In Case You Missed It:Over Time with Bill Maher, March 24, 2017

SNL: Trump vs. Aliens

This weekend's edition of Saturday Night Live had some great moments, and Scarlett Johansson is awesome, as always. But I can't help being a little disappointed by this and last weeks' episodes. With so very much material to choose from, they just came up a little light, in my opinion. And by giving us Melissa McCarthy not once but twice as Press Secretary Sean Spicer, they set our hopes too high.

Still, there were choice bits. Such as this fairly spot-on critique of Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin), if he had to face a real crisis. It would go pretty much exactly like this.

Over Time with Bill Maher: March 3, 2017

Over Time with Bill Maher, February 24, 2017

Milo Yiannopolous Inadvertently Proves a Point on Real Time with Bill Maher (and Over Time with Bill Maher), February 17, 2017

My favorite picture of Milo. Video capture by me.

Usually, once a week, I like to post Over Time with Bill Maher on the blog. It's the internet only portion of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, and is (or at least used to be) the only portion that was free to post. I realized not everyone seeks it out, and often it's the best part of the "show." So, this week, I'm doing the same, but this time with some commentary.

One of the guests on the program this week was Milo Yiannopoulos, a right-wing "star" of rather recent vintage. He's some sort of big-wig at Breitbart "News," and considers himself a (at best) provocateur, and (in reality) a troll, something he sort of owns as his "thing." He--like his (allegedly) female counterpart Ann Coulter--lives for controversy. He absolutely thrives on getting a rise out of people, pissing them off, and making news for saying or doing (or causing) something dreadful. He thinks of himself as clever, funny and cute. He has a fraction of the wattage on any of those attributes that he thinks he has.

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The fact that Milo is flamboyantly gay, and yet has a fan base (and preferred political alignment with) people who would otherwise hate him, is also likely an irony that delights him. This write-up of him, for instance wouldn't ruffle his feathers at all, in fact it's probably too kind to even rise to his attention if he saw it. And this week, he was a guest on Bill Maher's show, which led to the public disassociation of prospective guest, writer Jeremy Scahill. Milo digs that as well. And while I applaud Scahill's effort, it's also counter-productive. The way to go was how both Larry Wilmore and Malcom Nance responded to Milo on this clip. Though Milo himself said he'd be literally masturbating to the attention later. Seriously.

But Milo also kind of inadvertently proved a point. And it was backed up by Bill's final New Rule, which was basically that anything is OKIYAR (okay if you are Republican). ANYTHING. In Milo's case, it's fine to be, as Wilmore said, "a douchey little ass," if it's in the service of conservatism. He pisses off the right people. He makes the right people complain and cause a shitstorm. And though it may just be a side effect, it distracts people from the serious stuff. The exact same thing is happening with Donald Trump, and it may be equally inadvertent.

It may be by their very nature that both just crave any attention, and in many cases, negative attention is easier. And again, pisses off all the "right" people. But while left-wing ire is boiling over on their antics, serious shit is either happening, or being ignored. And, we're also "proving a point," at least to the skewed perspective of Trump, Yiannopolous, and their twisted fans. See, if you watched Milo on Bill's show, he actually said that Democrats/liberals are the "party of Lena Dunham." In reality, most liberals and Democrats have little or only tangential notions of who Dunham is. The right, per usual, takes their exaggerated imagery of what it means to be a liberal, paints all liberals as that, and then tailors their rhetoric around it. Ever wonder why conservatives often seem like they're operating from a completely different reality? It's because they've created one. One where we all bow in allegiance to some obscure HBO actress, where we all have "safe spaces," and "triggers," and are all delicate "snowflakes" and "buttercups."

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Reality is quite different. And if Malcolm Nance is right, and this whole Russia thing is the biggest scandal in American history? Trump may find himself a pariah, and Milo and his fans and ilk just about as bad. Here's hoping. Oh, and by the way, I concur with both Nance and Wilmore: Milo can go fuck himself. But I'm sure he'd both love the sentiment, and the literal act.

He's an asshole. And not in a good way.

SNL Casts Kellyanne Conway in Glenn Close Fatal Attraction Role

Wonderfully inventive, weaving bits of Fatal Attraction and Death Becomes Her, maybe even a taste of The Thing. Appropriate for Trump flack, Kellyanne Conway.

Over Time with Bill Maher, February 10, 2017

Bill and his Real Time panelists –  John Waters, Karine Jean-Pierre, Piers Morgan and Jim Jefferies – answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher, February 3, 2017

Bill and his guests, Sam Harris, Jason Kander, Tomi Lahren, Rick Wilson and Michael Eric Dyson answer viewer questions after the show.

In Case You Missed It: The Absolute Gold That Was Saturday Night Live This Weekend

Emmy worthy.

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.

Over Time with Bill Maher: January 20, 2017

Bill and his guests, Keith Olbermann, Heather McGhee, Tom Perez, and Jon Meacham, answer viewer questions after the show.

SNL: Vladimir Putin Addresses America, Kellyanne Conway, and More

I haven't posted a lot since the Trumpenfurher's inauspicious inauguration, but thought I'd better get these very funny Saturday Night Live posts up for Monday. More to say later. I'll be back!

Entire episode below, choice bits are the opening, the monologue,Conway! and Weekend Update.

Coming Soon: THE TRUMPENING

Click to embiggen

Alec Baldwin's "Donald Trump" Once Again Riles @RealDonaldTrump

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2017

TV Listing Previews Trump Inauguration as an Episode of The Twilight Zone

I've been saying for weeks and weeks that it feels like we've fallen into an alternate reality, alternate timeline, or into a false, matrix-like simulation. Moreover, it feels wrong, like we don't belong here, and we need Neo, the Sliders kids, Sam Beckett, Barry Allen or the Legends of Tomorrow to come set things right.

I'm not the only one.

[Excerpt]

Hysterical TV Listing Compares Trump Inauguration To A Nightmarish Twilight Zone

President Trump: The Inauguration

4pm, BBC One/ STV

After a long absence, The Twilight Zone returns with one of the most ambitious, expensive and controversial productions in broadcast history. Sci-fi writers have dabbled often with alternative history stories – among the most common is the “What If The Nazis Had Won The Second World War” setting – but this huge interactive virtual reality project, which will unfold on TV, in the press, and on Twitter over the next four years, sets out to build an ongoing alternative present. The story begins in a nightmarish version of 2017 in which huge sections of the US electorate have somehow been duped into voting to make Donald Trump president. It sounds far-fetched, and it is, but as it goes on it becomes more and more chillingly plausible. . .

Read more at: NewsCorpse

Trump PEOTUS Logo Looks Appropriate

I'm just going to leave this here, and say, here's hoping.

SNL: Kellyanne Conway with Jake Tapper on CNN

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.

SNL: The World Through Donald Trump's Eyes

Perfect. This filmed bit from this weekend's Saturday Night Live shows the
world from Donald Trump's perspective, as many of us imagine he really lives it.
A world where his reflection shows a magnificently handsome visage, massive hands
(made even funnier by the prop hands put over guest host's John Cena's already
massive hands), great hair, an adoring throng of supporters. . .and when reality
creeps in, he starts to get sleepy, starts to tune out, starts losing interest.

His hands shrink, words become noise. Until someone (like Kellyanne Conway or Mike Pence) struggle to bring him back to attention. Really masterfully done,
funny. . .and sad. Sad.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Hitler (A Rocky Mountain Mike Song Parody)

Another great classic Christmas song parody by Rocky Mountain Mike, celebrating life during the Trumpageddon. This time, of course, to the tune of, It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.

The Electoral College Chipmunk Song (A Rocky Mountain Mike Song Parody)

You couldn't make me sit through Alvin and the Chipmunks, or any of the squeakuels. But this parody by the great Rocky Mountain Mike is worth a spin. Spot on!

SNL Skewers Post-Election/Pre-President Trump

Image from source, NBC

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.