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Entertainment

‘SNL’ lays into Biden for recent missteps – literal and otherwise

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This weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” poked fun at President Biden — about his stumbles on the stairs leading to Air Force One and on last week’s first news conference since taking office. 

“This week kinda felt like Biden on those stairs,” Weekend Update co-host Colin Jost joked about recent events while showing a photo of Biden tripping on the stairs at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland prior to a flight to Atlanta.

Jost also applauded Biden about “how well he breakdanced,” as a repeating video of the fall played to 1990s song “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now).” 

Fellow co-host Michael Che gave a “shoutout to Fixodent” after noting Biden’s news conference lasted more than an hour. 

DANA CARVEY DEBUTS SPOT-ON BIDEN IMPRESION ON ‘THE LATE SHOW’ 

“At the press conference, President Biden was asked if he plans to run for reelection in 2024,” Che said in a setup, “which is probably the nicest way to ask him if he plans to be alive in three years.” 

“Biden was asked if he plans to run for reelection in 2024, which is probably the nicest way to ask him if he plans to be alive in three years.” 

— SNL’s Michael Che

“Saturday Night Live” Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost, left, and Michael Che are seen Dec.12, 2020. (Will Heath/NBC)

The show also repeatedly joked about the “cheat sheets” Biden was seen using during his appearance before reporters, first with a graphic on Weekend Update that showed a notecard that said “You=Joe Biden.”

President Biden holds one of the ‘cheat sheets’ he was seen using during Thursday’s news conference at the White House. (Reuters)

“SNL” also couldn’t help but reminisce about some of former President Trump’s infamous speech notes like the one that read “I want nothing, I want nothing, I want no quid pro quo,” related to his first impeachment, which Jost said sounded like rap lyrics from “Legally Blonde: The Musical.” 

“Such a fun, solvable problem.”

— Kamala Harris (played by Maya Rudolph), talking about the border crisis

Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris, Oct. 10, 2020. (Will Heath/NBC)

Earlier, in a sketch where the president attended a Passover Seder hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph) and her husband Doug Emhoff (Martin Short), Biden (Alex Moffat) spoke about the critics who didn’t think he was “mentally prepared enough” for the news conference.

“I think I proved them all wrong,” he read slowly from a notecard.

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Harris also thanked Biden in the sketch for the opportunity to head the new administration’s response to the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Such a fun, solvable problem,” she said unconvincingly.

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Entertainment

SNL’s ‘Asian Cast Member’ Bowen Yang Sounds Off on Anti-Asian Racism

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Two years ago, Saturday Night Live added Bowen Yang as its first ever cast member of East Asian descent. The comedian has been a vital and hilarious part of the show ever since, but on “Weekend Update” this week, he demonstrated why it really matters that he’s there.

“Across the country, rallies are being held to condemn the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes,” Colin Jost told viewers. “Here to share resources on how you can help is Asian cast member Bowen Yang.”

As those words appeared below him on the screen, Yang asked, “Is that my official title, Asian Cast Member?” When Jost reminded him that that’s the introduction he requested, Yang joked, “Yeah, I set your ass up, it feels good.”

“So things for Asians in this country have been really bleak for the past two weeks… and all the weeks before that since forever,” Yang added. “But there’s a lot of work to do and I found some posts online with action items that everyone can take to help.” With that, he shared very specific memes like “Six Ways to Check in on Your AAPI Friends and Tell Them They’re So Hot” and “Call your senators and demand that they know about the lesbian characters in Sailor Moon!”

“What can I say to help how insanely bad things are? If someone’s personality is ‘punch an Asian grandma,’ it’s not a dialogue. I have an Asian grandma, you want to punch her. There ain’t no common ground, Mama.”

Yang’s main message to anyone watching was “do more.” If you’re ordering from Chinese restaurants, he said, “let me know when you feed your white kids chicken feet.”

“You cried during Minari?” he continued. “Congrats. I was sobbing into my boner for Steven Yeun. Do more. And why are you telling me that you tipped your manicurist well? Let me know when you get on your knees and scrub your feet while she looks at your phone. Do more!”

Later, Yang explained, “I’m just a comedian. I don’t have the answers. But I’m not just looking for them online, I’m looking around me. The GoFundMe for Xiao Zhen Xie, the grandmother who fought back against her attacker, raised $900,000, which she immediately gave back to the community. That’s where we are as Asians, now come meet us there.”

Sharing a Mandarin cheer that means “fuel up,” Yang said, “I don’t know what’s helpful to say to everyone, but that’s what I say to myself. Fuel up. Do more. It’s the year of the metal ox, which basically means a car. So everyone, get in, buckle up, it’s no pee breaks. We ride at dawn, grandmas!”

For more, listen and subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast.

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World

‘SNL’ takes rare jabs at Biden, liberals in ‘Weekend Update’ segment

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“Saturday Night Live” took some rare jabs at liberals and Joe Biden during its “Weekend Update” segment. 

After weeks of facing criticism for seemingly ignoring the Biden administration, the parody news segment of the show managed to get a few shots in about the 46th president as well as his liberal supporters on Saturday’s show. 

Hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che got the ball rolling by sharing the news that the House of Representatives had passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package late Friday night. 

“Just like me when I’m drunk, Congress decided to spend a bunch of money at 2:30 in the morning,” Jost began. “They passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill and Republicans are calling it a ‘liberal wish list.'”

‘SNL’ JABS AT CUOMO, NEWSOM, WHITMER IN FAUCI-HOSTED CORONAVIRUS GAME-SHOW SKETCH

He added: “I don’t know, I think a liberal wish list would be avocado toast with Chrissy Teigen, free college for pets and a hip-hop musical about Anderson Cooper starring Lin-Manuel Miranda.”

‘Saturday Night Live’ took a few jabs at the left during its ‘Weekend Update’ segment.
(Will Heath/NBC)

Although the hosts seemingly don’t often mock the left, Jost then joked about Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has opposed increasing the federal minimum wage.

“Because over the years, Graham has come to love the taste of fast food-worker spit,” Jost said.

Che took the reins next, chiding the left again by referencing another minimum wage critic, Republican Sen. John Thune.

“Sen. John Thune said he opposed the $15 minimum wage because he used to get by on $6 an hour when he was a young man,” Che began. “But that was like 40 years ago when rent was like a dollar and everybody had one porno tape. This is why Democrats never get stuff done. You keep leaving it to a vote and taking ‘no’ for an answer. When Republicans lose a vote, they storm the capital. Why can’t y’all get that mad? Say what you will about a guy in a Viking helmet taking a dump in Nancy Pelosi’s desk, but he will not be ignored!”

‘WEEKEND UPDATE’ HOSTS MOCK SEN. TED CRUZ AFTER HE ‘ABANDONED TEXAS’ FOR CANCUN TRIP

Che also roasted Biden for his plan to increase coronavirus vaccine turnout in Black communities by turning more churches into vaccination sites.

“I’m sure Biden means well, but that is such an old white guy idea,” the comedian said, shaking his head. “You know that idea started with the words ‘Hey, you know what those people love?'”

Keeping the political comedy ball rolling, Jost also mocked Sen. Ted Cruz and former President Donald Trump, who will speak at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday.

“For a preview of Trump’s speech, give your grandpa cocaine,” Jost said of what will be Trump’s first public speech since leaving office on Jan. 20.

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He also noted that Cruz also spoke at CPAC. In his speech, he made light of his recent political dust-up that saw him criticized for taking a vacation to Cancun in Mexico with his family while people in his state endured a deadly storm that left millions without power. 

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“Yeah, no, stop,” Jost said after a clip of the speech played. “You don’t do that. No, you are not in on the joke. It is not for you to enjoy.”

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Entertainment

‘SNL’ vaccine game show features Cecily Strong’s Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

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Cecily Strong brought back her Gov. Gretchen Whitmer character — and gave a cameo to a popular Michigan beer — during a “Saturday Night Live” skit about the COVID-19 vaccine.

This weekend’s edition of “SNL” opened with “So You Think You Can Get The Vaccine,” a game show hosted by Dr. Anthony Fauci (as played by “SNL” regular Kate McKinnon).

The premise? Instead of vying for a new car or a cash prize, contestants had to compete to qualify for a shot. The judges were three newsworthy governors: Strong’s Whitmer, New York’s Andrew Cuomo (Pete Davidson) and California’s Gavin Newsom (Alex Moffat).

The sketch was peppered with references to the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor that was revealed by the FBI last fall.

After being introduced by McKinnon’s Fauci as the governor who narrowly avoided being abducted by a group of men “whose fingerprints probably had Cheetos dust on them,” Strong’s Whitmer said it was an honor to appear with Cuomo and Newsom.

“People yell at them about their policies, and they yell at me, ‘Get her!’ But, hey, that’s life,” she said.

The first contestant (Heidi Gardner) entered wearing a University of Michigan sweatshirt and at one point shouted, “Go Wolverines!”  She announced she had voted for Whitmer, then clarified, “I voted for you to get kidnapped, but still.”

Other contestants included a young woman in an old lady disguise (Ego Nwodim), U.S Sen. Ted Cruz (played by Aidy Bryant), and an 85-year-old former Army doctor (Mikey Day), who won the approval of the judges, but had no idea how to go online and book an appointment.

More: Gov. Whitmer sends Bell’s beer care package to ‘SNL’ star Cecily Strong

More: Trial postponed until October for 5 men in alleged Gov. Whitmer kidnapping plot

The highlight for Michigan beer aficionados, however, was the appearance of Bell’s Oberon Ale. At one point, Strong’s Whitmer took a sip from a bottle with the distinctive turquoise-and-gold label of the seasonal brew. 

Back in April 2020, Strong introduced her Whitmer impression during an unaired “SNL” skit that was posted online. Standing outside and wearing a parka, she vented her frustration at protests against her COVID-19 safety measures and sipped from a Canadian brew, saying, “Yeah, I’m nursing a Labatt’s.”

In response, Whitmer sent Strong some Michigan beers and gifts from the Comstock-based Bell’s Brewery, the biggest indie craft brewery in the state. Included was a pack of Bell’s Oberon Ale, which is available from March through August.

Could this mean that the bottle on “SNL” was a gift from Whitmer? Only Strong — or the NBC show’s prop crew — knows for sure.

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.

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US

‘SNL’ roasts Cuomo over nursing home scandal, Cruz for Cancun flap

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Even Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s character on “Saturday Night Live” couldn’t bring himself to properly apologize for the scandal over New York’s nursing home death scandal.

The unapologetic governor was played by Pete Davidson in the late-night comedy show’s latest episode, appearing alongside Aidy Bryant as embattled Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

The pair of pols were both supposed to apologize to Chloe Fineman’s Britney Spears on a show called “Oops, You Did It Again” — with Cuomo’s notorious rage instead replacing any regrets.

Davidson’s Cuomo initially even tried to ignore the nursing home scandal entirely, pretending he thought he was on the show for the “exciting” news that “indoor dining is back in New York!”

After being admonished by Spears, Davidson’s Cuomo finally looked downcast as he conceded, “It’s because of the … nursing home stuff.”

He then insisted inaccurate reporting of seniors’ COVID-19 deaths in New York was no different than “what happens at Disney World” — suggesting the theme parks “move the bodies” to pretend that people who die on rides actually passed outside the park.

“So we just did the Disney thing,” the fake Cuomo said innocently.

Pulled up again by Spears, the fake Cuomo eventually did what the real one seems unable to do and apologized, albeit it angrily.

“Yeah. I said I was sorry!” he barked — before snapping into a rage at the mention of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s name.

“What did that bird b—h say about me?” he asked, saying he would “bury him in the tallest grave this city has ever seen.” 

“I’m sorry, OK,” he told Spears. “I get a little angry now and then — and always.”

He even got angry when Cruz — who had appeared happy about his own scandal of jetting off to Mexico during his state’s blackout crisis — tried to compare them as “both strong misunderstood men.” 

“Do not associate yourself with me. We are not the same. I am a man, you are a clown,” Davidson’s Cuomo snapped. 

“If you mess with me, I will send you to a clown hospital. And when you die, I will not count your body,” he warned.

Bryant’s Cruz had walked into the show’s set with beads in his hair and wearing a “Cancun Family Vacation 2021” T-shirt, carrying a tropical drink in one hand and pulling a rolling suitcase with the other.

“Hola everyone. I’m not tan — I just cried myself red over my fellow Texans. And that’s why I drink in their honor,” he said with a smile.

“I’m in a little bit of hot water, which I am told is a thing no one in Texas has,” Bryant’s Cruz told Spears.

“I deeply regret my actions over the last couple of days … most flying United,” he joked. “I’m sorry — I am pretty bad at human stuff,” he said of his lame joke.

Asked about being dubbed a coward for abandoning his home state during its historic crisis, the pretend Cruz said, “Yeah, a ‘coward’ is actually the nicest word I heard.” 

Cuomo was not the only guest furious at Cruz trying to liken himself to them, with axed “Mandalorian” star Gina Carano — played by Cecily Strong — calling him “coach” to her “first class.”

“If you compare yourself to me, I will blast you to the farthest desert of Tatooine,” the pretend Carano told Cruz — just for him to reply, “Anything to get out of Texas.”

Carano insisted she had nothing to apologize for over her social media posts that compared the plight of modern-day conservatives with Jews in Nazi Germany.

“I never would have made that Nazi comparison if I had known everyone was going to be a Nazi about it,” the pretend Carano replied.

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Entertainment

On ‘S.N.L.’, Fictional Britney Spears Seeks Apologies From Cruz, Cuomo and Carano

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It has been a memorable week or so for public figures committing misdeeds, and “Saturday Night Live” gave a few of them a forum to apologize on a fictional talk show called “Oops, You Did It Again,” hosted by the relatively blameless Britney Spears.

This week’s broadcast, hosted by the “Bridgerton” star Regé-Jean Page and featuring the musical guest Bad Bunny, began as the cast member Chloe Fineman, playing Spears, reminded viewers that they knew her “from my upbeat Instagram videos and the word ‘conservatorship.’”

She added that she now had a show in which “people could come on and apologize for things they’ve done wrong, because after the ‘Free Britney’ documentary came out, I’m receiving hundreds of apologies a day.”

Her first guest was Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, played by Aidy Bryant in braided hair, bluejeans and a Cancún family vacation T-shirt. Holding up a frothy beverage, Bryant unconvincingly explained that she wasn’t actually tan — “I just cried myself red over my fellow Texans, and that’s why I drink in their honor,” she said.

Bryant added that she was “in a little bit of hot water, which I’m told is a thing no one in Texas has.” If her apology was falling short, she said, “I’m sorry, I’m pretty bad at human stuff.”

The show’s next guest was Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, played by Pete Davidson. Davidson first asked the audience if it had welcomed him “because indoor dining is back in New York,” then sheepishly acknowledged: “All right, I know. It’s because of the nursing home stuff.”

Asked to elaborate, Davidson added: “Some of the people who died in the nursing homes were not counted as nursing home deaths, they were counted as hospital deaths. Which is basically what happens at Disney World, OK? People die and they move the bodies. They say, ‘Oh, I guess Brenda died in the parking lot, not on the teacups.’”

Told that Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York thought he should be investigated, Davidson lashed out: “I will bury him in the tallest grave this city has ever seen,” he said.

The third and final guest was Gina Carano, the former “Mandalorian” star who was fired by Disney, played in the sketch by Cecily Strong.

Though Strong denied that she had done anything wrong, Fineman reminded her that she had shared an Instagram post that compared American politics to Nazi Germany.

“I never would have made that Nazi comparison if I’d known everybody was going to be such a Nazi about it,” Strong said.

When Bryant’s Cruz tried to sympathize with her, Strong brushed her off: “I am strong and you are a pile of soup,” she said.

“S.N.L.” was generous this week when it came to acknowledging actors who are new to the pop-cultural firmament, including its host, Page (whose period romance “Bridgerton” was satirized in this somewhat bawdy sketch that aired late in the night). Earlier in the evening, in a sendup of actors’ round tables hosted by Ego Nwodim, Page appeared as the actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, who plays Malcolm X in “One Night in Miami.” Chris Redd played the “Judas and the Black Messiah” star Daniel Kaluuya.

The recreations of those actors and their award-grabbing movies were pretty spotless. The jokes, however, were mostly about having Nwodim’s character fawn over the actors’ British accents (and about Kenan Thompson as Ice Cube, whose efforts to pass himself off as British didn’t go quite so smoothly).

Nwodim returned for some well-deserved screen time in this slickly produced music video, playing a nightclub patron whose fantasy that she is hitting it off with a handsome fellow reveler (Page) gives way to the reality that she has, in fact, spent the last year living under lockdown in her apartment and gradually lost her mind. (Hence the song title, “Loco.”)

As Nwodim raps in the video: “I’m loco, as in my brain done broke-o / But hey, you either laugh or you cry like ‘Coco.’” Her few acquaintances include Davidson (who has gone so crazy in his own quarantine that he understands the movie “Tenet”) and Bad Bunny (as a singing houseplant).

Over at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che continued to riff on Cruz’s canceled Cancún vacation and the winter weather crisis in Texas.

Jost began:

Well, if you hate Ted Cruz, this was a pretty fun week. And if you like Ted Cruz, then you’re Ted Cruz. Senator Cruz, whose face is slowly being reclaimed by nature, said that his decision to go on a family vacation to Cancun during Texas’s weather emergency was obviously a mistake. As was the tattoo he got there. [At that moment, a satirical photo appeared behind Jost of a lower-back tattoo of a leaping dolphin.]

Jost continued:

Cruz initially released a statement saying he only went on vacation because his daughters made him go. And if you think it was bad to throw his daughters under the bus, Cruz would like you to know that that statement was his wife’s idea. I just love that after he abandoned Texas, he came back in a Texas flag mask like nothing happened. That’s like Jared and Ivanka walking down Fifth Avenue in “I Love New York” shirts.

Che picked up on the riff, adding:

Cruz would have returned from Mexico even sooner but it took him, like, 40 minutes to get out of a hammock. This week’s massive winter storm caused millions of Texans to lose power. It was the most snow seen in Texas since Michael Irvin’s Super Bowl party. Many Texans are without heat and clean water after pipes froze in the extreme cold. “Boy, this kind of thing would never happen in New York,” said people who have never lived in the projects.

Davidson returned to the Weekend Update desk for the latest in his series of personal monologues, this one about the impact of having spent Valentine’s Day in lockdown. As Davidson explained, it was “the first time being alone wasn’t my fault.” And, he said, after watching the “Saving Britney” documentary with his mother, he had to move out of the house that they share in Staten Island.

With mock chagrin, Davidson said: “My mom has way more of a case to take over my finances than Britney’s dad ever did. I was like: ‘Wait, she can do that? And she hasn’t? Doesn’t she love me?’ All Britney did was shave her head. I got a life size tattoo of the Tootsie Pop owl.”

Davidson added: “My mom is a lot like this show. No matter what I do, I’m never asked to leave. Also, they’re both really old and noticeably fatigued.”



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Entertainment

‘Bridgerton’ star Regé-Jean Page hosts ‘SNL’ and Twitter melts down: ‘The thirst is real’

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Regé-Jean Page came to play — and to smolder — in his inaugural Saturday Night Live hosting gig. The breakout Bridgerton star capitalized on the success of Netflix’s blockbuster period romance, which is officially the most successful show in the streaming service’s history, with a lively sketch comedy debut that had viewers applauding and hearts fluttering. And the British-Zimbabwean actor leaned into his sex symbol status. “People associate me with being this smoldering, sensual smokeshow,” he said in his monologue, which was frequently interrupted by the passionate cheers of devoted fans. “But I assure you, I’m just a regular guy.” Sure… a regular guy who knows how to expertly seduce the camera.

Page was joined onstage by his “personal liaisons” Aidy Bryant and Ego Nwodim, as well as Chloe Fineman, who arrived in her Regency-era finest to play his Bridgerton co-lead — and rumored real-life love interest — Phoebe Dynevor. And the performers couldn’t hide their own love for the brooding, beautiful Duke he plays on TV, even though he kept insisting otherwise. “I’m nothing like my character — I’m actually quite shy,” Page said, just before striking another smoldering pose as the SNL band cranked up the sexy music.

Bryant and Nwodim went on to cite their favorite scenes from the series… most of which featured the host and “extremely hot sex man” in various stages of undress. And, once again, the audience expressed their extreme appreciation for his commitment to the role. Page repaid them with one final bit of romantic flair, crooning the Righteous Brothers favorite “Unchained Melody,” with Ghost-level energy. “I’m happy to play the Duke: I’ve been around for awhile, though,” Page said afterwards. “I was in Roots, I’ve played high-flying lawyers. Yet somehow people just want me to be this guy who says, ‘I burn for you.'” After she found her voice again, Fineman spoke for the Studio 8H audience by saying, “Yeah, I mean why would anyone want you to do that?”

It’s safe to say that Twitter was vibing big time on Page’s energy.

And the love for Page didn’t dissipate after that smoldering monologue: many noted how the SNL writing staff gave him multiple opportunities to show off his range beyond being the handsomest guy in the room. In fact, the obligatory Bridgerton sketch was saved for the end of the show… which was just as well since it was also the weakest skit of the night. Whether he was singing sea shanties, wearing a face shield or discussing Taylor Swift, Page had the audience in the palm of his hand. After tonight, his career is officially on fire.

Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. on NBC

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US

Twitter users trash SNL for ignoring Cuomo’s nursing home scandal: ‘Was it too easy?’

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Social media users criticized “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend for glossing over the massive nursing home scandal embroiling New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, choosing instead to mock his appearance and COVID-19 reopening guidelines.

The Weekend Update hosts referenced the New York Democrat twice in the segment, but made no mention of the mounting allegations that his office deliberately covered up thousands of deaths in nursing home facilities throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Host Michael Che compared Cuomo to the “real-life model” for Moe Syslack, referring to the bartender character in “The Simpsons,” while describing New York’s expansion of its COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include those with underlying conditions.

SNL MOCKS ‘DUMBEST IMPEACHMENT TRIAL’ AFTER TRUMP ACQUITTED AGAIN

“New Yorkers will have to provide documentation of their condition and answer medical questions like, ‘Whats-a-matter, you?'” Che said.

Co-host Colin Jost also took aim at Cuomo’s plan to reopen sports stadiums to allow 10 percent of fans.

“Gov. Cuomo also announced that he would allow sporting venues to open starting Feb. 23rd but limit them to 10 percent capacity — better known as Jets level,” Jost said.

Twitter users were quick to point out the segment’s glaring omission of the New York Post bombshell report alleging that Cuomo’s office deliberately covered up thousands of COVID-19 nursing home deaths for fear that the data could “be used against us.”

“Wow, two jokes on SNL about COVID and Cuomo but zero about the cover up. Wow. What, was it too easy?,” one Twitter user wrote.

“Super cute how SNL weekend update brought up Governor Cuomo twice and not the thirteen thousand disabled people he murdered,” another tweeted.

The Post reported that Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, told leading Empire State Democrats during a video conference call last week that the administration misrepresented the true number of deaths to DOJ investigators over fears that the data could “be used against us.”

The DOJ began investigating nursing home coronavirus deaths in four states in August – New York among them.

“We were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we give to you guys, what we start saying, was going to be used against us while we weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation,” DeRosa told the lawmakers, according to the Post report.

Cuomo refused for months to release data on how the pandemic has hit nursing home residents, instead pointing to figures more favorable to his administration.

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The state was recently forced to acknowledge that the nursing home resident death toll reached nearly 15,000, after previously reporting 8,500 – a number that excluded residents who died after being taken to hospitals. The new toll amounts to about one-seventh of the people living in nursing homes as of 2019 in New York.



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US

‘S.N.L.’ Imagines a Victory Lap After Trump’s Acquittal

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Within hours of the Senate’s vote to acquit former President Donald J. Trump on a charge of inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, “Saturday Night Live” was imagining how some of Trump’s Republican allies in the Senate might be celebrating in a parody episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

Alex Moffat played that Fox News host, who compared himself to a human White Claw and started his broadcast with what he called “a loose collection of scaremongering non sequiturs.” Among them, “Is AOC hiding in your house right now?” and “Pixar: Is it making our kids depressed or gay? Pick one.”

The program’s first guest was Senator Lindsey Graham (Kate McKinnon), who said that it was “a great day for 30 percent of America.”

In defense of Trump, McKinnon said, “Just because the rioters were yelling ‘Fight for Trump’ doesn’t mean they meant Donald Trump. Could’ve been some real Tiffany heads. Maybe even some Eric stans, I don’t know. But regardless, the trial is over and now we can move past this and focus on the serious issues. That’s locking up Hillary and freeing beautiful Britney Spears.”

McKinnon added that she didn’t understand the contempt directed at Trump. “He is smart, he is nice, he’s in shape,” she said. “Last fall he died of Covid and didn’t even tell nobody.”

Playing Senator Ted Cruz, Aidy Bryant discussed the relationship between Republican senators and Trump’s legal counsel. “Like any impartial juror,” she said, “we took it upon ourselves to meet with the defense lawyers, to give them some very simple advice: stop, and don’t.”

Inside the Senate chamber, Mikey Day played Trump’s tongue-tied lawyer Bruce L. Castor Jr., who apologized as he misidentified himself as the lead prosecutor, the bailiff and a bridesmaid. Pete Davidson, who played his truculent fellow defense lawyer Michael van der Veen, said he was in a hurry to complete the proceedings because he had “already bought a nonrefundable train ticket back to Phillyvania, Pennsadelphia.”

The final guest was the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett), who, despite denouncing Trump, said that his not guilty vote was justified “because everyone knows you cannot impeach a former president.”

“That’s why we should have impeached him before, back when I said we couldn’t,” he said. “I think he’s guilty as hell, and the worst person I ever met and I hope every city, county and state locks his ass up.”

Bennett then exhaled a long breath and declared, “God, that felt good. I’ve been holding that inside my neck for four years.”

Asked what he would now do in the Senate, Bennett replied, “I plan to reach my hand across the aisle and then yank it back and slide it across my hair and then say, ‘Too slow.’”

If you can afford a trendy Peloton exercise bike but have no interest in the relentlessly upbeat motivational messages from its onscreen product, “S.N.L.” may have a product that’s more your speed. It’s the Pelotaunt, which in this advertisement is billed as “the only exercise bike that provides you with personalized, at-home negative reinforcement and relentless criticism.”

Among its many modes of emotional manipulation are snotty disdain, insincere praise and avoidant attachment style. And if none of those settings gets you into shape, why not try a workout accompanied by the theme from “Curb Your Enthusiasm” or video of “an elderly woman who’s like 1,000 times better than you”?

Who among us has not required the intervention of a plastic surgeon after using an extremely powerful adhesive as a substitute for hair spray? It happened in real life to Tessica Brown, who became an unfortunate viral sensation when she pasted her pate with Gorilla Glue.

Now, should any of us make the same mistake, we have the law firm of Denzel and Latrice Commode (Kenan Thompson and Regina King), who can’t fix our hair but may be able to help us win large cash settlements. As King explained, “Fact: Every day as many as one people fall victim to using Gorilla Glue in place of a beauty product. And they deserve compensation.” She added that, though the odds may be tough, these attorneys understand what they’re up against. “We know it’s going to be hard taking a gorilla to court and suing him over his glue,” she said.

Over at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che continued to riff on Trump’s impeachment acquittal.

Jost started:

Like so many other men living in Florida, Donald Trump has once again escaped from justice. This has to be the dumbest trial I’ve ever seen. Here’s how dumb it was: The jurors, who are deciding the case, were the ones attacked by defendant. The trial took place at the scene of the crime. And then right after the trial ended, one of the jurors who voted to acquit Trump ran out and said, “Someone’s got to prosecute this guy. He did it. This man belongs in jail.” What are you going to do? If you’re going to impeach the president for anything, don’t you think it’s sending a mob to kill the Vice President? I feel bad for Pence — 43 of his work friends were like, oh come on, Mike, they only tried to hang you. Stop being such a drama queen. I think it would be hilarious if Biden now sent rioters back into the Capitol. And he was like, What? You guys said it was fine.

Che continued:

During Donald Trump’s impeachment, House managers showed security footage of Capitol rioters violently attacking police. But here’s a little Black history lesson for you: Just because there’s video evidence doesn’t mean you’re going to get a conviction.

Jost then added:

Video evidence of the violence on January 6 showed that Senator Mitt Romney and Vice President Pence both had close calls with rioters. So let me get this straight: You’re a white supremacist mob and you go after these guys? The two whitest guys I could think of? They make me look like Ice-T.

No one right now would seem to have it easier or better than Tom Brady, the NFL quarterback who won his record-setting seventh Super Bowl last weekend in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after leaving his longtime home with the New England Patriots.

But, as portrayed by Bennett at the Weekend Update desk, Brady is a drunken, slurring, Vince Lombardi Trophy-tossing muddle who variously boasts of his successes and taunts his old Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick (“You hear that, Bill? You’re not my dad anymore!”) As Bennett explained in a moment of self-loathing, “My problem is nobody likes me. I don’t know what I did so wrong. All I did was go out and win the Super Bowl. I kept thinking, maybe I get one more trophy and people are going to like me. Nope. They don’t talk about the wins. They just talk about how I kiss my sons.”



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LA Times pans ‘SNL’ for ‘remarkably weak’ first show of Biden era: ‘Maybe Trump did kill satire’

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Critics are panning “Saturday Night Live” for what they described as its “remarkably weak” return to the airwaves following a six-week hiatus that encompassed a chaotic news cycle. 

Viewers who tuned into the long-running NBC sketch comedy show noticed that Saturday’s episode largely avoided mocking President Biden after spending the past four years ridiculing former President Donald Trump, played by Alec Baldwin. 

Los Angeles Times TV critic Lorraine Ali pulled no punches with a review headlined, “Maybe Trump did kill satire: ‘SNL’ kicks off Biden era in remarkably weak form.”

Ali opened her review with the question: “What will late-night comedy do without Trump?” Judging by the late night mainstay’s first episode since the 45th president left office, Ali answered, “the future looks … uninspired.”

‘SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’ CRITICS SAY SHOW AVOIDED JOE BIDEN, KAMALA HARRIS IN FIRST SHOW OF 2021

“After a monthlong break, the show struggled to find its footing and seemed woefully outpaced by a world that’s changed drastically since the venerable sketch comedy, now in its 46th season, was last on the air in December,” Ali wrote. “Despite all the grist — an astounding U.S. Capitol insurrection, Kim and Kanye’s split, Bernie Sanders’ inauguration mittens meme, QAnon idiots in fur, vaccine roll-out blunders, GameStop goofballs gaming Wall Street — host John Krasinski and the cast were given little to nothing to work with by ‘SNL’s’ writers.”

She added, “If Trump has had one victory in the last month, it may be that ‘SNL’ suddenly seems lost without him. The big orange beacon of ridicule has left the building, and where’s the joy in poking fun at Biden … or Vice President Kamala Harris … when all there is to work with so far is an aggressively normal inauguration and civil daily news briefings … ‘SNL’ will have to widen its scope again, because wringing humor out of the White House is never going to be as easy as it has been the last four years.”

The Atlantic staff writer David Sims was just as critical, calling the return of “SNL” following a busy six weeks “the equivalent of a giant shrug,” positing that the show “doesn’t have the energy” to tackle current events head-on and knocking the “limp political humor.”

“The show is clearly entering a transitional period toward a sillier, less overtly political approach, with this strange season serving as an awkward bridge,” Sims wrote.

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Vanity Fair contributor Karen Valby led her review by writing, ” I don’t remember Donald Trump’s name being spoken once on last night’s SNL. Which is awesome—except that so much still sucks,”

Valby went on to suggest that part of the problem was host John Krasinski, writing that show apparently “didn’t know what to do with an apple pie of a guy who’s built like a Biff.”

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