All things SNL

[Guest Lobo]

Isn't Loren Michaels worth half a billion dollars?  And apparently he's an asshole in real life, with some strange sexual allegations floating over him.  

Where's the outrage over that?  Oh yeah, it doesn't count when that rich person is giving you some of their money.  

[Texas St. Armadillos 1381]

I've probably posted this half a dozen times, but Lorne really needs to retire and let Fey take over show running.

[billfromlaketravis 11605]

5 minutes ago, Texas St. Armadillos said:

I've probably posted this half a dozen times, but Lorne really needs to retire and let Fey take over show running.

Way too logical to actually happen. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13541]

5 minutes ago, Texas St. Armadillos said:

I've probably posted this half a dozen times, but Lorne really needs to retire and let Fey take over show running.

Yeah. From what I can tell, SNL produces a few decent sketches per show. Which plays great for youtube but not for live viewing.

The funniest part of SNL are the "reaction" sketches that  lead to the host or cast to break down in laughter. The actual sketch doesn't even matter, it's more funny just watching someone try not to laugh. Modern day laughter sign. We're laughing so you should be as well.

The more I read about behind the scenes of SNL, the worst I think about the show. From the internal politics or how Lorne treats everyone like children. The cast and writers are forced to sit on his office floor each week to talk about that week's sketches.  I can't imagine my boss or senior leadership of any organization expecting adults to sit on the floor for meetings while the boss sits behind a desk. 

[Red Five 41077]

The last couple of seasons have been pretty bad, and I'm normally the guy defending the show. I've gotten to where I only watch the cold open, monologue, and then fast forward to weekend update.

Their cast is like the Texas WR room. Need to trim some fat (not necessarily Bryant). 

[Nole-4-Life 806]

So they'll work with Trump hosting but not Musk?

That baffles me.

[Eskimohorn 5654]

So they'll work with Trump hosting but not Musk?
That baffles me.

You’re baffling yourself.

In 2015 Trump was a reality tv businessman, professional self-promoter, and caricature.

In 2015, he was also a leading purveyor of birtherism and suspected racist.

In 2015, Lorne Michaels and SNL dealt with negative press and cast members not pleased with extending Trump a platform to normalize him as a political candidate.

Between 2015-present, other stuff happened, to say the least.

Plenty of cast turnover.

Musk is a controversial billionaire with questionable motives, reputation, and actions. He makes erratic public statements that have regularly impacted Tesla stock prices. At best, on the libertarian spectrum. Not the best fit with east coast, artist sensibilities.

Still “baffled”?

[Guest Lobo]

The following current cast members, many of whom are upset about Musk hosting, also appeared on the November 2015 episode with Donald Trump:

Beck Bennett, Aidy Bryant, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day, Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon, Kyle Mooney, Cecily Strong, and of course-Kenan Thompson. 

That's 10 hypocritical whining bitches who had no issue with performing with Donald Trump.  But Elon Musk is somehow beyond the pale? 

I don't know what the equivalent of "shut up and dribble" is in sketch comedy...but these ten folks above need to "shut up and clown."  Wanna know what Covid-19 has done to performing comics?  Wanna know what that life is like?  I hear about it all the time friends in the industry, it hasn't been pretty.  

Perform, don't perform.  Nobody gives a shit.  But shut the fuck up about it either way.  It's your job, be a professional.  If you're not on this episode, that's 1 outta 20 you missed voluntarily.  So I assume you'll be donating 5% of your salary to a non-profit that raises awareness for wealth inequality in the United States?  You're a minor celebrity, you gotta boost your profile...I get it.  But railing on Musk while you happily pandered to Trump's ego on the show because you were an up-and-comer and needed the hype?  That's fucking bush league and you know it.  How about, get out there and make it a great show because it'll probably be the highest rated of the season and give your newer castmates a chance to thrive and be noticed as well?  There's a reason it's called an Ensemble Cast, you ungrateful shits.  

Edited May 4, 2021 by Lobo

[Nole-4-Life 806]

1 hour ago, Eskimohorn said:

You’re baffling yourself.

In 2015 Trump was a reality tv businessman, professional self-promoter, and caricature.

In 2015, he was also a leading purveyor of birtherism and suspected racist.

In 2015, Lorne Michaels and SNL dealt with negative press and cast members not pleased with extending Trump a platform to normalize him as a political candidate.

Between 2015-present, other stuff happened, to say the least.

Plenty of cast turnover.

Musk is a controversial billionaire with questionable motives, reputation, and actions. He makes erratic public statements that have regularly impacted Tesla stock prices. At best, on the libertarian spectrum. Not the best fit with east coast, artist sensibilities.

Still “baffled”?

I was thinking Trump was a presidential primary candidate when he hosted and widely hated by the elite left of Hollywood. Am I mistaken?

Edited May 4, 2021 by Nole-4-Life

[Guest Lobo]

He had declared and already had his name on most states' primary/caucus ballots.  He was the early front-runner, but the "official primary season" would not begin for another 3 months after he hosted the show (november 2015 to february 2016).  He was officially a candidate for POTUS from the Republican Party.  

[babysdaddy 2730]

3 hours ago, Lobo said:

The following current cast members, many of whom are upset about Musk hosting, also appeared on the November 2015 episode with Donald Trump:

Beck Bennett, Aidy Bryant, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day, Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon, Kyle Mooney, Cecily Strong, and of course-Kenan Thompson. 

That's 10 hypocritical whining bitches who had no issue with performing with Donald Trump.  But Elon Musk is somehow beyond the pale? 

I don't know what the equivalent of "shut up and dribble" is in sketch comedy...but these ten folks above need to "shut up and clown."  Wanna know what Covid-19 has done to performing comics?  Wanna know what that life is like?  I hear about it all the time friends in the industry, it hasn't been pretty.  

Perform, don't perform.  Nobody gives a shit.  But shut the fuck up about it either way.  It's your job, be a professional.  If you're not on this episode, that's 1 outta 20 you missed voluntarily.  So I assume you'll be donating 5% of your salary to a non-profit that raises awareness for wealth inequality in the United States?  You're a minor celebrity, you gotta boost your profile...I get it.  But railing on Musk while you happily pandered to Trump's ego on the show because you were an up-and-comer and needed the hype?  That's fucking bush league and you know it.  How about, get out there and make it a great show because it'll probably be the highest rated of the season and give your newer castmates a chance to thrive and be noticed as well?  There's a reason it's called an Ensemble Cast, you ungrateful shits.  

 

it's posts like this why I don't put you on ignore.

[billfromlaketravis 11605]

Who’s a really talented cast member? Maybe, maybe Bowen Yang. I think he’s funny as hell, watch Nora From Queens, but he’s a niche actor. 

Jost and Che are Weekend Update only so I won’t count them. 

Do y’all see any of the current cast getting a movie based on a SNL sketch? No, hell no. 

The talent just isn’t there. 

Edited May 4, 2021 by billfromlaketravis

[UTexasFight 9613]

I really want to see Elon offer the first 5 cast members that appear in a sketch with him their own $1 billion... you know, not forcing anyone to do anything. Just keeping the door open in case anyone changes their mind.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-can-pocket-another-32-billion-of-tesla-shares-11619826814?st=pvh7d6t5l0ga4l6&reflink=article_copyURL_share

[RPM 26430]

Che was on Seth Meyers last night and said he was excited to have Elon on the show. He was looking forward to the new tradition of the host giving each cast member a million dollars. He didn't even hint at having a problem with Musk. I think this is a bunch of tabloid bs.

[Eskimohorn 5654]

I was thinking Trump was a presidential primary candidate when he hosted and widely hated by the elite left of Hollywood. Am I mistaken?

But why male models?

[bluto 4947]

Most surprising thing on this thread is the apparent widespread appreciation of Bowen yang as an actor/comedian.

[Guest Lobo]

Trump also hosted in 2004.  I don't remember controversy surrounding that episode.  And that cast was filled with a lot of people who do not like Donald Trump---Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Fred Armisen, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, et. al.  

I'm sure this thing was blown out of proportion.  And maybe it was just a brilliant PR move to get even more people to watch the episode. 

What probably happened was that the Aidy Bryant note was real. Few other cast members got asked about it and dropped a snarky comments about Musk being too wealthy.  Then Lorne reminded them that since Covid-19, North America is filled with talented, hungry, brilliant comics and improv actors who can leave their non-existent tours and theaters right now to join "The Not Ready for Primetime Players" within 18 hours of a call from Lorne.  Suddenly everybody got back in line.  

This thing is just so goofy to me, but 2020-2021...people are just picking the strangest fucking battles to wage in the public square.  It's morbidly fascinating.

Edited May 5, 2021 by Lobo

[RPM 26430]

Pete Davidson was on Seth Meyers and said he was excited Elon is hosting and couldn't wait to meet him. "What, the guy that builds cool stuff that makes the world better? I'm hitting him up for a Tesla."

Edited May 5, 2021 by RPM

[Herpa Derpa 6160]

3 hours ago, Lobo said:

 I'm sure this thing was blown out of proportion.  And maybe it was just a brilliant PR move to get even more people to watch the episode. 

Enjoy your winnings!

[hundredTT 578]

Anyone else watching? Should be interesting with Musk...

[Chet Steadman 940]

I watch SNL every week (typically DVR and watch the next day or on Monday) but this is the worst monologue I can ever recall. 

Cant wait to watch this train wreck live

[Texas St. Armadillos 1381]

Murder Durder was decent.  Iceland was horrible.   WTF Lorne?

[mchookem 16523]

hahahaha between the Murder Durder accent discussion and Gritty appearance that skit felt specifically aimed at Surly 😄 

ETA Elon's monologue was...not awful, surprising. 

Edited May 9, 2021 by mchookem

[Pam Cummings 9700]

On 5/5/2021 at 8:21 AM, bluto said:

Most surprising thing on this thread is the apparent widespread appreciation of Bowen yang as an actor/comedian.

Every time i see him on SNL he's being fuckin hilarious.

[Hagbard Celine 10996]

apologies for opening a second thread, i'm rarely in m&tv

[Etexhorn13 3054]

Honestly, why do y’all still watch this shit? I’m 30, and the good SNL stopped happening before I went to college. I’ve seen skits on YouTube sometimes and the occasional episode but I’d never make it a point to actually watch. None of these people are that funny, and they almost all seem like gigantic bitches  

[NWBuck 8590]

6 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

apologies for opening a second thread, i'm rarely in m&tv

Since they don't play music videos anymore, who can blame you? 

[Tom 2960]

10 hours ago, Etexhorn13 said:

Honestly, why do y’all still watch this shit? I’m 30, and the good SNL stopped happening before I went to college. I’ve seen skits on YouTube sometimes and the occasional episode but I’d never make it a point to actually watch. None of these people are that funny, and they almost all seem like gigantic bitches  

 

I think the writing is a bigger problem than the cast.  When it's good, the cast has no problems being funny.  I just can't understand how something like the Iceland skit made it to air unless they just ran out of time and had nothing else to fill airtime with.

I think Keenan Thompson, Aidy Bryant, Beck Bennett, and Heidi Gardner are all serviceable cast members that can be put in a sketch and be funny so long as it's a decent sketch.  Colin Jost and Michael Che are very good at Weekend Update, which is still, as it always was, a highlight most weeks.  

Kyle Mooney and Melissa Villasenior are both funny and very underutilized most of the time.  Pete Davidson and Kate McKinnon are both overused, IMO, and aren't as funny as their airtime suggests.  I guess it's popular since it's a reoccurring bit, but I don't really find the "Chad" sketches funny at all. 

They do need new blood in the cast though to shake things up.

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by Tom

[Hagbard Celine 10996]

it's the writing, and lorne michaels is 76 years old

last night they could have burned 15 minutes with a star trek STARSHIP enterprise bridge sendup just lobbing softball one-liners to elon

but not having watched snl in years, i was shocked at how unfunny and cardboard the cast is

show needs a complete overhaul

make a show of the overhaul

national televised contest for comedy troupes

get chevy chase and bill murray and other ancient greats to judge

[RPM 26430]

What's killing SNL is the L. We're programmed to see slick, highly produced, taped skits. SNL still excels at those. The live, one mf'n shot at it is extremely hard to pull off to start with. Doing it today is almost impossible to do well.

[billfromlaketravis 11605]

1 hour ago, Hagbard Celine said:

it's the writing, and lorne michaels is 76 years old

last night they could have burned 15 minutes with a star trek STARSHIP enterprise bridge sendup just lobbing softball one-liners to elon

but not having watched snl in years, i was shocked at how unfunny and cardboard the cast is

show needs a complete overhaul

make a show of the overhaul

national televised contest for comedy troupes

get chevy chase and bill murray and other ancient greats to judge

Not a bad idea. I would recast the entire show, with the exception of Che and Jost on Update, and beg Tina Fey to come back. 

Second City shows are still funny. Live comedy can still be done well. 

[Bash Riprock 1695]

Kate McKinnion is so not funny. 

[Neonmoon 38130]

2 hours ago, Bash Riprock said:

Kate McKinnion is so not funny. 

I will cut you 

[Dbeasy 15233]

I'm going to go off on a little rant. SNL is absolute garbage.  It's the biggest waste of talent in the last 50 years since Ishtar. It's obvious where the problem lies - Lorne Michaels. He sucks and has sucked for 20 years.  Here's just a random list of why he sucks:

1. Line Memorization - all of the actors just read off cue cards. Not only is this completely not entertaining, elementary school kids are able to learn their lines. Why can't they? And don't tell me it's because the schedule is too tight every week.  Bullshit.  They could have been working on sketches for Elon for months and still have had timely topics.

2. Incredibly Poor Writing - Lorne blesses each and every sketch that gets on the air and he sucks and his opinions suck.

3. Misuse of Talent - they use the blonde haired chick Kate M. way too much while other talented people just get buried in the background. It all happens because Lorne makes all the decisions of who is in or out.  And he sucks ass. Look at how many cast members have gone on to successful film careers because they don't have to work with Lorne, who sucks.

4. Weak Talent - a lot of the talent isn't funny, and Lorne is the guy who selected them, and he sucks.

5. Weak Topic Leverage - they are constantly served up great topics of curretn events and fail to capitalize on them. See bad writing. See Lorne sucks.

The entire show is broken and has been forever. We all hope that we can get 10 good minutes out of the show every week, because live sketch comedy on timely topics is comedy gold.  But we are left with hardly anything to laugh about.  Because Lorne sucks.

[billfromlaketravis 11605]

4 hours ago, Bash Riprock said:

Kate McKinnion is so not funny. 

She was the ONLY bright spot in the Ghostbusters remake. She's just bad on live TV, but has some potential in film. However, she seems very content on SNL. 

[DonkeyCigars 143]

I think it’s a talent thing. This cast is not great, as has been covered many times on this thread, and you have to brave enough to cut heads— good enough is the enemy of great comedy here.

That said, I think you have to give the whole production somewhat of a pass with Covid. Not being able to get together for all that time, probably out of chemistry, and the talent scouting and back filling of writers and actors probably suffering like all other supply chains.

And yes the cast sucks and it’s not a 5 star class with all pros at multiple positions, but I was watching some YouTube clips of SNL in the mid 80’s (Randy Quaid, RD Jr., and Anthony Michael Hall) and those were horrible, unfunny and not even clever. So at least it’s not that bad. But yea, SNL needs to recruit better and clean house after this season and get ready to start a post-COVID phase fresh and get rid of Butthole eyes Davidson, etc.

[billfromlaketravis 11605]

A bad sketch is a bad sketch. Check out Not Gettin' Any : Losers on YouTube. Michael J. Fox, Chris Rock, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, and David Spade. 5 brilliant, successful comedic actors, 5 brutally unfunny minutes. 

[Red Five 41077]

A bad sketch is a bad sketch. Check out Not Gettin' Any : Losers on YouTube. Michael J. Fox, Chris Rock, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, and David Spade. 5 brilliant, successful comedic actors, 5 brutally unfunny minutes. 

Watch a full episode with the original cast sometime. A ton of it is unwatchable today.

I think the show was at it’s peak in the late 80s with Carvey, Hartman, etc. Although I heard someone say once that everyone says the show was at its best when they were like 14, so that checks out.

[billfromlaketravis 11605]

11 minutes ago, Red Five said:

Watch a full episode with the original cast sometime. A ton of it is unwatchable today.

I think the show was at it’s peak in the late 80s with Carvey, Hartman, etc. Although I heard someone say once that everyone says the show was at its best when they were like 14, so that checks out.

Hartman as Clinton giving an economics lesson at McDonald’s is one of my favorite sketches ever. The guy was incredibly talented. Gone too soon. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21118]

14 minutes ago, Red Five said:

 Although I heard someone say once that everyone says the show was at its best when they were like 14, so that checks out.

I agree with this, both personally (Farley/Sandler/Spade era) and in general. 

[gsoda3 3300]

6 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

 

1. Line Memorization - all of the actors just read off cue cards. Not only is this completely not entertaining, elementary school kids are able to learn their lines. Why can't they? And don't tell me it's because the schedule is too tight every week.  Bullshit.  They could have been working on sketches for Elon for months and still have had timely topics.

 

 

i've read before the skits are rewritten a lot from the first time they're thought out to the final product of what goes live (sometimes even during the course of the show after it's started) and a lot of the actors aren't notified of the changes until right before they go on.  and even if they know of changes the day of it's undergone so many changes it's hard to keep straight.  i mean it goes from the writer's room, to lorne's office, back to the writer's room, to thursday rehearsal, back to the writer's room, and then to live.  and often times only the one or two writers know of all the changes while the other cast members are only told "here's what your part is".

[Neonmoon 38130]

Every generation thinks their middle/high school years of SNL is the best. Everyone ages out. 

[mdleast 8388]

Maybe I’m the outlier but I’m continuously amazed at how SNL has continued to stay entertaining/relevant though out the years. Do some of their shows overall/sketches fall flat? Sure. But that’s happened continuously throughout all eras of the show. I’ve long felt that the opening (almost always topical/political) skit ages terribly. But the hits keep coming. I submit that there are next to no eras of the show (even those that we watched in our younger years) that you wouldn’t find boring now. I’ll keep watching.

[Dbeasy 15233]

10 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

 

i've read before the skits are rewritten a lot from the first time they're thought out to the final product of what goes live (sometimes even during the course of the show after it's started) and a lot of the actors aren't notified of the changes until right before they go on.  and even if they know of changes the day of it's undergone so many changes it's hard to keep straight.  i mean it goes from the writer's room, to lorne's office, back to the writer's room, to thursday rehearsal, back to the writer's room, and then to live.  and often times only the one or two writers know of all the changes while the other cast members are only told "here's what your part is".

Yes and my point is that there’s no reason whatsoever why the process has to be that way. They could have developed scripts over a month earlier and had most of them ready to go on Monday. 

[DonkeyCigars 143]

10 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Every generation thinks their middle/high school years of SNL is the best. Everyone ages out. 

Gotta be something to this because I still fondly recall Jim Brewer’s Goat Boy as high comedy.

[Prepuce of Doom 21118]

1 hour ago, DonkeyCigars said:

Gotta be something to this because I still fondly recall Jim Brewer’s Goat Boy as high comedy.

Avatar and user name kind of checks out. 

Or maybe I'm confused about my old Disney movies. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Prepuce of Doom
They're all the same to me..

[smuggs 9354]

This cast lacks some insanity, particularly in the physical comedy department. Most every generation of SNL cast has had one or more unhinged persons that get out there and do absolutely anything for a laugh and you never wanted to miss because they might do something crazy. Kate McKinnon qualifies but she seems exhausted at this point. 

 

[ChuckNorrisActionJeans 2687]

This should probably go in the unpopular opinions thread, but Pete Davidson is funny as shit to me. Before he even says anything. Just naturally funny imo.

Beck Bennett is really good too. Alex Moffatt & Mikey Day also, to a somewhat lesser extent than BB. 

Kyle Mooney hasn't been getting as good material lately but he's funny, as is Melissa Villasenor.

I don't get Chris Redd, and the rest are pretty meh to me. On the fence about Kate McKinnon...her funny meter has gone down with me.

Weekend Update could be so much. better .... I don't find Che very funny, and I almost always hate the "bring a character on" feature of WU. 

Original SNL's w/Chevy et. al. are pretty unwatchable to me, with a couple of notable skits excepted. 80s and 90s were the peak in certain years...Murphy, Farley, Martin Short, Carvey, Hartman....

I think the current cast is plenty talented on average, but yeah when you see a skit like the Iceland one ... it's just inexplicable. 

 

[Neonmoon 38130]

I also think Pete Davidson is funny as shit. Same with McKinnon 

[mchookem 16523]

i will forever give Mikey Day and Alex Moffat slack b/c they were so absolutely hysterical as Don Jr. and Eric, every time. Alex in particular...i'm giggling now just thinking about it 😂

more love for Bowen Yang - he's been the surprise of the season to me, so funny...i still can't get over how stupid-funny that Titanic skit was a few weeks ago 🤣.

but that's a good example of the cast member making the skit - on paper that bit seemed dumb i bet. i mean, it WAS dumb...but Bowen went in 100% and it was awesome. 

of the women...i think Ady Bryant is really funny when she's playing a reaction/straight role in a skit - she always nails the 'wtf??' tone perfectly.

as was said above...there have been way, WAY worse casts. 

oh yeah...so what's the deal with all the Timothee Chalamet mentions?? he hosted a few months ago...did he just hit it off with the cast, become BFFs with Davidson or something? 😄