By the looks of it, this weekend’s Saturday Night Live was one of the best episodes in a while. I stopped staying up for SNL years ago, but I catch up on clips on Sunday, and it seemed like producers realized they had many really strong skits, because they put more than a dozen clips online. Shockingly, Kristen Stewart was the host this weekend and she didn’t even do a bad job. She did drop an F-bomb during her opening monologue, because of course she did. She also addressed the fact that Emperor Baby Fists tweeted about her nearly a dozen times four years ago.
The strongest K-Stew sketch was a “commercial” for Totinos. Halfway through the commercial, it turns into Blue is the Warmest Color and it’s actually amazing.
This is the cold open with Alec Baldwin as Trump and the Grim Reaper as Steve Bannon. It’s shocking how accurate this is.
This was just a scary-funny bit too about all of the new Customs regulations.
And finally, here is arguably the best skit SNL has done in years. Melissa McCarthy popped up to play the new White House press secretary, Sean Spicer. And it was glorious.
Incidentally, the Real Sean Spicer commented on McCarthy’s portrait yesterday, saying that he thought it was “funny” but Melissa could “dial it back.” Of course, Spicer also whined that SNL is being “mean” to Baby Fists.
Screencaps from SNL.
It was epic. LOVED it. Melissa should just take over from Spicer, she’d do a better job at being Spicer than Spicer does
I had stopped to watch SNL skits (even on youtube) ages ago.
Last Saturday, it was glorious, even my husband watched the skits and he never liked a single thing in SNL shows.
Melissa was brilliant. We had to watch the skit twice because we were laughing so hard the first time we missed some of the jokes.
I would like to know who came up with the idea…who saw that MM would make a dead-on Spicer, because it was a brilliant idea.
Hubby and I were hysterical laughing at SNL. And yesterday, I found hubby watching the Spicer skit over and over – and laughing just as hard each time.
Melissa’s sketch made me so happy! What an unexpected surprise, and she just kicked ass. I’m glad he could get skewered the way he deserves to be skewered. It gave me the deep belly laughs.
The Trump administration likes to bully by being loud and brash and testosteroney. What’s the move that always counters that line of attack? Laughing at them. Bullies always look worse when their posturing is shrugged off and mocked. Trump hates that. He’s got so much power as president, but he can’t force us to stop laughing at him and his team, and you know it’s driving him insane.
Yes! Best SNL episode in years! And so important to use political satire this way right now.
I’m a conservative and I thought that Spicer bit was the funniest thing I ever seen. Absolutely brilliant. If the White House has their knickers in a knot over this, too bad.
Epic is the right word!
A journalist tweeted that his elementary-school-age kids were asking him to get Glenn Thrush’s autograph. LOL.
So Spicer whined about it. A bunch of toddlers in the White House.
He has a temper, not surprised. I’m watchign the presser today.Just to see how saucy he will be when the question is asked about SNL.
Spicer is in danger of losing his job, because Trump was irritated that the skit was done by a WOMAN impersonating Spicer so well. Trump thinks that makes Spicer look “weak,” and he doesn’t like “weak men” on his team. Yeah, Trump is such a tough guy – only used a bone spur diagnosis FIVE TIMES to get himself out of serving in Vietnam.
I usually DVR it and watch *maybe* one or two skits at the most anymore. It’s become so bad the last few years. But Last night made up for a LOT of bad shows. Alec Baldwin is perfection; him and his “Angel” of death…. OMG! And the Customs “video”: scarily realistic now. But, Melissa McCarthy NAILED it! I was literally wiping tear, she was SO funny (and God knows, she got the “look” down pat, too! BIG kudos to SNL this week!
I also just dvr so I could fast forward but McCarthy was great.
agree – thought it was the best one in ages. so much material with the new regime – the only positive thing you can say about it.
All fun & games till it’s about them…then it’s just meeean, dial it back will ya! Haha
This episode made me like Kristin Stewart. Add that to supporting Budweiser, lawyers, that one nascar dude, not to mention agreeing with Howard Stern and I feel I’ve had a surprising amount of personal growth in these past few weeks.
Doing SNL was a smart move for Kristen. I wasn’t a fan of hers before this, but now i kinda like her.
me too!
I agree it was a good move for her. She usually comes across poorly in interviews, sort of pretentious and cranky, but I thought she seemed a lot more fun on SNL. Kudos to her for not backing away from the weird “the current president once tweeted about my private life over and over” situation.
I totally know what you’re talking about! It has been Strange Bedfellows time for me too!
I watched the MM skit yesterday on a trainride home and laughed the whole time. She was fantastic.
Also “There’s a streak of meanness now that they’ve crossed over to mean.” I’m not a native speaker so I have to ask: is this as dumb as it sounds? There is meaness in mean? Really? Maybe there is even a funny element in fun?!
You are correct. That is as dumb as it sounds.
Yes, you are correct.
Trump and his minions have a limited vocabulary that reflects their narrow and unfortunately constrained intellectual capacity. The script, from this crew, is unimaginative, venal at the upper levels and–yes, certainly, and from the top to the bottom–dumb.
It’s dumb wording and the premise is wrong. SNL has been doing satire about presidents since Chevy Chase used to pratfall as Gerald Ford. They’ve made goofs about every president. None of the others have obsessively complained like this, so they did dial it up! All the complaining makes it worse for himself. “You think the dial is up now? We can go even higher.”
We know he doesn’t read books or newspapers. He finds daily briefings boring. SNL is apparently his primary source of accurate, non-asskissing feedback. Tell him what the people think! (And hope the repercussions aren’t too terrible. The more pissed he gets, the more he lashes out. Just…Don’t lash at the most vulnerable people, baby fists.)
That’s what I don’t get – SNL has ALWAYS made fun of presidents and political figures. Always. They didn’t have a ton of material with Obama because he didn’t do too much embarrassing stuff, but there’s a long history of great political sketches and impressions.
My guess though, is that Trump only watches when it is about him, as he only cares about himself.
Baldwin’s impression is amazing, and sadly so close to the truth.
Both Baldwin’s skit of Baby Fists w/Bannon as the Grim Reaper- and especially Melissa as Sean Spicer made my weekend. Completely hysterical and enjoyable.
Oh, yes THIS and the Patriots winning the Superbowl again.
Goodell is a huge pussy, and how ignorant to open a bullshit investigation with no evidence and appoint HIMSELF as the Special Prosecutor. Let’s not forget, the Patriots paid a exorbitant fine, Brady got suspended for 4 games–AND they lost 2 first round draft picks.
All because some player on an opposing team “thinks” the balls felt different. GTFOH. The NFL, much like our current POTUS, cares about one thing and one thing only. Image and MONEY. Well, that’s actually two things with money being first on both lists.
With that being said- you are all free to hate on the Orange Basted Twitter Maniac at 1600 Penn Ave freely, but leave my Patriots out of the venom filled posts.
They won it AGAIN, against all odds—and it was a TEAM EFFORT.
Love and Peace from Beantown Y’All xoxoxox
Trump has made SNL great again.
SNL is always better with Republican presidents imo.
I enjoyed Phil H’s take on Clinton. The jogging to a fast food joint and explaining international issues with other customer’s food was just one classic. It was also done during the early days of his first term.
And — A certain tweeting critic has been strangely silent on this episode. But apparently his latest approval ratings are a disaster, because said critic is tweeting about fake polls and fake news early this morning.
Christin–I will never get over the McDonald’s skit either. Lol Hartman was great, as was Hammond later. But Bill gave so much to work with too. SNL has had some great political impressions since Dana Carvey’s HW and Perot. And HW though Carvey was hilarious and even had him to the WH. Such a difference in attitude between that and the tweet monster.
Darrell Hammond’s Bill Clinton slays me every time. When he bites his lip and gives the thumbs-up, I die. SO FUNNY.
Hammond really did capture the essence of Slick Willy, didn’t he?
Hammond captured Clinton so well that he was sort of ruined for me for anything else. He had a role in one season of Damages and I honestly was taken out of the story each time, thinking he was about to break into his Clinton impression!
Hammond will always be Clinton in my mind. And I grew up with Will Ferrell’s dopey impression of Dubya- he could nail his eternally-bewildered chuckle like no one else.
Moment of silence for Amy Poehler’s 9-months-pregnant Sarah Palin rap.
The gum, the podium, the apology not accepted. So good.
Seriously…. I watched it at least 5 times yesterday and laughed so hard EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!
CNN in a cage with a diaper on. Everyone hates Glenn. So good.
Don’t forget the visual aids. There were a couple moments where she channeled Spicer so well that it seemed like she actually was him, it was almost eerie.
The only bummer for me was reading a bunch of appreciative comments from Trump supporters — saying that SNL nailed Spicer’s “toughness,” that finally someone is taking down the reporters. Sigh.
It is great. I think it is her hand gestures for me that make so fantastic. I think if something had to Alec Baldwin and he could not fulfill the playing of trump, MM could step up. Her hands are tiny and she speaks so well with them.
For me, the hand gestures when Spicer said that women were ovulating left and right, complete with the curved pinkies…
If we take nothing else from this sketch, can we at least start calling Tr*mp DeTurd? Lord Dampnut DeTurd.
We can keep protesting against the moose lamb ban (YOUR WORD!) too
Ramming the reporters back into their seats with the podium was the best, although “moose lamb” was pretty amazing too.
And from the cold open, Robert Mugabe profanely schooling Trump on how to be a scary dictator nearly had me wheezing.
Kristen was excellent (I can’t help but like her, I’m sorry) and Melissa was spectacular. She should be on every week knowing how much it irritates the petulant children in the White House.
Kristen was great. Plus she is gorgeous. Melissa was exceptional! Her ‘Spicer’ is brilliant.
She really is so beautiful, isn’t she?
Do we think she said “I think he’s in love with my boyfriend” in the present tense just to f*ck with the Twihards?
Shambles – I saw on Twitter that that comment only gave the last vestiges of the crazy “Twihards/they are secretly married with 3 kids” women more fuel for their twisted fantasies. Apparently they say it proved they are still together and the “I’m Soooo Gay” was her obviously mocking everyone with thinks she’s really gay. W.T.F.
Melissa owned the show man. She was hysterical. Even Spicer said it was “cute,” opposed to his master who can’t laugh at himself.
I don’t know why it makes me happy that Spicer didn’t throw a tantrum…I guess it shows that he’s not completely soulless and probably realizes the insanity of his position. Which gives me hope that there will be big dissent among the ranks eventually.
Before he took the position in the Trump admin, Spicer seemed like a reasonable guy. I never agreed with his politics, seeing as i’m a crazy liberal, but he seemed like a normal person. There is a lot of reporting that Trump gave spicer the job on the condition that he’s tough and tows the line. I guess Spicer sold his soul for a job he’s not very good at.
I feel like every time Spicer gives a briefing, he has this look on his face like, “Are you guys buying this sh!t?” He knows he’s spitting bullsh!t, pure and simple.
I’ve watched MM as Spicer 4 times so far. Crying
@Melly.. I think there has always been a bit of a soulless Trumpette underneath Spicer all along. A normal person doesn’t argue with a Company for several years on Twitter whether their product is ice cream or not. Seems he can’t seem to let things go if not his way of thinking. A huge Trump trait.
Mm, good points. Perhaps I gave him too much credit for responding semi-graciously. That’s just so unexpected with this regime!
@Esmom – I had exactly the same reaction as you and it made me feel exactly as you did. Just that tiny sliver of hope that laughter might be the thing that stops the Thing.
On the basis of Spicer finding the glorious MM funny, I’m now choosing to believe that Spicer, once his official day is done, goes home, pours a drink and secretly trolls Trump.
#theworldiwant
MM was perfection.
Can Melissa McCarthy be the President IRL please? Thanks.
Simply fantastic.
And that podium… hahahaha I really think, as someone said on Twitter, that even the real Spicer would like a podium to beat people up with… (plus the incarcerated CNN journo lol).
“We’re not fake news!”
Hahahahahahahaha I’m rewatching it now!! 😀
Melissa was brilliant. I keep watching her over and over. Love it.
From that Totinos skit I got why everyone hooks up with Kirsten all the time. She is hot!
Now I get Alicia Cargile that kept making up with her.
The Cold Open was too much of a throwback to W and Cheney with the desk swap–I can’t even laugh about Bannon, the threat is too real! But even I appreciated the MM skit!! Hilarious!!! It’s nice to know SNL can still produce some biting but actually funny political humor now and again. “He will not be de-turd.”
I’m glad they went that way with Bannon — think how fun it would be to mock his actual disheveled and gross appearance. Portraying him as the grim reaper is a much more powerful statement about Bannon as our biggest threat to democracy.
I read someone suggesting online that they should get Rosie O’Donnell to play Steve Bannon.
Trump would go *berserk*.
MOOSE LAMBS! That’s all.
Omg that one had me crying!
My husband and I said that to each other randomly all yesterday.
Moose lambs absolutely put me in the grave. Iconic.
A few thoughts:
1. Melissa deserves and Emmy for that. She was absolute perfection. I watched that clip at least 15 times yesterday. Her comedic timing was amazing.
2. Whoever suggested Melissa to play Spicer deserves a raise.
3. Any idiot who says that women aren’t funny deserve a punch to the nads.
4. Spicer had every opportunity to win in his response. All he needed to do at the briefing today was walk out with a cup of gum and dump some into his mouth before starting.
I agree… I also think the costume/make up team deserves much accolades. They did such a great job trans forming her.
Alow me to repeat this slowly so that everyone can hear:
3. Any idiot who says that women aren’t funny deserve a punch to the nads.
3. Any idiot who says that women aren’t funny deserve a punch to the nads.
3. Any idiot who says that women aren’t funny deserve a punch to the nads.
3. Any idiot who says that women aren’t funny deserve a punch to the nads.
Tape it and put it on repeat for evah!!
I too thought “Emmy” as soon as it was done.
I love Melissa so much, she is always so game, and just goes 100%. I lost it at her picking up the podium and ramming the reporters with it.
Don’t let Bannon being portrayed by the Grim Reaper, let him be shown as a drunk sloppy mess and let Rosie O’Donell play him. Trump might slit his wrists or have a heart attack.
I hear you. But I said above that I think it makes a really powerful statement that they don’t skewer his appearance, it shows how deadly he really is. I think it might actually make supporters think twice.
I thought the grim reaper was funny the first time, but now the more we know about Bannon, he should be played by someone in a bloated, drunken, slob mess of a costume.
Rosie O’Donnell as Bannon is pure genius!
SNL needs to book Rosie O as Bannon! That would be fantastic!! She could still dress like the Grim Reaper if they want.
Not on board with the Rosie O idea.
I think that dude from Parks and Recreations… don’t remember his name, but he’s married to Megan Mullally… he kinda resembles Bannon.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE someone let ROSIE ODONNELL play Bannon. It would be perfect!!!!!!!
I think the Grim Reaper has a nicer appearance than the real Bannon. He needs to be portrayed in his true ugliness.
So what then… you are thinking an ambulatory Jabba the Hutt? Interesting.
I think the Grim Reaper is more of a caricature figure and not so scary. Would much prefer a real person, especially Rosie O … it would be poetic justice on top of the fact she IS a comedian and I can see her persona so easily transform into Bannon.
You guys are all missing the point! If Alec is unavailable one weekend, Rosie should play DONALD.
Brilliant.
His gross orange head would explode.
Wow … never thought of that! That’s how Rosie got under Donald’s thin skin in the first place.
Melissa McCarthy is our new National treasure! She gave the 1st belly laugh since bozo took office!
“Tu es mon Totino” killed me.
The Totino bit was followed by a real Totino commercial. THAT killed me.
I know, so funny. The other funny part of that spot was how you think the kitchen is a separate room and then you realize they are literally right behind the oblivious guys. Lol.
That Totino Skit went HARD off the paint for me.. well that And Melissa, never have i Ever Guffawed at SNL til I saw that yesterday
I usually can’t watch Kristen because I get second hand embarrassment for her awkwardness, she reminds me of myself when I’m the center of attention and it makes my stomach turn! I thought she did a great job though, even the f bomb was hilarious and she recovered well.
I was surprised that Kristen was ready to touch such subjects as Twilight, dating Rob, cheating scandal and being gay. She has grown up.
its not so much that she has grown up … though everyone gets more confident with age … its that she has some distance from all that now. Im sure they were painful subjects for her back then. Celeb gossip doesn’t usually lend itself to empathy but that whole TWilight thing was obviously tough for her to deal with. Now she’s been able to have a more private life she can joke about Trump’s obsession with her, but you have that white heat on you its just not that funny.
The bit where Trump tries to get Nieto to pay for the wall was the best. And the Zimbabwe dictator mocking him. Plus Merkel: “Barak Obama I miss you!”. Amen.
I totally thought the cold open was as good as the Spicer skit.
Breitbart was apoplectic about the Zimbabwe part; that it was racist and disrespectful to the president. Sigh. I cackled. Because Trump is a bully and sometimes, that’s how you have to deal with bullies.
My sweet Barakt! 😭😭😭
I LOVED the Zimbabwe call. The whole cold open was fantastic, just depressing how real it is.
MM crushed it Saturday night. Hair and voice were absolute perfection. You can judge how incredible a comedian is by how little they laugh at themselves. How she didn’t burst into laughing is beyond me. She’s gold!
Thanks, Emperor Zero, for making SNL great again!
I don’t know HOW she kept it together the entire time. I would have just collapsed in laughter if I was her. She was so brills.
Moose! Lambs! LOLOLOLOL
The part about the “ban” being Trumpito quoting the press and not the other way round had me in tears of joy.
“Your words not mine!”. Not only was it funny but it completely and definitely dismantled El Trumpito’s manipulative, brainwashing rethoric (does it even deserve to be called that?) and snowflake-in-chief syndrome.
If Baldwin is going to continue he’s going to have develop some nuance.
McCarthy is pure genius.
Not sure if I agree about Baldwin, it’s not like the actual Trump has any nuance.
But I’m not watching Trump. I’m watching a comedy show and I haven’t laughed at Baldwin for ages because he’s not funny. There’s a lot more there than his as$$hole lips.
As an aside, just had to comment about KellyAnne Conjob, who tweeted that protesters marched for Emperor Zero on Sunday.
Haha! She got blasted back for calling the supporters “protesters” and many tweets in response indicated, correctly, that “10s marched.”
What a wingnut!
Epic fail!
Sad!
Disaster!
PERIOD!
I know, what an idiot. I also laughed at the “10s marched.” Epic.
They create the comedy all by themselves, like this little gem:
https://twitter.com/AcademicsSay/status/827665143840534528
I saw on HuffPo that at one march there was 8 PEOPLE. 8 PEOPLE!!!!! Wonder how those figures are going to be spun.
that was twitter gold 🙂
What’s all the hype? Melissa was funny but Kristen ? She was mumbling her lines throughout. Without Melissa this would have been a disaster. Snl has become a form of therapy for people fed up with trump and his govt.. that’s the real reason people are loving the show!
Kristen is a mumbler, even when acting she mumbles. She’s a pretty girl when she’s been made up but is an average actress who got lucky.
I understood her fine
OMG Melissa was the best ever!!!! And as usual, right on the mark about how the real Spicer tries to con the press and mis-speak on behalf of his boss. Comedy shows up the nonsense, deflections and lies better than the media does sometimes. And instead of crying we are laughing. But it’s serious. Hope she continues. Spicer and so-called president Trump are “on notice”.
My thoughts –
* alec baldwin is amazing as Trump. He is like the perfect person to do him because he does not give a hoot what TRump says about him.
*Kristen Stewart is incredibly hot. Jesus. That Totino ad and when she played Gisele 😍 now i know why she has the rep for making straight girls question their sexuality. I honestly thought she would be too nervous to speak but she did herself proud… and got revenge for that weird obsession he had with her .. seriously wtf?
*melissa mccarthy was unreal. She is a hugely experienced sketch comedienne so its not really fair to compare kristen to her … even kate mckinnon would be blasted away with melissa in full force. She went for it!! Glorious.
*i loved the sketch where kristen and pete tried to go on their date. It was so cute and probably the only time we will ever see kristen in anything resembling a romantic comedy.
All in all a great show
I bet she came up with the idea and called SNL. The gum chewing was spot on. That guy chews and swallows gum nonstop. It can’t be healthy,
It was an amazing skit. She was brilliant.
I assumed the gum gobbling had real-life meaning, but have never been able to watch him for more than a few seconds.
Our work area TV is usually on mute as I pass by, and all I see is an angry looking guy. Melissa perfectly nailed his tense posturing.
The man supposedly swallows 2 and a half packs of gum a day. It is a form of slow suicide by intestinal obstruction.
That is ridiculous for an adult to do. Even as a child, I realized accidentally swallowing part of a piece of gum wasn’t healthy to do.
Melissa McCarthy was absolute perfection. Dear god, I cried laughing. I even showed my dad (who’s become a fan of SNL’s Trump sketches already), and he wouldn’t stop laughing. We died when she picked up the podium to attack the reporter–it’s probably the ONLY thing Spicer hasn’t done yet, aside from the squirting the water gun at people he doesn’t like (my personal preference is that spray bottle thing you use on plants).
I think Spicer, on some level, understands the predicament he’s in. If you’ve ever watched the press briefings, you can see some moments when he’s truly wondering wtf he’s gotten himself into. If anything, he’s probably picked up some pointers from this sketch to use on the WHPC so….come on Sean Spicer. I’ll send you the visual aids myself if I have to.
Also–that bit about the ban that was in the sketch–a LOT of that was just taken word for word from what Sean Spicer said at the press briefing. Like, I was amazed at how much of that wasn’t even made up. It was just rewritten a little bit for the sketch but aside from that it was exactly what he said.
First of all, Spicer should be flattered. That skit was a skit for the ages and it’ll be shown on SNL retrospectives 15 years from now, like Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood and Bass-o-matic.
Second, McCarthy absolutely COMMITTED to the skit, treated him as a character not as an impersonation, and memorized the lines which is a rarity for that show. As a result, she KILLED IT.
You are absolutely right. I was watching it and thinking that we were seeing something we will see again and again and again, it’s just that brilliant.
Hoping that Denis Leary comes on to play Kellyanne Conway.
And speaking of….. today Cosmopolitan magazine came out with the fact that prior to the TV interview Kellyanne used the phrase “Bowling Green massacre” in an interview with them on the subject of the ban. And TMZ is claiming she used similar but not exact wording with them.
Meaning that Kelleyanne was not having just an innocent “slip of the tongue”.
I think her boss needs to take a closer look at who is putting forth FAKE NEWS!
Omg! 😂😂😂 Dennis Leary would be perfect as KellyAnn. That is hilarious. I just choked with laughter as I’m laying in bed reading this and trying to be quiet.
Melissa M. as Sean Spicer is absolute gold.
Alec Baldwin is hosting this weekend. Let’s hope MM pops in again.
OK. I honestly have to say that I had not really seen Spicer in action, so I youtubed him…. Holy hell, that is hilariously, scarily accurate. That guy can’t honestly be the press secretary!!?? I am going back to my West Wing little world and pretend that that is how it really is there right now.
Hilarious!
I’m just going to link to this here for you guys. Pia is a successful Canadian comic book artist who posted this on her twitter last week.
https://twitter.com/PiaGuerra/status/825894457396514816/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
MM was spot on as Spicer. What makes her so funny is she loses herself in her characters and goes all out where she becomes unpredictable. She’s just so naturally funny and you’re not quite sure just where she’s going to go with the characters. Pushing the podium into the press corps was classic. A true bully- pulpit!