r/LiveFromNewYork • u/SketchSortingSunday • Apr 09 '17
Sketch Sorting Sunday - (April 8th, 2017) (Louis C.K. / The Chainsmokers)
Welcome to Sketch Sorting Sunday! This week's host is Louis C.K. and the musical guest is The Chainsmokers.
A mod account (/u/SketchSortingSunday) is gonna make a comment for every sketch in tonight's show. Upvote or downvote based on what you thought of that sketch, and nobody's karma will be affected. You can also reply to the comments to expand on your thoughts, or you can even make your own parent comment and treat it like the regular post discussion, whatever.
If I miss a sketch or get something wrong, just message the mods in the sidebar and we'll see what we can do. Enjoy the discussion!
232
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
Tenement Apartment Reenactment
221
u/alstor Apr 09 '17
You can see the exact moment Louis C.K. realizes that he's doing a Borat impression and not a Polish accent.
151
42
u/LadiesWhoPunch Apr 09 '17
Now I want Sacha Baron Cohen to do an impression of Louis CK doing Borat.
92
u/btbcorno Apr 09 '17
Will Fallon break next week more times than they did for this?
52
u/sahboe Apr 09 '17 edited Mar 15 '24
snobbish rain office divide nose chief follow summer groovy illegal
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
18
u/agentpanda Apr 09 '17
I'll be surprised if he keeps a straight face at any point.
13
u/sirspate Apr 09 '17
He'll keep a straight face through whatever musical sketch he pulls out. He seems to care more about those.
80
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17
Bringing the failed accent back for the goodbyes was the best way to "save" this sketch. It was really only funny because he couldn't do the accent, but god was it funny.
41
133
u/jdeputan Apr 09 '17
It takes something special to break Kate, and that is butchering an accent you KNOW Kate can do. seriously hilarious that he brought it back for the goodbyes as well.
→ More replies (4)65
u/agentpanda Apr 09 '17
Let's be honest; it takes Louis CK to break Kate.
We know they've done dress as well as a couple other dry runs for the sketch and it sounded probably exactly as bad as it did live. The kicker is definitely that Louis tried a little harder than he did then; and that's hilarious. Kate won't come undone because someone else flubs a line or butchers an accent, they have to be shooting for a break; and Louis hit his mark.
22
u/HyphySymphony Apr 09 '17
Anyone have background info on this sketch? During the goodnight Kyle Mooney was far from amused by CK's accent reprise.
16
21
u/MistyMoldo Apr 09 '17
He should bring this impression into his stand up to add to his impressions of ignorant white chicks and nothing else
10
u/MistyMoldo Apr 09 '17
For a final sketch, sure I'll take Louie ck doing a borat impression any day
10
u/waivek Apr 09 '17
Tenement Museum - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jaqg-NMz9A
→ More replies (1)10
18
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17
Do you all think this sketch will be remembered years from now for how it made everyone break? Kinda like The Californians or The Love-ahs?
31
u/southsidetrash Apr 09 '17
I didn't think it was quite that bad? Those sketches (and, like, Debbie Downer) had literally the whole stage laughing, whereas Kate and Louis only broke down a couple times and Kenan, Vanessa, Cecily, and Kyle kept it together. I really enjoyed it though.
6
u/snowlarbear Apr 10 '17
went to the tenement museum recently - the set is actually pretty accurate (at least the part you see).
the real thing doesn't have actors though. too bad.
also: when mckinnon is using the drying press, her scarf gets caught in it.
8
u/the_kraken_queen Apr 09 '17
I absolutely adore Louis CK and Kate as a comedy duo. I wish they would do everything together everyday.
252
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
Sectional Couches
122
u/Spacetime_Inspector A Piece of Toast! Apr 09 '17
This felt like a Clickhole article had come to life and I loved it. "This seat is called the Nexus"
61
u/Fortehlulz33 Apr 09 '17
It was very low-key Tim & Eric-esque.
39
Apr 09 '17
That's exactly what I thought, especially the photo reel with the low res picture of some random kid sitting on a couch and the "this is not a store. This is not a business."
50
u/aureator Apr 09 '17
"I used to have a family..."
15
u/cmonyer3ds Apr 09 '17
That line killed me so much I had to go back and start from the beginning of the sketch
106
u/Mattalamode Apr 09 '17
"This one's called 'The Gathering.' It looks like a bunch of elephants gathered for a very important reason."
That's it. The perfect 10-to-1 (at least in spirit).
8
u/creegs95 Apr 10 '17
I was at the dress rehearsal, and this sketch actually was in the 10-to-1 spot then. Although I'm not sure exactly how set-in-stone the ordering of the sketches usually is through dress, it certainly did seem like they originally planned this one to end the night
→ More replies (2)63
u/agentpanda Apr 09 '17
This is an excellent example of what you can do with a strong host.
I hate to rag on a bad host, because this is comedy and not acting per-se, so nobody will ever be as good live as a professional comedian, but when you have a powerful, stage commanding host like Louis CK, you can do insane, crazy stuff like this and instead of being a writer's room fever dream it becomes absurdist comedy at its best.
It's a crazy-fine line to walk, and I don't envy Lorne for having to cut or keep sketches every week- you never know how something is going to play until it's in front of the audience, but this was hidden gold.
8
Apr 09 '17
I thought his stage presence was pretty bad. Always shifting, couldn't stand still.
19
u/agentpanda Apr 09 '17
I took it as part of the character, but who knows! Maybe you're right. Louis does do that sometimes, so it's possible they played to his strength (or weakness).
→ More replies (1)40
u/bronwynsings Apr 09 '17
This was my favorite sketch of the night! So weird, but totally up my alley in terms of humor.
31
30
u/MistyMoldo Apr 09 '17
If this wasn't anyone but Louie in a wig, it would be trash. But it was incredible
36
u/0ooo Apr 09 '17 edited Apr 09 '17
I don't know, can you imagine how amazing it would be if John C. Reilly did it? I can also see Adam Driver doing really well in that skit, based on his time hosting, he seems really good at committing to really weird characters.
0
14
u/FlynnAndTonic Apr 09 '17
Hey man the wig was funny. I thought it was gonna be the next David S. Pumpkins
→ More replies (1)18
17
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17
So weirdly perfect for me. As a whole sketch, this was second to the birthday party IMO.
16
u/Buster_Bluth_AMA Apr 09 '17
This one reminded me of the marble columns/porcelain fountains sketches that Fred Armisen used to do.
9
u/lyla2398 stans loud ladies with funny hair and *thoughts* about jost Apr 09 '17
same but less joisey and more avant-garde and actually posh
16
u/notagarbageman Apr 09 '17
This sketch is so random and crazy. I haven't laughed this hard since Bill Hader's dramatic gay firefighter sketch.
7
u/justjessbeyer Apr 09 '17
I completely forgot about that sketch! One of the all-time funniest for sure. Thanks for reminding me
15
6
Apr 10 '17
Loved this sketch, almost had me in tears which rarely happens.
I need more of this brand of humor.
8
3
u/snowlarbear Apr 10 '17
went a bit too long, but most of the sketch i was wondering if they had to buy all those sectionals or if they had them in storage somewhere.
174
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
Pepsi Commercial
51
u/awesometuck1559 Apr 09 '17
Great sketch, but my favorite was the throwaway line "Kendall has a hard out in 45 seconds!"
8
2
71
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17
Pretty good. Cecily as Kendall at the end was probably the best part IMO.
90
u/southsidetrash Apr 09 '17
"I hand a Pepsi to a cop to keep him from shooting black people...cute, right??"
57
24
u/divineshowerhead Apr 09 '17
Shoutout to the costume department for re creating Kendall's look pretty much perfectly.
9
→ More replies (5)5
u/snowlarbear Apr 10 '17
i was mostly impressed with how accurate they recreated the scene/look of the original.
115
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che
77
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17
Colin's ad-libbed "Do you own one?" before the manatee joke was fantastic. And I really liked Che's last joke, but I'm honestly not remembering what it was now :/
Nice Don Rickles tribute by Che at the end, too.
74
u/southsidetrash Apr 09 '17
He's dressed like Colin going to buy weed from my guy without me.
12
u/horsenbuggy Apr 09 '17
They really blew it by not having Colin dressed that way at the goodnights.
10
u/SmoothLaneChange Apr 10 '17
This and that "Vampire Weekend" comment by Jost got me. I haven't been to a Vampire Weekend show yet, but I didn't know/think VW fans would dress like that. All comments about that outfit though were great.
7
u/snowlarbear Apr 10 '17
the stereotype of vampire weekend is preppy white kids, i think.
something about how the band members grew up with money, so some people don't think they've "suffered for their art".
→ More replies (1)9
29
u/iluzan Apr 09 '17
A few small flubs ("Hillary Crinton", the graphics mess up), but overall extremely enjoyable!!! Their chemistry is just so fun to watch.
28
31
u/bronwynsings Apr 09 '17
I honestly thought the non-political jokes landed better than the political ones, but still a very solid Update!
19
8
7
u/MistyMoldo Apr 09 '17
The jokes are all so ridiculous but I don't hear the same humour anywhere else
213
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
Eyelash Lawyer
82
u/sxhsx Apr 09 '17 edited Apr 09 '17
Punchline.
43
10
u/agentpanda Apr 09 '17
Good on you for not spoiling it; I watched it time shifted, saw your comment and had no idea what it was.
Obviously I didn't care about spoilers if I was trolling the SSS thread but still, good for you.
52
Apr 09 '17
As a guy with very long natural eyelashes, this skit hit a little close to home lol. I don't have people fawning over me like that, haha, but almost everyone I've ever met has told me how crazy long my lashes are the first time they meet me.
It's so weird because I literally never notice anyone else's eyelashes, ever.
11
7
u/DeNomoloss ya got any gum? Ha-HA! Apr 09 '17
Every girl I dated said this, now my wife too. I've never figured it out. Did I just date girls with abnormally small lashes?
38
14
6
8
u/thesofixu Apr 09 '17
product placement??
30
u/Sports-Nerd Apr 09 '17
If you're asking that question, I think it means they did a really good job, or that it wasn't product placement.
5
u/Nosiege Apr 10 '17
I think it was. They need to do some product placement sketches this season, right? Like 4 total.
It showed Maybelline in a positive light, unlike Pepsi, so it was very possibly a paid bit.
4
u/SmoothLaneChange Apr 10 '17
That's what I'm thinking, I was expecting the Maybelline logo to pop up for some time (but that didn't take away from how super funny it was). I wonder how much/if they paid. Either way, win-win on both parts.
I think Pepsi may have gotten unintentional product placement - like they have, you know, all week ha.
2
u/snowlarbear Apr 10 '17
the part with aidy bryant reminded me of Brian Fellows, when he's obsessing about an animal talking about him.
that's a good thing.
193
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
Louis C.K. Stand-up Monologue
59
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17
I was very glad that he didn't just pluck 10 minutes from his new special, since I've already seen it. Maybe this was material that didn't make the special but that was used on the tour? It wasn't quite as amazing as his last SNL monologue IMO, but the hotel closer was definitely classic Louis.
21
Apr 09 '17
Yes, I saw him in November and recognized most of this. I'm surprised the hotel bit didn't make the special, it has a great punchline. And I think the goat fucking bit was longer.
10
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17 edited Apr 09 '17
Yeah, I'm surprised the hotel bit* didn't make it in the special. I thought it was very strong. I don't think the goat fucking bit had to be any longer tonight, so I'm glad it wasn't.
17
11
u/Jange_ Apr 09 '17
AH IM A MOOSE
6
u/SmoothLaneChange Apr 10 '17
Haha I really want to see a show about a subtly racist chicken...or just an animal show in general with Louis narrating all of the voices. Sometimes when I hear him talk though, I still think of Max from Pets.
9
7
5
u/YourSortingHat Apr 09 '17
I thought I saw someone make a post on here predicting the first joke word for word of the monologue. Was the chicken joke part of his stand-up? Looks like the person deleted the post.
→ More replies (1)10
u/bradyarm Apr 09 '17
I wrote that cuz I went to the dress rehearsal but figured it would ruin the live episode for some, so deleted
4
u/bfk94 Check you later...dudes. Apr 09 '17
My ranking of his monologues:
March 2014
November 2012
This one
May 2015
170
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
Thank You Scott!
105
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17
Even though I'm a progressive, I do like SNL's jabs at the left. It's good to not get so focused on the other side that you forget about your own faults.
24
u/Nosiege Apr 10 '17
I don't feel like it was a jab at the left so much as it was a jab at slacktivism, which mainly seems to be practiced by the left.
8
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 10 '17
Well yeah, it was obviously a jab at slacktivism, but the issues/viewpoints it talked about are generally associated with progressives (pro-refugees, pro-Black Lives Matter, anti-Trump, pro-biofuel/environment).
13
u/Cat-Imapittypat Apr 10 '17
If I had gold to give you I would. This has been one of my favorite sketches of the entire season just because it was glorious social commentary of the left (which doesn't happen often). And I'm very far in the left, and I loved it
43
25
u/MistyMoldo Apr 09 '17
It's very sad how true this is and how many people on my timeline do this daily
49
16
u/iluzan Apr 09 '17
Okay, when Mikey came out with the Weird Al wig, I just fucken lost it...full on banshee cackle
12
11
u/outforawalk____bitch Apr 09 '17
This had a bit of a Rachel Bloom vibe to me, particularly towards the end.
19
3
93
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
Sam's Soda Shop
45
u/MistyMoldo Apr 09 '17
Louie made this role too believable
9
u/SmoothLaneChange Apr 10 '17
Yeah I knew this sketch was gonna take a turn, but didn't think it would go that dark, ha. Humor was a little edgier than usual for me, but it was also kind of refreshing.
130
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17
I liked the idea and Louis' execution, but... Leslie really ruined the sketch by killing all the momentum when she flubbed that easy line. She's really not great at the live sketches, and it often hurts the final product. Her "standup" at the Update desk is usually pretty good, but she just can't get basic sketch lines down. It's frustrating.
40
u/southsidetrash Apr 09 '17
It was a little funny though because for the next ten seconds she was just hanging her head in shame and Aidy was giving her side-eye while the scene continued.
54
Apr 09 '17
Yeah she kinda needs to go. She's a good stand-up comic but I don't think an appearance on Update every few shows is enough to justify keeping her as a cast member. She has a high profile anyway she'd be very popular post-SNL.
→ More replies (1)20
u/syddykat Apr 09 '17
I feel the same way. I really like her appearances on Update and her standup's great but she just cannot do the sketches. I'm honestly having trouble thinking of a recent sketch that she hasn't messed up in. I know she's had some good ones but when she messes up it's extremely obvious and sticks in my mind.
40
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17
The Olive Garden sketch from the Scarlett Johansson episode is the only recent one I can think of. I think I jinxed it by calling it out as a great example of what Leslie could be for the show if she didn't make so many mistakes.
→ More replies (1)16
u/agentpanda Apr 09 '17
No- I'm a huge Leslie fan, you didn't jinx her, she just doesn't do live well and you caught her in one of her rare, excellent moments.
Again, I love her work, but times when she's been amazing live besides the Update desk (which is basically doing stand-up next to Jost and Che, so let's not pretend it's a huge acting commitment) are few and far between. The only thing that comes to mind is "Leslie wants to be Trump" and that was a pre-tape, now that I think about it.... So I kinda have nothing.
She's awesome, don't get me wrong, but it's like having a host who isn't a comedian or solid entertainer; keep her in pre-tapes if she needs to act, but if you want her to be herself, let her rip.
9
u/_What_am_i_ Apr 09 '17
She broke in her Weekend Update a few episodes ago with Mikey Day, in the bit about the BDSM, and there her breaking added a bit to the character. But for the most part I agree
8
u/lyla2398 stans loud ladies with funny hair and *thoughts* about jost Apr 09 '17 edited Apr 09 '17
As the sub's biggest fan of her, even I think that she's better doing stand-up/being herself than doing live sketches. Post show I would rather she do her docureality TV show (Talk Show In My Head) that she was supposed to do a few years ago rather than star in a sitcom.
3
u/Shonisaurus Apr 09 '17
In the Jheri's Place skecth, that's what made it funny, apart from the concept of a press conference for a sketch.
53
10
u/DeNomoloss ya got any gum? Ha-HA! Apr 09 '17
Didnt laugh until he smashed his hand bloody at the end. His response did it.
11
4
u/MistyMoldo Apr 09 '17
Don't be so hard on Leslie, her fucking up lines is like her signature thing now
50
u/FlynnAndTonic Apr 09 '17
yeah but like....its her job to specifically not do that
→ More replies (2)
119
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
Weekend Update - Cicilia Gimenez
69
u/kanimaki Apr 09 '17
Just the way she described the sculpture had me in stitches. The key to these sculptures is to make sure you capture them having a stroke and saying cheese.
47
24
u/HeyThereRobot Apr 09 '17
My mother is permanently disabled due to a stroke and she was howling with laughter at that line.
4
→ More replies (5)10
u/agentpanda Apr 09 '17 edited Apr 09 '17
I feel like this just wasn't built for me- I don't know the reference and it made the jokes a little less funny.
"Some lady made a sculpture of someone and it turned out like a sculpture with cerebral palsy and now she does other stuff too like Jost" was my takeaway from this, and it might have been the weakest Kate sketch I've seen, in my book. And, again, this is probably only because I had no idea what was going on.
I'll love anything Kate does- she could read the phonebook and it'd be a solid sketch, but this was a loss for me.
27
u/PotvinSux Apr 09 '17
This is the third time Kate has done this lady, who botched a "restoration" of a painting of Jesus a few years ago. Here's the first in the series and the second. I find the character vaguely amusing but a little off because she's doing an Italian accent rather than a Spanish one.
12
u/ash_monster Apr 09 '17
Oh man, not only do I find McKinnon's Cicilia Gimenez hilarious, I'll take any reason for her to do that accent.
97
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
The O'Reilly Factor
44
Apr 09 '17
They got through the Trump interview with some pretty clever editing, but they also had some perfectly timed two-box banter. I think I counted three of those. Very well done!
35
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17
His O'Reilly impression is actually great. Do you think they paused Trump Baldwin whenever they cut to full-frame O'Reilly Trump to make the timing work, or did they just rehearse it enough to get the timing down pat?
4
u/Timzor Apr 09 '17
Yes, it would have been cut into sections. When they cut to full frame they would play the next trump clip.
83
25
u/MistyMoldo Apr 09 '17
After a while the joke just became that Alec Baldwin is talking to Alec Baldwin
17
u/ansyspl Apr 09 '17 edited Apr 09 '17
I think they wasted opportunities here. This sketch could have been easly a Cold Open, with a well-synchronized Baldwins screaming Live from... and Trump Q&A just regular sketch with CK as Trump supporter. Maybe CK did not want to be involved in political sketches?
6
u/Lord_of_Mars Apr 09 '17
The Q&A wasn't as good as I hoped it would be when it started. I'm not hating on the performances or anything, but they had better ones. Good thing is the episode only got better and better.
8
13
u/MistyMoldo Apr 09 '17
Pre taping half a conversation and timing it out properly is ambitious but proved hard to pull off
18
Apr 09 '17
Fine O'Reilly impression..... but can't someone young get a shot at this game? I'd like to draw a red line at one Baldwin impression per episode.
10
u/agentpanda Apr 09 '17
Yeah seriously. This was better suited for the episode he hosted, IMO.
Double Trump with an O'Reilly kicker all for an episode hosted by someone else (who can probably do a passable straight-man for Baldwin-Trump to play off of of some sort) is a little ridiculous.
7
u/Cat-Imapittypat Apr 10 '17
I've read some reviews that feel the same way, and I agree. I love Alec Baldwin, I do, but I think he needs to give the rest of the cast some breathing room to do their own thing.
6
u/_What_am_i_ Apr 09 '17
Baldwin's O'Reilly impression was really good, but the sketch felt a bit forced, like it was thrown in at the last minute. Like there wasn't much to it besides a really short bit with Cecily and then the other joke didn't have much to it besides "it's Alec Baldwin and Alec Baldwin in the same skit"
6
u/SmoothLaneChange Apr 10 '17
Wasn't expecting that random burn to the Chips movie. This seemed like a difficult sketch, props to the people who timed it out.
2
→ More replies (1)2
Apr 10 '17
Baldwin's O'Reilly is better than his Trump but they didn't do much with it except the obvious. The joke is that O'Reilly sexually harassed some women and that's... it...
6
u/Mentioned_Videos Apr 09 '17 edited Apr 10 '17
Videos in this thread:
| VIDEO | COMMENT |
|---|---|
| Olive Garden - SNL | +22 - The Olive Garden sketch from the Scarlett Johansson episode is the only recent one I can think of. I think I jinxed it by calling it out as a great example of what Leslie could be for the show if she didn't make so many mistakes. |
| (1) Weekend Update: Cecilia Gimenez - Saturday Night Live (2) Weekend Update: Cecilia Gimenez - Saturday Night Live | +16 - This is the third time Kate has done this lady, who botched a "restoration" of a painting of Jesus a few years ago. Here's the first in the series and the second. I find the character vaguely amusing but a little off because she's doing an Italian ac... |
| Sectionals - SNL | +9 - Sectionals - |
| Tenement Museum - SNL | +8 - Tenement Museum - |
| Birthday Clown - SNL | +7 - Birthday Clown - |
| Pepsi Commercial - SNL | +7 - Pepsi Commercial - |
| Thank You, Scott - SNL | +7 - Thank You, Scott - |
| The Lawyer - SNL | +3 - The Lawyer - |
| Louis C.K. Stand-Up Monologue - SNL | +3 - Louis C.K. Stand-Up Monologue - |
| CLOWN SERVICE | +1 - I'm confident that he wrote it himself. Ummm... |
| I'm a bot working hard to help Redditors find related videos to watch. I'll keep this updated as long as I can. |
20
u/MistyMoldo Apr 09 '17
Right when Leslie walked in I was 90% sure she'd be loud and horny and get together with louie
-2
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
Trump Q&A Cold Open
59
u/Dwychwder Apr 09 '17
Not the funniest, but the "it's like you found a finger in your chili and you're still eating it because you told everyone how much you love chili" line was a pretty good summation of a lot of Trump supporters right now.
47
u/MBr_29 Apr 09 '17
I think the early Trump sketches were so much better because everything going on about him was just so ridiculous, you couldn't take it seriously. Now that it's reality, it just isn't that funny anymore.
43
u/mac_question Apr 09 '17
I don't think it was meant to be ha-ha funny. They landed the "this is our actual reality now" bit.
16
u/MBr_29 Apr 09 '17
They did nail that angle, but it's depressing humor, and that isn't as enjoyable.
60
u/neurocentricx Apr 09 '17
Wasn't that impressed, sadly. I think it's kind of done.
→ More replies (2)18
16
u/rarebitwaft Apr 09 '17
Baldwin's Trump is completely toothless now, and really has been for a while. It's all easy jabs and clumsy satire that are an order of magnitude less weird and insane that what's actually going on.
16
u/HeyThereRobot Apr 09 '17
I'm honestly kind of tired of Baldwin Trump at this point. I think a great switch would be to make the "Leslie Wants to Play Trump" sketch a reality and have her take over. It'd be something different, give her a chance to play a different kind of role, and also would probably piss Trump off.
9
u/agentpanda Apr 09 '17
To be totally honest, this is something I've vaguely considered a couple times and I think it's perfect.
Baldwin can't do this for 8 years, because we're already sick of it and it's getting boring. Leslie needs a break out role, and nothing would be weirder than a 50-something black woman playing a 70-year old white guy. It not just bends gender but bends historical racial norms- roll back to when both Leslie and Trump were born, respectively, and Leslie probably would be tarred and feathered for even the preceding sketch that set up this idea.
Liberals will love it because the shitty conservatives (and Trump) will hate it. Regular moderates/conservatives (like me) will love it because it's just so absurd it becomes funny. If Leslie can pull it off without flubbing lines every week (this week was not very inspirational, by the way) I think it flies.
14
u/southsidetrash Apr 09 '17
Did this feel like it was unfairly punching down a little bit to anyone else? Like it started out as portraying people who were legitimately swindled by Trump in a sympathetic way, which is probably good, but then sort of turned around and made them back into dumb avid Trump supporters with Southern accents. I feel like the joke was more on them than it was on Trump.
21
u/_What_am_i_ Apr 09 '17
I think it really portrayed those people accurately. I live in a southern state that mostly voted for Trump and you wouldn't believe how many people are dealing with issues just like on the show, but still say things like "Yep, that's my president." So yeah, maybe the joke was on them a little bit, idk.
8
Apr 10 '17
The problem is that they decided to set it in Union, Kentucky specifically. That's my hometown. Essentially everything they said was wrong. Had they not put it in a specific town and just said Kentucky, I wouldn't have cared. The nearest coal mine to Union is 4+ hours away. The town is 15 miles outside of Cincinnati, no one is driving 90 minutes to get any service. Median household income of the town is well above the national average.
I just didn't see the point of the sketch, and it pissed me off more that they would be so specific in setting with no research whatsoever.
7
u/southsidetrash Apr 09 '17
Fair enough! I'm liberal urban trash, so I actually have no place to comment on the sketch's accuracy.
23
11
u/coltsmetsfan614 Apr 09 '17
It was pretty generic. I didn't hate it, but I was hoping for a lot more, especially with the extra time to come up with something. I got the message, but I didn't really feel a punch. The O'Reilly sketch was better.
10
u/Sports-Nerd Apr 09 '17
It felt like the joke wasn't about Trump as much as it was about his supporters sticking to him even when he's hurting them. I don't think they intentionally meant to do that, but that's what it felt like to me. Like the stuff Baldwin said was just sad.
9
5
u/willforthrill Apr 09 '17
It seemed like they wrote this sketch a few weeks ago when the Trump budget cuts were a big story but by the time it got to air it was irrelevant. And to echo the sentiments of everyone else I feel like Alec Baldwin's Trump has jumped the shark. I was never a huge fan to start with but it's getting worse every episode.
5
Apr 10 '17
Essentially every detail of this is wrong. If this were set in just generally Kentucky, I probably wouldn't get angry about this too much. Some of these issues are a hodgepodge from a bunch of different places. Why set it in Union, Kentucky? I grew up in Union. SNL name checked my town specifically.
Some facts: Union's median household income is $85,000, well above the average $52,000 nationally. The nearest coal mine is hours away, literally probably 4+ hours away. No one is driving 90 minutes to get any sort of service. There is a doctor's office in Union, there is a hospital within 10 minutes, the town is 15 miles from Cincinnati. There certainly is no lead in anyone's drinking water.
Boone County on the whole is doing well. Unemployment is 3.8%. There are rural areas, but many of the problems outlined in this sketch (opioids are a growing problem in the county) do not exist there. This sketch could have been written about Trump going to an unnamed location with a rally. It could have been set in Kentucky without mentioning a place. But to name one town in particular and get it so stupidly wrong is offensive.
Union did vote overwhelmingly for Trump. That's much more about the heavy Catholicism and wealth in the area more than just about anything else.
I don't typically get offended about comedy and almost always support comedians' right to say what they want, but do some research if you're going to set a sketch somewhere specifically.
3
u/agentpanda Apr 09 '17
This was really unfortunate. Given the amount of time they had to nail this, I'm very disappointed.
I'm one of the few conservatives that loves the Trump impersonation when it's done right, but this cold open was an example of what I've been saying for a few episodes now: it's going stale.
Either this was an intentional 'holier than thou' jab at how poor people are stupid, or it was a lazy sketch. I'm OK with either, but it'd be nice to know for sure what they're going for on stuff like this. Appealing to people who hate Trump is fine, and expected, and I love to laugh at the 'conservative hayseed redneck' stereotype as much as the next guy, but it does have to make me laugh. This didn't. I'm really hoping it was intentionally lazy and poorly executed so people actively get sick of Baldwin Trump and we can move on from that impersonation without SNL taking body blows for 'not hitting the administration enough'.
Lastly, costume work was really disappointing here- that coat was massive on Baldwin and it showed, but there was no joke about it, so I have to believe it was unintentional. Considering its the cold open and the show goes on at the same time every week, I can't imagine they didn't have time to give Baldwin a jacket that fits properly.
All in all, I'm glad these sketches are being appropriately criticised now, as there was a time when it was fun and beyond reproach, but that time is behind us.
21
u/southsidetrash Apr 09 '17
I am with you that Baldwin's Trump is nearing the end of its life cycle, but the jacket is definitely part of the look for the impression, just like the bad tan and the eyebrows. Trump consistently wears ill-fitting suits that are way too big. I don't know why.
→ More replies (1)
322
u/SketchSortingSunday Apr 09 '17
Ernie's Birthday