December 4, 2016

"Saturday Night Live" is struggling to be funny about Trump.

This isn't very good, but I laughed out loud twice — once because I like very silly absurd stuff and once because I must be mean:


The sketch is about Trump tweeting, and the real Donald Trump tweeted that it wasn't funny:



Meta! Meta's funny. In my book.

136 comments:

tim maguire said...

What happened to the pre-Baldwin Trump? The Trump of the primaries? That guy was spot-on. Baldwin wears a silly wig and a sourpuss and thinks that's good enough.

Owen said...

Lame. As if junior high kids had gotten their hands on nine figures' worth of broadcasting resource.

Tarrou said...

SNL has been struggling to be funny on every subject for a decade now.

Bob Ellison said...

Reminds me of the Chevy Chase depiction of Gerald Ford. That bit had no basis in reality at all. Chase didn't even try to impersonate Ford. He had one joke and stumbled with it.

Baldwin's Trump impression used to be quite good. Now it's just silliness, aimed at the half of the audience that hates Trump.

Bob Ellison said...

Baldwin seems to be a really talented actor, especially with his voice. He doesn't judge material well, though. A writer or editor should have thrown out this sketch.

tds said...

good that SNL are able to laugh at themselves and include self parody sketches from time to time High School Theatre

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tim in vermont said...

He is entertaining and Baldwin gets all serious with the Hillary talking points. Baldwin who never gave a shit about Hillary destroying records about how she got so rich.

robother said...

I guess there's an extremely fine line between "meta" and lame.

tim in vermont said...

I know somebody who once caddied for Ford. He said that Ford was a good athlete. Fake news is nothing new.

Curious George said...

First time: Smush, smush.

Second time: Mashed potatoes

Curious George said...

"tim in vermont said...
I know somebody who once caddied for Ford. He said that Ford was a good athlete. Fake news is nothing new."

Not sure how an caddying for an aged Ford would allow one to determine that...but he did play football for Michigan on two national championship teams.

pkerot said...

The Bannon death figure is hilarious! it ridicules the people who think he is evil.

Captain Drano said...

It was the typical post-90's SNL awful.

And it could have been hysterical--had the right elements as far as the briefing, tweeting, KAC, airhorn, but their writers suck and have lost all objectivity thus are unable to find those sweet-spot funny moments.

And FWIW it was completely unwatchable after the opening bit. I tried, but it just kept getting worse. Sad!

tim in vermont said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tim in vermont said...

If you don't know anything about golf, I guess you could think that athleticism has nothing to do with it.

AllenS said...

It's absolutely wonderful to see the effect that Trump is having on our society. Already, I've seen numerous people commenting, and then at the end of the sentence, one word "Sad!" Don't get much better than that. Glad!

Curious George said...

"tim in vermont said...
If you don't know anything about golf, I guess you could think that athleticism has nothing to do with it."

I'm an avid golfer...I was just pointing out the stupidity of using the secondhand report of an aged Ford golfing when it's well known his prowess at playing college football.

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

Wasn't it Obama who famously skipped intelligence briefings throughout his presidency? Also, it seems that endless rounds of golf might make one more unavailable for work than a tweet or two, here and there. And that's just the premise of the bit. Baldwin can't get past his real hatred of Trump and into anything clever in his portrayal.

Ruprecht said...

#Bob Ellison, The folks at SNL still think that Chevy Chase impersonation cost Ford the election. As long as they believe that they'll keep trying to repeat.

W.B. Picklesworth said...

Bannon walking in could be funny, if it were clear that it's meant as hyperbole. But that's not clear and so it seems earnest and desperate.

Megthered said...

You're right, Baldwin can't get past his hatred of Trump. It's personal with him and so its not funny.

James said...

Baldwin gets the job like all lefties get their job, not because they are good at it (or in this case funny) but because he has the biggest name an the most clout. We are supposed to laugh because our betters tell us to. He is funny not because he is actually funny, he is funny by declaration of the elites whose judgement is supposed to matter.

Harrywr2 said...

Curious George said
"Not sure how an caddying for an aged Ford would allow one to determine that"

A decent game of golf requires excellent eye-hand co-ordination.
It's about 4 miles to walk a round of golf and many courses have things called 'hills'.

Jose_K said...

As Trump is getting ready to depart the bus, he says: "It's always great if you don't fall out of the bus like Ford - Gerald Ford - remember?." Mlive
Gerald Ford was All-American lineman. Wolverines' most valuable player in 1934.And Michigan was undefeated national champion in 1932 and 1933 with him.
The Ward incident ended that .Ward was benched against Georgia and that damaged the team. Gerald Ford threatened to quit over the incident ,in the end he played.

W.B. Picklesworth said...

These skits are going to keep falling flat because there's an elephant in the room: the Left are the ones who are most mockable right now. (Not that there shouldn't be plenty to go around.)

Fritz said...

You could have shortened the title of the post by two words.

AllenS said...

Would you like to watch one of the most uncoordinated people who was ever President of the United States?

LINK TEXT

AllenS said...

Damnit! I forgot to say, Sad!

Curious George said...

"Harrywr2 said...
Curious George said
"Not sure how an caddying for an aged Ford would allow one to determine that"

A decent game of golf requires excellent eye-hand co-ordination.
It's about 4 miles to walk a round of golf and many courses have things called 'hills'."

Eye hand coordination does not equate to athleticism. Neither does walking 4 miles with or without hills. Not that Ford walked courses during or after his presidency. He used a cart.

Otto said...

DT has revolutionized communications. One day, AA will wake up on Sunday and not have her Bible (NYT) to read.
But then again in a few days there will be no weekends for Ann. In all seriousness, happy retirement.

Bob Ellison said...

Curious George, have you ever played golf?

The sport rewards athleticism greatly.

You said, "Eye hand coordination does not equate to athleticism." That stupidity works great on its own.

David Begley said...

Kate McKinnon is a genius. From Hillary to Kellyanne in just weeks.

SNL trying to delegitimizate Trump like it did to Jerry Ford. Make him a buffoon. A Twitter clown. But Trump fights back. Expect Scott Adams to weigh in on this.

Curious George said...

"AllenS said...
Would you like to watch one of the most uncoordinated people who was ever President of the United States?"

Well, he could probably beat FDR at one on one.

Obama golfing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9m3GyDh6M8

Obama bowling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-afpPb2NT2I

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

SNL would be funny if they could control how they portray their political affections.


They are clearly SADS the money grubbing liar lost. Hillary had the proper protected-class politics.

wildswan said...

"These skits are going to keep falling flat because there's an elephant in the room: the Left are the ones who are most mockable right now."

It was sad
It was sad
It was sad
When the great ship went down

Michael K said...

Not sure how an caddying for an aged Ford would allow one to determine that...but he did play football for Michigan on two national championship teams.

Like the others, I disagree. Playing golf well in your 70s demonstrates considerable athleticism. I played golf since I was 9 and had to quit at age 72 but I still had a 9 handicap. Back hurt too much.

Ford had been an athlete all his life. Golf is where many big time athletes go when the joints start to hurt. Michael Jordan is an example.

Bob Ellison said...

I try to bring some ability to judge athletic talent to the discussion. Years of kid soccer and baseball coaching, doncha know.

It seems to me that after Richard Nixon, who couldn't even smile without tripping, we have Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama with the crappiest athletic skills. Obama seems OK at shooting a basketball, but man, that guy never learned how to throw a baseball, one of the most basic skills a man must learn.

This guy Trump, I dunno. I'd have to look at his golf swing. One of the greatest basketball players of all time, Charles Barkley, has the ugliest and most incompetent swing ever seen. If Trump looks half that bad, then he should resign in favor of Pence.

MikeR said...

Wow, I agree with Trump. Unwatchable. Just so lame.

Sebastian said...

"Baldwin can't get past his real hatred" That's why liberal humor is an oxymoron. On the left hate trumps humor. Trump will offer plenty of material for more creative comedians, but as a natural clown he is funny himself and therefore hard to outdo. Taking the Taiwan call, appointing Mad Dog Mattis, dining with Mitt, sicking Sessions on the DoJ: I got a laugh out of every move.

chickelit said...

wildswan restated These skits are going to keep falling flat because there's an elephant in the room: the Left are the ones who are most mockable right now."

Saturday Night Live could stand a little self parody. That would fit the times and be truly meta. The whole nation would grow in a positive way, as a result. Of course it won't happen.

Sebastian said...

@CG: "Eye hand coordination does not equate to athleticism." Tell it to Ma Long, Zhang Jike, and Wang Hao.

@BE: "Obama seems OK at shooting a basketball." I doubt it. If so, we would have heard more about his marvelous feats. If memory serves, he was always described as a point guard who doesn't shoot much.

dbp said...

The first Althouse laugh was the mashed potatoes since that is absurd, the 2nd was Bannon as Skeletor--since that is mean. Besides, Emperor Palpatine would have been a better fit.

Bob Ellison said...

Sebastian, the videos would be good. Obama shoots! He's two feet short!

We will not see those videos. He does have an elegant shooting style, though. He should probably aim higher and longer.

Mary Beth said...

It would have been better to do a dinner with Romney skit and have the mashed potatoes where Trump offers to autograph the "picture". It made no sense for them to be on the table here, it was just a Carrot Top style prop joke.

The only thing funny was that Trump tweeted about it. His tweet may be the only reason anyone is watching it today (it's the only reason I watched). That may seem self-defeating, but it makes sure if one of these skits has some fake news meme- like Palin seeing Alaska from her house - then more people will know it came from SNL and won't believe it's an actual news item.

Once written, twice... said...

Of course Ann and her Althouse Hillbillies don't like it. Anything short of fawning over the Doofus King you will hate.

mccullough said...

I'm hoping Trump plays himself as President in the next Avengers movie

Seeing Red said...

They're not used to being called out every week. It's like the party has stopped and it's clean up time.

Maybe this will make SNL reflect and try and find the funny.

Seeing Red said...

I thought Redford was typecasting. That's why I was laughing.


Whedon and he probably thought nahhhh.

Once written, twice... said...

It is halarious that a TV skit that is making fun of Trump tweeting causes him to tweet about it. Trump is not being meta. Trump is being an idiot. It would be unthinkable that Obama would respond in such a bizarre way. But if he did, you would be all over him this morning. It is quite telling that Ann isn't.

But it is great for SNL that they have the Prez-elect promoting their show for them. They even have people in minor backwaters like Ann's Hillbilly Hooch talking about them. Very Trump like self-promotion if you ask me.

Darrell said...

Nothing funny about the Left.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

The Hunt for Hil clip was much funnier. Also the school theatre sketch. And why did you cut off the last 30 seconds with Bannon?

Sprezzatura said...

How many more times will DJT and Althouse be watching this so that they can promote the POV that it's not funny?

If you're stuck in it, the SNL-vortex is winning, not you.

Ha ha.

rehajm said...

SNL would be funny if they could control how they portray their political affections.

Off limits is all that ridiculousness that is the truth of the leftie condition. So much squandered funny...

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, I never figured you for one of the mean girls in high school. Live and learn.

Mary Beth said...

Conan's bit on phone conversations between Trump and Obama was funnier - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW1XstE6tio

I'm on to you, spy owl!

robother said...

And, what's with the pushed-out lip thing when Lefties portray the Trumps? Neither Donald nor Melania have unusually protruding lips, but somehow, it is considered hilarious to do that when mocking them.

chickelit said...

Once written, twice... said...It is halarious that a TV skit that is making fun of Trump tweeting causes him to tweet about it. Trump is not being meta.

What's cool is that people are talking about the show in rerun form via YouTube instead of actually tuning in and giving the show ratings points. It has the same effect--I believe--of watching Colin Kaepernick genuflect for BLM on YouTube without actually watching NFL games, thus contributing to the NFL's slow motion demise. Win-Win!

chickelit said...

robother said...And, what's with the pushed-out lip thing when Lefties portray the Trumps? Neither Donald nor Melania have unusually protruding lips, but somehow, it is considered hilarious to do that when mocking them.

They weren't able to do that regarding Michelle and so the urge is pent-up. It's good that it's now getting release.

Achilles said...

PBJ and once written have the siccest burns on the thread. I feel so chastened and silly because of the brilliance of the sincerely cogent remarks they made about the subject.

Sad. :(

Tim said...

Trump carries a 2.8 handicap index according to the USGA. That is REALLY good golf.

khesanh0802 said...

@ Once written; You forget that Obama wouldn't know about it until he read it in the papers so it would be weeks before he reacted. Of course, if I were crude, I would say the reality is that Obama couldn't get his head out of his ass long enough to notice. But I wouldn't do that.

I am sure your bile overflows today now that Stein has crumpled in PA. Raised $7 million or more, spent $3.5 in WI which means she should have about $3.5 left but she can't figure out how to come up with a million to post bond in PA. Two thoughts on that: math is hard for Democrats; and Stein's campaign - like Hillary's tour at State - was just a big fund raising gig.

"Hilaraious"?!? And we are hillbillys? Oh, and the "minor backwaters" bit - scathing. I will be happy once you get past the anger phase of your grieving process; only one phase to go. I hope it doesn't take you until January 20 because it will spoil your Holidays.

RebeccaH said...

Seriously? I could only watch about twenty seconds of that skit, and even the laugh track sounded half-hearted. SNL hasn't been funny or entertaining for years, I think it's time for that show to die.

tim in vermont said...

Yeah Curious, everyone who disagrees with you is stupid. Got it.

Limited blogger said...

I don't mind the visciousness. It means normalcy is returning. The adults are back in charge.

JAORE said...

"Taking the Taiwan call, appointing Mad Dog Mattis, dining with Mitt, sicking Sessions on the DoJ: I got a laugh out of every move. "

Me too. But we may be laughing at the same time, but at different people...

cubanbob said...

SNL is like one of those old-timey classic restaurants that have been around forever and somehow stay in business even though they aren't very good.

chuck said...

> SNL hasn't been funny or entertaining for years,

It was funny for two or three years at the beginning. I stopped watching after that and perhaps there have been other funny periods, but now isn't one of them. Lots of things go that route. National Lampoon had a couple of great years, then died. Mad Magazine had it's best years in the 50's, then ran out of funny. Bloom County, Dilbert, same thing. Funny is hard.

Kensington said...

I thought it was pretty funny but mainly because the "Truth" being mined for laughs (and usually required for comedy to work) is the truth that the Left is in full 24/7 freakout about Trump. I don't think that's what the SNL folks were going for, though.

Thuglawlibrarian said...

Making fun of Trump should be like shooting fish in a barrel but this is pretty unfunny. I watched only about 2 minure of it. Like with most things on SNL, it is unfunny and too long.

D. B. Light said...

Trump, like Obama, understands that politics is downstream from culture. People were upset when Obama made himself available to Youtube hijinks channels, but he was effective in bypassing regular communications channels and in projecting himself as the "cool" president. Trump is just taking that one step farther. He and SNL both benefited from the exchange.

Wince said...

Lucky for Lorne Micheals he chose the name "Saturday Night Live" rather than "Funny or Die".

Left Bank of the Charles said...

A big part of the reason it isn't that funny is that Kate McKinnin is phoning in her Kellyanne Conway. I think she has decided she doesn't want to spend 4 to 8 years playing Kellyanne.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

The other SNL cast members may also want to be done with Alec Baldwin getting the cold open, so they're not being as funny as they could be.

rehajm said...

Lucky for Lorne Micheals he chose the name "Saturday Night Live" rather than "Funny or Die"

With Funny or Die I've wondered if I have standing to enforce the 'Die' part.

Kansas City said...

Interesting observation by Left Bank. Hard to tell because material is not that good. Strange because Baldwin is a talent. Not making much of it at this point.

traditionalguy said...

SNL is phoning it in. DJT has developed lots more secret admirers among the cool kids than NBC wants to admit. On MSNBC this AM Al Sharpton was defending Trump's style and intelligence. They cannot be hidden under a tsunami of ridicule anymore.

CarolMR said...

John DiDomenico, who has impersonated Trump many times on FOX's "Red Eye," does the best Trump impersonation. Baldwin is awful by comparison.

Once written, twice... said...

Of course Sharpton is defending Trump's style. They are both from the same school of hucksterdom. The difference is the Democrats don't make their hucksters President.

rcocean said...

SNL's going to have a problem satirizing Trump because Trump has been smeared, insulted, attacked and vilified by the Establishment and the MSM for almost a year and half. All their "satire" has been done before or seems mild compared to the other criticism Trump has already gotten.

Unlike Palin who was an unknown before she became VP candidate, Trump is a known quantity and Trump knows how to fight back while Palin was hamstrung by the traitorous McCain campaign and never recovered.

This sketch is a perfect example. Satirizing aka criticizing Trump's tweets has been going on for 1.5 years. Its old hat. And the satire doesn't even make sense. It takes Trump 2 minutes to do a tweet. So the whole, he's letting serious stuff go hang in order to tweet is stupid. And of course, Trump may be a blowhard in public but he's ain't stupid or ignorant.

rcocean said...

SNL had the same problem with Reagan they tried to satirize him and make fun of him but it rarely worked. Mostly it came off as stupid or insulting. The only time it was funny was the sketch "President Reagan "mastermind", which showed him posing as friendly grandpa type in public while privately orchestrating the Iran-Contra deal speaking 4 different languages and ordering Baker and Don Reagan around like puppets.

It was funny because even Reagan joked about his lack of interest in the details.

traditionalguy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
traditionalguy said...

That Huckster Trump has already caused a stock market boomlet, revived several important alliances that Obama had strangled, and appointed a sharp financial team that is re-directing a world capital flow here...and that was all done in a week with just his Huckster Powers.

PackerBronco said...

Turned it off after about 20 seconds. Total waste of time.

Michael K said...

"Obama seems OK at shooting a basketball,"


Shooting maybe but he missed something like 50 free throws in a row trying to show the media how cool he was.

A 2.8 Index is pretty impressive. Clinton and Obama are fake golfers.

The trolls are stretching but not reaching a smart comment.

geoffb said...

And Fidel Castro is still dead.

They can have that one for free

JAORE said...

If you knew nothing of American politics, you could still tell that skit was a stinker. One joke, repeated too many times, stretching out over far too long a period. Over the top caricature. And the send off is a ham-handed portrayal of someone as death?

It's as if the concept, "We can make fun of Trump about [fill in the blank]" is enough to get a green light and avoid any further scrutiny of content.

My first thought on Trump is he should ignore this petty stuff. Why, I wondered would he get more people to watch the skit on UTube. But on reflection, this skit is SO bad it might just HELP Trump if more people see this disaster.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Not funny - just relentless mean and angry mocking.

Remind me when SNL unleashed relentless mean and angry mocking on Obama?

Robert Cook said...

"What happened to the pre-Baldwin Trump? The Trump of the primaries? That guy was spot-on. Baldwin wears a silly wig and a sourpuss and thinks that's good enough."

That was Darrell Hammond, a long-time regular SNL cast member (and one of their best) who is now their announcer. He only does occasional bits onscreen now. His Bill Clinton was unequaled by anyone ever, anywhere. He did a better Trump than Baldwin, but Baldwin--a very funny performer--has more name power.

(I discovered by chance a few years ago in reading my College Alumni school magazine that Hammond went to college with me...or, at least, he was in the same Major program in the same school at the same university at the same time as I. I do not know if we ever actually had any classes together, but it's certainly possible.)

Robert Cook said...

If SNL is "struggling to be funny" about such a colorful character as Trump--love him or hate him--they need to get a better writing staff. Trump is meat for a good satirist.

Robert Cook said...

"Remind me when SNL unleashed relentless mean and angry mocking on Obama?"

Obama is too bland, too poised, too self-contained to make for easy satire. It can, I'm sure, be done, but it needs a brilliant performer who can exactly but exaggeratedly caricature Obama's speaking and behavioral mannerisms--as Dana Carvey did with George H.W. Bush--along with writers who are good and who are merciless.

JAORE said...

"Obama is too bland, too poised, too self-contained to make for easy satire. It can, I'm sure, be done, but it needs a brilliant performer who can exactly but exaggeratedly caricature Obama's speaking and behavioral mannerisms--"

You have a very limited view of satire.

I think you may mean caricature. I've seen that done of Obama, and well done.

FullMoon said...

Robert Cook said... [hush]​[hide comment]

If SNL is "struggling to be funny" about such a colorful character as Trump--love him or hate him--they need to get a better writing staff. Trump is meat for a good satirist.

Agreed. Baldwin's funny faces were lame, the material stupid. Trump should be easy to make fun of, but this skit was really, really bad.

I read Scott Adams about Trumps brilliancies but some of the stuff seems like dumb luck, or, just dumb.

The Taiwan call is perfect example. An aide tells Trump "President of Taiwan is calling"
"No shit? What's his name? Gimmee the phone!"
Somehow becomes either cause for war, or a genius move.

I read that Pelosi called about womens issues and Trump turned her over to Ivanka. Now, That;s funny!

FullMoon said...

Speaking of too good to verify, rumor is Fidels hearse broke down during funeral procession.

walter said...

Fidel's ride?

narciso said...

Yes the best sketch, was one the huntress did, playing herself right before the election, Tina fey was passing off a doddering unattractive relative for Palin.

robother said...

"Actually that's not why I [Tweet]. I do it because my brain is bent." Now, that's some subtle satire, the likes of which has not graced the Tube since Three Stooges reruns. Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk.

Alex said...

The parts that were funny was the initial re-tweet of the teenager(it happened) and Trump wanting to make sure Romney looked like a 'little bitch'. That last one made me LOL.

Alex said...

Bob... Alec Baldwin turned in a great scene in "Glengarry Glen Ross", the famous "Always Be Closing" speech. That was in 1992. What the fuck has he done since that's great?

Chris Lopes said...

You don't have to be a Trump fan (I'm not) to see that the sketch was mostly unfunny. There were spots in it that weren't too bad, but it mostly fell flat. This is in contrast with the sketch Baldwin did right after the election (a week after the funeral opening), which I found quite funny.

The Kellyanne Conway thing is just plain stupid. We all know the real Conway is quite proud of her role in making Trump president, and having an actress (who is no doubt bitter about not being able to play Hillary for the next 4 years) deadpan snark doesn't make it any less true. They should put that bit to sleep.

Finally, yes Trump is infinitely mockable. All presidents are and should be. They left Obama alone for the most part and that was a mistake. When you take the person in the Oval Office too seriously, you set up a situation where he can do stupid things without paying a price. Fortunately, it doesn't look like they will make that mistake with Trump.

Alex said...

Chris - George Washington wasn't mockable. I double dog dare ye.

Bob Ellison said...

Alex, see here.

A year ago, that was a freely watchable YouTube video. NBC took it down. I don't wonder why.

Alex said...

Bob... sorry that was embarrassing and nothing compared to Glengarry Glen Ross.

Bob Ellison said...

Ten years ago, I walked up and took this job nobody wanted, and everyone seemed glad about that. Okay. It wasn't as difficult as the job I last took, defeating the British, and I didn't need that job, since I had a lot of slaves. But anyway, I took the job, and here we are. We're doing pretty well, no? Well, I'll just say goodbye now.

rehajm said...

What the fuck has he done since that's great?

This was pretty great.

Fen said...

You don't have to be a Trump fan (I'm not) to see that the sketch was mostly unfunny. There were spots in it that weren't too bad, but it mostly fell flat.

But to be fair, SNL hasn't done parody in 8 years. Its going to take awhile to get those muscles back.

And it's another reason Trump's win was a good thing. The court jesters will now go back to mocking our leadership and the MSM will start speaking "truth" to power again. LOL.

What hacks.

The goal of comedy is to entertain your audience. Not indoctrinate them with your political values.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Trump can take his fucking opinion and shove it up his ass. I say it's HILARIOUS, OK! Who the hell died and made his opinion more important than anyone else's. He's a disgrace. And his opinion on humor is decidedly stupid and handicapped, anyway. Just watch the Comedy Central roasts of him that he had them do. Guy looked like he was fuckin' constipated, sitting through all the jokes they made of him. He doesn't understand humor for shit.

Thomas Hazlewood said...

Trump might also have said, 'At least he's not trashing his daughter again".

Anonymous said...

I will admit that Colbert has been far more upset about the Trump victory and far funnier with his Trump material than SNL. However, I found the opening skit of SNL pretty good last night and was equally entertained when the thin-skinned prez elect rushed to tweet his dismissal of it. I used to think Obama was thin-skinned and didn't handle the jokes and ridicule that come with the job of president all that well in the beginning. But he got better at dealing with it as time went on and, even at his worst early on, he never carried on publicly the way that Trump does over every little slight. Being ridiculed comes with the job, Mr. Trump. Get used to it.

And no, I'm not a whining liberal. I'm not a liberal of any stripe. believe it or not, gang, there are plenty of people in this great country who are worried sick about Trump at the helm and who are very unhappy about his election who are NOT liberals. I've been a Republican since junior high, much to the consternation of my Democrat father.

Joe said...

Even during its "golden era" SNL was rarely funny for an entire show and even the funny sketches almost always ran out of steam half-way through, a problem with most sketch shows.

SukieTawdry said...

Let's say Twitter had been around in the 70's when SNL began its run. Do you suppose Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II and Obama would have ragged on Chevy Chase's, Dan Ackroyd's, Phil Hartman's, Dana Carvey's, Darrell Hammond's, Will Ferrell's and Fred Armisen's portrayal of them? Try not to be so thin-skinned, Donald.

I watched a video of the "Hunt for Hil" sketch. It was painfully unfunny.

Chris Lopes said...

@R&B
I have no doubt that the Donald will provide many things (on a daily basis) to get pissed off at over the course of the next 4 years. If you choose to go ballistic at every single stupid thing the guy does, you'll be burned out by the mid-terms and other people will tune you out. I suggest you pace yourself.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

@R&B
I have no doubt that the Donald will provide many things (on a daily basis) to get pissed off at over the course of the next 4 years. If you choose to go ballistic at every single stupid thing the guy does, you'll be burned out by the mid-terms and other people will tune you out. I suggest you pace yourself.


No thanks, Chris. I'll leave the complacent idiotocratarian move to you. When the guy's worse on speech rights than Scalia, doesn't even bother to learn how libel law works, and other loudly and proudly incompetent moves before December's even out, I'm happy to be the canary in the coalmine saying I told you so. Sure, chances are he'll do something impeachable before 2018's out, but it's good to be prepared. We were told to sit back and relax w/W. in charge, too. And then, BOOM. 9/11. And then, BOOM - trillion dollar invasions of the wrong country. And then, BOOM. The worst economic crisis since 1929. No more "Trust me, I'm an ignorant Republican" pleas from you guys. No, we fully expect you to fuck up, and are calling out his fuck-ups before he gets a chance to fuck them up outside of the Twitter feed. Bad enough that he gets his staff to collude in extolling his massive, incompetent ignorance online. We're here to stop this insane virtual reality from becoming actual reality. But it takes mobilization. We won't just sit around and wait to watch your incompetents fuck it up this time. Nope. From now on, it's pro-active opposition. Sort of like the kind Mitch McConnel activated in 2009. Only this time, it's for a reason that goes beyond just naked partisanship. If only your side knew what that meant.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Trump's repeating himself. This is the second time he aaid saturday Night Live was not funny.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Tarrou said...12/4/16, 7:30 AM

SNL has been struggling to be funny on every subject for a decade now.

No, since the start of the second season, in 1975. Occasionally, they manage something funny.


Sammy Finkelman said...

Gerald Ford fell down a few times in front of cameras in 1974. That was the cause of it.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead - and now so is his friend, Fidel Castro. Only Franco urned it over to a king whom he didn't care what the king did, but Castro turned over rule to his brother.

Sammy Finkelman said...

12/4/16, 12:26 PM

On MSNBC this AM Al Sharpton was defending Trump's style and intelligence. They cannot be hidden under a tsunami of ridicule anymore.

Trump called him up to thank him for giving him some credit for something. Al Sharpton told the press he was still against Trump.

http://nypost.com/2016/12/01/donald-trump-makes-surprise-call-to-al-sharpton/

Sharpton said Trump thanked him for saying nice things about his outer-borough business achievements while on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program.

Chris Lopes said...

Fine R&B. Count me among the first to tune you out.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Fucking painful to watch SNL now. I was hoping some coked up writer could explore the Hillary in the Bunker theme for laughs but no. It's 2nd grade talent night level "comedy" with no value. No social observation. No depth. Sad, desultory and poorly acted. With so much going in the world and in politics THIS is all the wretch from their loins? Oh well. Lorne got his award a couple weeks ago. He should shoot this thing behind the barn before it spawns another Train Wreck.

Fen said...

R&B: Only this time, it's for a reason that goes beyond just naked partisanship. If only your side knew what that meant.

We know what it means. It means you are a loser in real life and so you will fill that void with meaning and purpose by beating down those evil republican nazis that dine off the belly of sacrificial virgins lashed to a Satantic altar.

But you should try the brunettes first. They are yummy.

Also, maybe get a dog. Or a hobby. See, your side has cried wolf so many times that we no longer care. Even Hyperbole is shamed by it. See him over there, crying in the corner?

And cry me a fucking river over the flag burners. This is the same crowd that shouts down conservative speakers at colleges. They don't give a damn about our rights, so why should we defend them? Sure, once we had a compact, a mutual agreement on how to resolve our disagreements in a civil and respectful way. Those days are long gone baby.

Fen said...

Remind me when SNL unleashed relentless mean and angry mocking on Obama?

Cook: "Obama is too bland, too poised, too self-contained to make for easy satire."

LOL. Lame excuse. What you really mean is that "Obama is too black to mock". Because you believe blacks are inferior and should be held to a lesser standard.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Chris Lopes said...
Fine R&B. Count me among the first to tune you out.


I would expect nothing less, and consider it an honor - given the ease with which you undoubtedly tune out facts, reason, logic, and presumably every other abomination committed by the Party That Can Do No Wrong. Keeping a mind so open that one's brain falls out of it is no virtue.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Is Fern's VA psychiatrist available for emergent treatment? Looks like his PTSD is acting up again.

Trump is not only incompetent, he is not a Republican. He will empower progressive Democrats on the issues he agrees with them on, and the rest of his presidency will end up going down in infamy worse than W's. The only thing he can do successfully is turn the GOP into a less conservative party, and I've got no quarrel with that. It's win-win either way.

Chris Lopes said...

What people like R&B don't understand is that his kind of vitriol was hurled at Trump for 18 long months and he still won. That's because a good portion of the American voting public eventually tuned it out. I am against the tone not because I think Trump doesn't deserve it, but because it doesn't work. How hard do you have to be hit with that reality before you acknowledge it?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

No one cares that "he still won." A lot of HORRIBLE presidents also won elections. Sometimes even by the popular vote, too. This schmuck did not. I have no obligation to kiss the ass of a perennial self-ass kisser who expects everyone to bow down to him and "be NICE". He's psychologically deranged. This has been known by everyone who doesn't have their heads in their asses in the flyover for decades. It's not our fault that you had to pretend not to see through it just for the sake of hating Hillary. This isn't a defense of Hillary. And it isn't a defense of the media. It's an indictment of Trump. I can have quibbles with all three, but only one of them exercises executive enforcement power in less than 60 days. That's a big deal. He's already demanded that the media kiss his ass. They owe him no such thing. You can't see that that's precisely what the problem is, whatever the media's shortcomings. The moment the media becomes the nation's chief law enforcer, then I can complain about their inability to understand long-settled 1st amendment case law. Or libel case law. But your newly elected dildo in chief has it as his chief obligation to know these things. As it stands, he manifestly does not. AND he can't accept criticism. Big problem. And he's your problem, now. The election proved that he didn't learn his lesson; it wasn't all for show. This guy truly is a walking, talking disaster and a ticking time bomb for American leadership. Just look at all the tutoring Obama has to do of the presidential preemie. The media is the media; they've already paid dearly for their problems - and I'm sure they're not finished. Doesn't mean I have to smile and pretend that the infliction of his incompetence on the rest of the country is some sort of awesome price to pay for it. It doesn't. Because alternative media exists, it's existed for a decade at least, and as of right now he is the clearly more present danger to this country. The media can't accidentally launch nuclear strikes. It can't accidentally invade the wrong country. It can't accidentally crash an economy. But I get it; Republicans can't think for themselves so they resent the things that the media gets wrong. How about, just think for yourself instead, and hold the president accountable regardless. It's not like we get to say a horrible president-elect is a great way to avenge the media. That's just stupid, idiotic, self-destructive feel-good talk - the kind of short-term emotional outlet/temper tantrum that gets countries destroyed.

No thanks.

SukieTawdry said...

@Fen Remind me when SNL unleashed relentless mean and angry mocking on Obama?

Cook: "Obama is too bland, too poised, too self-contained to make for easy satire."


Garry Trudeau:

Believe it or not, Obama's very tough for business. The contradictory characterizations of him as fascist or socialist only serve to confirm the truth-he's a raging moderate. And satirists don't do well with moderates, especially thoughtful ones. In addition, Obama rarely makes gaffes and has no salient physical or temperamental features. And sinking popularity isn't a critique. Even SNL's main rap on him is his unflappability, hardly a vice in a world leader.

Chris Rock:

The political seachange might be a problem for political satirists, Rock says, although he is iffy about just how.

"I'm not really sure, yet, you know. Of course, the obvious thing is no Bush, but I guess people will still do Bush jokes. But now we have a new president to try to do jokes about. But there's kind of no Obama jokes. He is just That Cool Guy, you know."


New York Times:

But so far, no true punch lines have landed.

Why? The reason cited by most of those involved in the shows is that a fundamental factor is so far missing in Mr. Obama: There is no comedic “take” on him, nothing easy to turn to for an easy laugh, like allegations of Bill Clinton’s womanizing, or President Bush’s goofy bumbling or Al Gore’s robotic persona.

“The thing is, he’s not buffoonish in any way,” said Mike Barry, who started writing political jokes for Johnny Carson’s monologues in the waning days of the Johnson administration and has lambasted every presidential candidate since, most recently for Mr. Letterman. “He’s not a comical figure,” Mr. Barry said.


I would suggest to these writers and comedians that his extreme narcissism, profound self-regard and propensity to inject himself into every situation might provide some good fodder for satire.

Chris Lopes said...

R&B you are so full of anger, you aren't really reading what I wrote. I didn't overlook the negatives of either candidate and in the end, I didn't vote for Trump. I'm talking about tactics. Going ballistic DID NOT WORK. You have to convince some of the folks who voted for the guy that they made a mistake, that way they won't repeat that mistake in 4 years. Playing the last angry man will only convince them that your side is crazy.

But hey, considering how successful the technique has been so far, I'm sure the Trumpkins hope you and others continue.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Lol. Anger? Don't you worry about my emotions, complacency-spreader-in-chief. Worry about Trump's. It takes a lot of entitlement to get as angry as he does at every little criticism. That you don't see that as a dangerous quality in a president speaks volumes.

Trump is a symptom, not a disease. I don't care about "what got" him elected, because it's not about him. The only reason a guy like him could get elected is because of the manifold failures of the two-party duopoly. Specifically, their neglect of the working class and pursuit of corporatist power for decades. The fix was baked into this long ago. I'm surprised it took so long.

Nothing the media or his opponents could do would change this, and that's that. So no, no one who loves the 1st amendment, or who hates incompetence, or who thinks a thin-skinned narcissistic nutcase has no business running the free world need be silenced. We need not shut up, and the people who put him over the edge don't need us to shut up, either. They don't have to pretend to feel personally offended on his behalf, as you pretend to do. They simply wanted someone to speak to working class concerns, and they couldn't have cared less who did that. It could have been Trump, it could have been Bernie Sanders - who probably would have beaten him anyway in a two-way head-to-head. So stop making it about Trump's phony baloney "cultural moment." This isn't about the alt-right, either. Or his psychological defense-makers. They're all just hangers-on to what really happened.

The real issue was working class and working poor consideration in the Oval Office, and anyone honest, decent and well-meaning can speak to that, as long as they've got the credibility to do so. So those of us who always were focused on that thing all along, are under no obligation to kiss the chief self-ass-kisser's ass. He has no privileged entitlement to respect. Nope. Like everyone else, he has to earn that. And so far, he has not. Just as those who aren't afraid of him had always predicted.

Chris Lopes said...

I'm not not talking about silence, I'm talking about choosing your battles. Again, if raging against the machine floatsyour boat, have at it. Just don't be surprised at a 2nd Trump term.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

It's not a machine - it's the FIRST fricking amendment. Ever heard of it? To some of us, that's important. Again. Settled case law. Settled even by Antonin Scalia, for crying out loud. A battle worth fighting? You betcha. If we back down on the first amendment then where do we start fighting? That's one of every American's most sacred rights. You seriously advocate backing down? We didn't choose that one... he brought it up. How do you choose what to fight if the guy can't even figure out how to get free expression right. If you guys abandon us on that one, we're all toast.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Progressives will be the big winners out of Trump. Here's one of the things we'd work with him on. Not banning flag burning.

He's running with half our agenda, so we're more than happy to slap him down on the despotic, other half of where he's going.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Obama on the bicycle wearing the dork helmet- Obama eating milk and cookies all serious for the camera- Obama posting pictures of himself taking selfies- Obama getting called a bitch by the Phillipine president- Obama sitting at the kid's table in the situation room- Obama's pathetic attempts to throw a baseball- Obama the perfect dick putting on a White Sox cap before throwing out the first pitch for The Nationals- Obama the effeminate man opining about who's ass he's going to kick- Obama showing his Common Man bona fides by quoting the price of arugula- Obama on the playground basketball court hogging the ball away from third graders until he could sink a shot for the camera- Obama beaming with pride when he swatted a fly- Obama lying about doctors amputating limbs for the insurance money- Obama saying the first time he learned about the IRS/VA/IG/F&F/Clinton email etc scandal was seeing it on the news- Obama's embarrassing online interviews with the Bathtub Girl and Zach Galifinakis- Ditto for his many appearances on television- The Obama Family Million Dollar vacation- Flying a separate plane for his fucking dog, at taxpayer expense- Wagyu Beef- Wednesday night parties at The White House- Obama's Home Town rejection by the Olympic Committee- Any one of the times when the teleprompter broke down and Obama stuttered and struggled to think on his feet-

Yeah, there's just no way to mock such an awesome president! And his record of achievement can not be mocked either- The Syrian Red Line, Leading From Behind, his Brexit hissy fit, the Russian Reset, The Iran Deal with the mullahs screaming Death To America and Obama excusing it... Yeah, that sophomoric egotistical asshole Obama is just beyond comedy. He's so cool- LOL!

AllenS said...

... and don't forget all of the racial healing. At least he stopped the oceans from rising.

Robert Cook said...

"Cook: 'Obama is too bland, too poised, too self-contained to make for easy satire.'

"LOL. Lame excuse. What you really mean is that 'Obama is too black to mock.' Because you believe blacks are inferior and should be held to a lesser standard."


I suppose that's what a crazy person would think I mean.

I mean just what I said: Obama is a blank. Aside from his off-putting (and unearned) tendency to swagger, he is a cipher, with no apparent personality. He is cool and controlled. He's like a Madison Avenue creation...all surface.

Douglas B. Levene said...

My wife thought it was all hysterically funny and was really pissed off when my only comment was that the actress playing Kellyanne was pretty good. She says I've become a curmudgeon. She's probably right.