S45.E02: Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift

[Robert Lynch]

But what this show needs is new blood. It can't rely on Kenan forever.

[SomeTameGazelle]

5 hours ago, helenamonster said:

It wasn't until I saw them in the goodnights that I realized neither Melissa nor Kyle got any screentime this episode. Yikes.

Kyle was in the What's Wrong with this Picture gameshow sketch as a contestant.

[helenamonster]

5 minutes ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Kyle was in the What's Wrong with this Picture gameshow sketch as a contestant.

Ah right, I'd already forgotten about that by the end of the show, since it was the first post-monologue sketch. I'm realizing now, as others have pointed out, that Heidi was the other person who didn't get any screentime, though I don't recall seeing her in the goodnights either.

I understand that stuff gets cut because of timing and lack of enthusiasm at table read/dress rehearsal and all but I always find it jarring when any cast member, no matter how marginalized they already are, goes an entire episode without a single appearance. That must really sting. I don't even like Melissa but I felt bad for her. Like I said, I didn't see Heidi during the goodnights--was she even there?

[Ms Blue Jay]

8 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

Hard agree. His energy was unreal.

Other random thoughts:

• While Matthew Broderick's actual portrayal of Pompeo left A LOT to be desired, I loved the call backs to Ferris - and also wondered how many people (what, 30+ years later?!) got all of the references.

As long as something is on Netlfix, which I feel like Ferris is, then the youth will get it.  I often meet people who can only talk in Netflix - you try and talk about a show that's not on Netflix and you're just met with blank stares.

[Pete Martell]

14 minutes ago, helenamonster said:

Ah right, I'd already forgotten about that by the end of the show, since it was the first post-monologue sketch. I'm realizing now, as others have pointed out, that Heidi was the other person who didn't get any screentime, though I don't recall seeing her in the goodnights either.

I understand that stuff gets cut because of timing and lack of enthusiasm at table read/dress rehearsal and all but I always find it jarring when any cast member, no matter how marginalized they already are, goes an entire episode without a single appearance. That must really sting. I don't even like Melissa but I felt bad for her. Like I said, I didn't see Heidi during the goodnights--was she even there?

Someone said she was. I didn't see her but I guess she must have been. 

I don't mind if a cast member is barely in an episode or even not in an episode as long as they are given a good part in another episode around the same time. For instance, Heidi had a good-sized part last week in a sketch she co-wrote. I do think when someone does not appear or only has menial roles several weeks in a row, as has happened with Melissa, it's more noticeable and should be addressed. 

In the early '90s, when these massive casts started, you had players like David Spade or Tim Meadows ("I don't have any lines...I'm not in the show...") who would go for long stretches without much of a voice onscreen. The main difference is that many of the older cast at that point were mostly professional onscreen and still contributing a lot of material that felt fresh. What we have now is (minus the grotesque sexism, which admittedly shouldn't be easily discounted for the sake of a comparison) more like the mid-90s, when Sandler, Spade and Farley got a lot of mugging on the air, week after week, while performers like Julia Sweeney and Melanie Hutsell no longer seemed to exist. Don't get me wrong - players like Kenan, Cecily, Kate and Aidy have earned their place and also earned the chance to have airtime in what is likely the last season for most of them, but when you have two weeks of these types of sketches that just seem (like the apple picking and now the bar sketch) so loose and like excuses for breaking and cutting up, and you think about the more recent cast members who can't get a look in, the balance is just way off. 

I just hope this is worked out because, while I have mostly been fine with the last two episodes, I don't think a full season of this type of imbalance is a good idea, to say the least.

[Ms Blue Jay]

6 hours ago, helenamonster said:

All I can think about every time I remember he gets to film a movie while continuing to be counted as a cast member on this show, I think of Michaela Watkins's story about Bill Hader telling her to thank Lorne for letting her do a movie over the summer. When SNL was on hiatus and she wasn't missing any show weeks. And Michaela brought much more to the show than Pete ever has.

Interesting.  I'm a big fan of hers, and have been ever since she was (briefly) on SNL.

6 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

My mom hated Matthew Broderick ever since the whole surrogate mother fiasco with the twins became public knowledge. I don't know whole story about it, but I remember making it on the news back in 2009.

You would think his killing two people in a car accident would be more hateable, but I digress.  I don't know the surrogate mother story.

Edited October 6, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[Robert Lynch]

25 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Interesting.  I'm a big fan of hers, and have been ever since she was (briefly) on SNL.

You would think his killing two people in a car accident would be more hateable, but I digress.  I don't know the surrogate mother story.

Me neither. 

[Psychobunny]

Lots of hate for Taylor Swift here. I have to agree that she is not the best live singer but nowhere near as bad as some others like Katy Perry. Her strength has always been songwriting and ever since she left country for pop her songs have suffered. I don’t know why she chose two boring songs without interesting lyrics to perform but I still like her. I thought the rest of the show was pretty good. I agree that Chinese trade representative was a high point. The new cast seem pretty good. Overall I thought it was good. I always think back to the original cast though and realize that seven people carried the entire show. There are just too many current cast members so a lot get minimally used. 

[Guest]

PWB's monologue was stellar, but other than that, the weak writing kind of squandered her talents. The biggest laughs (imo) were the morning show and the wartime letters and she didn't do the heavy lifting in either. And for a (rising) A-List British actor, her American accent was surprisingly shaky! At least she seemed to be having a good time - I love her.

Apparently Pete is taking time off to film the new Suicide Squad movie? Which...since when does he have an "acting career"? And I didn't know you could take a sabbatical from SNL lol.

[Kaiju Ballet]

I was shocked to see Melissa Villasenor as a cast member – is this her first season out of the featured player pen? Because if so, it’s weird that this is the second episode in the row that she’s not on.

Pete’s not going anywhere – when he’s on, he can be really good. And even when he’s not there, he serves as a punchline, as in the WU bit about the person who couldn’t find his car at a music festival even after a week.

But I only can think of Melissa’s Owen Wilson impersonation, Lady Gaga and maybe Arya Stark as sort-of stand-out moments for her, and they’re usually in sketches with other people doing impersonations equally as well. I know she’s been in other sketches, but she hasn’t stood out like say, Heidi Gardner when she was a featured player.

I didn’t get the Ferris Bueller references/ hangs head in shame. And it wasn’t until reading the posts here and elsewhere that I understood the clown makeup on Rudy as a reference to the new Joker movie. But SNL has managed to make me laugh before even when I wasn’t familiar with the referenced material (e.g., the parody of Us last season). These types of jokes work best when they stir up something relatable, other than a recognition of the current pop culture moment.

4 hours ago, Racj82 said:

That racial new sketch is damn true but there is a undercurrent of such sadness to it. As a black man, it always feels like a loss for all of us when other black people do terrible or dumb shit in the news. Also, no one wants fuel to the fire for jackasses that point to any crime a minority does to illustrate how terrible they think they are.

It just hit me but I imagine it's why at least some men are so defensive these days. Everytime any man does or says some gross shit it leads to more fuel to men are the worst/men are pigs type comments.

Which brings me to the TV news segment, which worked for me because there’s an uncomfortable recognition of what happens when stereotypes are seemingly reinforced, and feeling (at least for the moment) of being reduced to that factor being stereotyped as it’s happening. It’s thought-provoking, which is the kind of incisive humor I wish they’d bring to the cold opens. (I forgot to mention that I greatly enjoyed Che’s “should we be making fun of him?” and use of “strong”)

I’m ok with the portrayal of Rudy as Nosferatu. It’s a plausible explanation for how the Mayor who steered NYC through the immediate 9/11 aftermath is now almost unrecognizable in his current form.

I’m surprised that the characterization of Mike Pence doesn’t have more of an edge. Couldn't the writers do something with him being one impeachment away from being president? I know Beck is more than up to it!

[Dr.OO7]

So the next "War Letters" skit ought to be the Korean or Vietnam War, right?

Edited October 7, 2019 by Camille

[Pete Martell]

27 minutes ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

PWB's monologue was stellar, but other than that, the weak writing kind of squandered her talents. The biggest laughs (imo) were the morning show and the wartime letters and she didn't do the heavy lifting in either. And for a (rising) A-List British actor, her American accent was surprisingly shaky! At least she seemed to be having a good time - I love her.

Apparently Pete is taking time off to film the new Suicide Squad movie? Which...since when does he have an "acting career"? And I didn't know you could take a sabbatical from SNL lol.

I had mixed feelings about her being on the show because she is in a field of comedy so far away from SNL of recent years, and I knew they weren't going to do what I would have liked and what they would've done back 30, 40 years ago (some really great character pieces). As it was they did let her have that terrific monologue, and she helped make the wartime letters sketch feel fresh and not just like a retread of what we got with Claire Foy, so it wasn't a complete waste...but all in all I would like to be able to see her host a great episode, rather than just sort of filling in the blanks. Not sure she'll ever be hosting again but if she does hopefully she'll get that type of sketch. 

I kind of thought the wobbly American accent was endearing (even if it was unintentional), because of the idea many have that all British actors can do an American accent. That she was in a sketch with Mikey Day, who struggles with the British accent he so often adopts, made it even funnier. 

Pete has mostly acted in indie movies, and some Motley Crue biopic on Netflix. Lorne is more generous with cast members if he likes them or if they're helping him - he let Mike Myers take half a season off to make a movie because Mike had made the Wayne's World movie for him. He also let Bill Hader have a light schedule in his last season as he was making a movie. 

If Lorne isn't fond of you or if you aren't helping him, then...you end up being Taran Killam or Jon Lovitz. 

Edited October 7, 2019 by Pete Martell

[Pete Martell]

14 minutes ago, Kaiju Ballet said:

I was shocked to see Melissa Villasenor as a cast member – is this her first season out of the featured player pen? Because if so, it’s weird that this is the second episode in the row that she’s not on.

Pete’s not going anywhere – when he’s on, he can be really good. And even when he’s not there, he serves as a punchline, as in the WU bit about the person who couldn’t find his car at a music festival even after a week.

But I only can think of Melissa’s Owen Wilson impersonation, Lady Gaga and maybe Arya Stark as sort-of stand-out moments for her, and they’re usually in sketches with other people doing impersonations equally as well. I know she’s been in other sketches, but she hasn’t stood out like say, Heidi Gardner when she was a featured player.

I didn’t get the Ferris Bueller references/ hangs head in shame. And it wasn’t until reading the posts here and elsewhere that I understood the clown makeup on Rudy as a reference to the new Joker movie. But SNL has managed to make me laugh before even when I wasn’t familiar with the referenced material (e.g., the parody of Us last season). These types of jokes work best when they stir up something relatable, other than a recognition of the current pop culture moment.

Which brings me to the TV news segment, which worked for me because there’s an uncomfortable recognition of what happens when stereotypes are seemingly reinforced, and feeling (at least for the moment) of being reduced to that factor being stereotyped as it’s happening. It’s thought-provoking, which is the kind of incisive humor I wish they’d bring to the cold opens. (I forgot to mention that I greatly enjoyed Che’s “should we be making fun of him?” and use of “strong”)

I’m ok with the portrayal of Rudy as Nosferatu. It’s a plausible explanation for how the Mayor who steered NYC through the immediate 9/11 aftermath is now almost unrecognizable in his current form.

I’m surprised that the characterization of Mike Pence doesn’t have more of an edge. Couldn't the writers do something with him being one impeachment away from being president? I know Beck is more than up to it!

Last season was her first as a regular. I wasn't even entirely sure she'd make it as even then she was infrequently used. Over the course of last season her airtime increased and they started to give her more chances to work with her own vibe (like the "Hobbies" rap in Emma Stone's last episode) but we seem to be back to status quo. I think what hurts her chances is she's a good technical impressionist but I'm not sure she's as good at creating characters within the impressions. And her line delivery and performance style are very offbeat, which probably makes it harder to write for her. Still, considering they are probably losing several women after this season, and just lost Leslie Jones, you'd think they'd want to showcase her more. 

I saw that she's getting hateful messages from "fans" on social media, apparently. Pathetic. 

The only jokes they seem to have for Pence are that he's gay and in denial. It's very lazy, but then he doesn't give them much to work with. 

[Mystery]

6 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

I applaud Lorne for that and I feel for Pete's loss on that horrid day, but he can't be there forever. 

Especially when he's so rarely there at all!

[Kaiju Ballet]

22 minutes ago, Pete Martell said:

I think what hurts her chances is she's a good technical impressionist but I'm not sure she's as good at creating characters within the impressions.

I hadn't thought of it before, but I think you're absolutely right. That's why Love Island worked, even with cast members demonstrating varying abilities with accents. At the end of the day, it was less about the impression, and more about --as you perfectly phrased it -- the characters within the impressions.

Even Chloe impressed last week, with her Marianne Williamson. Didn't matter if it hit the mark as an impression, the character she created was hysterical.

I'm sorry to hear that she's being dragged on social media--but why?

As for other characters who aren't really great impressions--I did not miss Alec Baldwin this week.

[juno]

The best comedy skits are skits that have a punchline or ending that puts all of it together. The weakest part of the skits is they are either mocking someone (the President) or accentuating/exaggerating something like stupidity as in the game show skit.

Where they fail is that every skit either has no ending and it just ends, or it is using using stupid to get a laugh.

I am beyond tired of any skits that accentuate/exaggerate the current president or his family. Not because of politics but because they are not funny and they have no comedy in them. They are created to make us laugh at the exaggeration and not the comedy.

This show needs writers that can write comedy skits and not just make fun of people.

[peeayebee]

18 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

I also don't think Kate's Guiliani impression is up to much. It just seems very muggy and empty. I see people look at performances like these and talk about how she's carrying the show, and I just end up feeling confused. 

I can't stand her Guiliani impression. I agree with you -- It's muggy and empty and weird. 

13 hours ago, SHD said:

I feel like something happened to Matthew Broderick’s acting right around the time of The Producers. Seems like he can only play super exaggerated, like he has to emote and mug for the last row of a theater audience and that comes across terribly on TV.

He was good on Better Things this past season.

As far as this ep goes, I was disappointed. Of course I had high hopes, what with PWB being the host. I kept wondering how much writing she did for the show.

The only sketches I really liked were the news one, which was excellent, and the letter-writing one. I also loved Bowen Yang's WU appearance. Just hilarious and fun to listen to. I'm curious to see what else he does on the show.

Funny, but when Matthew Broderick first came out, I thought, "Wow! He looks just like him," but I was thinking of Manafort. Anyway, the CO was meh.

[Pete Martell]

1 minute ago, peeayebee said:

As far as this ep goes, I was disappointed. Of course I had high hopes, what with PWB being the host. I kept wondering how much writing she did for the show.

I have a feeling she didn't do any. Everything she was in felt like material we've had on the show before. At most she might have done her monologue. I guess it makes sense, because there are only a few hosts who seem to do their own writing, but I would have liked to have seen what she would have done. 

[possibilities]

I think Kate likes to keep it light. Her Warren impression is affectionate. It's hard to do a friendly Rudy impression right now, because he's acting like a raving lunatic. He's yelling during interviews and contradicting himself and making allegations-- he's aggressive. Melissa McCarthy doesn't mind being that character, so her Spicer impression worked. But Kate doesn't have that hard edge to her, and she doesn't like to act that kind of outrageous. She doesn't do angry characters, she doesn't yell, she's always smiling-- even as Guiliani in ghoul mode, she's grinning the whole time. It's just a bad impression and they should retool it or give it to someone else.

She's like this consistently. Her Jeff Sessions compared him to Forrest Gump-- mild and cute.

She's trying to do Rudy without any of Rudy's anger or bluster. And so it comes off totally inauthentic and not like Rudy at all.

When she does Warren, or Hillary Clinton, or RBG, she's teasing, but it's teasing with love. You can't really lovingly tease Rudy G right now. It just doesn't work.

--

I also agree the Pence impression needs work. I think he does give material, but they don't want to use it.

---

Melissa was good in those sketches where she doesn't know how to talk dirty.

---

I wonder if they'll retire the Jeopardy! sketches, due to Trebek's health. Those were well done and always amusing, but it feels like that might have to be let go.

I missed Leslie a lot. She was never bland. I am getting bored with the show, in general. They used to have a lot more variation in sketches, some really great ones, but last season and so far this one, it's just so bland. There are good moments, but they really need more and better ideas.

[One Imaginary Girl]

20 hours ago, helenamonster said:

Obsessed with Cecily's Geordie accent in the Love Island piece.

Nah, it was Liverpool, but it was really good.

[peeayebee]

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

She doesn't do angry characters, she doesn't yell, she's always smiling-- even as Guiliani in ghoul mode, she's grinning the whole time. It's just a bad impression and they should retool it or give it to someone else.

She's like this consistently. Her Jeff Sessions compared him to Forrest Gump-- mild and cute.

She's trying to do Rudy without any of Rudy's anger or bluster. And so it comes off totally inauthentic and not like Rudy at all.

Before I read your post I was just thinking about how Kate's Guiliani lacks anger, so I agree completely with you. When Guiliani comes to mind, you think yelling, scowling, unhinged. Her impression is quietly creepy and scheming. Guiliani may be scheming, but he doesn't look like it. He says the things you're supposed to say in your head.

I didn't think about how all her characters are smiling, never angry. Such a shame. I'm sure she has it in her.

As far as women doing male characters, I don't mind if there's no one else available or appropriate. Aidy as Barr was ok. If Bobby were still in the cast, that might have been his part.

[Phishbulb]

17 hours ago, helenamonster said:

Ah right, I'd already forgotten about that by the end of the show, since it was the first post-monologue sketch. I'm realizing now, as others have pointed out, that Heidi was the other person who didn't get any screentime, though I don't recall seeing her in the goodnights either.

I understand that stuff gets cut because of timing and lack of enthusiasm at table read/dress rehearsal and all but I always find it jarring when any cast member, no matter how marginalized they already are, goes an entire episode without a single appearance. That must really sting. I don't even like Melissa but I felt bad for her. Like I said, I didn't see Heidi during the goodnights--was she even there?

Yes, Heidi was in the goodnights. Reportedly she was in two sketches in dress that both got cut- and both of them also featured Kyle, oddly enough. Melissa meanwhile was in the cut for time Tampax commercial which NBC put online.

[Phishbulb]

23 hours ago, helenamonster said:

I will say, though, I found SNL's promotion of this episode on Instagram to be extremely disingenuous. I know Phoebe's never been on before so they didn't have anything to pull from the archives of her, but they were posting a lot of videos of Taylor's hosting stint from 2009, implying that she'd at least appear in a sketch. Maybe they were hoping they could talk her into it? I don't know, but it felt like a strange approach.

Yes, very strange. I would have figured with her being in "Cats" and everything we would've at least gotten a "Whiskers 'R' We sketch. 

[Dr.OO7]

That kid in the "letters" skit was adorable.

[teddysmom]

15 hours ago, Kaiju Ballet said:

I’m ok with the portrayal of Rudy as Nosferatu. It’s a plausible explanation for how the Mayor who steered NYC through the immediate 9/11 aftermath is now almost unrecognizable in his current form.

They should have him come out of a coffin that's propped up against the wall of the Oval Office.  Base it more on Peter or Baron Afanass on What We Do In The Shadows. 

The Love Island skit was hilarious. What is it with British women and self tanner??  Not that Americans don't go nuts but do they seem to go a little overboard to the point of ridiculous?

I hated that I laughed at the news skit. I think it was more the competition of the four, and the weather guy keeping score.  Every time one side won and the outcome was a total surprise.   

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, teddysmom said:

I hated that I laughed at the news skit. I think it was more the competition of the four, and the weather guy keeping score.  Every time one side won and the outcome was a total surprise.   

For me, the humor was about more than the competition. It felt true on another level. (And humor is truth.) As a Jew, I'm keenly attuned to whether this or that scoundrel/evildoer is Jewish. When Martin Shkreli was nailed for selling AIDS drugs at exorbitant prices, I went, "Thank God he isn't Jewish." When Jeffrey Epstein entered the news, I went, "Why did he have to be Jewish?" 

[Phishbulb]

3 hours ago, Camille said:

That kid in the "letters" skit was adorable.

I was wondering if that might have been Mikey Day's real son? The hug between him and Mikey at the end seemed genuine and the little boy looked like Mikey's son as seen here on his Instagram. 

[BetterButter]

 

Edited October 7, 2019 by BetterButter

[Pete Martell]

5 hours ago, Phishbulb said:

Yes, very strange. I would have figured with her being in "Cats" and everything we would've at least gotten a "Whiskers 'R' We sketch. 

I guess we'll never know but I wonder if Taylor has chosen to not participate in sketches. She also wasn't in any in 2017. I know she still does acting, but she seems to have moved away from the goofier public persona she had when she would do skits on the show. 

2 hours ago, BetterButter said:

On the one hand, this may have been better off left on Youtube as, given Phoebe's struggles with the American accents, having a sketch all about her not being able to do an accent would have been a bit harsh. I did enjoy this though - Cecily and Phoebe are hilarious here and it's good to see Beck get a chance to cut loose. 

Cecily posted about this and the bar sketch.

Someone pointed out how much this sketch reminded them of a sketch from 15 years ago, when Colin Firth hosted. I can see a few differences and a few similarities (and this sketch would NOT be airing in 2019):

https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/film-shoot/2860877

[Peace 47]

11 hours ago, Phishbulb said:

I was wondering if that might have been Mikey Day's real son? The hug between him and Mikey at the end seemed genuine and the little boy looked like Mikey's son as seen here on his Instagram. 

The comments under this video on the SNL YouTube channel do say that it is Mikey’s real son.  Super cute kid, and it does make that hug at the end of the sketch quite endearing.  The “War in Words” sketches have such a set formula to them, but they still make me laugh.

8 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

given Phoebe's struggles with the American accents

I don’t know much about her, but I thought her American accent in the newscaster sketch was quite good.  I watched the show via clips on the SNL YouTube channel, the newscaster sketch was the first that I saw, and I had forgotten that she was hosting, so as I was watching, I was trying to place whether she was a new cast member.  I didn’t even remember she was British until I watched the monologue clip.  

[rmontro]

On 10/6/2019 at 12:17 AM, Quickbeam said:

Wow, Taylor Swift really can’t sing. 

I thought her singing was fine.  Her genre is singer/songwriter (or at least it used to be).  Old people like me remember people like Neil Young, who also was criticized for being off key a lot, but he's a frigging legend.  It's not about being a contestant on American Idol (I hate that type of singing), it's about being a genuine artist.  Of course, in more recent years they've repackaged her as a pop star, so the songbird aspect is needed more.

That said, I thought she should have done at least one upbeat song, instead of two slow ballads.  Comes off as a little dull.

[lou ann b]

I just love that it was Mikeys son..another reason to love Mikey.

[vb68]

On 10/6/2019 at 9:14 PM, SnarkEnthusiast said:

Apparently Pete is taking time off to film the new Suicide Squad movie? Which...since when does he have an "acting career"? And I didn't know you could take a sabbatical from SNL lol.

I definitely remember Mike Myers having a sabbatical in the early '90s. His name was still in the opening, and I remember people questioning that. So it all depends on if Lorne's on your side or not.  I strongly suspect Kate probably has a very flexible schedule this year. On the other hand, I always thought it was fishy that Taran couldn't come back because he was directing some movie. So it kinda makes sense that Hader would give that advice. Kiss the ring. Play the game.

I do understand being overly protective of Pete in any case, though. 

18 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

I guess we'll never know but I wonder if Taylor has chosen to not participate in sketches. She also wasn't in any in 2017.

I really do remember her saying as much in 2017. No desire to host again. Maybe she thinks that show was perfect. But then I believe she participated in the 40th Anniversary. 

[cpcathy]

She was really awful in that 40th anniversary special. Maybe she gave up sketches because of that.

[rmontro]

On 10/6/2019 at 9:14 PM, SnarkEnthusiast said:

Apparently Pete is taking time off to film the new Suicide Squad movie? Which...since when does he have an "acting career"?

I'm guessing since he became known for dating Ariana Grande.

Yes, I know they broke up.  But he wasn't on the radar until then.

[Dr.OO7]

Next time they do the "War Letters" skit, I'd like to see the reverse. Women went away too, even if was as nurses rather than combatants.

[Phishbulb]

On 10/8/2019 at 5:55 PM, Camille said:

Next time they do the "War Letters" skit, I'd like to see the reverse. Women went away too, even if was as nurses rather than combatants.

I guess the next time they do it, it's going to take place during the Vietnam War? (Possibly Korean War I guess) 

[lovinbob]

On 10/7/2019 at 11:16 AM, peeayebee said:

Before I read your post I was just thinking about how Kate's Guiliani lacks anger, so I agree completely with you. When Guiliani comes to mind, you think yelling, scowling, unhinged. Her impression is quietly creepy and scheming. Guiliani may be scheming, but he doesn't look like it. He says the things you're supposed to say in your head.

I didn't think about how all her characters are smiling, never angry. Such a shame. I'm sure she has it in her.

Compare with Cecily's Jeanine Pirro which is raving mad (and awesome).

[Cornhusker12]

Kate's Elizabeth Warren sounds like Will Ferrell's Harry Caray

[SomeTameGazelle]

9 hours ago, lovinbob said:

Compare with Cecily's Jeanine Pirro which is raving mad (and awesome).

Cecily is generally more particular and incisive with characterization, I think. Her impersonations come across with a clear point of view. Her Melania isn't much like Melania but she has a point of view.

I thought it would have worked better to have shown Rudy in the Joker makeup on tv still doing the interview. The exposition reminding us that Rudy had talked about makeup felt clunky. 

[MacDemarco]

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is my favorite in this Love Island skit: https://al.ly/u6VEgy

[Jody]

On 10/6/2019 at 8:12 AM, TV Anonymous said:

ROFLMAO moments for the Cold Open, Morning News and The War in Words.

Were Villaseñor in any of the sketches? She was at the closing scene, but I did not see her elsewhere.

I am quite disappointed that a well-known and high-profile actress like Taylor Swift was not included in any of the sketches. She even has acting experience, no matter how bad or good.

      Taylor Swift is a Singer and Not an Actress !

On 10/6/2019 at 10:55 AM, helenamonster said:

Ferris Bueller reference aside, Matthew Broderick was such an odd, inexplicable choice for a cameo. He doesn't look or sound anything like Pompeo, and he's really not all that relevant anymore--there was definitely some tepid/confused applause when he first came out, and for good reason: why would anybody expect him to be there? Also, he seemed like he'd rather be anywhere else. What was the point?

Obsessed with Cecily's Geordie accent in the Love Island piece.

Bowen is fantastic. More of him, please!

They were really tempting fate with that bra they had Cecily in for the bar sketch. I couldn't even focus on what was going on because I was too busy waiting for it to be over before she slipped a nip.

There were a lot of retreads tonight, which I thought was odd. I don't watch Killing Eve or Fleabag so I wouldn't be able to easily identify Phoebe's style, but I figured as an Emmy-winning writer they'd let her, like, write some stuff. None of it felt any different than a usual episode, so it doesn't feel like she did.

It wasn't until I saw them in the goodnights that I realized neither Melissa nor Kyle got any screentime this episode. Yikes.

Speaking of not getting screentime: fucking Pete, you guys. His personal issues aside, I am tired of the special treatment he's getting. All I can think about every time I remember he gets to film a movie while continuing to be counted as a cast member on this show, I think of Michaela Watkins's story about Bill Hader telling her to thank Lorne for letting her do a movie over the summer. When SNL was on hiatus and she wasn't missing any show weeks. And Michaela brought much more to the show than Pete ever has.

Taylor Swift is not a good singer. She is marketed more on her image than any actual musical talent. If her dad hadn't bought her career for her, she'd be playing to half empty coffee shops in suburban Pennsylvania. She's exhausting.

I will say, though, I found SNL's promotion of this episode on Instagram to be extremely disingenuous. I know Phoebe's never been on before so they didn't have anything to pull from the archives of her, but they were posting a lot of videos of Taylor's hosting stint from 2009, implying that she'd at least appear in a sketch. Maybe they were hoping they could talk her into it? I don't know, but it felt like a strange approach.

         I saw Kyle in One Sketch ! Kyle was sitting beside maybe Kenan, but that person said that it was some body  else's turn and Kyle was supposed to Leave ! Sorry, I can't remember what that Skit was ! I had trouble with my TV and I missed a big part of the Show !

[vb68]

On 6/21/2020 at 3:24 AM, Jody said:

Taylor Swift is a Singer and Not an Actress !

Taylor has indeed acted on a rare occasion, i.e. Valentine's Day. She has also hosted the show.

[Jody]

8 hours ago, vb68 said:

Taylor has indeed acted on a rare occasion, i.e. Valentine's Day. She has also hosted the show.

     I know she has hosted the show ! I remember the Singing Non Singing Monologue !