Are we doing this again? I guess so, but I probably won’t keep up with it! Saturday Night Live’s latest season premiered last night. I’m only catching up on the videos now – Woody Harrelson was the host, but there were guest appearances by Larry David (as Bernie Sanders), Liev Schreiber (as himself/Ray Donovan), Maya Rudolph (as Kamala Harris) and of course Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump. There was a rumor that Alec didn’t really want to do Trump anymore, and there was a rumor that SNL would maybe get a full-time cast member to play Trump. But at the end of the day, Alec came back. Here’s the cold open, which is all about the impeachment:
Woody Harrelson’s opening monologue. He didn’t really go hard on anyone beyond a mild Fox News joke and a Melania Trump joke.
Here’s the “Downton Abbey trailer” which is kind of funny until the end.
The DNC Town Hall sketch… you can really feel SNL and NBC trying to “both sides” politics, like it’s equally notable that Trump is facing an impeachment inquiry AND Marianne Williamson is bonkers. Kate McKinnon’s Liz Warren is very… Hillary-esque. Woody as Joe Biden actually works.
And here’s Billie Eilish performing “Bad Guy.”
Photos courtesy of SNL.
I may be in the minority but I’ve never really been impressed with Kate McKinnon’s impersonations; especially of white female politicians. They all seem to just blur together and don’t really have nuisance.
The best skits I’ve seen of her imitating someone are when she played Robert Mueller in weekend update and when she played Nosferatu Ghouliani. But that had less to do with getting their mannerism right and more to do with the sketch just being funny.
The best people on SNL for impersonations will always be Darrell Hammond and Maya Rudolph.
I like Kate McKinnon in sketches and movies, but I’m tired of her impersonations as well. The only one I still find funny is her RBG on Weekend Update and that’s more because of the jokes than her performance.
I totally agree! I think she can be hilarious but her impressions do nothing for me. They’re all so exaggerated. If she captured Guiliani as the forgetful lush that he is instead of whatever Kate McKinnon is attempting it’d he way funnier. Her Warren impression is another check on the ol’ Bernie ‘pros’ list.
I completely forgot it was starting again last night. I wonder why Baldwin agreed to come
Back, I wonder if the impeachment news was just something he couldn’t resist doing? I’ll have to watch it later today.
Could have something to do with Hilaria’s 18th pregnancy. Dude’s gotta work.
@TW, brilliant!
Seeing his skit just drives home what we are dealing with. SMH.
It might be my UK humour but I never find SNL funny. But Alex portrayal of Trump is A class.
I’m a Brit and I like SNL, granted some of the sketches pass me over as its very geared toward the US culture etc.. but some of the sketches are funny.
I’m from the UK too and I’ve also never really got it. Some of the sketches are amusing/clever, but I don’t think it’s ever made me laugh out loud. Maybe I just haven’t watched the right stuff.
Plenty of Americans don’t find it funny either. I feel like SNL *thinks* it’s a cultural institution, but many watchers don’t buy in. It reminds me of the Met Gala…full of celebrities, self important, and I don’t deny it’s significant to many people…but many more don’t really follow it.
It’s hit or miss for me. I figure there are usually 10 sketches or so, maybe 15, per episode, also over the course of a season there maybe 200 sketches? Maybe more? I figure I’m prob only going to find half of those funny, and there are probably just a handful that are going to stick in my memory over the years. But when I think of it that way – of course some are going to be funnier and more memorable than others.
I’ve watched, off and on, since the very first episode with George Carlin in 1975, but I haven’t found it really funny for years(decades?).Just occasional skits score. Keenan Thompson is a treasure, though. I’ve only really liked two shows overall recently, the ones hosted by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Adam Driver, but that may be because I love Lin-Manuel and Adam madly.
@Jerusha – I can’t watch the LMM one ever again. I just remember how confident we were at the time that trump “was never going to be president now/never going to be president” and now……sigh. It was the day after the access Hollywood tape and it just seemed that was the end for him.
Me too! I still try and stay up but rarely make it through – thank goodness for You Tube! There are always good sketches and forgettable sketches, as well as years. Adam Driver as the Undercover Boss is the best thing I have ever seen! Woody was very enjoyable as a host.
Did you see the George Carlin clips that were trending this weekend on Twitter? It reminded me of how much I miss him. He was talking about comedy speaking truth to power, and how “punching down” and targeting people who are in oppressed groups is not a good thing.
Think you mean nuance?
Alec Baldwin is a very talented comedian but his impression of Trump is bad.
There. I said it.
If you didn’t tell me it was Trump I wouldn’t have a clue.
Yeah, Alec’s Trump is not repulsive like the real thing.
I really liked the cold open, and I have to admit, I was actually laughing through parts of the show. The debate part went on a little too long, but Maya and Woody were amazing in that! I did love the Downton sketch (having just seen it last week 😊). The Dad sketch was pretty good, too.
As an “oldie” I was familiar with Billie Eilish’s “name”, but not her work, and I gotta say, I really liked her songs, esp. the 2nd one! Can’t believe she’s so young!!
So tired of SNL because it’s so wack. Covering episodes maybe during the podcast is fine, recaps aren’t necessary. There are better jokes and socio-political commentary by Celebitchy readers.
Nothing against Maya Rudolph but why couldn’t Ego Nwodim play Sen. Kamala Harris? Do SNL producers think that in order to do an impression of a black woman, the actress has to be on similar skin tone? Or does it only work when the subject of the impression is light-skinned because Maya did Michelle Obama.
And WE can joke about impeachment, but a 40+ year old show overrun with white men reduce or portray one of the most corrupt and dangerous presidents as a drunk uncle is deeply upsetting. Our country is facing an existential crisis, and Colin Jost and his writers are ill-equipped to provide solace or nuanced observation.
And can Alec Baldwin just stay home and raise his kids? Can we shame him into staying home with his 18 infants and pregnant wife?
Agree SNL makes light of the situation, when really it calls for the most incisive, biting comedy they could bring. They are failing in that department.
I enjoyed SNL when Tina fey,Amy, Maya were part of the cast
That was my favorite era, as well.
became a fan of Kate’s after watching her in one SNL skit where Ryan Gosling just absolutely could not keep in character and kept cracking up every time it was Kate’s turn to speak…i think it was something about an alien abduction that was transcendent for the other two, but Kate’s was *ahem* more intimate from her description.
Poor Ryan. He was dying in that skit, trying so hard not to laugh.
I have to say, I kind of love Billie Eilish. I’m in my early 30s but I just can’t stop thinking how much it would have meant to teenage me to have an unabashedly weird teen girl in the public eye. When I was in high school the edgiest thing we had was Avril Lavigne.
I think back to teenage me when it comes to Billie Eilish as well. She seems so comfortable in her high neck, baggy shirts and her loose pants. I always felt pressure to dress the opposite of that, and I am sure she has been pressured to expose more, but she doesn’t. It makes me assume that she is strong.