Lorne Michaels. The guy responsible for some of that star power!
Did anyone else think Chevy Chase looked “off”? As in drunk or just didn’t care about delivering his lines with any flair? Also, the 3 Amigos salute at the end of the show, Chase barely tried.
Bill Hader - love him, but his skits over the past 2 years have been really rough (except Setfan). His first few years at SNL were amazing. He memorized his lines and did fantastic. My favorites were his Vincent Price roles. Now for so many of the skits he’s in, he’s just reading off the cards, and just barely at that. What happened to him? Drugs? Burn-out? Too busy?
He works on South Park, maybe he’s busy?
And I thought Chevy looked bored every time he appeared.
I loved Charlize Theron’s opening monologue. Brilliant. The rest of the show wasn’t as good, but that was the first time in a long time that I enjoyed the opening monologue so much.
Season 42 Opener was really funny last night.
I loved Alec Baldwin as Trump. And their re-enactment of the first debate was spot.
Agreed. “I’m so glad you brought her up, Lester!” (After Hillary blurts out “Alicia Machado!”)
My favorite line from another sketch: “You’re driving this smokeshow around in a Kia Sportage?!”
Back in 2013 a few posts above I was wondering what happened to Bill Hader and his non digital sketches. Well it turns out he was just reading off cards and the reason he found it so difficult is because the cast and writers liked to change his cards after last rehearsal to screw him up. They loved seeing him crack up (I did too). But apparently they did it a bit too often which would cause too many of his bits issues as he would try to scan the with his eyes and adjust on the fly to changes. So he was essentially double reading everything which make sit more obvious… that you’re reading.
So what was an inside joke for SNL sometimes came across as unprepared and unrehearsed skit.
I assume you’re mostly talking about the Weekend Update Stefon segments.
Even without knowing the details, it quickly became clear that there was something going on (since Hader usually didn’t crack in other segments). So, that meta-context was definitely a part of the appeal as the bit continued.
Not just Stefan, they did it in a bunch of other stuff too. Like the - I don’t know how to explain it. The recurring skit where they were all wealthy in a house all had preppy hair and talked about highway routes. Going down the some California highway. I think it was making fun of the Hills, but since I never watch shows like that I can’t be sure. Kristen Wig used to always crack up in it.
See if I hadn’t heard Bill Hader talk about these events I never would have known stuff like that goes on. I wish I’d known (while he was on the show) because it would have made me appreciate it so much more.
Regarding Hader, he and a couple of writers offered up a sketch that was killed after dress rehearsal because it was a trainwreck. Commentary included.
The recurring sketch was called “The Californians” and I loved how most of the conversations ended up being about the routes they’d take to drive places. Also, how pretty much everyone was blonde, including Keenan Thompson’s character.
À propos of Stefon, the vintage repeat that they’ve been running before the new episode was one from 2012 this time, and Hader was corpsing all over the place during a Weekend Update Halloween bit. It was pretty great.
What a great episode this week. I wish Lin-Manuel Miranda could host every week.
And that musical guest? I don’t know who that was, but it was fucking beautiful. Both songs had me riveted.
Baldwin is really nailing his TRUMP impersonation. Loved this weeks opening.
[quote=“Rock8man, post:232, topic:55005, full:true”]
What a great episode this week. I wish Lin-Manuel Miranda could host every week.[/quote]
He’s a talented dude. I only saw the first few sketches, but at least with the monologue and the awesome Crucible Cast Party, it looks like he took some of the workload off the writers this week.
Dare I say it? SNL is actually pretty good again. I thought the “Black Jeopardy” sketch was the best SNL skit about race since Richard Pryor and Chevy Chase.
The best part will be when he wins an Emmy for playing Trump, because you know Trump is still pissed he has no Emmy.
That bit was really funny. Especially when Keenan Thompson says, “Well, it was nice while it lasted…” after the “____ Lives Matter” category comes up.
The cold open was just OK this time, but the callback to the 1984 Apple Macintosh ad was genius. Loved it to pieces.
Yea, I had to explain to the wife what that was. I wonder how many viewers knew what they were spoofing?
I can’t remember the last time we have stayed up to watch the first 30 minutes or so of SNL. Maybe it’s just the political stuff and how easy it is to lampoon.
The cold open and then Dave Chapelle’s monologue have already had me shedding a tear. This is a beautiful episode so far.