March 1, 2020

The "SNL" cold open mixes coronavirus with the Democratic candidates.

I recommend starting at 2:00, when the "Democratic candidates" begin to appear, with Fred Armisen as Michael Bloomberg and, tormenting him, Kate McKinnon as Elizabeth Warren:



If you have low patience for "SNL" just watch this clip, with Bernie Sanders/Larry David advising you about washing your hands:



"I might get in trouble for saying this, but you know who was great at washing his hands? Joseph Stalin. Just sayin'."

ADDED: Too bad the cue — "Use Purell" — that brings in Larry — with his "No! No! No!" — is botched by McKinnon's mispronunciation of "Purell."

35 comments:

Wilbur said...

The old dude needs help with his Sanders impression. He needs to stick his head out like a turtle, continually raise his arms to shoulder level, and put some gravel in his voice. And make that Noo Yawk accent much stronger.

And the jokes were pretty witless. Some different writers would help.

rehajm said...


Gee they kind of made fun of all the Democrats. SNL usually refrains from any jokes making their preferred candidate look bad.

It's almost like they have someone else in mind...

Lucid-Ideas said...

Stop Stalin and wash your hands you dirty bourgeois kulaks!

Marcus Bressler said...

Trump takes less time to wash his hands according to the libs....those short fingers, you know. It there anything he ISN'T good at?

THEOLDMAN

PDJT ends war in Afghanistan. Another promise kept.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Love for Breitbart aside, there ain't no damn way these hateful SNL corksuckers are upstream of Trump's politics. They are wanna be swamp rats too stupid to make it. Trump will lead them to their destruction of they don't wise up and join the winning team.

Amadeus 48 said...

Finally recovering their stroke. This field of Dem candidates is a godsend. Hope they don’t thin out on Tuesday.

RMc said...

I'm so old, I remember when SNL was funny.

Temujin said...

I took your advice, because I "have low patience for SNL" and just watched the short clip of Larry David. Well, I tried. Didn't make it through the entire thing. It wasn't funny. His schtick is old. Its just not a funny show. Tries too hard and does not know when to drop a mediocre routine. Just keeps going...and going...and going....hoping there will be a 'funny' in there somewhere.

There's not. It's not funny. It's Saturday Night Dead. And has been for years.

Rick.T. said...

“It's Saturday Night Dead.“

That’s funnier than any line I’m aware of that’s been on the show for years.

Rico said...

Clip opening relies on the idea that one “believes” in science. Also, believing Christians not buying evolution or the existence of dinosaurs. Yeah, he’s a powerful man, but when talking about his religion it’s just not about him. Also, didn’t Obama make Biden the cancer czar or some such? It’s a pretty standard Washington thing to do - put somebody in charge to coordinate a response.

bagoh20 said...

Oh, for the love of comedy, get new writers. Everything is so telegraphed, ham-handed and predictable. It's like watching people with no sense of humor trying to be funny. I know that most of these people have real comedic talent, but that show does not show it. It needs a complete overhaul.

tcrosse said...

To be fair, it's not like Chevy Chase falling down as Gerald Ford was all that goddam funny back in the Golden Age of SNL.

Charlie said...

Trump's going to win at least 40 states.

bagoh20 said...

Trump will win 55 out of the 57 states.

Gunner said...

Do not worry. Never Trump Republicans and Democrats assured me that if we let Trump get removed, they would totally support and respect President Pence!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Trump hate TV. Boring.

bagoh20 said...

A lot of the old show was lame as well to a modern eye, but back then it was new, and unique with unknown aspiring comedic actors making it from scratch. Today it's worn out and lazy, seemingly built in a laugh factory like Chinese knock offs of quality products that just don't work like the real thing.

Roughcoat said...

SNL was never consistently funny. It was only intermittently funny, even back in the day. There were funny performers and funny bits. But there was a lot of dead time on every show, between the funny parts. It was like Rowan and Martin in that regard: it always seemed like it was going to be funnier than it usually turned out to be. I haven't watched it in a long, long time because it ceased to be funny to me. Relatedly, it became too left-wing political. I suspect I'd feel the same way if it became too right-wing/conservative political, but I don't know because I've never seen a show like that.

By contrast, there was SCTV: Now, THAT was funny.

Mark said...

I stopped watching The Simpsons a long while back when it started becoming unfunny, i.e. political. Then they gave Comic Book Guy a name.

That was the last straw.

Limited blogger said...

The make-up is quite good, but as mentioned the comedy was sub-par.

They've had some funny skits involving the dem candidates.

For old time sake, here's an extended skit from the glory days....

Last voyage of Star Trek

JAORE said...

Amazing to see SNL mocking the (oh, so mockable) tribe of D candidates.

Two options:
They are so bizzare that even SNL could not pass on the comedy gold,

or

... there is no "or".

GingerBeer said...

Isn't SNL supposed to be funny?

Mary Beth said...

I did laugh at the Stalin part. It's funny because it's (metaphorically) true.

Bill Peschel said...

Remember, SNL is run by an 80-year-old Canadian who still likes to think he knows what today's young people think is funny.

The shit flows downstream, is what I'm saying.

William said...

I cherished Kate McKinnon's take on Hillary. Hillary's soul was made visible when McKinnon did her imitation. Her Warren is okay. I liked the part where she put her finger up Bloomberg's nose. So true. Still, it's not in the same class as her Hillary. She had the definitive Hillary.....Off topic: Netflix has a comedy special with Pete Davidson. He's the SNL comic who makes fun of disabled vets. I only made it through the first fifteen minutes, but there was one funny bit. He made fun of Louis CK. C.K. apparently tried to get Davidson fired. Then the stories about C.K.'s masturbatory habits broke. Davidson luxuriated in telling about them. It is kind of a dream come true when your most bitter enemy becomes involved in a masturbation scandal. Divine providence. The hand of God moves in mysterious ways as does Louis C.K.'s.

William said...

It would be so great if Adam Schiff got caught up in some kind of Anthony Weiner type scandal. Trump would have so much fun at his rallies.

rcocean said...

Larry David = hilarious. Funny and he's a dead ringer for Bernie. The rest of the cast? Pathetic. Maybe they need funnier material, and I mean, much, much better material.

Some SNL cast members always go on to bigger, and better things. But I don't see anyone in this group doing that.

rcocean said...

Since someone mentioned Comic book guy.

Worst.Cast.Ever.

rcocean said...

Of course, SNL was never perfect. Usually the last 30 minutes were a complete waste. In fact, i usually turned it off after "Weekend Update" since they put their best skits into the first 30 minutes. But the cast members went on to bigger things, including:

Chase, Belushi, Ackroyd, Radner, Bill Murray, Jane Curtain
Eddie Murphy, Julie Luis Dreyfus
Chris Farely, David Spade, Adam sandler, mike Myers, Dennis Miller, Phil hartmann, Victoria Jackson, Dana Carvey. Julia Sweeney, etc.

Amadeus 48 said...

I am working on my Bernie imitation.

Limited blogger said...

A number of the dem nominees in this season have been portrayed by SNL alumni that in some ways 'went on to bigger things'.

Will Ferrell played Tom Steyer
Larry David plays Bernie
Maya Rudolph played Kamala Harris
Rachel Dratch as Amy K.
Fred Armisen as Bloomberg
Jason Sudeikis does Biden
Woody Harrelson (not an SNL alum) did a stint as Joe Biden

I can't name many of the current SNL cast.


eddie willers said...

So....how DO you pronounce 'Purell'?

Yancey Ward said...

I am one of SNL's original viewers- I watched the very first episode back in the 1975 as a nine-year old and was immediately hooked. The truth is that my sense of humor wasn't very sophisticated at the time (probably still isn't), so I have no idea if it really was objectively funnier with the original cast, the Eddie Murphy cast, or the Mike Myers/Dana Carvey etal. cast, or the casts since then. I liked the show and watched it regularly right up until Mike Myers left, but the truth is I just stopped watching for unrelated reasons, and the few times I went back over the years, I didn't find it nearly as entertaining as I had. It still apparently has its moments which I often find linked here at Althouse, but it has been years since I tuned in on Saturday night- probably not since the Gore/Bush debates.

narciso said...


https://dailycaller.com/2020/03/01/john-mulaney-snl-julius-caesar-trump/

Jupiter said...

"It would be so great if Adam Schiff got caught up in some kind of Anthony Weiner type scandal."

Ya know, thinking about it, I am morally certain that Adam Schiff is all twisted inside. It takes something sick and wrong and unspeakable to make his eyes bug out like that. And America needs to know all about it!