S42.E13: Kristen Stewart / Alessia Cara

[SoSueMe]

2 minutes ago, hypnotoad said:

WU used to be one of my favorite things about this show, but my gosh these two guys haven't improved a bit. They are awful in my opinion. Not remotely natural and still I feel no co-anchor type chemistry from them. I have no idea how either of these two stay on this skit.

I thought Kristen Stewart did a good job.  Honestly, I was shocked that I liked her so much. Completely unexpected. And yes, President Trumplethinskin really did tweet about her and Robert Pattinson.

Melissa McCarthy gave me life! Her Sean Spicer was perfect. I loved it from the ill fitting suit all the way to using the podium to attack the members of the press.

The cold open was excellent too. However, isn't the Bannon as death is kind of like the whole Dick Cheney as death stuff back in the day?

I would love for them to do something like pulling Bannon out of a dumpster and dusting him off with a whisk broom on the way to the oval office.

[Primetimer]

A volcanic Melissa McCarthy sketch and a winning K-Stew made for a great overall show.

View the full article

[Ottis]

2 hours ago, Kimmmmmm said:

It was Kristen Stewart

Thank you. Clearly she has left no impression on me.

[Pete Martell]

I appreciate that SNL is trying to write political humor again beyond Jay Leno style monologue material, and sometimes succeeding, but it just underlines how poor Alec Baldwin's impression is when there is actually somewhat decent material on show. A raspy voice and sticking out your lips like you're in Our Gang isn't enough. 

[amaranta]

Who knew that what I needed in my life was Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer?  I haven't laughed - a good, long, deep from the gut laugh - in weeks.  To the person who had that stroke of genius idea - thank you!

[VCRTracking]

Loved Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer and Kenan as the president of Zimbabwe was catharctic.

Except for the f-bomb I thought Kristen Stewart did surprisingly well. She was more comfortable with the filmed segments.  Damn, she looked hot as Gisele Bundchen.

Alex Moffet does a great Casey Affleck impression.

Che had my favorite line: "I just wanna see the blackest city in America beat the most racist city I've ever been to!"

Edited February 5, 2017 by VCRTracking

[JZL]

I've been a big fan of the current WU, but it seems to be unraveling lately.  I was really leery of Jost at first, but he's grown into it.  Yes, Jost messed up last night, but to me Che is the one developing a sloppy, cavalier attitude that is beginning to remind me of the gawd-awful Seth Myers' schmarmy smirk.  (Say that fast three times!)

And Che, no one gives a damn what shoes you're wearing-- keep your feet off the desk!  WTF? [/end middle-aged white-guy rant]

+ 1 Stewart; + 100 McCarthy. 

Edited February 5, 2017 by JZL

[theatremouse]

5 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

Che had my favorite line: "I just wanna see the blackest city in America beat the most racist city I've ever been to!"

I was confused by this because I'm not sure if he meant Foxboro specifically, or if he were basically lumping Boston into it.

I thought a lot of Che's bits were awkward and undercut himself. The thing about the executive orders was sort of pointless. I haven't encountered outrage at the number of executive orders (which if that were the complaint, the Obama comparison would be logical); it's the nature of the executive orders that has people upset, and perhaps in turn....that there have been a large number that people find objectionable. But it hasn't really been a backlash about the number alone. So that joke did not land at all for me because it seemed to intentionally ignore context. Or if his point were "hey if you're going to be up in arms, do it for the right reasons" he completely failed to communicate that, I think.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Che is quite bad, yes.  Also the joke about how it's yesterday in Australia.  It's actually tomorrow.

I thought Jost was pretty good last night.  Pretty cutting. But they are hit and miss for me.

[Pete Martell]

19 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

I was confused by this because I'm not sure if he meant Foxboro specifically, or if he were basically lumping Boston into it.

I thought a lot of Che's bits were awkward and undercut himself. The thing about the executive orders was sort of pointless. I haven't encountered outrage at the number of executive orders (which if that were the complaint, the Obama comparison would be logical); it's the nature of the executive orders that has people upset, and perhaps in turn....that there have been a large number that people find objectionable. But it hasn't really been a backlash about the number alone. So that joke did not land at all for me because it seemed to intentionally ignore context. Or if his point were "hey if you're going to be up in arms, do it for the right reasons" he completely failed to communicate that, I think.

Che's persona is the "everyone else is bad...I'm just here to show you how awesome I am" smarmfest that helped SNL slide into irrelevance in the first place. 

[MakeMeLaugh]

3 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

I thought the writing in the Spicer sketch was great but it wasn't my favorite because Melissa McCarthy grates on my nerves.  Not a fan.  The sketch reminded me of when she was in the sketch in the bar on how to approach guys and she was sticking her hands in the guys' mouths.  I just think she's massively overrated.  If anyone else would have done the Spicer sketch, I would have probably loved it.

Watch her in Saint Vincent--she brought a different persona to that movie. (I do get why certain stars don't appeal to everyone, though.)

ETA and yes to all the above that WU sucks--there was brilliant opportunity this week, all wasted. 

Edited February 5, 2017 by MakeMeLaugh

[vb68]

Quote

 There was a hard cut from Colin ending WU early and Che's groundhog day joke; did it happen there? 

 Yes, if I remember right, Che said "You just saved my job" before he started that joke. He did that joke and when it panned back to Colin, that's when Colin said, "I wanna quote our host from the monologue."  So I had the order of the two lines reversed in my first post. Sorry if that was confusing. Colin also raised his hand like a schoolboy, which was also kinda amusing.

The line Che messed up was earlier in relation to Trump's interview with Bill O'Reilly talking about killers and how "our country is not so innocent". I don't know if they edited all of that out. Che was trying to tell Trump you need to sugarcoat stuff. Like not telling a kid his dog died. "It went to a state up farm."  I don't think Che ever recovered from that point.

I agree Che can be very awkward.  I think I've said this before, but sometimes I think it shows that he has a rather superficial take on some of the issues. For example, I didn't really like the joke that if  Trump said it was a pizza day, people would protest that they want tacos. Eh. Not that big a deal, but I think it shows a lack of depth of understanding about the protests.  I usually find Colin to be more on point and agree he has evolved nicely. 

Edited February 5, 2017 by vb68

[DollEyes]

As someone who's never been a Kristin Stewart fan, I was impressed. I like when people who've never hosted SNL before do better then expected [Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande, Drake, Justin Timberlake the first time] and now Stewart. Her takedown of Trump in the opening monologue was funny, f-bomb or not. The Totino's sketch was hilarious. That those morons were so wrapped up in the game that they didn't even care about what was happening behind them was classic. 

The Cold Open was funny, but I would have loved it if someone had reminded Trump that Australia is where Wolverine and Thor originally come from, so it's best not to piss them off. Things have gotten so crazy now that Steve Bannon as The Grim Reaper almost seems redundant-almost. 

 When it comes to political humor on SNL, I didn't think anyone could top Alec Baldwin & Kate McKinnon, but Melissa McCarthy did, in record time. Her Sean Spicer is even ruder, even dumber and even more obnoxious than the real thing & it's hilarious! If McCarthy keeps it up, I see another Emmy in her future. 

Edited February 5, 2017 by DollEyes

[Hashtag Deep]

You can put the beanie back on now.

Ok, it was funny the first time, but the sheer repetition of it really made me laugh.

[Princess Sparkle]

32 minutes ago, vb68 said:

 

The line Che messed up was earlier in relation to Trump's interview with Bill O'Reilly talking about killers and how "our country is not so innocent". I don't know if they edited all of that out. Che was trying to tell Trump you need to sugarcoat stuff. Like not telling a kid his dog died. "It went to a state up farm."  I don't think Che ever recovered from that point.

 

They must've edited out the whole thing, because I didn't see a joke like that at all. It surprises me they left the other three big ones in (the monologue, Colin's early ending, and Vanessa's early line) but cut out Che's, but maybe it was a much bigger mistake. 

[Racj82]

Kristen Stewart was garbage. I'm not understanding the love she's been getting in reviews. Lifeless as hell. Brought nothing to the show and was often an afterthought.

Also, the thought that Leslie's Sam Jackson impression was anything but terrible is another one I don't get. I can kind of understand enjoying it's crappiness but that doesn't make the actual impression good. 

Melissa killed it and there were some good bits to counterbalance the bad throughout but a great or even good episode I cannot call this. I'm also tired of trump on here. Trump bashing. All of it. I don't like him at all but the joke is already tired. He is a joke but I'm just tired of the show going back to the same well.

[cpcathy]

I don't think Vanessa said her line early, I think the joke was that she said it twice.

[absnow54]

8 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

Kristen Stewart was garbage. I'm not understanding the love she's been getting in reviews. Lifeless as hell. Brought nothing to the show and was often an afterthought.

I thought she was decent in the pre-taped bits, but just awful in the live sketches. She finally found her footing in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory sketch, but then the show was over. The Sean Spicer sketch saved this episode from being a total dud (and the annual Totinos gag.)

12 minutes ago, cpcathy said:

I don't think Vanessa said her line early, I think the joke was that she said it twice.

If it was a flub, it elevated the skit because of the way Charlie coldly blew off her declaration. 

[peeayebee]

18 minutes ago, cpcathy said:

I don't think Vanessa said her line early, I think the joke was that she said it twice.

That was my take on it as well.

Before watching the show this morning, I saw a few tweets about Melissa McCarthy and Spicer, so I knew she was going to be on the show. Also, I'm sure that at the end of the monologue Kristen said that Melissa McCarthy was going to be there.

Anyway, none of that diminished the awesomeness of Melissa's performance. Wow. What I want to know is who came up with her playing Spicer. No one else could have done as perfect a job. Emmy-deserving. Loved all the mocking, esp the verbal gymnastics about the word "ban." The props were hilarious, but even better was Melissa charging the various reporters with the podium. Amazing. Everything about it.

I always love Alec as Trump. I'm not sold on Bannon being portrayed by the Grim Reaper. I don't know what would be better. I think a horribly ugly human version would be better, like Baron Harkonnen from Dune. Trump's stupid phone calls were great. To Merkel: "Your wall failed." I also loved President Nieto foiling Trump's plan to have him say 'what.' "Que?"

The Customs film was terrific. Beck was great in it.

The only things I liked about the UConn Dry Fridays were Mikey Day and Cecily's characters, and the repeated, "You can pop that beanie back on."

LOVED the Totino's commercial. So well done. "This Spring, find your Totino."

Family Feud did nothing for me. I didn't even like Kate's Bieber impression. Oh, I did like Bobby's Belichek laugh.

The Meet Cute film was good.

Willie Wonka was ok.

Edited February 5, 2017 by peeayebee

[Racj82]

I'm not even understanding the assertion that Vanessa said her line early. There is no joke if she doesn't say she has polio the first time. She says it but it sounds like BS next to everyone elses excuses. Then, when she says it again, you realize she was the only one not lying. It just sounded odd the first time said because she got a non response from the crowd.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Racj82

[Macbeth]

23 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I always love Alec as Trump. I'm not sold on Bannon being portrayed by the Grim Reaper. I don't know what would be better. I think a horribly ugly human version would be better, like Baron Harkonnen from Dune.

I agree another poster above noted that Dick Cheney was death back in the day. 

I wonder.  I have no idea if this is true.  If instead of a death costume - Bannon was supposed to be in KKK sheets.  I wonder if they tried for it - but was shot down by TPTB.  Death costume might have been a back up. 

Certainly any impersonation would have been better.  A drunk buffoon would have been on point. 

While I certainly loved Baldwin's Trump and Melissa's Spicer - it doesn't say much about the talent pool that SNL has to go outside to find the talent.  Granted I don't know if anyone could do what Melissa did.

[Quickbeam]

Loved the Totinos pay off for all the prior bits. The other commercials always made me squirm...so creepy real life. Really sold it.

Melissa as Spicer was 100% committed, never laughed or broke...just fabulous. My only regret is that they didn't bring up his Dippin' Dot feud. 

[Sesquipedalia]

The Cold Open was good, but it was overshadowed by Melissa McCarthy's epic Sean Spicer turn. The fact that she didn't break even a tiny bit was super impressive. Kudos to the make-up people as well. The disadvantage of never watching anything live is that I didn't get to have that "Aha!" moment of realizing who it was. 

So far I've liked Steven Bannon as the grim reaper, but it doesn't seem like something they can keep up. But now that they've gone in that direction, how do they switch to showing him as a real person? 

It would be funny just to see what the make-up team would come up with trying to make someone look as greasy, sweaty, and hung-over as Bannon.

[JustaPerson]

I read somewhere the suggestion of getting Rosie O'Donnell to play Bannon, just to piss off Drumpf even more. 

Edited February 5, 2017 by JustaPerson

[ruby24]

Che's so bad at Update. His jokes all seem to indicate he doesn't think Trump is that bad, he's just amused by everyone's hatred of him. Not cool. 

I think they should find someone to play Bannon and dress him up super ugly, sweaty, and sniveling, like a little warthog, manipulating Trump from the sidelines. I bet Trump would hate that even more than the Grim Reaper thing, since looks bother him so much.

[marceline]

15 minutes ago, ruby24 said:

Che's so bad at Update. His jokes all seem to indicate he doesn't think Trump is that bad, he's just amused by everyone's hatred of him. Not cool. 

Agreed. There's a shallowness to his humor that I find really offputting

One thing I loved about the cold open was Merkel's phone call where she said she missed Obama and "Donald" asking her what the title of his book "My Struggle" would be in German. I wonder how many people Googled that and said, "Ohhhh."

Edited February 5, 2017 by marceline

[Galileo908]

1 minute ago, marceline said:

On thing I loved about the cold open was Merkel's phone call where she said she missed Obama and "Donald" asking her what the title of his book "My Struggle" would be in German. I wonder how many people Googled that and said, "Ohhhh."

That was one of my favorite jokes of the night.

[JZL]

25 minutes ago, Macbeth said:

I agree another poster above noted that Dick Cheney was death back in the day. 

I wonder.  I have no idea if this is true.  If instead of a death costume - Bannon was supposed to be in KKK sheets.  I wonder if they tried for it - but was shot down by TPTB.  Death costume might have been a back up. 

Certainly any impersonation would have been better.  A drunk buffoon would have been on point. 

 

Surely they could get away with dressing him up with an SS or Brownshirt uniform(?)  Could it be that no one wants to do him?

Personally I don't think WU sucks at this point, it just seems to be losing some steam.  This may be a relativistic thang because of all the other political stuff on the show now, which was nearly non-existent ~ five years or so ago, when SNL was getting it's irrelevant buttocks kicked by Key & Peele, Stewart, Colbert, and Maher constantly. 

And here's some food for thought.  Did anyone else think the CO was a little bit of a tired let-down?  Surely they had to do Trump because of all the stuff during the first two weeks of his term.  But over the long haul is the Trump CO becoming repetitive low-hanging fruit?  I understand fiction writers are taught not to always concentrate on the kings and queens (Trump and Hillary) and princesses and princes (Conway and Spicer).  SNL can be political and not always have to do that.  There are some grass-roots level things going on like town-hall meetings about the ACA repeal and I think there was something today where protesters were going to moon the Trump Tower in Chicago (which is protected speech at the moment).  Could you imagine SNL doing a bit on that?  (Can you even flash the moon on live late-Saturday night TV?)

[PatternRec]

I don't get the hate for the Weekend Update anchors. Jost and Che aren't the best at it but I don't think either of them are bad. If a new team came along that blew them away I'd say "go for it" but I'm not actively hoping they go away. 

I agree that Jost is a little more polished than Che, but I like that dynamic. I think Che is a really good comedian even if I don't always agree with his points, some of which are facile at times. 

[Bees]

This episode is an endearingly hot mess. There was so much that was rusty as hell and a lot of screw-ups, yet it worked. Kristen Stewart is a pretty good host, though I feel like they didn't have a lot of confidence in her at first, which is why I think Melissa McCarthy was on as Sean Spicer. I kinda feel bad that McCarthy as Spicer pretty much stole the show. II wouldn't mind seeing Stewart host again. 

Next week should be fun with Alec Baldwin. He's always good though when I think of all the episodes that he's hosted, I feel like the first one he ever hosted was the best episode. That was a strong episode up and down.

[theatremouse]

1 hour ago, Sesquipedalia said:

So far I've liked Steven Bannon as the grim reaper, but it doesn't seem like something they can keep up. But now that they've gone in that direction, how do they switch to showing him as a real person? 

I do not expect them to make said switch.

1 hour ago, marceline said:

One thing I loved about the cold open was Merkel's phone call where she said she missed Obama and "Donald" asking her what the title of his book "My Struggle" would be in German. I wonder how many people Googled that and said, "Ohhhh."

I think that particular joke banks on people not needing to google it, although I imagine some may have.

[NeenerNeener]

I read somewhere the suggestion of getting Rosie O'Donnell to play Bannon, just to piss off Drumpf even more. 

I like the idea of Rosie as Bannon. I saw a political cartoon last week where Bannon was drawn as BeetleJuice, but they probably couldn't get permission to use the character or get Michael Keaton to play him.

[WhosThatGirl]

Kristen was okay. Better than expected. I had forgotten about Trumps obsession with her years ago.

[Toaster Strudel]

Che is way too sloppy for the anchor desk, I can't wait for him to be replaced.

[Irlandesa]

39 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

I think that particular joke banks on people not needing to google it, although I imagine some may have.

It does.  Or at least banks on people suspecting they knew the joke and Googling to confirm.  Otherwise, it just lands as a title.

[potatoradio]

This was...as they say on Great British Baking..."uhhhnduh-baked."

Except McCarthy. Dear lord, if there's any good left in the world, do not let this be a one and done appearance. Like another poster said, I'm getting through the next four years only with steady, solid doses of political satire. 

I also like the idea of Rosie as Bannon, although I did chuckle at the Reaper's nods and shakes of head. 

I didn't have to google "My Struggle," but I did have to google whether the Donald's tweets about KS and her boy were real. OMG, of course they were. Why would I expect that something so bizarre would be fiction? KS is pretty hard to watch, but she wasn't awful. 

Che's schtick  (the "aw, c'mon, it's not THAT bad") would hold more appeal for me if it really weren't that bad. Che, I'd like to forget about the political shitstorm raging, too, but it'll take more than Tom Brady and bean dip to do that.

[theatremouse]

I think from here on out, pretty much any time SNL prefaces a bit about him by saying "this is real", you can take their word for it.

[Macbeth]

I haven't laughed so hard in so long.  Thank you SNL and Melissa McCarthy.  I really needed that.  Someone twitted a comment that this is how Hollywood is helping out in the war effort.  Let me just say the troops really needed the morale boost.  Thanks SNL. 

[questionfear]

I thought Kristen Stewart did a much better job than expected, and her monologue was hilarious. 

Also, I am now 94% sure that her entire "romance" with Pattinson was a cover for the studio because they didn't want their star of their cash cow to be known as a lesbian (between the teen fan girl audience and the Mormon background of the author). She basically dropped all pretense of being straight as soon as twilight ended. 

[AdorkableSars]

6 hours ago, cpcathy said:

I don't think Vanessa said her line early, I think the joke was that she said it twice.

I thought that was the joke too...and Vanessa's delivery was hilarious both times, so even if it was a flub, she hid it well, and it kind of worked. 

Color me pleasantly surprised by this episode. I had very low expectations/hopes, but Kristen Stewart was a pleasant surprise. I loved the f-bomb in the monologue, and thought she did great in all of her sketches. 

The Spicer sketch was the sketch of the night for me because Melissa McCarthy was absolute perfection. Also loved the Totino's sketch. They're always hilarious, but I really enjoyed how this one went super dramatic with the French/drawing/caressing with Totino's/etc. It made it even funnier. Vanessa's delivery of "I never had one." after Kristen asked her name slayed me. I really liked the "Dry Friday" sketch too. Them telling her over and over again to just pop her beanie back on was great.

WU was a hot mess, but I actually really liked it. There were some great jokes. I especially liked Jost's bit about how much we're learning with Trump's presidency. I thought that both Jost and Che recovered really well from their respective flubs, and their banter always cracks me up, and I really enjoyed it tonight after the mistakes. I alwys love Big Papi, and last night was no exception. (Little Scissors!) I read somewhere else that in the dress rehearsal, there were two guests on Update, so maybe that helps explain Jost's flub a little? 

I liked how much Pete was in this episode. He was great! I really enjoyed all of Alex Moffat's bits this episode too, especially as the Mexican president.

[mtlchick]

Still need to watch the last 30 minutes as I went to bed after a strange WU ("State up Farm."  I was adding for an ad to come next until I realized he flubbed it and continue to flub from there.  Rough night.)  Two things of note:

-Had Kristin NOT been the subject of Trump tweets, I don't know where they could have gone with the monologue.  At least she went along with it despite the real life fall out with breaking up a marriage (oops) and once she f bombed and was REALLY out of her "too cool for this" element, it was strangely endearing.  She did mumble her way through the drinking sketch, and was decent in the Totino video.  

Melissa McCarthy.  You either love her or hate her loud yelling, over the topness which she became known for, but on this show she goes ALL OUT. And it was everything.  (When you know a few of your FB Muslim friends proudly declare themselves as Moose Lambs , then you're doing something right.)   Does this mean she went from appearing 4 1/16 times to 4 1/5 now?

[jschoolgirl]

It was amazing how much they were able to make Melissa really look like Spicer. 

[possibilities]

I came her expecting folks to be screaming with glee over the Totinos sketch. Oh well. I won't try to convince anyone of its power (I get folks liked it, but in Lesbian Nation it's having close to McCarthy as Spicer levels of impact), but in case anyone here loved it and wants validation, see this: https://www.autostraddle.com/kristen-stewart-is-like-so-gay-dude-on-snl-and-were-all-dead-368342/

I loved the Spicer sketch as much as everyone else did, and I formally apologize for my previous skepticism that Kristen Stewart would be a decent host. I thought she was at least decent and at times great in everything where she appeared, and didn't need to steal focus when someone else was shining, so she also didn't bring anything down.

I can't stand Che and wish he'd leave. He occasionally does something funny, but he always does something boring or stupid and he DOES act like he thinks he's too cool to be there, and I feel like WU struggles uphill against him every single week.

Loved the "dark version of SchoolHouse Rock" line on WU, and all the other things most folks have already praised throughout the show.

Even as a kid I was very bothered by Charlie's grandfather lying in bed when he didn't need to, and so even though that sketch tonight was not as high energy as the rest of the show, I appreciated it.

[anyanka323]

Kate McKinnon's impression range is impressive.  I liked her Betsy DeVos and hope this episode isn't the only time it appears.  It's going to become repetitive for them to rely on Trump, Bannon and Conway for the political sketches, despite how horrible they are.  His cabinet and Congressional allies are equally terrible and good fodder for SNL.  It really is too bad that Taran Killam is gone because he's the first one that comes to mind to play Paul Ryan in his smug, swarmy, faux intellectual, Ayn Rand fanboy glory.  I was really surprised that the trainwreck that is their confirmation hearings didn't get much attention from SNL, especially Rick Perry's.

McKinnon's Angela Merkel is wonderful especially using facial expressions to convey her dismay and horror over Baldwin as Trump's Nazi allusions.  Her fangirling over Obama was delightful as well as her trying to end the call. 

Love Kennan as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe putting baby, wanna be despot Trump in her place. 

[helenamonster]

Part of me doesn't like that Bannon is played as the Grim Reaper when Bobby is right there, but it also really works in a lot of ways. Bannon comes off to me as this phantom/enigma, silently pulling the strings. I don't think I've ever heard him speak; he's never on any of the political shows (that I've seen anyway) and I'm not about to wander over to Breitbart to get a better sense of him there. I'm fine with it for now. I like that they're keeping the running gag of Donnie wearing the Russian flag pin, and all his calls were great. "You wall was terrible! Prepare for war!"

I really thought the show was pulling our leg with those Kristen Stewart/Robert Pattinson tweets but nope, they're real! We are truly living in a never-ending episode of The Twilight Zone.

Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer was everything I never knew I needed. When she started attacking the reporters with her podium? Amazing. They got the whole look so perfect; I'm gonna see her every time I see him now. And I like that they did a bit with his gum-swallowing addiction. So much awful stuff going on with this administration but I've been hung up on that fun fact for weeks.

Weekend Update was a mess. It's such a shame because they have had some very strong weeks lately. I agree that Michael's understanding of literally any current event is barely surface and it really impacts his performance.

Kristen Stewart's perpetual discomfort with her very corporeal existence is just as annoying today as it was in 2009.

[Kromm]

To call that Melissa McCarth skit "epic" is an understatement. I'm not a fan of her movies, but this wasn't just a home run. It was a Grand Slam. In the World Series. Game 7.

 

22 hours ago, Macbeth said:

23 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I always love Alec as Trump. I'm not sold on Bannon being portrayed by the Grim Reaper. I don't know what would be better. I think a horribly ugly human version would be better, like Baron Harkonnen from Dune.

I agree another poster above noted that Dick Cheney was death back in the day. 

I wonder.  I have no idea if this is true.  If instead of a death costume - Bannon was supposed to be in KKK sheets.  I wonder if they tried for it - but was shot down by TPTB.  Death costume might have been a back up. 

Certainly any impersonation would have been better.  A drunk buffoon would have been on point. 

While I certainly loved Baldwin's Trump and Melissa's Spicer - it doesn't say much about the talent pool that SNL has to go outside to find the talent.  Granted I don't know if anyone could do what Melissa did.

Baldwin lives in NY and rarely does movies anymore, so he's just a limo ride away from the show. Melissa doesn't live in NY I think, and is constantly working on films, so she's not going to be an easy person to get again, like Baldwin is.

[RobertDeSneero]

11 hours ago, vb68 said:

I agree Che can be very awkward.  I think I've said this before, but sometimes I think it shows that he has a rather superficial take on some of the issues. For example, I didn't really like the joke that if  Trump said it was a pizza day, people would protest that they want tacos. Eh. Not that big a deal, but I think it shows a lack of depth of understanding about the protests.  I usually find Colin to be more on point and agree he has evolved nicely. 

That was a great joke because it's somewhat true (and I am someone who is anti-Trump and would encourage people to protest in favor of tacos).  It's not the duty of the comedy world to be cheerleaders for the left.  Che sometimes points out that liberals can be superficial and not as smart as they think they are.  It's the reason why I thought that election night party skit when Dave Chappelle hosted was awesome.

[etagloh]

The McCarthy/Spicer sketch was one of those (like Fey as Palin) where you won't be able to look at the real person any more without seeing the parody first. It felt like it had gone through a bunch of rewrites where McCarthy told the writers not to hold back anything. The cold open had a target audience of one, and that's going to make things weird going forward. (The Spicer sketch was obviously also written as a cold open and the writers didn't feel bad about showing it. SNL is always a bit ragged but this seems like a greater tolerance of raggedness.)

Stewart was fun, WU is adrift, the filmed sketches were better than the live ones.

(Agreed that Baldwin should do the entire next ep in character as if #45 is hosting, meant to play characters, and can't stay in character.)

[methodwriter85]

I've seen a fair bit of queer cinema, and I'm telling you, that Totino's sketch was so dead-on it was hilarious. For some reason, when movie lesbians have sex, it's filled with soft-focus camera angles and lighting with slow, lingering touches. When movie gay men have sex, it's usually rough and kind of aggressive, and the guys just kind of jump at each other and smash mouths while kissing for some reason.

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Also, I am now 94% sure that her entire "romance" with Pattinson was a cover for the studio because they didn't want their star of their cash cow to be known as a lesbian (between the teen fan girl audience and the Mormon background of the author). She basically dropped all pretense of being straight as soon as twilight ended. 

I think KStew tends to get away from labels (she said gay here, she's also said bi), but the whole director thing seemed too messy to be a fake kind of cover-up. I have  always said that I think Kristen's greatest asset as an actress is her ability to generate sexual/romantic/whatever with pretty much anybody- Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Eddie Redmayne, etc etc etc. That was why the Totino sketch worked so much.

[Sesquipedalia]

5 hours ago, possibilities said:

I came her expecting folks to be screaming with glee over the Totinos sketch. Oh well. I won't try to convince anyone of its power (I get folks liked it, but in Lesbian Nation it's having close to McCarthy as Spicer levels of impact)

Well, after seeing your comment, I had to go watch it! It's funny because it combines every lesbian movie ever with every obnoxious Superbowl commercial. Would have been hotter with Kate McKinnon though.