Tag: maya rudolph
Tina Fey dashes our ‘Golden Girls’ reboot dreams
CBS just renewed a ton of shows. Was your favorite among them?
John Mulaney and Kamala Harris deliver a ‘Saturday Night Live’ that is one for the ages
Saturday Night Live
John Mulaney & Chappell Roan
November 2, 2024
The wonderful John Mulaney has hosted Saturday Night Live six times in the past six years. In fact, since 2018, he’s become a staple, usually hosting once a season in what will be one of the strongest episodes of that particular season (if not THE strongest). But it’s not all laughs: Mulaney has been through some shit in those 6 years — a relapse into drugs and booze, a divorce, a stint in rehab, and all the humiliation associated with all of that happening in the public eye. But Mulaney also bounced back, and stronger than before: he’s now a father of two, newly married to a woman he stood by through a cancer scare, and with a career that withstood all of those stresses.
And that is why, even if Saturday Night Live didn’t intend it, Mulaney was the perfect person to host the show on this particular Election Eve — in some ways, he represents the country itself. Like John, 2020 and 2021 were rough years for our nation: a pandemic, an economic crisis, a volatile election, an attempted coup — there were times we weren’t sure we were going to make it out the other side. But we fought through and came out changed: and like Mulaney, better than before, with the strongest economy in decades, unemployment at the lowest rates in memory, and our country in (relative) peace times.
I’m not entirely sure where I’m going with this, except to say that I hope Mulaney and our country maintain that sense of optimism, that we keep making good decisions every day, and that we all stay on track. I guess our country, at least, will find out whether or not we choose to on Tuesday.
Oh, and also? This is just a fantastic episode, start to finish.
Michael Keaton Beetlejuice’s his way into a so-so ‘Saturday Night Live’
Saturday Night Live
Michael Keaton and Billie Eilish
October 19, 2024
Michael Keaton is 73 years old, only a year or two younger than my own parents but that’s neither here nor there except to say that he’s one of our acting treasures and I’m glad he’s having a moment with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and he looks great for his age and that he was not the thing that dragged down this episode.
What I am saying is that SNL has run for four weeks in a row, which, at least in recent years, is not the norm (it’s usually 3 episodes on, 1 off); and maybe the writing staff needed a break. (I’m guessing the idea was to be off the week before Halloween so that they could be on both the week before and after Election Day.)
ANYWAY. Michael Keaton, who has hosted in 1982; 1992; 2015; and now in 2024, wasn’t the problem: he was nimble and funny and game. The problem lay more in the writing and the concepts of the sketches that fell short. Hopefully, everyone gets a nice week off and comes back refreshed ahead of the MOST TERRIFYING ELECTION SEASON OF OUR LIVES.
No pressure.
Continue reading “Michael Keaton Beetlejuice’s his way into a so-so ‘Saturday Night Live’”
Ariana Grande sings her way through a strong ‘Saturday Night Live’
Saturday Night Live
Ariana Grande & Stevie Nicks
October 12, 2024
Ariana Grande is no stranger to Saturday Night Live, despite this only being her second time to host, the first time being some 8 years ago in 2016. She’s been the musical guest twice, and both of those times, she appeared in sketches. But here’s the thing: even though I shouldn’t be, I’m always surprised at how comically gifted she is. In my mind, Grande is first and foremost a pop diva with questionable taste in men. I always somehow manage to forget that she got her start on Nickelodeon comedies just like Saturday Night Live‘s most reliable player, Kenan Thompson. Ariana Grande’s been doing comedy since she was a literal child; of course she has good comic timing.
All of that is to say that Grande hosted a very solid episode this week. While the majority of her sketches put her in her comfort zone by having her sing (sometimes deliberately poorly), Grande was just as good — maybe even better — in sketches where she didn’t belt out a single note. Grande is a talented host who should be invited back more often, especially now that Pete Davidson is no longer in the cast.
Continue reading “Ariana Grande sings her way through a strong ‘Saturday Night Live’”
Watch ’60 Minutes’ drag Former President Poltroon for being too chickenshit to be on their show
Nate Bargatze makes his triumphant return to ‘Saturday Night Live’
Saturday Night Live
Nate Bargatze &
October 5, 2024
Here’s an SNL fact that will forever stay in your brain and kick out your grandmother’s birthday or the name of your first friend in elementary school: since 2010 (so 300+ episodes), Nate Bargatze is only the 9th person to be asked back within a year of their first time hosting SNL. Despite not being a household name when he hosted last season, Bargatze had an impressive debut, wowing even cynical viewers with his great timing and every-guy delivery.
That said, he’s still not familiar to most people:
Post by @underthedesknewsView on Threads
Hopefully this episode, which was a solid outing (if not quite as great as his debut) will make him a more familiar face to more of America, because he certainly deserves it.
Continue reading “Nate Bargatze makes his triumphant return to ‘Saturday Night Live’”
What was your favorite moment of the first night of the Democratic National Convention?
