SNL in the Media

[BoogieBurns]

6 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Looking at their Twitter profiles and timelines, the same people saying she's a racist because of alleged tweets she made(which I believe were mostly photoshopped), also want to put an obnoxious racist in the White House.

You are very correct. I saw this tweeted out last night. It all made a lot of sense. Let's just assume Trump won't be hosting again this fall.

Edited August 25, 2016 by BoogieBurns

[helenamonster]

I assumed Homeland Security got involved because her driver's license and passport were leaked. I could see why that would concern them, whether she was a celebrity or not.

[Fostersmom]

I don't know where I read this, or what proof the article had, but it seems there's a theory going around that the people who were harassing Leslie on Twitter in July are the same ones who hacked all her info. I also read they are trying to link a group from Japan to it, but that seems a little far reaching. I'll be massively surprised if it wasn't good old home grown hate and really someone in Japan. 

[Princess Sparkle]

I had heard it was fans of Milo Yiannopoulos, the rather hateful conservative blogger who was banned from Twitter after the harassment of Leslie Jones in July. That seems pretty on-target to me. 

[Princess Sparkle]

I was catching up on some back podcasts today, and listened to Marc Maron's interview with Seth Meyers. Most of it was pretty run of the mill, but one SNL piece struck me as interesting. Seth mentioned that about a month before he auditioned for the update desk, Lorne had called Seth's manager and told him that for the following season, Seth was going to be demoted to the writers room only and wouldn't be a cast member anymore - that pushed Seth to try and nail the update audition, because he decided that if he didn't get update he would quit the show.  Seth admitted that he never really knew how to write good characters for himself, but was good at doing it for other people, so he understood the decision.  

It was interesting to me because I - and based on posts here and at TWOP, a fair amount of others - assumed that once Seth got WU and the head writer job, he made the conscious choice to no longer be in sketches, but clearly that wasn't the case.  He also said he that getting offered the head writers job came completely out of the blue for him, because he hadn't been a writing supervisor, but he thought Lorne liked him because he could easily "fix" sketches that weren't working. 

ETA - Whoops, almost forgot the other SNL tidbit I found interesting. He said that looking back, he wasn't sure whether or not he made the right decision to stick around for half a season after getting Late Night. He said he found out he got Late Night the week before the SNL season ended, which he didn't think gave him enough time to get a goodbye in place or transition the work, so he asked Lorne if he could stay to work on transitioning everyone (meaning, I believe, Colin to the head writers job/behind the WU desk and Cecily behind the desk).  He said that looking back, he stretched himself way too thin during the final overlap of SNL shows and getting Late Night set up, and if he had to do it over again he wasn't sure if he'd play it the same way. 

Edited September 5, 2016 by Princess Sparkle
Added an extra thought

[nowandlater]

[Princess Sparkle]

Taran is set to be a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Friday, alongside Bobby - I'm guessing it's to promote the movie they're in together.  I wonder if they will broach the firing at all, or in any way other than just "I'm grateful for the experience, etc.".  I'm sure this appearance was booked before he was fired, but I can't imagine how hard it must be to have to go on a talk show hosted by your old boss (on a show produced by the man who fired you), alongside one of your closest friends who is still on the show you just got fired from.  I'm sure Taran will handle it with grace and class, because that's the kind of person he appears to be, but I don't envy his situation in the slightest.

[helenamonster]

Not to mention that the Late Night studio is literally right next to the SNL studio. Luckily this show isn't back yet so there won't be any awkward run-ins, but yeah it probably is gonna get brought up. Or maybe not, if Taran tells them ahead of time that he doesn't want to talk about it. They won't force him to if he doesn't want to.

[nowandlater]

11 hours ago, Princess Sparkle said:

Taran is set to be a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Friday, alongside Bobby - I'm guessing it's to promote the movie they're in together.  I wonder if they will broach the firing at all, or in any way other than just "I'm grateful for the experience, etc.".  I'm sure this appearance was booked before he was fired, but I can't imagine how hard it must be to have to go on a talk show hosted by your old boss (on a show produced by the man who fired you), alongside one of your closest friends who is still on the show you just got fired from.  I'm sure Taran will handle it with grace and class, because that's the kind of person he appears to be, but I don't envy his situation in the slightest.

 

As shown in the above video (and from Taran's Twitter) he's been up at 30 Rock in the past week. He's been talking openly about it.

[vb68]

Yay Amy!

 

Amy Poehler wins her first ever Emmy for co-hosting SNL with Tina Fey.  It sounds like it is also the first Emmy that is shared between performers.

[VCRTracking]

About time! 17 nominations and the Emmys finally got it right. It wasn't for Parks and Rec but still. Also her and Tina's episode was great.

Lots of people do a Tracy Morgan impression but Eddie Murphy's might be right at the top:

Edited September 11, 2016 by VCRTracking

[nowandlater]

1 hour ago, vb68 said:

Yay Amy!

 

Amy Poehler wins her first ever Emmy for co-hosting SNL with Tina Fey.  It sounds like it is also the first Emmy that is shared between performers.

It's amazing that Taylor Swift got an Emmy before Amy Poehler! (I probably could go on and on about all the people who got Emmys before Amy.)

[nowandlater]

I'm watching Brother Nature, the new film starring Taran Killam that was just released Friday. Had no idea Lorne Michaels was its producer. No wonder he let Taran back in the building to promote it.

[pythonite]

I don't think there's any bad feelings between Taran and his former boss, why would there be. That's showbiz. He got Brother Nature made through Lorne. I believe they must have filmed that 2 or 3 years ago. It sat in the can awhile.

[VCRTracking]

Carol Burnett Talks About (Not) Hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ and (Possibly) Creating a New Series for Netflix

Well someone needs to break it to her that Lorne Michaels has never been a fan of her, or her show at least. In the book Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live, by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad: "

Quote

[SNL creator] Lorne [Michaels] made it clear that [Carol] Burnett’s style encompassed everything “Saturday Night” should avoid. It lacked subtlety and nuance; it was…too smug, especially when the performers broke out laughing in mid-sketch, doubling over at the hilarity of themselves. From then on, many an idea would be derisively dismissed on the 17th floor with the words, “That’s Carol Burnett.”

First it's very ironic that some of the most memorable and beloved sketches on SNL where the ones where the cast and guest would break up laughing, especially Jimmy Fallon(a favorite of Lorne's), who couldn't make it through a sketch without breaking. Also it's really ironic that Kristen Wiig(considered the best SNL performer ever by Lorne), and she even at her best lacked "subtlety" and "nuance". The fact that during her tenure the show seemed to center around her and essentially became "The Kristen Wiig Show". At least Carol let others in the ensemble shine.

[Toaster Strudel]

I personally hate it when performers "break" - it takes me out of the skit completely.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, VCRTracking said:

Well someone needs to break it to her that Lorne Michaels has never been a fan of her, or her show at least. In the book Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live, by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad: "

Oh I'm sure she knows.  Look at how succinct her answers are when asked about SNL compared to her other responses.  It sounds like she'd be willing but doesn't expect to be asked.   Still, one never knows.  There are current and former SNL performers who are/were fans of Carol.  If it were to ever happen, I think it'd be similar to what happened with Betty White where they brought back some popular women SNL alums as co-hosts.

[JZL]

Early on I used to compare-- favorably-- Kristen Wiig to Carol Burnett.  And before long I couldn't wait for her to GTFO, for reasons outlined so well by VCRTracking above.

I write off some of the antagonism toward the Carol Burnett Show as generational. 

[peeayebee]

I didn't know Lorne didn't appreciate Burnett's comedic talent. And, yes, it's ironic that he criticized her lack of subtlety when Wiig, and many others, were anything but. Anyway, I can picture Carol Burnett on the show. She's a consummate professional and would only add brilliance and laughs.

BTW, I loved reading in that interview the part about 'The Family.' I remember many a time when that sketch's humor was skating on painful reality. 

Oh, and I also loved the story about Bob Mackie being so instrumental in the creation of Carol's characters. 

[vb68]

I think that might be an exaggeration about Lorne not appreciating Carol.  I don't remember it ever being expressed that bluntly or harshly to be honest.  All I remember hearing was when the show started back in 1975 that Lorne had a rule against breaking, and he used The Carol Burnett Show as an example.  That's fair.  I don't think Lorne was trying to diss her personally or saying that he didn't appreciate her at all.  That's stretching it a bit.  And again this was when SNL was first starting and he was obviously quite idealistic  (and probably naive) about what the show could and would be.   He has clearly relaxed his stance on breaking, too much so for some of us   But I don't think we can say point blank that he has no appreciation for Carol Burnett.

On another topic, I don't remember when it has taken them this long to announce the first hosts.  Wonder what the hold up has been.

Edited September 18, 2016 by vb68

[mtlchick]

Congrats to Kate for winning the Emmy!  I admit I teared up at her tearing up. 

[Princess Sparkle]

I am so happy for her. Kate 100% deserves that Emmy. Is this also the first acting Emmy for SNL that didn't come from the guest actor category?

[ruby24]

Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Dana Carvey all won when they used to have the Individual Performance in a Variety/Musical Series category. Which I personally think is a better category for these kinds of performances and they should definitely bring it back. 

But Kate is the first in the supporting acting category, yes. Congrats, Kate!

Edited September 19, 2016 by ruby24

[VCRTracking]

Kate deserves it so much. She's been my favorite cast member for years.

[vb68]

Quote

Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Dana Carvey all won when they used to have the Individual Performance in a Variety/Musical Series category. Which I personally think is a better category for these kinds of performances and they should definitely bring it back. 

I miss the category too, but I'm certainly not unhappy more SNL performers are finally getting their do.  It's a crying shame that Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Bill Hader, Steve Martin, etc. never got recognized.

Edited September 19, 2016 by vb68

[helenamonster]

So the new rule now is that we always have to refer to her as Emmy Winner Kate McKinnon™ whenever we talk about her. Right?

But seriously, so happy for my girl. She absolutely deserved it and I look forward to her killing it for at least another season.

[peeayebee]

On September 18, 2016 at 11:45 AM, vb68 said:

I think that might be an exaggeration about Lorne not appreciating Carol.  I don't remember it ever being expressed that bluntly or harshly to be honest.  All I remember hearing was when the show started back in 1975 that Lorne had a rule against breaking, and he used The Carol Burnett Show as an example.  That's fair.  I don't think Lorne was trying to diss her personally or saying that he didn't appreciate her at all.  That's stretching it a bit.  And again this was when SNL was first starting and he was obviously quite idealistic  (and probably naive) about what the show could and would be.   He has clearly relaxed his stance on breaking, too much so for some of us   But I don't think we can say point blank that he has no appreciation for Carol Burnett.

Fair enough, but as the quote above from the SNL book says, Lorne thought her "style encompassed everything “Saturday Night” should avoid. It lacked subtlety and nuance; it was…too smug, especially when the performers broke out laughing in mid-sketch, doubling over at the hilarity of themselves. From then on, many an idea would be derisively dismissed on the 17th floor with the words, 'That’s Carol Burnett.'" But I can agree that he may have liked her comedy but just didn't think that style would work for his show.

[questionfear]

14 hours ago, helenamonster said:

So the new rule now is that we always have to refer to her as Emmy Winner Kate McKinnon™ whenever we talk about her. Right?

But seriously, so happy for my girl. She absolutely deserved it and I look forward to her killing it for at least another season.

That's my plan! So so excited for her.

It still blows my mind that the braintrusts at Logo haven't thought to run/stream eps of the Big Gay Sketch Show somewhere, to capitalize on her success. Mostly i just want to see fitzwilliam again. 

[VCRTracking]

Thanks to Tumblr for this. SNL fellow cast members standing up to applaud Kate's win:

Aidy:

Cecily, Kyle and Beck:

And of course Leslie's tweet says it all:

Edited September 21, 2016 by VCRTracking

[vb68]

We finally have a premiere host!

Margot Robbie with musical guest The Weeknd

Edited September 22, 2016 by vb68

[Princess Sparkle]

You beat me to it; I was just coming in here to post!  I guessed in the "potential season 42 hosts" thread that maybe she'd host depending on how well Suicide Squad did, but I didn't peg her for the season opener. I don't think I've ever seen her in anything, so I have no expectations for her, but hopefully she's funny. 

[peeayebee]

I've seen her in The Wolf of Wall Street and the movie with Will Smith where they're con artists or something. I haven't seen Suicide Squad but I thought she was great in the clips I've seen. Checking IMDB I'm reminded that she was in The Big Short, and she was pretty funny in that bit.

[BoogieBurns]

Margot Robbie was in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot opposite Tina Fey, and she did great. She's basically an Australian Jamie Pressly to me, they are very similar looking. 

[helenamonster]

I feel like she looks like so many people. Jaime Pressly for sure, but also sometimes if I see a picture of her my first thought is that it's Emma Stone. I've heard other people say she looks similar to Gillian Jacobs.

[M. Darcy]

Lin Miranda Manuel of Hamilton fame is hosting on October 8th with Twenty One Pilots.  He just announced it on twitter.

[vb68]

Oct.15: Emily Blunt is hosting.

Edited September 28, 2016 by vb68

[Just Here]

Alec Baldwin is SNL's new Donald Trump (The Hollywood Reporter).

Quote

Alec Baldwin will debut his Donald Trump impression on the episode — a part he will play for the entire season, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

...

Executive producer Lorne Michaels made the decision to cast the 58-year-old Baldwin in the part of Trump over the summer. A close personal friend of Michaels' who also starred on the Michaels-produced NBC sitcom 30 Rock, Baldwin officially signed on earlier this week...

 

Trump vs. Clinton - SNL

"On the season 42 premiere of Saturday Night Live, Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) faces off against Hillary Clinton (Kate McKinnon)."

Edited September 28, 2016 by Just Here
auto-formatting woes

[mtlchick]

aside from the "SUCK IT NBC!" for not being able to view the video outside of the USA, I'm interested as to why Darrell isn't doing it anymore. 

[nowandlater]

25 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

aside from the "SUCK IT NBC!" for not being able to view the video outside of the USA, I'm interested as to why Darrell isn't doing it anymore. 

Somebody on the casting thread made a good point that Darrell was the mockable Trump.

But now that he's close to winning the presidency, they can't turn him into a clown to normalize him anymore (like Jimmy Fallon was criticized for recently doing).Insert other media

[possibilities]

Lin Manuel Miranda!!!! I am not too proud to squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

[helenamonster]

On 9/28/2016 at 1:33 PM, vb68 said:

Oct.15: Emily Blunt is hosting.

Damn, they are killing it with the hosts so far this year. Three shows in and not one groan-worthy choice! (I realize mileages vary.)

Like many, I've loved Emily since The Devil Wears Prada. I'm expecting awesomeness!

[DollEyes]

If picking Margot Robbie, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Emily Blunt is SNL's way of atoning for the Miley Cyrus, Jonah Hill and Donald Trump episodes, then I've got one thing to say: apology accepted. 

Edited September 30, 2016 by DollEyes

[Pete Martell]

An article about the comedy world's reaction to Trump and how to cover him, which also mentions a quote from Lorne (they don't say where the quote is from).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/can-snl-take-down-donald-trump-is-it-going-to-try/2016/09/30/598e2a04-868f-11e6-a3ef-f35afb41797f_story.html?tid=pm_politics_pop_b
 

Quote

 

SNL, which regularly draws around 6 million to 7 million viewers, has come under pressure to frame the election in starker terms than last season. But although the show’s “Weekend Update” segments tend to skew left, the presidential parodies are trickier. Other comedy shows might get didactic; “Saturday Night Live” aims to mirror and parody what voters already know. In an interview this week, SNL’s founding producer, Lorne Michaels, rejected the idea that the show could change minds.

“We’ve been doing [election-­related satire] since 1976,” he said. “I thought Chevy Chase did very well for Gerald Ford, but Gerald Ford lost to Jimmy Carter. So I think it has an effect, but we don’t influence people in how to vote. It helps on the nicest level. It informs people.”

Reading this simpler version of the '76 election reminds me of that Backstage SNL book that came out in the mid-80s and talked about how the writers at the time felt about that year - how they essentially humiliated Ford when Ron Nessen hosted the show (after his kids urged him to do it as they were SNL fans), how they played the clip of Ford pardoning Nixon in their last show before Election Day, hoping it would swing opinion, etc.  They did feel they would make a difference, and they tried their best to make it a reality.

I don't know what the current political view of those at SNL is, but I've been wary of Lorne Michaels for a number of years in terms of the comedy he produces as I feel it's very retrograde and mostly laughs at easy targets. I don't think he has any particular desire to support Trump because he loves Trump, but I think it's very easy and safe to support him, and Lorne Michaels is the epitome of easy and safe. I do think the goofy, brash, likeable persona is more in line with the SNL he is comfortable with. I remember that poorly written Trump/Palin sketch last season (poorly written not for politics but because it went on and on and on and mostly only existed because they got Tina Fey back to do it) where Palin was presented as crazy and Trump was seen as the straight man who was bewildered by her lunacy. I certainly don't believe that "informed" anyone.

I really wish SNL had just sat out the election. Kate McKinnon is a talented comedian and SNL's parody of Hillary is certainly nowhere near as extreme as much of what you get out there these days, but it's still ultimately just more of the same - scheming, clueless Hillary vs fresh and funny Bernie or Trump. And most of it is poorly written (to me anyway), which just means the basic crudity of the idea is even more of what people will take away. 

Edited October 1, 2016 by Pete Martell

[Princess Sparkle]

Saw this linked on the SNL Facebook page - it's a Parade article with Colin, Michael, Cecily, and Aidy on tackling politics this season: http://parade.com/511410/lhochwald/politics-schmolitics-how-snl-makes-election-years-fun/

[cpcathy]

On 9/29/2016 at 9:53 PM, helenamonster said:

Damn, they are killing it with the hosts so far this year. Three shows in and not one groan-worthy choice! (I realize mileages vary.)

Like many, I've loved Emily since The Devil Wears Prada. I'm expecting awesomeness!

I would adore a sketch where Emily fights back evil Miranda Priestly.

[peeayebee]

On 9/29/2016 at 9:53 PM, helenamonster said:

Like many, I've loved Emily since The Devil Wears Prada. I'm expecting awesomeness!

She's awesome in everything she does. I'm sure she'll be a great host. Hope the writing's up to the challenge.

[SpikeGal]

On ‎9‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 8:51 PM, Pete Martell said:

 

I don't know what the current political view of those at SNL is

It should be easy to see!  (sings): To the left. Ever to the left. Never to the right. Forever to the left.

It's been that way since Seth Meyers took over as Head Writer. The man was so in love with Obama he never wrote a skit making fun of him. Like EVER...even though he was supposed to! The only skit that was remotely funny was 'The Rock Obama' and....that's about it. SNL's job is to make fun of the President no matter who it was and no matter how the Head Writer felt. Tina Fey understood that...Seth couldn't.

[Pete Martell]

1 hour ago, SpikeGal said:

It should be easy to see!  (sings): To the left. Ever to the left. Never to the right. Forever to the left.

It's been that way since Seth Meyers took over as Head Writer. The man was so in love with Obama he never wrote a skit making fun of him. Like EVER...even though he was supposed to! The only skit that was remotely funny was 'The Rock Obama' and....that's about it. SNL's job is to make fun of the President no matter who it was and no matter how the Head Writer felt. Tina Fey understood that...Seth couldn't.

I took that less as political and more as Obama not being all that easy to make fun of. An incisive show could make fun of any politician, but SNL hasn't been an incisive show since about 1993. The show's struggle to find someone who could impersonate him didn't help matters. It took years for them to even realize brownface wasn't an automatic chucklefest. 

Edited October 3, 2016 by Pete Martell

[vibeology]

6 hours ago, SpikeGal said:

It should be easy to see!  (sings): To the left. Ever to the left. Never to the right. Forever to the left.

It's been that way since Seth Meyers took over as Head Writer. The man was so in love with Obama he never wrote a skit making fun of him. Like EVER...even though he was supposed to! The only skit that was remotely funny was 'The Rock Obama' and....that's about it. SNL's job is to make fun of the President no matter who it was and no matter how the Head Writer felt. Tina Fey understood that...Seth couldn't.

No, it isn't. SNL's job is to entertain with funny sketches. There is no rule anywhere saying they have to do political sketches or that they have to make fun of the President.

Most people agree that The Rock Obama was the only funny Obama sketch SNL pulled off. They tried others and they kept bombing so they stopped. I would much rather get a new sketch about something different that has the chance of being good than an Obama sketch that I know isn't going to work. Some people are just easier to lampoon than others. Obama is hard to pull off because he's a very low-key guy. With most political figures I can come up with at least one trait that can be mined for humour. Clinton's ambition, Jeb's dullness, Christie's scandals, Biden's verbal gaffs, Palin's idiocy, Trump's everything. Obama seems to lack a hook. In the eight years he's been President I haven't seen a consensus point of entry to an Obama sketch. He's very careful with his image and the result is that he's hard to pin down. 

[BoogieBurns]

16 minutes ago, vibeology said:

Obama seems to lack a hook. In the eight years he's been President I haven't seen a consensus point of entry to an Obama sketch.

Key and Peele had to basically create an alter ego just to find the humor in an Obama impression. Once they did that, SNL couldn't steal the idea. But he's honestly so even keeled, it's hard to laugh AT him. With or without Seth's bias.