November 10, 2024

"Saturday Night Live" did a good job with the election results.

It goes a little long, but stick with it, because one person is much funnier than everyone else...

... and he's not a current cast member.

They did not repeat the inanity of their response to the 2016 election — the sorrowful "Hallelujah" performance by the Hillary impersonator. And I think they realize that as a comedy show, they are better off having Trump as their raw material rather than the dreary, awful Democratic Party.

The basic comedy idea used in the "SNL" cold open last night is very similar to what the brilliant comedian Tim Dillon used in his new podcast, released earlier in the day: Trump detractors are terrified that now Trump will come after them. 

 

"I called my aunt and I told her, I said, get ready now. She's gonna have to go to jail. She said a lot of terrible things about the leader. And the leader is gracious, and the leader is forgiving, but you must prove to the leader that you have atoned. And a good way to do that is to turn yourself in. I am asking right now — I am asking you to turn yourselves in wherever you are. If you have denigrated the leader, if you have spoken ill of the leader, social media or elsewhere, if you have called the leader names, turn yourself in. Turn yourself in now, and let's not spend the money trying to find you. Turn yourself in. Throw yourself on the mercy of the court now.... A great way to get a lighter sentence would be to inform on some of the other members of your circle who also have, you know, been using language that is insensitive towards the leader. I am helping you. Understand?..."

95 comments:

Dixcus said...

The very first things that happened when Donald Trump secured his election win is that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden called up Hitler to congratulate him on winning the last American election ... as we now transition from a Democracy to a Dictatorship.

That had to shake up at least a few people.

Breezy said...

LOL they should have included Biden and Harris congratulating Trump, one smiling, one not.

planetgeo said...

I'm guessing that's what happened to Inga. She turned herself in. And it will be like Scooby Doo where they take off the mask and we find out she's really a guy in Albania.

Earnest Prole said...

You can get yourself clean
You can have a good meal
You can do whatever you feel
They have everything
For young men to enjoy
You can hang out with all the boys

Whiskeybum said...

“Because we look at you [Trump] and see ourselves in you. When I look at you, I say ‘that’s me’! That’s the man that I want my future children to look up to”.

In reality, every actor on that stage truly had Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in mind for those exact sentiments. Think about that.

rehajm said...

The ‘dear leader’ stuff is supposed to be laugh lines but don’t these same people recite those lines in earnest over the leaders of the left…those leaders being whoever the party dictates to them is the dear leader at the moment?

Shouting Thomas said...

Eh… Couple of big Trump policy statements videos on X. One is on Scott Adams’ timeline. Some are saying these videos are AI. One addresses censorship, the other the gender identity madness.

rehajm said...

Did they all know it was Kamala and Timor did some think it was Joe and Kamala? Does it matter to them?

rehajm said...

Elon is a tough impersonation for SNL. Elon is pretty clever. Dana Carvey is not…

Krumhorn said...

I don’t see how they can make jokes at a time like this with Fascists at the door. Robert Cook “has little doubt” that OrangeHitler “could set up concentration camps”. In making that pronouncement, Cookie characterizes himself as “rational” in contrast to the rest of us who “would support” the BadCheeto in the effort. He went on to speculate that “it’s possible” that the C[r]ook[s] assassination attempt “was staged” so that Der Fuhrer could raise his arm in defiance.

Who needs SNL when we have our own lame-o leftie comedians right here?

- Krumhorn

Dixcus said...

The way we defeat the fake AI videos is to simply stop watching them ... and start watching what Trump actually does. Will he "put Hillary Clinton in jail" ... or was that just talk? If you get my drift.

Sometimes Trump will say things, but then not actually DO those things.

The good news is that he was shot in the head by these people and he got to witness the people in his audience die for him, and get shot up for him, and not a single person in that audience attempted to flee.

He owes those people to act on the promises he has made.

Dixcus said...

Trump should just come out and say "Yep, that's right. Democrats are correct. I am going to transition America to a Dictatorship."

Democrats support transitioning.

Krumhorn said...

Anyone heard from our hysterical comedienne, Inga? Perhaps she is still curled up clutching her My Little Pony dolls and warming herself with those wonderful pre-election voter suppression polls that were such a leg-slapper.

That was some funny shit.

- Krumhorn

rehajm said...

She’ll be back after the left regroups and decides on the action plan talking points…

Saint Croix said...

That was me in 2016! Cause I signed the Never Trump pledge. Some damn people say they are Never Trump. But did you sign the pledge? I signed the pledge, bitches. And after the election was over I was like, "Shit, my name's out there, on a damn internet list. Marco Rubio, protect me!" And I had a little worry that maybe the IRS would give me some shit. And what I discovered, after a month or two, is that Donald Trump didn't know who I was, and really didn't give a damn. And then I discovered he was a normal Republican. And I was wrong.

Saint Croix said...

Dana needs to wear the fake pads ("Pump! You up!") if he's going to play Elon right. Way too skinny.

Dixcus said...

My first question for Inga will be: How did Kamala Harris win every single state that has NO ID requirement for voting and not win ANY STATES where an ID is required?

rhhardin said...

None of it struck me as funny. Funny if you have no sense of humor perhaps.

The Bulwark channel has the same stuff without the laugh track. It's a study in cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias, but not in humor. Take any election night or later video.

gilbar said...

i tried, i failed.. Please let me know *if* SNL Ever has anything funny

Krumhorn said...

Saint Croix has been sharing some difficult feelings with us, and Chuck, Rich, Cook, Inga, and others have been looking down. What’s happening? This should get easier as we go along.

- Krumhorn

Glenn Howes said...

Harris won New Hampshire which requires a photo ID.

Big Mike said...

Since Democrats inevitably accuse Republicans of doing what they’re doing, and accuse Republicans of planning to do precisely what they are planning, this isn’t funny — it’s terrifying.

Jimmy said...

My reaction to that clip-painful to watch. when does the funny part start?. I grew up with the original version, and even bad skits were good, simply because the actors gave a damn, and put effort into their performance.
Bill Maher is a dedicated leftist, but lately he has been funny.

Bob Boyd said...

There's a big difference between Tim Dillon's bit and SNL's skit. Tim Dillon is making fun of the people who take the Trump is Hitler nonsense seriously. SNL is those people.

narciso said...

After that ultra cringe segment with maya rudolph they ought to pack it in

Wince said...

Elon's hat was not only "Dark MAGA," he is "Dark, Gothic MAGA."

Heartless Aztec said...

The entire election was hilarious and SNL is going to put an exclamation point of humor to it? No thanks. I'll just savor the reality of it all and marvel that I lived in America where tragedy and farce turned into hope and happiness without the aid of a television show.

DrSquid said...

If you watch SNL for a laugh that was a complete waste of time. So who was the supposed to be the funny one that I watched until the end for?

AMDG said...

I didn’t even crack a smile. It is hard to get humor out of the “Trump is Hitler narrative”. Go to where the humor is: The actual Trump, not the Trump in the minds of single white women, is a target rich environment. Go after that.

Jamie said...

I agree with rehajm - I thought Dana Carvey's Musk impression was one-note and dull, as well as not parodying the thing about him that people know best (the brilliance thing).

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

Agree with Bob Boyd: the Dillon bit is funnier, more self-aware. The SNL bit about how Dems have already forgotten Tim Caine, and "the most important election of all time," was funnier.

Captain BillieBob said...

New Hampshire, that's a suburb of Boston now isn't it?

ron winkleheimer said...

Its only funny if you know all that blather about "worse than Hitler" and "going after his political enemies" and "using the US military against US citizens" was utter nonsense. So now your telling me that it was all just lies told to terrify people into voting for Harris and they knew that? Wow! By the way, Joe Rogan is not a part of a right-wing anything. He was a Bernie Bro.

Ann Althouse said...

"There's a big difference between Tim Dillon's bit and SNL's skit. Tim Dillon is making fun of the people who take the Trump is Hitler nonsense seriously. SNL is those people."

Yes, in case it's not obvious, I'm a big fan of Tim Dillon's and I can barely stand to monitor what's happening on SNL (other than I love Dana Carvey).

Steve said...

“ the sorrowful "Hallelujah" performance ” is the funniest thing SNL has done since John Belushi wore a samurai robe. I laugh til I cry every time I see it.

Captain BillieBob said...

Not funny.

Jamie said...

I'm looking forward to four years from now, when no one has been imprisoned for political speech, supposedly "trans" kids have not committed mass suicide and (God willing) are instead getting the real help they need, women are getting pregnant when they want to and not getting pregnant when they don't want to, and when contraception fails are able, if inclined, to get abortions at an early stage where it's safest for them and least horrific for the fetuses, rough neighborhoods are in the process of evolving through the determined efforts of the strong, law-abiding people who live there into safe and vibrant neighborhoods, violent criminals who came here illegally are gone so we only have to deal with the homegrown ones, the influx of illegal immigrants has slowed to the unavoidable trickle so we can get a handle on the problems the ones who are here thanks to Biden/Harris have caused, young women who are taking that 4b "pledge" this week have realized that they're happier when they're in a relationship with a young man who loves, respects, and wants to defend them and are happily looking at marriage and kids...

It's not going to stop all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, I know, but maybe some of the poor souls who have risked the integrity of their pierced nasal septa by throwing violent public tantrums this week will sheepishly delete their posts from 2024 and go about the rest of their lives a little bit wiser about the dangers of hyping people up "without evidence."

Jamie said...

That one WAS funny - and I hadn't given a second's thought to his much alike Tim C and Tim W look until they showed the split screen.

James K said...

It could have been funny if there was even a hint of self-deprecation, that they were making fun of their own paranoia. But there wasn't, so it wasn't.

I remember a brilliant SNL skit from around 1980 based on "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," in which the pod people were formerly liberal friends and family who suddenly became Reaganites, saying things like "Government isn't the solution to our problem, it IS the problem." Much more clever, and there was at least some sense that they were poking fun at the left's puzzlement about Reagan's broad appeal.

Leland said...

I stayed to the end. I understood what was supposed to be funny, but I didn't find it funny at all. It is the same condescension without retrospective that infects the entirety of the leftist rhetoric.

Let's take Carvey and Musk,
"...Americans can be like one of my rockets, you know? They're super cool and super fun, but there's a slight chance it could blow up and every dies."

SpaceX rockets are far safer than any launch vehicle NASA designed. 3 Astronauts haven't died in a capsule fire. 7 Astronauts haven't died when their Falcon 9 blew up 2 minutes after launch. 7 Astronauts didn't die when their capsule burned up on entry. Nor the various incidents when NASA paid Russia to launch astronauts and things barely missed being fatal. Instead, SpaceX has made access to space cheaper, and unlike NASA, he's actually testing his flight hardware multiple times before exposing humans to the danger of spaceflight.

Yet that was a purposeful punchline that they had Carvey go out of his way to make.

The rest is some pretense that it is Trump that will make a list of political supporters and throw them in jail, like the DOJ and FBI did under Biden. Oh, and a YMCA joke about young men. If you want to understand the issue there, I offer Shoe on Head who was both serious and more hilarious than SNL.

Leland said...

What Breezy said. That would have been funny.

Jamie said...

My husband is entertaining himself watching the freakout clips on YouTube (neither of us has TikTok and he doesn't have X so he has to wait for the enterprising youth of YouTube to do compilations). He thinks they're hilarious. I just think they're sad and - many of them - creepily disgusting, like watching someone take the wings off a fly: you know the person is not right and you feel sorry for (in these cases usually) her, but at the same time you know what she's doing is a warning sign of the Dark Tetrad.

Young men, memorize these faces and stay away.

Steve said...

I wathced to the end waiting for the one funny person. Didn't see it. Was it Carvey? Carvey used to be great. His HW Bush was subtle and well informed. His Elon is like a prop comic relying on a hat to be funny.

Jamie said...

I'm not sure, but I think they were trying to be a little bit self-deprecating - it was so over-the-top, especially in light of (as has been pointed out) the fact that both Harris and Biden called Trump to congratulate him, which obviously they would not have done if they believed any of their own rhetoric about him.

The problem is that that rhetoric was so pervasive for so long, and that it seems none of the people whom they took in with it have realized that it was all just politics - they still believe it's all true. To them, this skit is the last thing these people will ever do on stage before being frog-marched to the camps. It's like the singing contest in The Sound of Music without the friendly nuns there to disable the Gestapo's car.

tcrosse said...

I have a relative who thinks Trump''s jack-booted legions will be coming after her. She will be sorely disappointed if they don't. That would deprive her of her heroism.

Jersey Fled said...

They were making fun of Trump? I thought they were making fun of Looney Left Trump haters,

Who I have to admit are pretty hilarious.

Tina Trent said...

Having been put on a hate watch list by a DOJ contractor for the crime of writing an op-ed in the lousy Atlanta Journal Constitution against a bill that ultimately failed, I can tell these people not to worry too much.

They really still hate us, and they’re not all that good at their jobs. Sort of like Saturday Night Live.

Mary Beth said...

"one smiling, one not." There's truth in humor, but that one's too close to the truth.

gilbar said...

again; The Good News IS..
These head cases are (at least) claiming that they:
will NEVER have sex with another man.. EVER!
will NEVER even DATE another man.. EVER!

The New Shakers

Iman said...

Well you can hope and pray
They’ve got something to say
Share some yucks that are new
They might trip on a clue

But you won't change the children of the Loren Michaels
No you won't change the children of the Loren Michaels

h/t Marc Bolan

Mary Beth said...

People are still fearmongering among the LGBT groups online. They may never realize things have gotten better if they continue to listen to the people telling them that it's just a matter of time before they are put in camps.

West TX Intermediate Crude said...

I also watched to the end based on Ann's recommendation. I also wondered who it was that Ann thought was funny.
SNL had a truly amusing skit 8 years ago- my net skills are not good enough to link to it here, but maybe someone can get it posted- it was an election eve party where everyone was in mourning over Trump's loss and the white people were saying that this is the worse thing this country has ever done and the 2 black guys just looked at each other with WTF smiles. That was amusing (not awesome).

Christopher B said...

Comedy, like beauty, is often in the mind of the beholder. You could see parody of Hillary supporters or even mockery of Hillary in the 'Hallelujah' skit from 2016, if you squint.

Rory said...

I got through the 5 minutes. I just see the same drips who were in the drama department, begging for attention, when I was in college.

Drago said...

The Dave Chappelle/Chris Rock skit

Drago said...

Not just "cheaper", thousands of times cheaper.

Hassayamper said...

And then I discovered he was a normal Republican

He’s not even a normal Republican. He’s a Blue Dog Democrat circa 1995, mixed with a heaping helping of Ross Perot.

Bob Boyd said...

Tim Dillion is great. I first heard about him here so thanks for that, Professor.

Dana Carvey's a huge talent. Usually, he's hilarious. In this skit he came across as just doing lines someone gave him that he didn't really believe in. I had trouble understanding what he was saying and he was so over-the-top and exaggeratedly spastic that it made me think of a teenage bully mocking an autistic classmate.
There was anger, condescension and sneering in the skit, but humor was lacking.

Patrick Henry was right! said...

There was nothing even remotely funny there. Smug leftist airhead mocking Americans again. The Elon bit was crazy bad with a Schwarzenegger accent. He's from S. Africa, not Austria. Wow.

William said...

As SNL skits go, it wasn't god awful, but one notes how they find something to parody in Musk but Kamala continues to occupy that rarefied air that is above parody. It would be like asking Marynoll nuns to put on a skit making fun of the Blessed Virgin Mary who Kamala so strongly resembles. But that guy Musk is a buffoon. Worse than Trump in some ways. Go after him hammer and tongs.

Duty of Inquiry said...

The SNL clip was not funny. Too long, too slow, and no energy.
Imagine what Eddie Murphy or John Belushi could have done.
These new people probably aren't doing enough coke.

Yancey Ward said...

What Dillon was doing and what SNL did in those clips is not the same comedic targeting. The difference, in my opinion, isn't even subtle. Dillon was truly satirizing the democrats, SNL was not. As I remember it, the SNL following the first Trump victory in 2016 opened with what was truly an hilarious skit- this new one was a sad example of comedy.

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

meh. I just hate that show too much to care. Not all that funny, really. NBC - huck toey

Yancey Ward said...

I see others remember the same SNL skit so I looked it up: Link

Temujin said...

Couldn't do it. I tried- again. They're just not funny. The show is not funny. It' is mediocre talent combined with weak writing. It still exists only on the reputation and great talent of another era.
Much like the Democratic Party.

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chuck said...

I made it about twenty seconds in and gave up. It was awful, the voices were awful, the material was awful. There might be a pony under that pile, but I am not going to dig for it.

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

LOL. I tuned into MSNBC - and found out the Trump is Hitler, A Russian Agent, and a fascist dictator. and worse!

Of course, life and the economy were good and normal while Trump was prez - until Fauci Chi Com Get democrats elected virus came along.

But I stayed true to my blind faith adoration of PBS News, NPR, Democracy Now!, the NYT and Toxic D-MSNBC.. "I was so brain-washed and filled with implanted rage over Trump and Religious zealots - I killed myself and my entire family.

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

Jimmy Kimmel

Narr said...

Plodding at best, and the usually brilliant Carvey ought to be embarrassed.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

SNL is finding out how difficult it is to make propaganda funny. Maybe they’ll figure it out by 2028

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

I fear Jimmy Kimmel is going to rape me - and Trump will keep me from getting an abortion.

Candide said...

Meh. Lame. Contrived. Predictable. Meh.

Iman said...

Funny? Not funny.

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

ha! Works well now too.

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

Now this is funny

"I'm leaving the country and moving to Hawaii."

RCOCEAN II said...

Tim Dillion was hilarious. "Jews eating food" . Ha.
THe guy doing bulked up Trump = funny
Dana Carvey = funny


Candide said...

Any SNL sketch without Maya is not worth the time.

Now that Kamala is going to disappear, we’ll lose one of Maya’s best routines. Oh well, life consists of trade-offs.

RCOCEAN II said...

Humor is subjective, but the current SNL cast is so low energy and so...meh. I had to skip. Where's the talent? Where's the good writing? No wonder some one like Carvey can walk out and put everyone else into the shade.

And that's not some old fart, thinking "people these days aren't funny". There are tons of new comedians that are hilarious. They're just not on SNL.

Original Mike said...

Musk impersonation was terrible.

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

Fine. Photo ID requirements for all!

RCOCEAN II said...

Isn't it crazy? 330 million Americans all starving for a good laugh and some funny TV comedy. And we get this boring swill.

I assume the financial incentives for the Media execs have changed. Networks are now owned by big conglomertes (sic), and big ratings on over-the-air TV don't translate = enough money. As long as the show fills up time, and get X rating, and people pay their cable bills it doesn't matter if SNL stinks.

And maybe the good comedy writers have better gigs then SNL. Something's wrong. I donno what.

Its same with the late nite shows. Colbert and Kimmel are not just leftwing hacks, they're boring. Do the network execs think they're funny? Or do they just want someone pushing the leftwing party line? Whatever it is, they seem to be completely uninterested in higher ratings or expanding their audience.

Original Mike said...

I'm hoping that one of the concentration camps is located outside of Madison, so I can go and gawk at them from outside the fence.

Original Mike said...

I didn't now there was a Bulwark channel. Holy Cow! I've got to watch some of that. Thanks for the link!

Lazarus said...

I couldn't get past the "vengeance" thing. For one thing, they milked that bit too long. Also, has Trump really been more vengeful or vindictive than Chicago Way Obama or Irish Grudges Biden? Or RMN, LBJ or FDR? I don't think he has been. Everything Trump says or tweets about somebody is taken as a sign of his vengefulness, but he doesn't follow through. His tweeting is cathartic, people.

rehajm said...

New Hampshire is two college towns and a suburb of Boston. There used to be a substantial woodchuck population but they’ve kind of died off…

loudogblog said...

I actually liked Carvey's satire of Musk. The over the top enthusiasm and jumping around captures what Musk is like at the Trump rallies. Musk is probably a very hard person to do an impression of.

Sprezzatura said...

“brilliant comedian Tim Dillon“. I only listen to his podcast where he uses loudness a lot. Since I only listen, presumably if I was watching I’d see his loudness is combined with physical flailing. So it’s that loud, flailing fat guy lane of comedy. You need to watch it to get the full meal deal.

Jim at said...

will sheepishly delete their posts from 2024

... Inga has entered the chat.

Rabel said...

I gave Dillon 15 minutes of my life. It will be the last time.

He talks way, way too slow (he's stretching to fill time). He didn't say anything funny or fresh or interesting during those 15. He didn't even try as far as I could tell.

To each his own.

As for SNL, you do realize that the "funny" guy was mocking an autistic with a stutter and a foreign accent, don't you?

There are many ways to create humor around Musk without going straight to the bottom of the monkey barrel.

loudogblog said...

In the theater we actually have a term for that. It's called "physicalization of a character."

TaeJohnDo said...

I finally broke down and watched the SNL skit. I need to work harder on my self control.

Saint Croix said...

I still love their 2024 horror movie trailer

Greg The Class Traitor said...

This was so much better in 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHG0ezLiVGc

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"Election Night 2016" was actually funny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHG0ezLiVGc

They did another one at the same time on "The Bubble", a new home for liberals who don't want to hear about Trump. It was ok