S43.E05: Tiffany Haddish / Taylor Swift

[Robert Lynch]

The fighting game sketch was hysterical. Great callback to those fighting games from the 90s. I remember MK so well. Beyoncé, Beyonce, Beyonce! 

[Inquisitionist]

4 hours ago, possibilities said:

Ever since I saw her as a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, I've wanted to be her best friend. If you can find the clip, it's awesome.

 

I did, and it is.

[vb68]

7 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

Oh, and normally I love Kate McKinnon, but her Pelosi impression is terrible.  Too bad Kristen Wiig wasn't available.

I agree. I don't generally miss Wiig too much on the show, but I did miss her Pelosi last night. To be fair though, I think that was the first time Kate has done Nancy?

On the other hand, Alex's Chuck Schumer may well be the next great political impression on the show.

[Ms Blue Jay]

7 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

I suspect your estimate is quite high.

LOL.  A couple of years ago I was at a work party where an employee was leaving and the CEO came up to me and used the word "f--" about another employee.  I can't even type out the word let alone say it.  That was both the CEO and the head of HR at the time.

[DanaMB]

21 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

 

Get Woke with Tamika: This was pretty fun, but Leslie kept tripping up.

 

I feel like she always does.  It's to the point that I cringe when she comes onscreen.

[helenamonster]

I had no idea who Tiffany Haddish was before this episode but I'm completely in love with her now. Wow, she just owned the whole stage whenever she was on screen. She felt underutilized, which was strange, since it seemed she was game for and could have handled anything. Hope hosting boosts her popularity and she goes on to become a big star (and gets a bank statement that matches her net worth!).

"Team player Donna Brazile."

21 hours ago, vb68 said:

At least Leslie got a lot more sketch time tonight than usual. Melissa turned up more, too. I was super surprised I didn't see Taylor in any. Just as well. (I can already see Helenamonster saying Thank God.) :)

I missed Whiskers R We because I fell asleep during her second song which was entirely her fault so yah keep your cloying mediocrity out of my sketches.

[burner]

6 hours ago, possibilities said:

I generally love Whiskers are We, but I agree that grab was a mistake.

 

Could have been a really cool opportunity for TIffany to break character and confirm that she has Kate's consent to fondle her breasts before actually doing it.

[rmontro]

15 hours ago, Phishbulb said:

I was a little surprised how willing they were to throw Louis CK under the bus so quickly. It's true that what he did was clearly wrong, but he's also hosted the show 4 times

Does this mean that Louis CK won't be joining the Five Timers Club?

15 hours ago, Ottis said:

Taylor Swift - First saw her years ago, performing live on a morning show. Her voice sounded awful, she wasn’t particularly atttactive  and I thought she would be a flash in the pan. Thanks to technology and image makers, she isn’t. So you go girl? 

I'm not a huge Taylor Swift fan, but I respect what she does.  I disagree that her success comes from technology and image makers.  She started out in country on the strength of her singing and songwriting, and that talent still sustains her.  It's not like she's all style and no substance like many performers.  I enjoyed her second song more than any SNL performance I have seen in a long time.  In was in classic singer/songwriter vein, and like many singer/songwriters, her voice may not be technically perfect but it's honest and sincere.  Which is something I would much rather listen to than the American Idol type vocal gymnastics any day. 

10 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

The Dolphin bit was probably my favorite of the night, but it suffered from not having a proper ending

I thought that all the sketches after Update seemed like they were unfinished, though enjoyable.  Haddish was a good host, her youthful enthusiasm served her well.

[ichbin]

17 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Has Kerry Washington ever hosted?  I have a feeling she'd be pretty good.

She has and she was great!  I remember thinking she would have made an excellent ast member too.  Really got into the sketches and was very versatile.

[Inquisitionist]

5 hours ago, rmontro said:

 I enjoyed her second song more than any SNL performance I have seen in a long time.  In was in classic singer/songwriter vein, and like many singer/songwriters, her voice may not be technically perfect but it's honest and sincere.  Which is something I would much rather listen to than the American Idol type vocal gymnastics any day.

OMG, yes.  The AI mode of bombast can move on any day now.  Along with strapless bridal gowns. 

Edited November 13, 2017 by Inquisitionist

[Ottis]

On 11/12/2017 at 8:27 AM, hendersonrocks said:

The show likes to point out race in passing and I for one appreciate it. SNL is more diverse than most TV, and one of the things I like most is that it can both be funny AND be socially relevant. Hooray for progress!

Mentioning race in passing is gratuitous, when you do it frequently for no reason. Mentioning it to make a point, like the election night Dave Chappelle skit, is awesome. What SNL seems to be doing more and more is mention it to pander to those who think every mention is worth a "hooray." Same for sexual harassment lately.

19 hours ago, Sesquipedalia said:

Cecily Strong's HR lady was my favorite part of the show. So funny. I have to do those Title IX trainings every quarter, and the rules really are just about that simple. And yet, I've been touched inappropriately and had to field inappropriate comments plenty of times, even though I'm in a female-dominated field. HR lady yelling at Colin and telling him she's mad at him and it's hard to explain really captured the frustration and made me lol. Also, "14, but you're gay now, so hooray, how brave."

I would have liked it better is she has been less manic. I work with HR people in big corporations daily, and they are far more cynical and knowing and therefore less jittery than Cecily's character was. They get it, they've seen it and they aren't surprised by it.

There was actually quite a bit of discussion in the Twitterverse about whether Swift was lip syncing the second song that everyone liked so much. I watched a couple of times and can't be sure either way. Her lip movements did seem to trail the words just a hair, but she was very close. And yet she never did anything that wasn't within the song, no little comments or trills or noises, so it also seemed fishy. 

Edited November 13, 2017 by Ottis

[marketdoctor]

Quote

I would have liked it better is she has been less manic. I work with HR people in big corporations daily, and they are far more cynical and knowing and therefore less jittery than Cecily's character was. They get it, they've seen it and they aren't surprised by it.

I gave that a pass because:  1.  She's young enough not to have seen it all yet (and wondering why this needs to be said at all), and 2. if you're in entertainment, the problem seems to have suddenly gotten worse.  (I'm aware that it's acceptance has gone down, so horray progress, but that might still be a challenge.)   Also, it was the post positive portrayal of HR people since The Big Bang Theory.  And it makes me upset at the amount of time wasted on other people being stupid, but that's been a slow burn for a long time.

 

Quote

There was actually quite a bid of discussion in the Twitterverse about whether Swift was lip syncing the second song that everyone liked so much.

 

I would enjoy a sketch about how she's not lip-syncing when she is--even though that's been done before, she could do that well.  Both songs had some pain; I hope she's doing better than her music would show.  (I'm not a militant fan, but I want people to be happy.)

[lovinbob]

20 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

Ironically enough I couldn't watch SNL last night because I went to see Sasheer doing stand up in my city. She was really good. Then watching Leslie flub the whole "woke with Tamika" sketch I couldn't help but think how much better that would be with Sasheer doing a millennial bent on it and not, y'know crashing lines the whole way through. 

Leslie is great in her Update bits and the filmed pieces (the Kyle and Leslie skit was good again and I liked her as Donna Brazile) , but at this point in her tenure, there is no reason she should be this incompetent in live sketches, which are what the show is centered around. 

Really agree about Leslie. She's not always my cup of tea but she is infinitely better when taped. I also really liked her Oprah--physically, she pulls it off in a way that I never felt that even Maya Rudolph could do. 

14 hours ago, vb68 said:

I agree. I don't generally miss Wiig too much on the show, but I did miss her Pelosi last night. To be fair though, I think that was the first time Kate has done Nancy?

On the other hand, Alex's Chuck Schumer may well be the next great political impression on the show.

LOVED Alex's Chuck Schumer. It was excellent! I bet Chuck Schumer was tickled to be parodied. He never met publicity he didn't like. 

[vb68]

Leslie was indeed a great Oprah! I also thought she was a good Donna Brazile. I wish they did a little more with Brazile.

18 hours ago, rmontro said:

Does this mean that Louis CK won't be joining the Five Timers Club?

That's probably a safe assumption at this point.  I didn't think they hit him anywhere near as hard as they could have, though.

Edited November 14, 2017 by vb68

[Sesquipedalia]

9 hours ago, marketdoctor said:

 2. if you're in entertainment, the problem seems to have suddenly gotten worse.

Yes, I didn't take it as an attempt at a realistic portrayal of an actual HR person but as a comment on the frenzy of sexual harassment allegations that have come forth recently. 

[Hanahope]

I had no idea who Tiffany Haddish was before this show.  Wow, what a great first impression.  Very funny.  I'm definitely going to watch her movie, Girls Trip asap.

I liked most of the skits.  The Tamika one probably at the bottom, it just wasn't executed well.

The DNC skit was very cringe-worthy in how true it is.

The bit with the HR person at WU was funny because she lists all these things that men SHOULD know not to do, because it seems so obvious, yet apparently so many still do.

[helenamonster]

I think the HR lady also worked because even though she was using examples that were specific to current events, anyone who's ever sat through one of those corporate HR sexual harassment sessions has seen those cheesy '80s videos and wondered "Who acts like this??? At work???" So many things that should be so obvious to people are--apparently--not, and it doesn't help that we as a society have been letting them get away with it.

[Irlandesa]

On 11/13/2017 at 0:25 AM, rmontro said:

Does this mean that Louis CK won't be joining the Five Timers Club?

I'm not betting against it yet. He's one away.  He's only 50.  He already has a lot of defenders because he "didn't touch them" or because he privately apologized.  I'm a cynic.  I can see a time within the next 10-30 years where it becomes such ancient history that he becomes "acceptable enough" to host. Especially since he's the type of guy who doesn't need to rely on a company to fund a comeback.  He just needs enough people willing to pay money to see. 

On 11/14/2017 at 3:54 PM, Hanahope said:

I'm definitely going to watch her movie, Girls Trip asap

I liked her in Girls Trip without a doubt.  I liked her on The Carmichael Show as well.  But I think my favorite appearances of her have been on @midnight.  While some of those lines were written, stand up comedians often provide many of their own jokes so it was my first sense of who she actually was.  Very funny and a great story teller.

[Milburn Stone]

On 11/12/2017 at 10:38 AM, VCRTracking said:

Heidi's Kristen Schaal was incredible. I really thought it was her for a second.

Agree.

Thought Tiffany Haddish was charming on Colbert's show over the summer, but was not at all impressed with her on SNL.

[Phishbulb]

Without much of a chance now of Louis CK joining the five-timers club, there aren't really that many eligible people who could realistically join any time soon. Lindsay Lohan has hosted 4 times, but I can't ever imagine a scenario where she would host again.

Ditto Cameron Diaz. Interestingly they just reran her 2014 episode on SNL Vintage. I started wondering what had happened to her, then I looked her up on IMDB and realized that "Annie" is her last IMDB credit; she has done essentially nothing movie or TV-wise for about 3 years now.

Dana Carvey is also a 4-time host; I'd love it if he hosted again but I wouldn't be holding my breath.

The only 4-timer I could conceivably see becoming a 5-timer sometime soon is Jonah Hill; he isn't doing much in the way of movies but has been shooting a TV series for Netflix with Emma Stone called "Maniac". The last time he hosted, Jonah was actually promoting nothing - I think he humorously commented on the fact in his monologue- so he may be a person they just call in whenever they need a host, regardless of whether they're actually promoting anything (i.e. Melissa McCarthy).

[Lava VaVoom]

She wore the dress!  Tiffany wore her white Alexander McQueen dress to the Oscars when she presented!  Yeah, girl!

[theredhead77]

1 hour ago, Lava VaVoom said:

She wore the dress!  Tiffany wore her white Alexander McQueen dress to the Oscars when she presented!  Yeah, girl!

I scared my cats with my squeal "she's wearing the dress!!!!!!"

[mtlchick]

3 hours ago, Lava VaVoom said:

She wore the dress!  Tiffany wore her white Alexander McQueen dress to the Oscars when she presented!  Yeah, girl!

She did show up on the red carpet with another ensemble honouring her late father, but I cheesed up when she appeared in The Dress.   Girl was not kidding when she said she would wear it everywhere.  

Edited March 6, 2018 by mtlchick

[helenamonster]

3 hours ago, Lava VaVoom said:

She wore the dress!  Tiffany wore her white Alexander McQueen dress to the Oscars when she presented!  Yeah, girl!

I screamed! She's amazing.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 3/5/2018 at 7:03 PM, Lava VaVoom said:

She wore the dress!  Tiffany wore her white Alexander McQueen dress to the Oscars when she presented!  Yeah, girl!

Someone from the designer should reach out and offer to loan her a new dress whenever she has a red carpet appearance in thanks for her support.

[Fostersmom]

They should, she's certainly the it girl of the moment. And I love she's wearing the hell out of the dress.