I arrived at it through reading this NYT article: "When Jimmy Carter Turned TV Into a Pulpit/Other presidents were more celebrated for their on-screen presences, but in 1979 he gave one of the White House’s most astonishing televised speeches."
From the NYT article: "That down-to-earth image was the anchor of one of the most famous portrayals of the president, by Dan Aykroyd on “Saturday Night Live.” (Mr. Carter was not the first president spoofed on “S.N.L.,” which began during the Ford administration, but he was the first elected during the show’s run.) Mr. Aykroyd’s Carter, who spoke with a mellow Southern drawl, was a kind of people’s technocrat, a guidance counselor talking America through a weird phase. One of Mr. Aykroyd’s signature sketches, “Ask President Carter,” riffs on an actual radio call-in show that Mr. Carter hosted with Walter Cronkite in 1977. In the sketch, Mr. Aykroyd’s Carter walks a postal employee through a problem with a piece of machinery, then coolly talks down a teenage caller on a bad acid trip: “Just remember, you’re a living organism on this planet, and you’re very safe. You’ve just taken a heavy drug. Now relax, stay inside and listen to some music. Do you have any Allman Brothers?”"
Thanks for this! Aykroyd was so young (just 23 when SNL began) and I loved his odd originality with characters such as Carter, Leonard Pinth-Garnell, Irwin Mainway, E. Buzz Miller (w/Laraine's sidekick, "Christie Christina"), Jimmy Joe RedSky, the "Bassomatic '76" pitchman, Tom Snyder, Nixon, Jason (and his old lady Sunshine) and of course, Elwood Blues.
As an avid viewer of SNL back then, I was blown away by Dan Ackroyd's characters. I regarded him as the lynchpin of the show. The Jimmy Carter skit was indeed memorable. I loved him as Yortuk, one of the wild and crazy guys.
Jimmy Carter! Nuclear Engineer!!! last night, i did some studying on Jimmy's Nuclear "career".. According to Wiki, this it: In 1952, Carter was sent to the Naval Reactors Branch of the AEC, for three-month temporary duty..
Carter was ordered to Chalk River to assist in the shutdown of the reactor. The process required each team member to don protective gear and be lowered individually into the reactor for 90 seconds at a time, limiting their exposure to radioactivity while they disassembled the crippled reactor. When Carter was lowered in, his job was simply to turn a single screw.
In March 1953, Carter began a six-month course in nuclear power plant operation at Union College in Schenectady.. when his father died of pancreatic cancer in July.. Carter obtained a release from active duty so he could take over the family peanut business.. Carter left active duty on October 9, 1953 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter#Naval_career
So.. Jimmy (the Nuclear Engineer) had, for his ENTIRE nuclear "career": a six month course (which he did, or Did NOT) actually finish, a three-month temporary duty, where he "turned a single screw", for 90 seconds.
Any one here ever take a 6 month course in nuclear power plant operation? I'm guessing that that would be along the lines of: magic rocks get hot, hot rocks make steam, steam make turbine go round
He never served on a nuclear sub (he DID serve on a WWII era diesel sub).. Some nuclear "engineer"
I love how they cut away from the Cronkite/Carter show back to a current "News" anchor saying things like 'Extraordinary' and 'I wish we could do that today' -- when it's clear that the current President's minders would never allow him to be put in a spot where he'd have to answer (coherently!) a question from the public. Maybe CBS can work with Trump to do that kind of thing again.
Carter seemed a decent man of integrity out of his depth as President. During his tenure as ex-President he seemed a mouthpiece for Democrat talking points.
I do remember that bit about the bad acid trip. It was funny because it was so different from the real Jimmy Carter but also captured a bit of what the SNL folk wanted from a president.
Carter campaigned on authenticity and approachability, but he was colder and more distant than most politicians. Obama was a bit like him. If you were a supporter, you would attribute that frostiness and standoffishness to morality and high principles or to intellectualism, but it was a personality trait that went deeper than that.
Two presidents in my lifetime campaigned on being honest, decent, "good" men: Carter and Biden. They both turned out to be horrible at their jobs. Clinton was a "good" man in the way that the Sunday school teacher's pet would be. He was too convinced of his rectitude, Comeyesque. He could be vindictive and chalk it up to his righteousness.
Biden isn't a very good man, but he was a good mixer in his day. The Senate and the rest of DC accepted him for 50 years, and he was running against "literally Hitler," so that was enough to make his jovial mediocrity look like Virtue personified.
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१९ टिप्पण्या:
Great skit from SNL's heyday. I saw this on Youtube earlier today after seeing a comment here referring to it in a post yesterday.
SNL typically mocked Democrat presidents as too brainy.
Until Joe Biden.
From Wince it came 👇🏽
I arrived at it through reading this NYT article: "When Jimmy Carter Turned TV Into a Pulpit/Other presidents were more celebrated for their on-screen presences, but in 1979 he gave one of the White House’s most astonishing televised speeches."
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/29/arts/television/jimmy-carter-malaise-speech-crisis-confidence.html
From the NYT article: "That down-to-earth image was the anchor of one of the most famous portrayals of the president, by Dan Aykroyd on “Saturday Night Live.” (Mr. Carter was not the first president spoofed on “S.N.L.,” which began during the Ford administration, but he was the first elected during the show’s run.) Mr. Aykroyd’s Carter, who spoke with a mellow Southern drawl, was a kind of people’s technocrat, a guidance counselor talking America through a weird phase. One of Mr. Aykroyd’s signature sketches, “Ask President Carter,” riffs on an actual radio call-in show that Mr. Carter hosted with Walter Cronkite in 1977. In the sketch, Mr. Aykroyd’s Carter walks a postal employee through a problem with a piece of machinery, then coolly talks down a teenage caller on a bad acid trip: “Just remember, you’re a living organism on this planet, and you’re very safe. You’ve just taken a heavy drug. Now relax, stay inside and listen to some music. Do you have any Allman Brothers?”"
Didn't some recent president do a weekly call in show on NPR or something? Reagan or Clinton or ??
Thanks for this! Aykroyd was so young (just 23 when SNL began) and I loved his odd originality with characters such as Carter, Leonard Pinth-Garnell, Irwin Mainway, E. Buzz Miller (w/Laraine's sidekick, "Christie Christina"), Jimmy Joe RedSky, the "Bassomatic '76" pitchman, Tom Snyder, Nixon, Jason (and his old lady Sunshine) and of course, Elwood Blues.
Good sketch. Bill Murray did a suprisingly good job as Walter Cronkite.
As an avid viewer of SNL back then, I was blown away by Dan Ackroyd's characters. I regarded him as the lynchpin of the show. The Jimmy Carter skit was indeed memorable.
I loved him as Yortuk, one of the wild and crazy guys.
Jimmy Carter! Nuclear Engineer!!!
last night, i did some studying on Jimmy's Nuclear "career".. According to Wiki, this it:
In 1952, Carter was sent to the Naval Reactors Branch of the AEC, for three-month temporary duty..
Carter was ordered to Chalk River to assist in the shutdown of the reactor.
The process required each team member to don protective gear and be lowered individually into the reactor for 90 seconds at a time, limiting their exposure to radioactivity while they disassembled the crippled reactor. When Carter was lowered in, his job was simply to turn a single screw.
In March 1953, Carter began a six-month course in nuclear power plant operation at Union College in Schenectady..
when his father died of pancreatic cancer in July.. Carter obtained a release from active duty so he could take over the family peanut business..
Carter left active duty on October 9, 1953
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter#Naval_career
So.. Jimmy (the Nuclear Engineer) had, for his ENTIRE nuclear "career":
a six month course (which he did, or Did NOT) actually finish,
a three-month temporary duty, where he "turned a single screw", for 90 seconds.
Any one here ever take a 6 month course in nuclear power plant operation?
I'm guessing that that would be along the lines of:
magic rocks get hot, hot rocks make steam, steam make turbine go round
He never served on a nuclear sub (he DID serve on a WWII era diesel sub)..
Some nuclear "engineer"
I love how they cut away from the Cronkite/Carter show back to a current "News" anchor saying things like 'Extraordinary' and 'I wish we could do that today' -- when it's clear that the current President's minders would never allow him to be put in a spot where he'd have to answer (coherently!) a question from the public. Maybe CBS can work with Trump to do that kind of thing again.
The current anchor was 2014. "Are you listening, President Obama?"
Carter seemed a decent man of integrity out of his depth as President. During his tenure as ex-President he seemed a mouthpiece for Democrat talking points.
SNL did a debate: Ford vs. Carter . The old format, 3 TV networks, League of Women Voters, 3 journalists asking questions.
Julia Child.
He was picked shit garden variety bigot.
From what I have read of Carter's personality he was Gus Fring.
good ones. Telepsychic
I do remember that bit about the bad acid trip. It was funny because it was so different from the real Jimmy Carter but also captured a bit of what the SNL folk wanted from a president.
Carter campaigned on authenticity and approachability, but he was colder and more distant than most politicians. Obama was a bit like him. If you were a supporter, you would attribute that frostiness and standoffishness to morality and high principles or to intellectualism, but it was a personality trait that went deeper than that.
Two presidents in my lifetime campaigned on being honest, decent, "good" men: Carter and Biden. They both turned out to be horrible at their jobs. Clinton was a "good" man in the way that the Sunday school teacher's pet would be. He was too convinced of his rectitude, Comeyesque. He could be vindictive and chalk it up to his righteousness.
Biden isn't a very good man, but he was a good mixer in his day. The Senate and the rest of DC accepted him for 50 years, and he was running against "literally Hitler," so that was enough to make his jovial mediocrity look like Virtue personified.
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