SNL - 10/17 - Issa Rae/Justin Bieber

I thought this was the worst episode in awhile. Most was not funny. And Jost and Che are back to not caring what they are saying and only interested in cracking each other up. I find that extremely annoying. I fast forward past Beiber too. I just don't care about him. He's very talented, but he doesn't appeal to me. Isa Rae was fine. Nothing outstanding, nothing terrible. I kind of liked the two debate comparisons, but I'm having more and more of a hard time buying Carrey as Biden. Honestly, I am tired of Baldwin's Trump as well. I liked it better in the old days when they had cast members play the parts. I do think Maya Rudolph nails Harris!!

 

I like the Don Jr and Eric. Part of the fun of the old WE was that they took it "seriously" It was a parody of a serious news broadcast. There are plenty of irreverent news shows, TDS, Sam Bee and so forth. But I find Che and Jost annoying because they make it feel like they have some inside joke happening and we the audience is not privy to it. It's disrespectful to us.

Have you seen Beiber? Or is it just general not liking the music so you can't stand him? I just don't like his music style or act, but I have nothing against the guy.

 

And that's the thing, you're judging him without seeing what he does, just because he's this rebellious (former) teenager who's all over the gossip pages. I have a (former) teenage daughter so I've seen him do his thing, and it's just not my style. Contrast that to the woman who was on the week before who I've never seen before and while I assumed that she was going to be the way she was, I watched some anyway. I watched the whole first song and a few seconds of the second, and realized it wasn't for me.

 

It used to be that an ex cast member or other guest celebs would only show up once in a blue moon for these parts. Because of the rarity, it was a pleasant surprise when it happened. But last few seasons, it's become much the norm, and the regular cast is relegated to playing the "straight man" parts during these bits. I've wondered several times if the regular cast is annoyed by it all.

 

I think this trend started when people realized that Tina Fey looked a lot like Sarah Palin, so they brought her in quite a bit to play her. But then they continued the trend. Baldwin really doesn't look that much like Trump and only sort of has the voice down. Rudolph really has Kamala Harris down perfect both in look and voice. Heck, Chevy Chase who used to do Gerald Ford looked nothing like him, sounded nothing like him, but was great with doing pratfalls, so he continued with that. Now they seem to want everything as close as possible. Plenty of current cast members could do Biden, I have no doubt.

 

That's because you're used to Baldwin. He doesn't do the voice that well really. Trevor Noah does the voice much better but obviously looks nothing like him.

I think this particular cast is "mature" enough to not need guest players anymore. I could see that when you have a lot of newbies so you give people a reason to watch. But this cast has been together for a few years and are really good. Hopefully they can start doing the parts on their own.

 

It's the largest cast ever - 20 - but part of that is they're taking a tag-team approach during the pandemic. So not everyone gets airtime every week and they're not overly dependent on any few people in case they get sick. Got to see a lot of Bowen Yang this week for a change of pace. I like the idea of a Montreal morning show but the writing and execution didn't do anything for me.

 

This episode was a disappointment.


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I don’t think it has anything to do with a “mature” cast. It is more that SNL has been trending more and more to unannounced guests, especially the return of old cast members or hosts. It is more that they like coming back and the show is welcoming.

Lack of work for Covid may make it more possible but it is a trend that has been building for close to a decade. Used to be big news when an old cast member did a cameo. Now you get multiples most weeks.

 

I usually like political skits, and I think Carrey is a decent Biden.. but I thought that skit was boring. There were some other good things in the ep, and some sort of cringey WU moments where the jokes didn't do well, but their reactions were funny.

 

Watch the entire show. Clips don’t give you a real feel. Geez, the clips from recent seasons on topics like politics or Mother’s Day that you can see on peacock make the last ten years look like pure gold. The show has ALWAYS been hit and miss. And a lot of the early stuff is revered because it was groundbreaking or drug enhanced.

 

It's revered because it was "drug enhanced"? Not sure what you mean by that. People were watching while stoned? The actors were stoned? (I'm sure both happened), or that it just "seemed" better because we were all too stoned to care? I will say, I have the first season on DVD, and there was much more good than bad back then. But, a lot of it is dated now. Does Dan Ackroyd's Tom Snyder mean anything to people not of a certain age who watch now? I'm sure that's an issue with some humor on the current SNL that I don't get. But SNL was always topical and a lot of stuff that are bits now aren't funny to me because I just don't "get it". But some stuff is just FUNNY no matter what.

My 30 something son just bought a Marx Brothers Blu-Ray, with five classic movies. So much of it is dated, but so much of it is really funny, because their type of humor just transcends time. Most of Groucho's double entendres still work today, most of Harpo and Chico's physical humor is still funny, even though they are based on a lot of outdated scenarios. It's the same with SNL. The funny bits that transcend time still work. Bass-o-matic still works because we still see those types of silly info-mercials. But would people understand "Generalisso Francisco Franco is still dead"? I'm sure today's cool kids have no idea. But I still think it's hysterical. And I was NEVER stoned in the 1970s. That just wasn't who I was.

 

I disagree. A lot of early SNL was total amateur time and to make an analogy using the Marx Brothers is just beyond logic. I laugh far more with recent SNL than early SNL.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree. It was funny, it was topical, it spoke to millions back then.

Just look at how successful much of the original cast became: Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, and more.