Industry News

10 Insufferable ‘SNL’ Revelations from THR Interview

The 2002 book “Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests” revealed everything you needed to know about the NBC series.

At that point in its history, that is.

A new series of interviews completed by The Hollywood Reporter does the same with one, albeit meaty, article.

The occasion? A chance to sit down with “SNL’s” key players during its most successful season in ages. That “success” is defined by both a sharp ratings uptick and nonstop media fawning.

President Donald Trump is the gift that keeps on giving to satirists. What “SNL” has done with that gift, though, is something else.

  • Shredded its brand as an impartial comedy observer
  • Proven that hate comedy is its preferred stock in trade
  • Chased away many GOP viewers … most likely for good.

And, sadly, today’s “SNL” ignores so many rich targets (Maxine Waters, Howard Dean, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC). Plus, it can’t be bothered to swipe out college snowflakes huddled in their safe spaces. Or, more importantly, crushing free speech by any means necessary.

Instead, “SNL” channels its creative firepower against the Trump administration. Making us laugh comes in a distant second.

RELATED: ‘SNL’ Liberal Bias Boiled Down to One Sketch

Which makes the following revelations from that THR interview insufferable. For context, the comments pertain to the show’s pre- and post-election coverage.

Give them a read. Keep reminding yourself these are well-paid comics who deliver political humor for a living. The funniest part of the story? Team “SNL” would have you believe they’re still balanced arbiters of political humor.

Hilarious.

Alec Baldwin

The “30 Rock” alum contends a Trump cabinet member told him his impersonation is “really good.” “He goes, ‘I’ll get fired if anybody quoted me saying this, but that’s exactly what he’s like when you do it.'”

Kate McKinnon

The talented comic shares the thinking behind her breaking character right before Election Day: “We just wanted to remind everyone that we all live in the same country and that there still is goodness in the world because I think we had all lost sight of it.”

Colin Jost

“The day after the election got extremely sad and very disorienting. People didn’t know what to write. No one was feeling very funny.”

Cecily Strong

“I saw Kate [McKinnon] in the hallway [following the election], and we hugged and sobbed.

Writer Kent Sublette

The scribe reveals how “SNL” founder Lorne Michaels gave his team a pep talk prior to the first post-election show.“Half the country voted for Trump, and our show’s for those people as well. It’s not just for people who didn’t want him to be president … “we’re professionals and we have to do our job, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Colin Jost

The Weekend Update “anchor” was relieved to have Dave Chappelle host the first post-election show. “…he’s so comedy-minded that his perspective was, “Why wouldn’t you want to use this opportunity for comedy? Isn’t that why we are doing comedy?'”

Producer Lindsay Shookus

She describes the show’s impact on its viewers following Election Day. “I think it was healing for people. We’d really thought a lot more about timing and what was on the calendar — the debates, the election — than we would in a normal year.”

Host Aziz Ansari

The “Master of None” star/creator said he felt his monologue following the election “had to be some take about America at this moment.” “The inauguration was that Friday, and the mood was so dark, like a national tragedy had happened. All I could think was, “How are we going to do this tomorrow?” He felt liberated following the Women’s March, though. “I know everyone’s upset but let’s look at the bright side: There’s a huge group of people who are motivated to take action, they’re ready to do something.”

Melania Moments - SNL

Cecily Strong

The comic, who mocks Melania Trump’s accent and portrays her as a simpleton, described her approach to the First Lady. “It was really important to us, especially when we did it the year before, to play her respectfully, because it was very evident that it wasn’t her choice to be a part of it.”

Colin Jost

The “SNL” player is occasionally torn telling Trump jokes on TV. “…you almost feel like a war profiteer at times because we’ve benefited from a situation that’s so tough.”

49 Comments

  1. No one ever asks them or loser Colbert why they accepted lower ratings in order to avoid mocking Obama.

      1. No, they repeatedly explained that Obama was just too perfect, there was absolutely nothing to mock about him. Even though they tried, it was just impossible.

        1. He is like Mohammed that way….Peace be upon Him. ( I did not look directly at the name “Obama” – it would be too brilliant to behold by mere mortal eyes…)

          1. Why on earth would you cater to the the Muslim habit of attaching PBUH to their scurvy prophet’s name like a dhimmi?

  2. Scum. Bags. Every one of them.

    I deleted the series from ever recording again on my DVR. I’d rather brush my teeth and then gargle with grapefruit juice than ever watch their biased 9th grade level drivel again…

    1. Same here. I’ve watched it since 1975 – even the rotten years had a gem in them occasionally. But I took them off the DVR after the election. Just sad ninth-grade whining about Trump. They’re not even trying to be funny. They are so far into the bubble they can’t see daylight any more.

  3. I wouldn’t watch this liberal circle jerk today on a bet. In fact, I’ve watched it from when it premiered back in the 70s to right around when Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo were headliners but never since.

  4. Wow, they clearly have decided they are more than a comedy show. They see themselves as an active voice in current events, particularly politics. How many time does one of them self-importantly talk about how they have “something to say” with this skit or that opening monologue? Completely lost: a desire to entertain their audience.

    This is why they are not funny, they have chosen to be the mouthpiece for one party.

    1. It was particularly pathetic when they opened the show with that Hillary chick at the piano, and she sang some sad song. Then they all congratulated each other for being super relevant. They are freaking comedians, with no sense of comedy, and no sense of true relevance.

  5. never heard of these losers nor have I watched the show since the 90’s
    don’t watch any network programming of any type including local , life is just fine

    1. If they’re losers, what does that make you? I’ll bet they make a hell of a lot more money than you do.

      1. They are exceedingly pathetic clowns, clowns that have moved on from being funny clowns to being creepy clowns. And they don’t even know or understand the difference. Oh, and if making money is your standard, then I am sure Donald Trump is your hero.

      2. if that is your measure of life then you have a lot to learn and I am very comfortably retired

      3. Do they actually get paid much on SNL? Baldwin probably gets paid ok, but I don’t know about the others. They’re not huge stars with other stuff happening, and the show’s not a huge money maker.

          1. No. I’m pointing out the empty absurdity of your telling someone they must be a loser because they make less money than someone else, regardless of other factors. Maybe that’s too much logic for you. Apparently so.

        1. Twenty years ago, regular cast members typically made about $100,000 to $300,000 a year, depending on their number of years with the show. Adjusting for inflation, that would be $150,000 to $450,000 in today’s dollars. The bigger stars make more (Tina Fey made around $850,000). I’d wager that’s more than 97% of the people who post on these forums make.

          1. $100K is chump change, still-need-to-get-a-roommate money in NYC. Even $200K in some circles.

          2. Considering they are only working for 22 weeks a year for SNL, I’d say that’s pretty good money regardless. They likely have other sources of income on top of that.

        1. Actually, no. Trump’s net worth is less than what it would have been if he had simply invested his inheritance in the stock market. All of his business ventures have been net losers, compared to the opportunity cost of run-of-the-mill investing. Trump is a loser.

          1. So you’re saying he is poorer than people on SNL? Well then, you’re the loser.

          2. No, I’m saying his entire “worth” is due to an inheritance that he’s actually lost money on. Not anything he’s actually accomplished himself.

          3. Well you certainly haven’t shown yourself to be a “winner” in that regard, either.

          4. Yeah – I understand you’ve memorized your designated talking points and are applying them like a voodoo ritual in the hope that it will protect you from the realization you’re an imbecile. I’ve got good news for you though. You don’t have to hide it. We already know you’re a bag of hammers.

  6. “The inauguration was that Friday, and the mood was so dark, like a national tragedy had happened. All I could think was, “How are we going to do this tomorrow?” He felt liberated following the Women’s March, though.

    Yeah, I know I always feel liberated by a group in vagina hats.

  7. As I write this, I’m sitting across the table from an intelligent, accomplished woman who thinks all the late SNL skits on YouTube are the most hilarious things possible. She’s giggling, laughing out loud, wants me to see this one, that one. I have no idea, since I didn’t date her then, if she would have laughed at some of the earlier SNL skits that were non-political (the “Bass-O-Matic” for example) and still outrageously funny. I guess that SNL doesn’t mind playing to a smaller and smaller audience of snowflakes and perpetually aggrieved. But as the perfessor says, “You want more Trump? This is how you get more Trump!”

    1. If you are out on a date with this woman, I would head to the restroom, and climb out the window….

          1. Yep, I watched it from the first night with George Carlin, and stopped sometime after Chris Farley’s era. The sketch you’re talking about was making fun of Smucker’s ad campaign, “With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good” and proceeded with worse and worse names, finally they got to a name that they couldn’t show, and which made everyone sick to see it. Completely non-political, and hilarious.

  8. There is no comedy that is JUST comedy anymore, and SNL wears their politics on their sleeve. All that’s new are the frequent visits to the ink store to add to the ever expanding mural tattooed on their foreheads.

  9. The left has gone over the edge, group think prodded them and the Left jumped willingly.

  10. “Half the country voted for Trump, this show is for them too”

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

    Yeah………..no

  11. These are some of the saddest, most isolated people in the world. They don’t realize how crazy they sound. This seems to be a unifying trait. They all compete to sound the craziest. Just look at CNN the last few days. Every day it is a story about how Trump will be impeached for wanting two scoops of ice cream or something. They are literally crazy at this point. Crazy sells in NYC. Nowhere else though.

  12. These folks are too stupid to understand: coups don’t come as single events. You impeach Trump the next one goes too, and the one after that too. If you don’t respect our democracy there is no democracy, Democrats too stupid for reason.

  13. SNL is infected by the Daily show disease. It wants to be so smart and cool that it comes off tiresome, repetitive and predictable.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button