they announced the Shatner in Space thing. -Image makeover for the less nice things he does behind the scenes. -One upping Musk. -Plus why do a pricier pre-shot video instead of a sketch like the vaguely Star Trek looking set thing they did last season. Last year had other sketches where products/services were central to a sketch and mentioned 4-5 times.
You mean things like overworking Amazon delivery drivers to the point they have to pee in bottles rather than take a break? The sketch is called "Ego Quest." Bezos is portrayed as a shallow, self-indulgent jerk wasting billions on his midlife crisis. And he's shown treating one of his own Amazon delivery guys like crap. You think that's supposed to help his or Amazon's image?
Skit came off better than Bezos own press conference after that silly flight. He wanted 3.5 million viewers in one shot to talk about that flight that was forgotten after a 48 hours news cycle earlier in the summer.
As @czeskleba notes, your conspiracy theory/inside baseball analysis ignores the reality that the skit portrays Bezos as an arrogant, entitled jerk. But sure, Amazon paid NBC to run it.
While I understand the adage that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, I find it hard to credit that Amazon or Bezos would pay SNL under the table (and how is that even possible, these days, without news of the bribe leaking and embarrassing Bezos still further?) for a skit, in which, as you note, Bezos comes across as a dick, and alludes, however obliquely, to the controversy surrounding Amazon’s treatment of its workers. SNL has always tackled topical events and celebrities, don’t really see how the Ego Quest sketch was any different.
Amazon and Blue Origin are two different companies, started by the same person. Only one of which he still runs.
It doesn't help that Owen Wilson isn't exactly the hottest celebrity at the moment. I really hope SNL doesn't have to continually resort to hosts like Elon Musk and Kim Kardashian to get ratings because these episodes are almost always subpar and self serving.
I almost never make an extra effort to tune in because of the host. If anything, it’s a good musical guest who will make me circle SNL on my calendar.
My only hope for a host is that they’re an actor so that I know they can bring some talent to any sketches they’re in. I thought the season premier was pretty good, and Owen Wilson was a decent host.
Lot of thought is given to host choices. Ratings reflect that and SNL also does better during election cycles for obvious reasons. The possibility if a recent SNL rerun getting more viewers than a season opener should have someone sweating. Personally, the music guests and Jost/Che are the prime reason I return. Half the time I have no knowledge about or vested interest in the host. Also keep in mind half the regular cast are paid low by showbiz standards.
Someone obviously cares, since the ratings fluctuate. IIRC, last year the Elon Musk episode had dramatically better ratings that the episodes preceding and following it.
Halsey was surprisingly good in the show she hosted. She was in almost every sketch and I don't think I saw her look at the cue cards once.
KK and her glam squad probably spent 2 hours getting ready for a 10 second promo shown once on a Friday night at 10pm. Hope they got pre-filmed sketch out of it that same day.
I love Owen Wilson , but truthfully Kim K would have been a better choice to open the season. It will be interesting to see if the streaming affects the ratings , the whole season.