#I’m still not over losing Kate and Aidy

[ednacrabapple]

How could Cecily do this to me

[isee-right-throughme]

C’mon guys. Do better.

Look, I have been a huge fan of SNL since I was in sixth grade. I’ve rarely missed live shows since then, and I even saw it live with Bill Hader in 2014. I have bought numerous books about it and the players that come from it. One of my all-time favorite books is Darrell Hammond’s memoir. I used to say SNL was my form of church because I religiously watched it every Saturday, and I meditated on it after each episode. What was good? What was bad? What timing was off? Which jokes could I repeat to my family and they would laugh? I loved every minute of it. 2008 was a big year for SNL, and I was there to watch it all. They even had Thursday episodes because the election was so important. Their viewership skyrocketed, and suddenly, I could talk to everyone about it. 

My high praise and love for the show started decreasing when Donald Trump hosted in 2015. This was before the Hollywood Access tapes were found, but this was still during his Islamophobic remarks, his overt racism of Mexicans, and the sexual assault of his ex-wife. There were many things wrong with Donald Trump at this point, but NBC loved him. Their viewership was up again! Everyone wanted to watch the celebrity monkey attempt the presidency. Hillary was gonna win, no question, so why not have the Orangutang up on stage? Maybe because he’s a terrible human being that hurt million of people with his words? Maybe because we shouldn’t have normalized hate speech and racism and discrimination and ableism? Why give him the platform? He did not run a single ad campaign. He didn’t have to. NBC gave him the time. Now, of course, SNL cannot predict the future and did not know what was to come. But maybe they shouldn’t have gone there in the first place.

I did not watch that episode. That was one of the only episodes I chose to ignore entirely and not watch any clips or listen to any sound bites the next day. I did not know what to do next. Should I continue watching my beloved show? Comedy was such an important part of my life, and I could not leave it behind. Should I forgive Lorne and everyone for allowing this racist sexist homophobic lying pig to host my favorite, beloved show? 

Because I’m white and privileged, I had the advantage of being able to look past this episode. Because of my tradition and loyalty to the show, I knew I couldn’t give it up cold turkey.

And then last month Casey Affleck hosted. Again, I did not watch any clips (except for Kate McKinnon’s Love Actually as Hillary sketch because that went viral and I had to watch because I’m weak). I ignored the episode. Casey Affleck should not be normalized. The women he sexually harassed (if not assaulted) lost their jobs for speaking out, but the man who committed these crimes is going to be Oscar nominated. I was so tired of the blatant hypocrisy and sexism that run our daily lives that I started getting mad. I was mad at SNL for not holding these people accountable. In any other job title, these men would have lost their jobs (probably not because of how sexist and ridiculous society is as a whole but their actions would hold more weight in their fields). Hollywood always turns a blind eye towards sexual assault. SNL can pretend it’s avant-garde and edgy but it’s Hollywood just the same. You can make a thousand jokes about the Catholic Church covering up sexual assault of minors and child molestation, but you’re literally doing the same thing. 

And then tonight, we have the beloved Aziz Ansari give a wonderful monologue about the current state of the US with some clever lines and tidbits. But then he equates Donald Trump and Chris Brown. And he’s absolutely right. People looked the other way for various reasons. For Brown it was because he was once a talented artist. He was welcomed back to award shows later and he sold albums for years after he committed a heinous crime. Donald Trump is accused of sexual assault over a dozen times, and is on tape admitting to it, and he becomes the President of the United States. So yeah, a lot of people looked away.

But then in this same episode where Ansari makes this great analogy, you have Big Sean performing. There’s no mention of his 2011 legal battle where he and another man held a 17-year-old girl against her will and sexually assaulted her. Sure, the charges were lessened when he pleaded guilty to “unlawful imprisonment.” That’s still a really big deal. And we’re all just going to forget about that? We’re all just going to let him take the stage at SNL and pretend it didn’t happen? How could you have this analogy in the monologue and then allow this man to take the stage? 

But then the question becomes: where do we draw the line? How many hosts in the past have been accused of sexual assault? Domestic violence? Racism? Homophobia? Sexism? 

When Andrew Dice Clay hosted in 1990, Nora Dunn told the press she was boycotting the show. Now there were some complications with this, but the female cast was hounded by calls from the public of how on earth they could support this man and stay with the show? Now, I have an affinity toward Lorne Michaels because I think he’s a comedic genius and just a genius overall, but this was all on him. He’s a show runner. He’s THE show runner. He should have taken over and had Steve or Tom come in and host that week. This was not about the women of the show taking a stand because they have contracts and this is their dream job. This is all Lorne. This is where he should have protected the cast.

He should have done that with Cheeto. 

But there’s more to viewership than there is to moral conduct.

My sister is really good at cutting TV shows off when they promote something she does not like. She stopped watching Ellen (WHO CANNOT LOVE ELLEN DEGENERES?) after she had Kobe Bryant on. I agree with her boycott completely because there should have been no normalization of Kobe Bryant, especially by someone like Ellen. So my sister stopped watching her show. A devout viewer who would watch clips online and watch it every day at the gym, stopped cold turkey.

I do not have that ability. SNL has become a part of my personality. I have memorized sketches and characters’ catchphrases. Kristen Wiig and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and Nasim Pedrad and Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and Bill Hader and Kenan Thompson and Colin Jost and Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon and Darrell Hammond and Rachel Dratch and Bobby Moynihan and Fred Armisen and Jason Sudeikas and Will Forte and Gilda Radner and Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi and Eddie Murphy and Sasheer Zamata and Aidy Bryant and Andy Samberg and Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon and David Spade and Taran Killam and Tracy Morgan and Phil Hartman are all home to me. SNL is a comfort to me. But this week I was disappointed, again. 

I think it might be because I hold SNL to such a high standard. I hold it like a religion. But it’s not perfect. It has its flaws. Tonight, they had an extended joke about the FriendZone, which is literally a joke from like 2013 that has come back to haunt us, and I sat there thinking, “This is it? During one of the most tumultuous presidencies in modern times, this is what we are offering? Another sexist point of view where the ‘nice guy’ loses?” It’s tiring. It’s tiring to grow and change and not have your favorite show change with you. I sometimes think SNL and I are connected in some way, but that’s pretty big of me to claim because the show literally could survive without me. I do not contribute much to it. 

Should I just continue to call them out every time they have a host like Casey Affleck or Cheeto of America? Should I stop watching entirely? Should I stop expecting so much from a weekly variety show based on a network that I’ve devoted probably a sixteenth of my life to? 

An essay like this is supposed to end in some gigantic flourish where I write off stunningly and everyone is impressed with all the points I made. 

But that’s not how this one will end. 

Should I stop watching this show?

I don't know. 

[biofunmy]

‘S.N.L.’ Presents Kellyanne Conway’s ‘Marriage Story,’ Plus Baby Yoda

It was a Christmas miracle: a “Saturday Night Live” opening sketch that wasn’t in any way dependent on a series of surprise celebrity cameos or an onslaught of political impersonations.

Instead, this weekend’s “S.N.L.” broadcast (which was hosted by Scarlett Johansson and featured the musical guest Niall Horan) began with a comedic look at the dinner tables of three families celebrating the holidays around the country. The first was a liberal-leaning family, led by Cecily Strong, living in San Francisco; the second a conservative-leaning family, led by Beck Bennett, in Charleston, S.C.; and the third a black family, led by Kenan Thompson, in Atlanta.

For starters, Strong expressed her pleasure that President Trump seemed on the verge of being impeached, while Bennett lamented it and called it “a disgrace.” Thompson asked his family, “Y’all think ‘Bad Boys 3’ is going to be good or not? I mean, it’s got to be good. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence back together.”

When Chris Redd asked him to please talk about politics instead, Thompson replied, “Oh you mean how Trump is definitely getting impeached, and then definitely getting re-elected? I’m good.”

The dinner guests around Strong’s table wondered who could possibly vote for Trump now, while at Bennett’s table they asked how anyone couldn’t vote for him. To his family, Thompson asked, “Who do you think is going to get voted off ‘The Masked Singer’ next week?”

Redd, trying to steer the conversation back to politics again, said that people would not vote for Trump again. “What people?” Thompson said. “White people? If white people tell you I might not vote for Trump this time, you know what that’s called, right? A lie. Nobody was going to vote for Trump in 2016 either. And then guess who did? Everybody.”

Strong and her guests said they would take any Democratic candidate over four more years of a Trump presidency, while Bennett and his family said they liked Trump better than any of the Democrats. Thompson said to his guests, “You know who I’m starting to like a lot? That Pete Buttigieg.” After a pause, everyone around the table laughed knowingly.

At its conclusion the sketch returned to a snowman played by Aidy Bryant, who told the audience that all three families had one important thing in common: “They live in states where their votes don’t matter,” she said. “Because none of them live in the three states that will decide our election. They’ll debate the issues all year long but then it all comes down to 1,000 people in Wisconsin who won’t even think about the election until the morning of. And that’s the magic of the Electoral College.”

For good measure, the sketch threw in Kate McKinnon as the 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, who replied to Trump’s social media mockery of her.

“Donald Trump, step to me and I’ll come at you like a plastic straw comes at a turtle,” McKinnon said. “I can’t believe I’m saying this to a 70-year-old man, but grow up.”

‘Marriage Story’ Parody of the Week

When you have an episode hosted by Scarlett Johansson you’ve got to satirize the meme-friendly Netflix movie she’s currently starring in, right?

The “S.N.L.” take on Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” trades the squabbling artistic couple played by Johansson and Adam Driver for the political spouses George T. Conway III (Bennett), the conservative lawyer and Trump critic, and Kellyanne Conway (McKinnon), the White House counselor. As in the movie, the Conways list their favorite qualities about each other, which they then proceed to undermine, and engage in an intensely personal argument: “You’re not even verified on Twitter,” McKinnon taunts Bennett. “Where’s your blue check, George?” In response, Bennett punches his fist through a wall.

Fake Commercial of the Week

What starts off as a seemingly innocuous advertisement for Macy’s becomes a devastatingly precise comedic commentary on the experience of shopping for and dressing uncooperative small children. (Whose parents nonetheless love them very much.)

A genial voice-over promises that Macy’s offers “the best in fashions that’ll have them saying — ” followed by kids shouting, “It’s too hot!” and “It’s itchy!” A third child cries inconsolably. The commercial goes on to boast of “boys’ merino wool sweaters that won’t fit over his head,” “kids’ jackets so big and thick they won’t fit in their car seat anymore” and “snow boots that are so hard to put on they’ll strain your marriage.” Happy holidays!

Weekend Update Jokes of the Week

Over at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che continued to riff on the latest developments in the process to impeach President Trump.

Jost:

After yesterday’s vote approving articles of impeachment, President Trump could become the first president to face impeachment while also running for re-election. Because only Democrats could figure out a way to lose twice in the same year. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, who was accidentally CGI’d to look like both Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro, appealed to Republicans on the committee, saying, “When Trump’s time is past, how will you be remembered?” Remembered? I barely know you know now and I think you’re my congressman. I hate to break it to you, but the only way Americans ever remember a congressman is if he sent someone a picture of his penis. And we only remember that because his name was Weiner.

Che:

President Trump set a personal record on Thursday when he reacted to impeachment news by posting more than 100 tweets. Causing White House officials to ask, Is everything O.K. in there, sir? [the screen displays a picture of a bathroom door] I don’t get why Trump’s so worked up. I mean, it’s still going to take two-thirds of the Senate to vote him out of office. And that’s not going to happen because, well, take a look at the Senate. [the screen displays the images of several white Senators] It would be like if Obama got voted out of office by the Wu-Tang Clan. But look on the bright side, Democrats, now you know you can cheat. Why are you nerds still playing by the rules? Literally nothing matters anymore. Kamala dropped out because she ran out of money. Rob a bank! Do y’all want this or not?

Weekend Update Deskside Bit of the Week

If we were making this selection solely with our hearts, we would probably choose the return visit from Chen Biao, the irrepressible Chinese trade official played by Bowen Yang. But for obvious zeitgeist reasons, we have to give the edge to this inevitable appearance from Baby Yoda, the breakout Disney Plus character portrayed by Kyle Mooney as a self-aware entertainment-industry player.

He may not know anything about the Force, but this Baby Yoda eagerly shared photos of his squad (consisting of Timothée Chalamet, Robert Pattinson and “the two guys from the Sonic commercials”) and boasted about his new stand-up special on Netflix. (“I basically just tell stories about who hooked up on the ‘Mandalorian’ set: me.”) He also revealed that he has some enemies: “Baby Groot, do me a favor. Keep my name out your lil tree mouth before I snap you like a twig.”

Sahred From Source link Arts

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