So, yeah. I'm so mouth agape at the endless parade of bizarre and freakish happenings emanating from our nation's capital, I've completely neglected the blog since the end of January! Sorry, I've been sitting slack jawed, disbelieving, unable to focus even on The Rachel Maddow Show, reading my Twitter feed, bouncing between devices and screens, trying to keep up, commenting in little bursts on social media.
It's nuts. Quite simply nuts. Evidence abounds, but this past weekend's Kristen Stewart-hosted Saturday Night Live stands as a testament to the treasure trove of material they have to work with. Top of the list, of course, is Melissa McCarthy's surprise turn as Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Enjoy.
Donald Trump is a lot of things, and may actually require the invention of several new negative adjectives (and other parts of speech). But one of his best/worst qualities is his thin-skinnedness. And also, naturally, his predictability, at least in his knee-jerk Twitter responses. In this case, he's having another freakout about Alec Baldwin's Saturday Night Live impression of him, and also in this case, the parody was SPOT ON.
.@NBCNews is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!
This week's Saturday Night Live didn't tap Alec Baldwin for his Donald Trump impression. Instead, shining cast member of the moment, Kate McKinnon, does her best Kellyanne Conway impression, blithely spinning away the nonsense that is the daily news from the Trump transition team. Very funny when it's not scary. Bryan Cranston shines as the natural pick for Trump's DEA.
Saturday Night Live's first Trump depiction since the election is pretty funny, rightly skewering the man himself (clueless and in over his head), Kellyanne Conway (guiltily feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders) and Mike Pence (stiff and unpleasant). But I have to say, Alec Baldwin seems a lot less into it. It's actually surprising that he appeared, since he'd said he was hanging up the wig. My guess is that he agreed based on the number of returning SNL vets in this week's show, Kristin Wiig's hosting, and just putting a bow on the depiction. I'm betting it's back to Darrell Hammond in the future, or or some new cast member.
All in all, not bad. Pretty funny, actually, particularly the choice of Larry David for Bernie Sanders, and Alec Baldwin's Jim Webb. I'm still not a huge fan of Kate McKinnon's Hillary Clinton, which is funny, but not very realistic. Still, it was the best skit of the night.
I could see this coming before the premiere. I'll confess to liking Alec Baldwin since before Beetlejuice despite his mercurial real-life. He's had relationship troubles, he's had family troubles, he's had temper troubles all over the place. He's threatened to leave the country and threatened to quit show business, more than once. I've lost count of the legit tabloid scandals. But he's a great actor, and actually a smart and astute political mind.
There just isn't a forum for this guy that would work. It's amazing that he held it together for as long as he did on 30 Rock. And thank goodness he did, given how good both he and the show were. But starting with the promos that ran on MSNBC with Ed Schultz (awkward), and then the title ("Up Late" at 10 pm on a Friday night?), the show just didn't look like a winner.
Honestly, I think I caught at least part of each episode, mostly because I was probably finishing playing Candy Crush Saga after watching The Rachel Maddow Show. It wasn't a news show. It was more like a quiet PBS interview show, or maybe something like Tom Snyder used to do. I was actually very interested in his 2001: A Space Odyssey reunion with Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood. But it didn't ever feel like a real show, with a long-term future. How could it?
"My" Alec Baldwin, with Geena Davis, in Beetlejuice
Sometimes I feel like I need to defend a liberal who has been sort of shamed out of a job, especially if the right is heaping undeserved scorn on them. Not so much with Alec. I will continue to enjoy his past works, and I'll keep an eye on what he does in the future. But this was bound to happen.
[Excerpt]
Alec Baldwin's MSNBC show "Up Late" is ending.
The New York Post reportedTuesday that the host has been fired. A spokesman for Baldwin raised objections to the word "fired," buttold the Post, “The show is not coming back. He had questions on whether he wanted to continue. . .”
Saturday night was Saturday Night Live's 37th season premiere. As a guy who has seen nearly all of them (including the first one), I have to say they did a good job. Easily top five. The show was funny nearly all the way through. Even the less than stellar sketches had their funny moments. The only downbeat (and it was significant for me) was the musical act, Radiohead.
I'll cop to being 45, and maybe not "with it," but I thought Radiohead sucked. Hard. Anyway, here's the highlight of the show, a FOX "News" GOP Debate, hosted by Shepard Smith. Very, very well done. Though the Newt Gingrich impression needs work. Or maybe not, Newt isn't in it for the long haul.
Much more interesting--and trending higher on Twitter--than the GOP debate was #Schweddy Balls. What is that, you might ask? It was a very, very funny sketch on Saturday Night Live years ago, with Alec Baldwin playing Pete Schweddy, a confectioner whose claim to fame is his Schweddy Balls. He appeared on The Delicious Dish, the Anna Gastyer/Molly Shannon faux NPR running gag.
I'm convinced Ben & Jerry have picked this week to release this delicious dish, to derail my latest round of the Atkins Diet.
We thought it would never happen. When we reported that comedian Ana Gasteyer had spilled the beans on a new Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor based on a Saturday Night Live skit that pokes fun at NPR, we thought it would never happen. . .
Though I don't usually watch it when it airs--preferring to catch up on the DVR or online--30 Rock is one of the most consistently funny sitcoms on the air. The snappy patter, quick cutaways and subtle jokes stuffed between the big ones provide more laughs per episode than some shows produce in a whole season. On Thursday night, the show was performed live. A few other shows, notably The West Wing have done this in the past, but 30 Rock has something going for it that made the episode more than just a ratings-grabbing stunt.
Writer and lead actress Tina Fey is of course an alum of Saturday Night Live, and several of the other performers in this episode have either SNL or Broadway experience. So acting live comes naturally to them. The result was a very, very funny program, with a couple of great cameos. An unusual treat for us Pacific Time Zone watchers was that the show was performed live twice, with a few tweaks and changes in the second airing. The east coast performance was quite a bit smoother, and more like an ordinary episode. The west coast version comes off shakier, a little more like SNL, but features enough differences (particularly in the Jon Hamm commercial parody, which was much funnier in the second try) to make it worth viewing too. Whether you're a fan of 30 Rock or a casual viewer, I highly recommend watching. East Coast Version
Here's how a "good" episode of Saturday Night Live goes: A timely "cold open." A funny monologue. A fake commercial or video piece. A funny skit. A not funny skit with an over-used character. Song. Weekend Update (usually with at least one good, and one bad character). Mildly funny skit. Head-scratchingly weird skit. Promising but "not-yet-there" skit. Song. Credits. That's it, right? And if the cold open, monologue and Weekend Update are funny? Then the show was a success.
Last night's SNL was a rarity. It was funny almost all the way through. It didn't hurt that the long-anticipated Betty White is a consummate pro. It also didn't hurt that a bunch of the show's former funny ladies (Molly Shannon, Ana Gasteyer, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph) pitched in. Here's one of their better ideas, replicating the success of The Delicious Dish "Schweddy Balls," this time with White's baker, Mrs. Dusty and her muffin.
This will be my last post for a little while, as I'm off to Columbus, Ohio (well nearby, anyway) to visit family and celebrate Easter Sunday.
I'm seeding the blog with some time-release posts that will "go off" each day to keep the blog active. Expect those posts to be primarily frivolous, since I'm doing them in advance.
I'll be returning to Las Vegas on the evening of April 13, but won't likely be able to blog, because I'm back to work bright and early on the 14th. In the mean time, in addition to my blog caplets, I will probably have enough time to squeeze in a blog post or two each day. And I'm hoping to enlist the aid of my friend, Stupid Monkey Planet. Maybe I'll even encourage The Other Half to make an appearance.
Let's begin the frivolity with a favorite Saturday Night Live post of mine. Why not?
Gap Girls with Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Alec Baldwin and David Spade
Family Guy was slow to grow on me, but I was eventually a convert. I was actually an American Dad! fan before I warmed to it. The Other Half was even slower to take to the offbeat, outrageous humor, but is now a rabid fan. So, I was delighted to see the new Hulu ad by FG & AD! creator/producer/writer/voice actor Seth MacFarlane. It's the latest in a series, where stars of NBC and FOX TV shows openly shill for the video service in a most humorous (and offbeat) way.
Everybody saw the Alec Baldwin Hulu commercial, touting the video service as a brain softener. It was probably one of the best commercials run during Super Bowl XLIII. Now, former Buffy the Vampire Slayer and current Dollhouse star Eliza Dushku has the second installment of what is hopefully a series of ads.
Saturday Night Live had a better than average outing this weekend, with frequent host Alec Baldwin. It wasn't hilarious, but was pretty funny most of the way through. The cold-open was great, with alumnus Dan Aykroyd portraying John Boner Boehner leading a group of obstructionist Republicans, trying to flex what muscle they have left. Darrell Hammond was pretty good as Mitch McConnell too, though the makeup department can't quite muster the "constipated turtle" look. It's pretty funny stuff. Take a look.
Oh, I just don't care. I went to a friend's house for Super Bowl XXXLIII, and had fun. Cheated on my diet, ate some snacks, had several beers, and had a good time. But the game itself? Meh. Sure, even I got caught up in the final minutes, but only because my friends were rooting for Pittsburgh. Whatever.
Here's my favorite commercial, for HULU, starring Alec Baldwin. . .
Hee, hee, hee! Or ho, ho, ho if you'd rather. This Saturday Night Live skit, featuring Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon and Alec Baldwin never fails to make me laugh. It's from the recurring "Delicious Dish" NPR spoof, and the topic was Mr. Schweddy's famous "Schweddy Balls." Classic.
One of the charges alleged of Saturday Night Live, is that they are "in the tank for Barack Obama." This skit should lay that to rest, but likely won't. That phrase is right up there with "up or down vote," or "tax and spend liberals" among conservative cliches. But even if SNL were "in the tank?" So what. They never claimed to be fair and balanced. And Sarah Palin is a much, much richer vein of humor to mine than any other politician out there.
Anyway, for proof that SNL can skewer both sides, witness this clip, featuring impressions of Congressman Barney Frank and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others. For the record, this "in the tank" gay liberal doesn't mind jokes being poked at Frank's expense, though it was done far, far better by Alec Baldwin. Couldn't Tina Fey have drug him along from the set of 30 Rock?
UPDATE: The video has apparently been pulled by NBC, and from just about everywhere else. Right-wing websites are abuzz that this is George Soros or Herbert and Marion Sandler (who were depicted in the skit) excercising their "power." If you're curious, here is a link to one of the sites, with the conspiracy theory and a bootleg of the skit. It's Michelle Malkin, so consider the source.
Last night's Real Time with Bill Maher was one of the more engaging in a while, which is interesting, because two of the guests were "liberal elite" Hollywood comedy actors. Often, when pop-culture stars are thrust into a political discussion, they either offer nothing to the conversation, or they make themselves look like fools. Not so, Alec Baldwin and Garry Shandling who--thought they cut up quite a bit--offered insight along with their entertainment. Good job.
But it's the end of the show's New Rules that provides the best stuff for a 3-minute video for the blog, so here it is. And it was good too.
Alec Baldwin has taken a lot of heat from the likes of Sean Hannity for his political views, and his occasional foibles. But I'd like to see Sean Hannity write like this. Having slogged through a couple of chapters of one of Hannity's ignorant screeds, I can assure you he just isn't capable, not even with a ghost writer.
Baldwin, on the other hand, cuts right to the heart of the matter, as it pertains to the Obama vs. Clinton (and ultimately vs. McCain). It's a great read, check it out.
. . .Lotta folks worried about Obama's level of experience. Whatever you do, don't buy into that Republican bullshit. Obama is FDR compared to this Bush. The GOP committed every possible sin in order to get Bush elected. They forged a whole set of new ones to get him reelected.
Everyone around the world recognizes that America is in real trouble. Most Americans do, too.
The past eight years have been the moral low point of the American experience. [snip]
Who can beat McCain? That is all that matters. . .
