Fun
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Nostalgic
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Despite its “live” status, Saturday Night Live doesn’t truly surprise us often enough. As soon as viewers see, for example, Alec Baldwin’s strained rictus as the new president, we pretty much know what’s coming, even when he’s followed by the Grim Reaper version of Steve Bannon, as he was at the start of last night’s episode.
But SNL pulled a fast one on us last night, and it was glorious, as former host Melissa McCarthy – who doesn’t even have a new movie to plug – showed up unannounced half hour into the episode as White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
I’ve noted before how underwhelmed I am with Baldwin’s Trump, finding it often more sour than funny. McCarthy’s incredible take on Spicer, all aggressive abandon, drove home for me everything missing from Baldwin’s Trump – and most of the show’s other impressions of late, few of which have even a modicum of McCarthy’s fire.
Normally, when the show has surprise guest stars, they pop up on stage or in a sketch, and the crowd whoops with instant recognition. So there was something special in how the studio crowd didn’t catch that the Spicer impressionist was McCarthy until she was deep into her first full sentence. I caught it at home on her entrance – despite the excellent make-up job and buttoned-down hairdo, one could tell from the eyes and voice it was clearly her – but could see how the crowd in the studio, watching at a distance, wouldn’t be able to tell for sure until she spoke a full sentence. The audience’s thrill at the realization was palpable, and all the more amazing for its rarity, providing a moment of true surprise in a show where even the hardest-hitting comedic commentary usually comes off like predictable reaction (see: “Update, Weekend.” And Baldwin too, for that matter).
Igniting a press conference by speaking of getting off to a rocky start – not an admittance of his own failures, but rather a comparison to Rocky, the movie, because, McCarthy’s Spicer tells the assembled press, “I came out here to punch you in the face. And also, I don’t talk so good,” McCarthy eviscerated Spicer’s sometimes hostile tone at press conferences as she mangled words and logic beyond all recognition.
Offering an apology “on behalf of you, to me,” – which was “not accepted” – McCarthy then told the press about this week’s Supreme Court announcement, which, her Spicer forcefully insisted, was met with a 15-minute standing ovation, during which “everyone was smiling, everyone was happy, the men all had erections, and every single one of the women was ovulating left and right. And no one was sad.” He then announced his email password, a reference to Spicer twice tweeting what seemed to be various personal passwords over the past few weeks.
The sketch then had Spicer try to flip journalist’s words back on them, before resorting to props to make his point – kudos to whichever writer had the idea for McCarthy to hold up stuffed animals to illustrate the “Moose-lamb” ban – and finally growing so agitated that he attacks the journalists with his podium, which is attached to his body. By the end, when a reporter asks about the Holocaust Remembrance Day statement that failed to mention Jews, McCarthy sprays him with a soapy-water super soaker.
Whoever inherits the permanent Spicer impression from here on will be at a marked disadvantage. McCarthy owns it, now and forever.
The Spicer sketch was just one entry in an strong episode overall. Baldwin’s Trumpian cold open, while paling in comparison to McCarthy’s tour de force, did have its share of laughs on expected topics.
Bringing out the Grim Reaper as Bannon, complete with black cloak and Scream mask, Bannon instructs Trump, who’s in the mood for mischief, to call world leaders. We get takes on Trump’s contentious calls this week with the leaders of Australia and Mexico, as he hits expected notes, obligatorily mentioning the ratings of The Apprentice, the “massacre” at Bowling Green, Frederick Douglass, and the size of his inauguration crowds, then tags on a call to Germany and its Obama-obsessed (as portrayed by Kate McKinnon) leader Angela Merkel, whose heart drops when she hears it’s Trump, not Obama, on the White House phone.
By the end, after Trump attempts to intimidate the leader of Zimbabwe (Kenan Thompson), who calls him a “little white bitch,” they end the day with Death/Bannon taking his seat at the big boy desk as Trump is relegated to a toy desk on the side, and Bannon hijacks the “Live from New York, It’s Saturday Night” announcement.
Incredibly, host Kristen Stewart has, as she explained in her monologue, her own strange history with Trump, since it turned out he went on quite the tweetstorm back when she broke up with fellow Twilight actor Robert Pattinson, declaring that Stewart “cheated on him like a dog” and that “he can do much better!” Stewart – who Trump tweeted about 11 times – then told the president that if he didn’t like her then, he really wouldn’t like her now, because, “I’m hosting SNL, and I’m like, so gay, dude.” The monologue ended with a weak bit about McKinnon and Aidy Bryant trying to be cool like Stewart, and Stewart pushing the point by accidentally dropping an “F” bomb. Remember when that used to be a big deal? I ‘member.
Next comes a video from the Department of Homeland Security, welcoming those from other countries to our teeming shores. Hosted by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent played by Cecily Strong, the video explains what documents people need to enter the country. A minute or so in, though, we see that it has been crudely edited to reflect the recent Muslim ban, throwing in countries that aren’t welcome and other hostile factors. By video’s end, we see that it’s just one guy (Beck Bennett) in a shabby office making the changes. The video comes across like the show wanted to make a strong point about the ban, but couldn’t quite figure out an approach, merely driving home obvious points.
A quick diversion for a non-political sketch features Mikey Day as the leader of a “Dry Fridays” college meeting for students who were caught drinking on campus. The central joke makes Stewart far more extreme in her out-of-control behavior than those around her. The rest have drunk-texted an ex. Stewart woke up with a dog-tracking chip in her neck and a reverse faux-hawk. Also, she seems to hang out with a possible Bond villain named Mr. Shinto.
Next came the sketch I would have been ranting about the most had McCarthy not made her Spicer appearance. Last year, I raved about the second installment of a Super Bowl commercial parody for Totino’s pizza rolls, starring Vanessa Bayer as a suburban housewife just happy to feed her “hungry guys” for the big game. The first installment was a simple take on how wives can be relegated to the background on Super Bowl Sunday, while the second featured a genius twist turning the commercial into a horror movie parody. Here, we get genius twist number two, in a series I hope they can keep going indefinitely.
This year, once again, Bayer prepares to feed her hungry guys with Totino’s pizza rolls. Guests are still entering, Bayer greeting them until Stewart shows up as the sister of her husband’s friend. From the moment she enters, the camera homes in, the lighting turns gauzy, and Bayer, rendered a victim in last year’s parody, is now the romantic lead as she and Stewart turn the rest of the ad into an impassioned meet-hot that not only expertly parodies a genre, but comes full circle from the first ad in making Bayer the star, putting the final nail in the accommodating-but-silent housewife trope they’ve been taking on since the beginning.
As soft piano music wafts in around them, Stewart, looking very hot-Italian-sex-star-of the-seventies, asks Bayer her name. “I’ve never had one,” she says, as she melts into Stewart’s eyes. “That’s a shame,” Stewart replies, and soon, they’re arranging Totino’s pizza rolls on a baking sheet together, their hands sensuously brushing against each other. Bayer whispers that she should bring out the rolls, but Stewart asks her to wait. “What about my hungry guys?” Bayer says. “What are you hungry for?” Stewart replies, as Bayer tremulously clutches her own breast. From here, the pair fall into each other, hugging, caressing, stroking and smoking, playing amongst sprays of water. Their love grows intense, and soon, the world consists of nothing but them, their intertwined naked bodies, and Totino’s pizza rolls. “My husband has his Totino’s,” Bayer tells her new lover. “And you. You are my Totino.” Brilliant.
From this point forward, I might be writing less each week about “Weekend Update.” Truth is, with Colin Jost and Michael Che firmly established – and, I think we can assume, now as good as they’re going to get – it feels pointless to do a simple joke review, and a rehash of their specific successes and failures. Right now, in a reversal from previous seasons, Jost is hitting the Trump presidency strong, while Che has lost his way a bit, meandering through half-formed jokes and longer speeches meant to have a point, but expressing them without impact.
This week, South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone announced they’re taking a break from satirizing Trump because his actions have been so outlandish, they’re beyond satire. This has been a trap for many in the comedy world, Jost and Che (and Baldwin) included. At this point, merely telling reactive jokes about the week’s events seems uninspired, more of a reflex than a creative approach. Some, like Seth Meyers or, tonight, McCarthy, have found creative ways through it. Jost and Che haven’t found that, but rather, have settled back into a standard approach they know will reliably work around 50 percent of the time. Some jokes land, some don’t, and it never feels like enough, as if the weight of current events is more than the “Weekend Update” format can handle. While there’s no indication this will happen, I hope Lorne Michaels re-evaluates Update after this season, and considers a major overhaul – not just of the hosts, but possibly of the format as well. We’re in a new era now, and comedy needs new approaches. There’s no sign the current set-up can deliver the goods on a consistent and meaningful basis. (http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-on-donald-trumps-executive-orders/3465164?snl=1)
We then saw the return of Family Feud, this time with celebrity fans of the Falcons vs. celebrity fans of the Patriots for this week’s Super Bowl. The revelation of the sketch might have been Leslie Jones as Samuel L. Jackson, but Jones couldn’t hold it together, breaking almost immediately. I would love to see her do this impression in a tighter fashion.
The short video “Meet Cute” earns its name, though the premise is shaky at best. Two people meet in a coffee shop and arrange a date for that night, but forget to exchange info or make specific plans. Pete Davidson scours the city looking for a girl he knows only has Claire, while Claire (Stewart) shows up at a restaurant, waiting for him. Why that restaurant at that time, if they had no specific plans? It’s unclear, and drives a stake through the sketch’s already minuscule plot.
The episode ends with a parody of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with Stewart as Charlie, and Davidson as his uncle, who messes up Charlie’s mind when he reveals he can walk.
Next week sees Baldwin return as host for a record 17th time (Steve Martin is second on the all-time host list with 15), with musical guest Ed Sheeran.
Larry Getlen is the author of the book Conversations with Carlin. His greatest wish is to see Stefon enjoy a cheeseburger at John Belushi’s diner. Follow him on Twitter at @larrygetlen.
