Sunday, November 08, 2015

The good news about Donald Trump's SNL appearance is that there is really no good news about Donald Trump's SNL appearance.

So as I stated yesterday, I did not see a single moment of last night's SNL.

I have also avoided any videos of the show on the internet, and have tuned the station when cable news has wanted to talk about it. So essentially I have done significantly better at boycotting this show than I have keeping my pledge to stop eating cheese.

God I love cheese!

Anyhow I did a quick search this morning, and found that many of the people who DID watch really wish they would have joined my boycott.

Courtesy of the AV Club: 

Look, no one was going to be happy here. The political discourse surrounding this election is so entrenched and without nuance that the response to this episode will undoubtedly be strident and abusive, no matter where it comes from. (Let me show you the folder of messages I’ve gotten in response to the article I wrote about the upcoming show sometime.) The chances of this doomed pairing of host and show was, well, doomed, from the moment it was announced. But neither Trump nor the people at SNL rose to the challenge of presenting something thoughtful, or entertaining, or even just plain funny. Given an opportunity to express themselves in what, I maintain, is still one of the most unique, excitingly risky live TV shows of all time, neither camp raised the level of public debate, made a single memorable joke, or did anything but confirm my worst fears about what this show would be. Tonight’s episode was bad satire, bad comedy, bad TV. SNL isn’t great political comedy—it swings and misses more often than not, mainly because it doesn’t commit to the swing. But when it connects, it still has some power. An episode like this isn’t just failing to suit up. It’s throwing the game.

Courtesy of The Wrap: 

Saturday’s broadcast was an extension of “SNL 40” and of the franchise’s laziest, worst impulses. It’s telling that the most clever line of the night came not from anyone on the show, but from Stop Racism PAC, the group that offered the bounty to anyone who would interrupt the broadcast and had, before the East Coast feed had ended, promised to pay it to David for his scripted “Trump’s a racist” line. 

“Joke or not, it’s true,” the group said in a statement.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter: 

Appearing at either the very beginning or very end of at least three or four skits, plus a monologue that has to have been rushed through at a record pace, Trump hardly had any time to flail or succeed. Trump's funniest moment, and the only moment in which he attempted to move, came as he danced for 10 seconds in a parody of Drake's "Hotline Bling" video. It wasn't bad! Other non-political skits found Trump pretending to tweet mean things about the cast members participating in a not-funny skit, stumbling in as an opportunistic record producer in an already-dead family dinner dud and complaining that he didn't have enough time for his laser harp solos in a sketch in which he stumbled over his few lines, which wouldn't have worked anyway. 

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune: 

For weeks, people had fretted about Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate, despoiler of a Chicago skyscraper and former NBC reality star, being given a chance to host "Saturday Night Live." Free advertising, they said. Unfair! 

But the show that aired Saturday was one of the genuine duds in the recent history of the NBC late-night warhorse, and that's saying something. "SNL" didn't seem to know what to do with Trump beyond, mostly, a string of late appearances in sketches that sapped whatever meager power they had managed to muster.

Courtesy of Yahoo TV:  

The only entity that came off worse than Donald Trump was SNL. Turns out, this really was just a craven move for ratings. There was no attempt by Lorne Michaels and company to use Trump as a critique of himself, no moment that did not feel vetted by the candidate. But the way this campaign season is going, the insulting, often repulsive content of this SNL show won’t matter. All that’s important to Trump — constant, pervasive ubiquity in the pop culture — was achieved. 

I don't think I have ever been more happy to have boycotted a show in my life. 

You know the problem with Donald Trump on SNL is that HE is the punchline. You cannot make effect jokes when the punchline is standing right in front of you the entire time. 

Now the only question is when will the Republicans see that as well?

(H/T to Politicususa.)

32 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:09 AM

    The 1976 episode that preceded it was pure comedy gold however.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:28 AM

      Maybe Trump guest hosting was a capitulation and Lorne wanted to send that message by choosing that particular episode for that particular slot.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous9:33 AM

    I love cheese as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9:37 AM

    Husband had it on, but I plugged in my earphones & watched Call the Midwives reruns on Netflix. Figured it would be about the same amount of painful screaming.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous9:49 AM

    I did watch, out of curriosity. SAME-O. LAME-O! !

    As a "comedian" Trump is a TOTAL LOSER!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I always look forward to Saturday night and watching SNL. Last night I popped an Ambien and purposefully missed one of my favorite shows that I've been watching on and off for forty years. Thank you Donald Trump for allowing me a rare and much needed good night sleep!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10:15 AM

    There was a skit on SNLwhere tRump as potus was informed the president of Mexico was there to see him to give tRump a check for the wall and stated what better way to bring to countries together than to build a wall.

    News media commentary I saw suggested tRump is just saying these things to get attention. I agree. tRump is not saying anything republicans have not been chanting for years, just in a more preposterous manner. That is why tRump is causing the GOP so much damage. It's like the republican party on steroids.

    In any case, tRump is doin a heckuva job destroying the GOP. Youbetcha.. I actually have a better opinion of tRump than I did before he announced his candidacy, keeping in mind I could not stand the guy AT ALL. Now I find him thoroughly entertaining in his role as GOP disseminator.
    66gardeners

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:44 AM

      meant to say decimator
      66gardeners

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:01 AM

      Enjoy your comments 66gardeners. Where did you get the "handle"?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous2:42 PM

      I am a passionate part-time professional gardener whose sons raced gokarts with the #66.
      66gardeners

      Delete
  7. Anonymous10:55 AM

    YES$ Hope he donates it to a charity or two..
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-larry-david-snl_563f7419e4b0411d30715e48

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:53 PM

      More Details:
      http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/larry-david-wins-5-000-for-calling-donald-trump-a-racist-on-snl-20151108

      Delete
  8. Anonymous11:24 AM

    There was one funny line exchanged between the two fake newmen. One made a joke about Obama having to show ID to get into the White House. The other guy sssh'd him, telling him not to talk about it because, you know, the host (meaning Trump's constant birther antics long after Obama showed his birth certificate).

    Oh, yeah, and Larry David was really funny.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11:29 AM

    "With Donald Trump hosting, Saturday Night Live jumped to its biggest overnight rating since 2012."

    http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/08/donald-trump-snl-ratings

    Guess it doesn't matter a bunch of foot stomping crybaby libs didn't watch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hauksdottir3:33 PM

      Oh, but the show could have been soooo much better....


      Bristol Palin could have danced with him!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:10 PM

      Which means, 11:29, all those extra viewers got to see how lame Trump was and how pathetic SNL was, especially when compared to the Buck Henry episode that ran earlier that evening.
      M from MD

      Delete
  10. Anonymous11:33 AM

    Let's talk about Trump's style. Out on the campaign trail, Donald Trump is bombastic and full of zingers. He is a stand up comic delivering punchlines, usually at the expense of everyone else. He has no plans. Everything will be great. He will be great with China. He will be great with Putin. He will be so great.

    Last night, all of that bluster was gone. I hope that wasn't Trump's serious side because it was as boring as sleepy Ben Carson. Trump was probably reading off cue cards because I can't imagine him showing up to practice all week. He gave a bad reading. He was flat. If there were jokes, he didn't sell them. He wasn't funny. He wasn't interesting. It was a lame performance.

    Trump claimed that when he was insulting Carly Fiorino's face, he was just being an entertainer. (Gotta dance, gotta sing). No, he was insulting. Claiming to be an entertainer was just a way to avoid apologizing for making a rude remark, one of many rude remarks that Trump is famous for having made. There are only a few comedians who are good insult comics. (I'm thinking of Don Rickles, when he was in his prime). But they did it in a way that was supposed to be funny. Trump was just mean.

    If Trump wasn't willing to work for a week to deliver a good performance on SNL, then try to picture him working at a much more public job for 4 years, a ob that is not that of Entertainer in Chief or Jokester in Chief. The person has to be serious. President Obama is serious, and he also know when it's appropriate to deliver a good joke. Then, he does it with style. Trump's persona has always been that over the top, brash, bombastic billionaire. It's not what we need as our president. The show is over. It's time to get off the stage. It didn't sell very well. Trump's reviews are awful. Maybe it's not so much fun any more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:05 PM

      Kathy Griffin plays with the Big Boys and gives it to everybody...She sticks it where the sun don't shine.
      (I like that her names sounds the same as your name Gryphen).

      Delete
    2. It was probably Trump's insecure side. He wasn't in control. He wasn't speaking his own words.

      He was out of his element.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous5:00 PM

      tRUMP is Archie Bunker with money. But Carroll O'Connor was an excellent actor who played Bunker convincingly, to expose America's underlying prejudices. This cringeworthy performance is the real tRUMP.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous11:37 AM

    Read This: OT
    http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/article43654638.html

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous11:55 AM

    Hate to this, but I now have a stronger wish for the Republicans to rid themselves of the lying Dr. Carson!

    Gosh darn almighty the Republicans have one hell of a mess on their hands!!

    Hillary Clinton is going to make a wonderful President of the United States!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:15 PM

      I choose Hillary over any Repub. But I choose any Democrat over Hillary.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous12:17 PM

    “SNL”’s Donald Trump trainwreck: Welcoming a racist megalomaniac under the guise of edgy humor blew up in the show’s face

    http://www.salon.com/2015/11/08/snls_donald_trump_trainwreck_welcoming_a_racist_megalomaniac_under_the_guise_of_edgy_humor_blew_up_in_the_shows_face/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And there it is.

      As bad as Palin's appearance but in a different way.

      Trump fails and took SNL with him.

      I'd say letting some air out of the blowhard was worth it.

      SNL will recover.

      Trump? Not so much.

      Delete
  14. Well, I pretty much predicted that this would do Trump no good.

    Instead of being humiliated to his face, like clueless Sarah Palin, Trump was just a big bag of air with a massive hole in it. Deflated. The episode was a big fail. That's as big a hurt to Trump as anything. An hour of nothing funny on SNL.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous1:56 PM

    I haven't found SNL funny in years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Decades.

      Except for Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin.

      Delete
  16. Randall2:28 PM

    Remember when Sarah Palin was on SNL and was so clueless that she didn't realize that she was the punchline?
    Sarah sat there while Amy Poehler did a rap making fun of Sarah Palin and Sarah sat there dancing as it sailed right over her head.
    And when Sarah walked on while Tina Fey was doing her Sarah parody and Tina looked at the camera as she walked off. And that look said everything: "OK, America - here she is ladies and gentlemen; the butt of the joke herself!"
    ....and Sarah still didn't get it.

    Sarah was just totally oblivious to the fact that the entire show was making fun of her.

    Know what? I'll bet she still doesn't get it!

    ReplyDelete
  17. SNL hasn't been appointment TV for me since Dana Carvey was doing "Church Chat." How long ago is that?

    ReplyDelete
  18. ericafromdallas10:22 PM

    I looked like at the very end most of the other performers walked away from Donald. Usually the host gets lots of hugs and kisses and a big crowd waving at the audience.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous8:40 AM

    The show sucked. Trump sucked. So did the music guest.

    ReplyDelete

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