S42.E12: Aziz Ansari / Big Sean

[Maverick]

 Gouda has a little flavor.   Colin is definitely provolone.

 Count me among those who did't like To Sir With Love.  It was odd, uncomfortable, awkward, unfunny and veering toward creepy.  

 The cast did an awesome job portraying animatronic characters but they needed to have the characters do something unexpected.  Maybe not murderous like the Merryville Brothers, but something.  Having the hook be Kenan be into the show wasn't very compelling.

 I assumed The Bookworm was a take on the current GSN show The Chase, but I suppose it work as a Win Ben Stein's Money riff too.   Either way, someone on the writing staff really likes GSN.

[Gemma Violet]

23 hours ago, Mumbles said:

 

As for To Sir With Love...I think Cecily and Sasheer have lovely singing voices. And I greatly admire and respect (and miss!) President Obama. I just get a little uncomfortable when we hero-worship elected leaders - even ones I support. (I was similarly uncomfortable with the Hillary Clinton "Hallelujah" thing too.) That shouldn't be our relationship with elected officials. 

Yeah, I agree.  I'm a big fan of both Pres. Obama and Secretary Clinton, but I thought To Sir, With Love (and Hallelujah) just fed into the criticism that the show is too liberal.  It's one thing to do satirical political sketches, but quite another to make a serious political statement.  

Edited January 23, 2017 by Gemma Violet

[WhosThatGirl]

This episode was meh for me. There were only like two things I liked and I won't and them here because even saying I liked them is mainly because there were the only 2 brief skits I liked in a meh episode. Kristen Stewart is going to be so awkward.

[ruby24]

1 hour ago, Gemma Violet said:

Yeah, I agree.  I'm a big fan of both Pres. Obama and Secretary Clinton, but I thought To Sir, With Love (and Hallelujah) just fed into the criticism that the show is too liberal.  It's one thing to do satirical political sketches, but quite another to make a serious political statement.  

I think I disagree, considering the circumstances the country's in. At least for the Hillary one. That was necessary. This one felt more like something Cecily and Sasheer maybe just really wanted to do for him. And considering how they must be feeling to want to do that, I can't argue with it. I think now's the time for everyone to be making serious statements, from SNL to any other show or person out there.

[Racj82]

I'll be honest in that I have zero problems with what Che said on update. It's something I've been thinking for a while anyway. In that I think a lot of times titles overshadow messages. Like I despise the word mansplaining. At this point it's become a catch all term for when a man explains anything. I've also had to sit through a lot of women explaining things to me and what I mean when I say something. It goes both ways. Sometimes a jerk or a know it all is just that. Making it a gender thing hurts the cause. 

With feminist, I've always heard it supposed to be about people wanting equal rights for everyone. It's not supposed to be a gender thing but the title makes it sound like it is. To me, it's just common sense. I don't think of myself as a feminist. I just think of myself as human being with common sense. That's all I think he meant. Isn't a feminist just a person with common sense. Does it need a label? A possibly dividing one?

The friend zone skit. He was the idiot in the end. He was the one standing in the background with no personality, doing favors with no backbone and expecting something to happen. Check came in with a actual personality and confidence. Something many women respond to. The last line by che was a step to far but it was a good joke on the guy.

Also, as much I see people trying deny it, there are more than enough women our there that indeed go for the bad boy or a guy with a little edge over the safe choice to show that it is a thing. It just doesn't go for every woman. But, I think it's okay thar stigma exists for a reason. It's just not as across the aboard as some make it. 

[VCRTracking]

10 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

A handsome articulate decent black man who brings a touch of class to his white British-slumdweller high school students.   And the song is sung by a girl who's Hot For Teacher - "how do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume?"  I do understand what they were trying to do but I was cringing.

 

10 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

This whole bit seemed weird as hell to me - weirdest of all that they were doing this song from a fifty-year old movie that I know because it was a hit when I was in grade school - I'm shocked that any of the cast even knew the song, or the movie, since this show seems pretty focused on trying as hard as they can to be super-current. 

There was also the 1996 TV movie sequel To Sir With Love II directed by Peter Bogdanovich where Poitier's character retires from his London job and moves to Chicago to teach an inner city school there. It's basically the exact same plot as the first movie but with American kids.

Nobody sings to him at the end but Lulu does return for a cameo in the beginning and sings the song "To Sir With Love" at his retirement.

Edited January 23, 2017 by VCRTracking

[NeenerNeener]

They were trolling Trump with that song at the end. Obama's popularity drives him crazy; this was their contribution to the pink hat march.

[peeayebee]

I really enjoyed this show. Aziz was great in all the sketches and the monologue.

I love Beck as Putin. I was thinking that's it's fortunate he looks pretty good without a shirt on. And I adore Kate as Olya, so it was so much fun seeing her incorporated here. Just awesome.

I thought Beat The Bookworm was funny basically only because of Aziz. The joke was predictable, so I had hoped there would be a twist, but sadly no. Still, I enjoyed this.

The La La Land Interrogation was also fun. Like Aziz (or his character), I liked the movie but didn't LOVE it. Maybe if I had seen it before all the hype. Anyway, I liked this sketch and liked the whole concept.

The Kellyanne Conway/Roxie Hart number was great. I used to enjoy the early version of Conway on SNL where she's reluctantly stuck supporting the devil. That was funny though not based in reality. SNL's revised take on her is better. Here there were no LOL moments, but the whole thing was funny for the exposé on her character.

The Broderick & Ganz sketch may be my favorite. I love how Aziz came to realize that he was actually screwed over. The best part was Bobby. He was hilarious. The whole thing was just perfect. 

I just don't like Che. There, I said it. Other than him, I liked WU. Leslie's bit was great. And it really is astounding that we haven't heard about these black NASA women. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I read about them recently. What a fascinating story. I'm glad they're finally getting their due. I also liked Mikey in the Friend Zone bit. But I always like him. I also think Cecily plays a flirty girl really well.

Dirty Talk was surprisingly funny. I thought I would get tired of the same kind of joke, but it worked.

I liked the Five Stars Uber sketch too. Of course with Bobby you can't go wrong. The ending was hilarious.

I liked Pizzatown, but really only for the animatronic characters. Everyone was great (esp Bobby). Aziz's pizza song was stuck in my head for a while. I forgot to quote who pointed out that this seemed like two ideas mashed together -- the police/criminal stuff and the animatronic stuff -- but I agree. They didn't really mesh, but I still liked it.

 

14 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

A handsome articulate decent black man who brings a touch of class to his white British-slumdweller high school students.   And the song is sung by a girl who's Hot For Teacher - "how do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume?"  I do understand what they were trying to do but I was cringing.

Me too. I actually FF'd to the end because I couldn't listen to it. I found it embarrassing. I love Obama and think he's a fantastic human being whose absence will be sorely noted esp with the clown now in the White House, but this tribute didn't work at all for me.

Edited January 23, 2017 by peeayebee

[PugLoaf]

Dirty Talk drove me nuts because Ansari was constantly looking past her in a determined way, like he was reading a cue card or teleprompter. Particularly the last bit with the long pause before he said "okay..." and launched into whatever the next set up was. 

[lovinbob]

20 hours ago, JZL said:

I thought the Conway sketch wasn't funny or relevant.  If she had done something specifically newsworthy to make fun of, like TheDonald does daily, then go for it, and I'm sure she will, but to whiz on her just for the sake of whizzing on her, eh, no.  I appreciated the Obama tribute at the end but I'm also bothered by the hero worship, and to a greater degree, the now complete abandonment of even an attempt at or appearance of neutrality. 

SNL turning the tables on their portrayal of her has been a long time coming. She is a liar who is propping up an extremely powerful and dangerous leader—her opportunism and dishonesty needed to be covered.

19 hours ago, Quickbeam said:

Am old enough to remember the original so if you can't sing it as well as Lulu, don't cover " To Sir With Love". Plus I felt it was cloying. 

I disliked this sketch for a variety of reasons. Mainly because I think it undermines SNL's objectivity and feeds into the notion that Obama is a celebrity crush rather than the extremely capable (now former) leader of the free world. But it didn't help that it wasn't well sung. That is a very difficulty melody and while Cecily is normally a great singer, she couldn't pull this one off. And finally, it was too long and not funny until the very end.  

On 1/22/2017 at 1:24 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

The Friendzone skit was sexist bullshit, and Che trying to 'comment' on feminism was so meandering and pointless (???) but the rest was great.  Good for Aziz, I'm happy for him, and I thank him for putting on such a great show.

17 hours ago, Mumbles said:

As for Che, remember his joke about women's history month last March? "March is women's history month....and ladies, that cake isn't going to bake itself." 

 

6 hours ago, Racj82 said:

I'll be honest in that I have zero problems with what Che said on update. It's something I've been thinking for a while anyway. In that I think a lot of times titles overshadow messages. Like I despise the word mansplaining. At this point it's become a catch all term for when a man explains anything. I've also had to sit through a lot of women explaining things to me and what I mean when I say something. It goes both ways. Sometimes a jerk or a know it all is just that. Making it a gender thing hurts the cause. 

The friend zone skit. He was the idiot in the end. He was the one standing in the background with no personality, doing favors with no backbone and expecting something to happen. Check came in with a actual personality and confidence. Something many women respond to. The last line by che was a step to far but it was a good joke on the guy.

Also, as much I see people trying deny it, there are more than enough women our there that indeed go for the bad boy or a guy with a little edge over the safe choice to show that it is a thing. It just doesn't go for every woman. But, I think it's okay thar stigma exists for a reason. It's just not as across the aboard as some make it. 

I didn't have a problem with Che. I'm a woman and a feminist, and I laughed at the friend zone segment. Perhaps it's a stereotype, but it's one that is often accurate. I didn't feel a positive message was being sent that a way to a woman's heart is to mistreat her. It was laughing at an unfortunate thing that sometimes happens. Mikey was the butt of the joke, and even Che was a little bit. 

As far as the cake joke is concerned—I thought he was the butt of that joke. And him "mansplaining" feminism—it was a positive message, so I liked it.

[Princess Sparkle]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

The Broderick & Ganz sketch may be my favorite. I love how Aziz came to realize that he was actually screwed over. The best part was Bobby. He was hilarious. The whole thing was just perfect. 

 

I forgot how much I enjoyed that sketch, and a solid 90% of why was Bobby.  There was one part where he and Kate were standing posing, and he just had his arms placed so awkwardly by his sides, like he didn't know what to do with his hands, and it just killed me.  And I had to pause when Kate was reading off all her credentials and Bobby followed with "And I'm a lawyer too!", because I started laughing so hard.  This is why I've been so bummed he hasn't been in as many sketches this season; no matter what he's in, he kills.

[helenamonster]

I guess not minding more Beck is an unpopular opinion, but with Taran gone he's sort of the logical pick for the "everyman." He's not my favorite male cast member (Bobby 5ever), but he's got the most "generic" look of them and I think he can handle the extra workload.

20 hours ago, SeanC said:

The production values on "Conway" were great and Kate looked amazing, though at times I was wondering if the lyrics weren't changed up enough from the original.

I agree with the production values. I have watched Chicago more times than I'd like to admit, and it really felt like a shot-for-shot remake.

At first I was thinking the same thing about the lyrics too, but I think the fact that they didn't have to change that many of them really drives home what an awful person Conway is. I mean, the original character who sings the song is a lying, adulterous, unapologetic murderer who's turned a hanging offense into an opportunity to get famous (and I'd still rather hang out with Roxie than Conway). It's the sort of thing I've been looking for from this show re: Conway for months. Also, for some reason, one of the biggest line changes, "who says that murder's not an art" to "who says that lying's not an art" really sent a chill down my spine. The whole bit was just really effective, imo.

Another good part was when Beck's Jake Tapper joined the crowd of men towards the end. I feel like Tapper is one of the journalist's who's been most resistant to the new administration, but it was a good metaphor for the press continuing to lick her boots no matter how much she lies.

13 hours ago, mtlchick said:

I think the real funny moment is saying Kristin Stewart is hosting.  That is going to be January Jones level of hilarity!  (Wait, that's happening? Oops.)

Oh yeah, forgot about that. Kristen Stewart is still a thing?

2 hours ago, PugLoaf said:

Dirty Talk drove me nuts because Ansari was constantly looking past her in a determined way, like he was reading a cue card or teleprompter. Particularly the last bit with the long pause before he said "okay..." and launched into whatever the next set up was. 

Probably because he was reading a cue card. They should have had someone stand closer to Melissa's eyeline, I agree it was distracting.

[peacheslatour]

11 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

Yeah, I agree.  I'm a big fan of both Pres. Obama and Secretary Clinton, but I thought To Sir, With Love (and Hallelujah) just fed into the criticism that the show is too liberal.  It's one thing to do satirical political sketches, but quite another to make a serious political statement.  

This was also a tribute to Leonard Cohen, who had died the previous week.

[Princess Sparkle]

23 hours ago, helenamonster said:

Probably because he was reading a cue card. They should have had someone stand closer to Melissa's eyeline, I agree it was distracting.

Yeah, he was moving around so much that it made me wonder if he couldn't see the cue card well, and so he overcompensated in order to see.  And it stuck out so much, because he didn't do any noticeable cue card reading in the other sketches.  It actually occasionally surprises me when the cue card guys can't compensate or realize something is off; I know Che told a story on a talk show once where the cue card guy was actually covering up the tail end of the joke with his hand, and Che had to tell him on-air to move because he couldn't read the joke.  

Edited January 24, 2017 by Princess Sparkle
Typo

[Bruinsfan]

On 1/22/2017 at 10:09 AM, Princess Sparkle said:

The only sketch that didn't work for me that well was the dirty talk one. I think maybe I just don't Melissa very much. I can never understand what she's saying half the time (her lack of ennunciation kills me) and her famed Owen Wilson impression didnt do a whole lot for me - I couldn't even tell it was him until she said it.

At first I thought she was doing an Edward G. Robinson voice, which would have been hysterical.

22 hours ago, DXD526 said:

Che condescendingly mansplaining feminism to me was infuriating.

I suppose I wasn't infuriated, but I regarded it with the same raised eyebrow that I do Matt Damon when he starts explaining the politics of closeting to gay people or diversity to filmmakers of color from his rich straight white male celebrity bubble (where the closest he'll ever come to actually experiencing oppression is having people call him out on his privilege rather than genuflect to him as the wise savior).

Edited January 23, 2017 by Bruinsfan

[izabella]

10 hours ago, Racj82 said:

With feminist, I've always heard it supposed to be about people wanting equal rights for everyone. It's not supposed to be a gender thing but the title makes it sound like it is. To me, it's just common sense. I don't think of myself as a feminist. I just think of myself as human being with common sense. That's all I think he meant. Isn't a feminist just a person with common sense. Does it need a label? A possibly dividing one?

That's what Che meant, but, isn't civil rights for black people (or any race) also common sense?  Yet, I doubt Che would say we don't need a movement or to raise awareness or leadership or words to talk about it.

[Traveller519]

2 hours ago, helenamonster said:

Oh yeah, forgot about that. Kristen Stewart is still a thing?

She's working heavily on the Indie Circuit, which is where I think here talents are probably best used anyway, in the mumblecore genre. I've never seen a Twilight movie, but I've really enjoyed her in other things like Adventureland, On the Road, and American Ultra.

The strangest thing is she doesn't appear to have anything to promote, unless they're tying Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk into a VOD release with the Super Bowl, and isn't Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, or even Aziz Ansari level of star that just shows up from time to time

[AdorkableSars]

I absolutely adored this episode. Aziz Ansari was a perfect host for the post-inauguration episode. His monologue was smart and poignant, but also hilarious. I've never actually seen any Aziz standup (I'm a huge fan of his thanks to Parks and Rec and Masters of None), but I figured that would be his monologue, and now thinking I need to definitely check out some of his standup. 

I think my favorite sketch was the interrogation/La La Land sketch. Although I'm wondering if it was as hilarious to anyone who hasn't seen La La Land (can anyone here weigh in on that?). Cecily and Beck were great as the cops whose outrage grew stronger and stronger from each statement Aziz's character made about La La Land being good and not great. 

Quote

The Broderick & Ganz sketch may be my favorite. I love how Aziz came to realize that he was actually screwed over. The best part was Bobby. He was hilarious. The whole thing was just perfect. 

Bobby killed in this sketch. Everything he did...I think I laughed hardest when he was going to put the book on the shelf, but then just dropped it. I have truly missed Bobby this season. He hasn't been featured enough for my liking this season, but between this and the Uber sketch, Bobby was wonderful tonight.

Quote

Beat the Bookworm: What's with them doing these Game Show sketches that only go like one round and then always cut off before the final round? This was alright. Nothing too special, IMO. 

The best part of this was Aziz's "Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!", because it was so Tom Haverford! Although let's be real, Tom Haverford probably would've crushed the 90's Pop Culture category. 

I thought "To Sir, With Love" was a lovely tribute to Obama, but I have to agree with those who said Cecily sounded off in the beginning. I know she has an amazing voice, so maybe the emotion of what she was singing got to her? She recovered when Sasheer (who sounded amazing the whole time) joined in, especially with the gorgeous harmonies.

Quote

I am starting to wonder if a few people are going to be fired in between seasons, especially from the men. It's become glaringly obvious over the past few episodes that there are entire episodes that go by without a cast member appearing at all (last week was Bobby, this week was Alex and Pete, though Kyle only had about 2 lines in the sketch he was in). Either that or they should start giving some of Beck's everyman roles to some of the other guys. 

Good point...this sucks though. So many talented male cast members. This never seems to be as big of a problem when it comes to the women on the show (even Sasheer was in quite a few tonight). 

I enjoyed Update. It had my favorite Leslie appearance in a while. She was hilarious while teaching us something new! The "friend zone" bit was pretty good too. And Che doing the "Mmm..." Michelle Obama face a few times cracked me up too,

Quote

Leslie's WU bit was awesome but Colin is provolone?  I would say he's a bit more of a Gouda. 

I say Gorgonzola. 

[cpcathy]

I love that Mikey Day is getting a lot of time (for a newbie, at least), he's quite funny and I love his blue eyes.

Also, more Beck is cool with me, but please, more Bobby as well.

[Inquisitionist]

Quote

Leslie's WU bit was awesome but Colin is provolone?  I would say he's a bit more of a Gouda. 

Quote

I say Gorgonzola.

Provolone in appearance, but Gorgonzola for his biting wit.  Hey, I like them both! 

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

How Did Aziz Ansari Do In His Saturday Night Live Debut?

The Master of None comic got political, sexy, and silly in a winning turn.

[Mumbles]

4 hours ago, Princess Sparkle said:

And it stuck out so much, because he didn't do any noticeable cue card reading in the other sketches

I meant to comment on that before....His mastery of the lines was pretty noteworthy given his clear cue-card reading in the dirty talk sketch (the only sketch of the night where it was obvious). I admire that professionaliam on his part. I know these folks have a short period of time to learn these lines, but obvious card reading can be annoying.

[SomeTameGazelle]

14 hours ago, PugLoaf said:

Dirty Talk drove me nuts because Ansari was constantly looking past her in a determined way, like he was reading a cue card or teleprompter. Particularly the last bit with the long pause before he said "okay..." and launched into whatever the next set up was. 

Reading cue cards certainly didn't help. They were supposed to be a couple who had been together long enough to have a dull routine that needed spicing up, but they seemed like people who had only just met. There should have been some grounding in character to heighten how absurd Melissa's attempts at dirty talk were. 

[formerlyfreedom]

This topic is to talk about the episode. Posts have been removed that violated this pinned mod note. Discussing the show is fine; discussing your personal politics is not. Hiding is first step, doing it again is will be a warning.

[possibilities]

9 hours ago, AdorkableSars said:

Although I'm wondering if it was as hilarious to anyone who hasn't seen La La Land (can anyone here weigh in on that?).

I haven't seen it, but I've seen reviews and heard the buzz enough to know what exact kind of pro and con sentiment is out there, and how people who like things like this sometimes behave toward those who either dissent or have valid critiques, and how annoying a certain kind of fandom can be. So to me it was funny and all my symapthies were with Aziz.

[JasminePhyllisia]

On January 22, 2017 at 1:05 AM, Brn2bwild said:

Was there any mention of the Women's marches in the episode?

I didn't see the whole show but I noticed in Big Sean's second performance one of his band members, a female violinist, had braids wound into little buns on each side of her head.  Looked like cat ears to me.

[possibilities]

Chris Brown's reaction to the monologue:

http://www.gq.com/story/chris-brown-aziz-ansari-beef

[partofme]

On 1/22/2017 at 3:48 PM, Mumbles said:

Problem is, our presidents aren't meant to be father figures. That's stuff for dictatorships. There has been an alarming trend for people to project some sort of emotional needs of their own on this office. Hence poll questions like "Which candidate would you rather have a beer with?" which is a useless qualification.

I think the reason this really resonated with me is because his replacement is so frightening.  I'm scared for the future.

[peeayebee]

10 hours ago, JasminePhyllisia said:

I didn't see the whole show but I noticed in Big Sean's second performance one of his band members, a female violinist, had braids wound into little buns on each side of her head.  Looked like cat ears to me.

 I didn't notice, but your description sounds like a tribute to Carrie Fisher/Princess Leia. Is that possible?

[helenamonster]

The thing about cure cards on this show is that it's not really about how well any of the actors have their lines memorized. They're editing sketches until the last possible second, changing out jokes and cutting huge portions for time. The need the cue cards because there's no guarantee that what you've been rehearsing for a week is what's going to be on the show when it goes live. That's why I tend to cut everybody, cast members and hosts alike, some slack on reading them too closely.

[PugLoaf]

2 hours ago, helenamonster said:

The thing about cure cards on this show is that it's not really about how well any of the actors have their lines memorized. They're editing sketches until the last possible second, changing out jokes and cutting huge portions for time. The need the cue cards because there's no guarantee that what you've been rehearsing for a week is what's going to be on the show when it goes live. That's why I tend to cut everybody, cast members and hosts alike, some slack on reading them too closely.

To the normal cast and other hosts credit this is probably one of, if not the only, times I have genuinely noticed it to the extent that it bugged. (I wasn't even sure if they really used them, I honestly was on the fence on if they improv'd when they couldn't remember and it was just a bad camera angle with his eyeline, I am TV naive maybe)

[FilmTVGeek80]

On ‎1‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 2:36 AM, Racj82 said:

I'll be honest in that I have zero problems with what Che said on update. It's something I've been thinking for a while anyway. In that I think a lot of times titles overshadow messages. Like I despise the word mansplaining. At this point it's become a catch all term for when a man explains anything. I've also had to sit through a lot of women explaining things to me and what I mean when I say something. It goes both ways. Sometimes a jerk or a know it all is just that. Making it a gender thing hurts the cause. 

With feminist, I've always heard it supposed to be about people wanting equal rights for everyone. It's not supposed to be a gender thing but the title makes it sound like it is. To me, it's just common sense. I don't think of myself as a feminist. I just think of myself as human being with common sense. That's all I think he meant. Isn't a feminist just a person with common sense. Does it need a label? A possibly dividing one?

This is me 100%.

22 hours ago, AdorkableSars said:

Although I'm wondering if it was as hilarious to anyone who hasn't seen La La Land (can anyone here weigh in on that?).

I haven't seen it yet, but it definitely worked for me especially because of the performances. I almost bust a gut when Aziz's character let it sleep he fell asleep and the male cop's head almost exploded.

 

22 hours ago, AdorkableSars said:

The Broderick & Ganz sketch may be my favorite. I love how Aziz came to realize that he was actually screwed over. The best part was Bobby. He was hilarious. The whole thing was just perfect. 

That one was my favorite as well. LOL more than a few times, especially at how increasingly irate Aziz's character was getting and at how stupid/insane Ganz - especially laughed at the reveal he had no kidneys.

The Conway sketch definitely worked for me because of how subhuman I find her. I didn't laugh uproariously, but it made me smile throughout because of how spot on it was - it was funny to me.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 1/23/2017 at 8:51 AM, PugLoaf said:

Dirty Talk drove me nuts because Ansari was constantly looking past her in a determined way, like he was reading a cue card or teleprompter. Particularly the last bit with the long pause before he said "okay..." and launched into whatever the next set up was. 

I think what happens in these cases is that it's a last minute switch or a last minute sketch that the actor hasn't prepared for.  You notice for every other sketch, Aziz was NOT looking at the cue cards and did a great job.

[possibilities]

Big Sean was on The Daily Show this week, and I really liked him. I was distracted during his SNL performances, but during his TDS interview he came across as really great.

[JasminePhyllisia]

On January 24, 2017 at 11:09 AM, peeayebee said:

 I didn't notice, but your description sounds like a tribute to Carrie Fisher/Princess Leia. Is that possible?

Considering it was the same day as the marches I'm guessing it was more likely a nod to the pink hats.

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

I thought "To Sir, With Love" was a lovely tribute to Obama, but I have to agree with those who said Cecily sounded off in the beginning. I know she has an amazing voice, so maybe the emotion of what she was singing got to her? She recovered when Sasheer (who sounded amazing the whole time) joined in, especially with the gorgeous harmonies.

I was pretty annoyed with Cecily starting on her own in the spotlight. It felt like white woman centered feminism at its worst - give the emotional white woman the spotlight while the black woman with a waaayyyyyyy better voice has to wait to duet and appreciate the first black president. It just bugged the $*&@ out of me and felt tone deaf, probably particularly because of the intersectionality issues that were raised leading up to and during the march that very day. 

Aziz slayed that monologue. Can't believe it was his first time hosting. Excited to have him back. (Psssst, Lorne. Next time you're tempted to ask Wiig or Armisen back again, CALL AZIZ INSTEAD.)

Edited January 26, 2017 by hendersonrocks

[Bruinsfan]

10 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

I was pretty annoyed with Cecily starting on her own in the spotlight. It felt like white woman centered feminism at its worst - give the emotional white woman the spotlight while the black woman with a waaayyyyyyy better voice has to wait to duet and appreciate the first black president. It just bugged the $*&@ out of me and felt tone deaf, probably particularly because of the intersectionality issues that were raised leading up to and during the march that very day.

I hadn't realized that aspect may have been part of what bugged me (at the time I was ping-ponging between being taken aback at how off-key Cecily was and gleefully anticipating what watching would do to President Man-baby's blood pressure), but if Sasheer was going to join in and improve the number by making it a duet, why the hell WASN'T she there from the first note?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

14 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

11 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

I was pretty annoyed with Cecily starting on her own in the spotlight. It felt like white woman centered feminism at its worst - give the emotional white woman the spotlight while the black woman with a waaayyyyyyy better voice has to wait to duet and appreciate the first black president. It just bugged the $*&@ out of me and felt tone deaf, probably particularly because of the intersectionality issues that were raised leading up to and during the march that very day.

I hadn't realized that aspect may have been part of what bugged me (at the time I was ping-ponging between being taken aback at how off-key Cecily was and gleefully anticipating what watching would do to President Man-baby's blood pressure), but if Sasheer was going to join in and improve the number by making it a duet, why the hell WASN'T she there from the first note?

Because:

1) it's not unexpected that black Americans will sorely miss President Obama, so it makes more of a point to have a white woman start the song

and

2) the song is from a movie in which non-black students (citizens), including the white girl who sang the song, came to greatly appreciate their black teacher (leader) so, parallelism?

Edited January 26, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[hendersonrocks]

Neither of those reasons are compelling to me personally given the context, and my annoyance still stands. YMMV.

[Ottis]

Quote

By contrast, when Kate does a big song and dance number just trashing Conway in a generalized way, it comes off as petty.  The bit about Conway formerly supporting Cruz and trashing Trump at the time was good, but that was one line in a three minute bit. 

Until Conway did "alternative facts" the next day, there was no single thing to mock her for doing. Instead, there was a whole list of things, over a long period of time, that stretched her credibility beyond all recognition (assuming she started with some), and raised the question of, "Why? Why are you doing this? You seem to have some talent at your job. You can voice an opinion. Why the continual crazy talk?" I thought this skit finally nailed Conway spot on for her motivation. SNL used to depict her as shocked at what she had done (helping Trump get into office). I don't think she cares about that, good or bad. What she cares about is being important, just as the SNL skit indicates. 

Edited February 3, 2017 by Ottis

[methodwriter85]

On 1/22/2017 at 11:09 AM, Princess Sparkle said:

I am starting to wonder if a few people are going to be fired in between seasons, especially from the men. It's become glaringly obvious over the past few episodes that there are entire episodes that go by without a cast member appearing at all (last week was Bobby, this week was Alex and Pete, though Kyle only had about 2 lines in the sketch he was in). Either that or they should start giving some of Beck's everyman roles to some of the other guys. 

I get the feeling Pete is going to leave at some point- let's be honest, his "resident young person" schtick is wearing thin, and he seems so checked out on the show. Also, on a shallow note, those tattoo sleeves have to be a pin in the ass for the costumers to deal with. I can't believe he did that, because it really limits what he can play and how he can be dressed if he's playing characters that the tattoos aren't going to work with.

[Bruinsfan]

Surely Bobby is safe for the foreseeable future?

I have zero difficulty believing that Pete would make an ill-advised tattoo decision that might negatively impact his future employment. What I have trouble believing is that he's able to find his way to 30 Rockefeller Plaza every week without a handler to wake him up on time and guide him through the pot haze.

[vb68]

Quote

Surely Bobby is safe for the foreseeable future?

 You never know. Didn't we all think Taran was safe this time last year?

I still think Aziz was a fantastic host, up there with Dave Chappelle and Tom Hanks for the season.

Edited February 13, 2017 by vb68