Nicely, at the least we didn’t get Maya Rudolph singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”
It was a troublesome evening at Studio 8H this previous Saturday, the place a Bill Burr-hosted episode kicked off with some commonplace political satire, albeit this time centered on appeasing newly elected Donald Trump — a determine they’d spent many of the fall skewering. “Saturday Night Live” shouldn’t be a present that sometimes hides its liberal leanings, however on this new, probably fascist period, the solid wished to ensure Trump knew he had their assist and downright adulation. Forged members Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, Kenan Thompson, Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, Sarah Sherman, and Colin Jost all lined as much as pledge their fealty, with James Austin Johnson even unveiling a brand new interpretation of Trump that sees him as a muscular, Rambo-type determine. Clearly, “SNL 50” was making gentle of the authoritarianism we’re more likely to face over the subsequent few years, and whereas it was appreciated that they went for humor quite than make it a dour second of reflection, the chilly open nonetheless felt just like the improper message to ship in a second the place we could also be dealing with the political biggest menace our nation has ever seen.
As Burr took the stage for his monologue, he initially tried to forgo commenting on the present state of affairs, however inside a couple of minutes of noticeable viewers apathy, the slapstick comedian lastly gave them what they wished. Relatively than poke enjoyable at Trump’s tyrannical hopes, Burr hung out obliterating the campaigns of each the Democratic and Republican candidates. He pointed to Kamala Harris’ pantsuits as a motive for why she was unable to attach with working class voters and that if she have been to “whore it up a little,” she would possibly’ve garnered their consideration. As for Trump, Burr felt he gained as quickly as he survived his assassination try this previous summer season and that the one vivid spot for him on the marketing campaign path was his go to to McDonald’s. These jokes are very a lot inside Burr’s calls-it-like-he-sees-it type and geared toward making enjoyable of everybody, however nonetheless felt like a tame try at political commentary directed at offending everybody and nobody.
A lot of the sketches that adopted Burr’s monologue appeared to lean on absurdism and felt virtually too foolish to land totally, however one of many outliers was a pre-recorded spoof of “Good Will Hunting” known as “The Janitor.” The brief noticed “SNL” common Michael Longfellow step into the sneakers of the extremely smart janitor initially performed by Matt Damon, with Burr and Andrew Dismukes enjoying fellow custodians uninterested in him losing time filling in equations on whiteboards as a substitute of cleansing up vomit like he was speculated to. It’s a quite inconsequential conceit, however one which managed to achieve capturing the let’s-just-laugh vitality the episode tried to trip.
One other stand-out was a sketch that featured Dismukes and Devon Walker as a pair of sons making an attempt to have an actual, heartfelt dialog with their respective fathers (Burr and Thompson), continuously thwarted by their outdated man’s lack of ability to attach. Thompson and Burr each find yourself utilizing matters like soccer and automobiles as a means of overlaying for extra susceptible points, a lot to the ire of each sons who simply want their male position fashions may truly get in contact with their feelings. For these with fathers of a sure age, this expertise is well-known and the sketch completely captured the frustration and humor than can come from such a dynamic.
Lastly, Weekend Replace additionally proved price a watch, as at the least the political satire offered by Jost and Michael Che lower to the core of the anguish many People are feeling proper now. Che even couldn’t assist himself from ingesting steadily all through the section to be able to simply get by means of each joke he was pressured to ship associated to Trump’s win. Whereas it might be exhausting proper now to snigger, at the least they have been each in a position to acknowledge how ridiculous the state of affairs presently are in America and the way they’re probably not going to get higher quickly.
“Saturday Night Live” returns subsequent week, November 16, with host and musical visitor Charli XCX.
