‘SNIDE’ HIT ON ‘SNL’
Rob disses Baldwin’s Trump, and show’s politics
ROB SCHNEIDER thinks politics is stepping on “Saturday Night Live’s” punchline. The late-night comedy show alumnus, who is filming his third season of the Netflix sitcom “Real Rob,” said the anti-Trump skits — especially the ones with Alec Baldwin — “spoil” the show’s comic surprise.
“The fun of ‘Saturday Night Live’ was always you never knew which way they leaned politically,” Schneider told the Daily News.
“You kind of assumed they would lean more left and liberal, but now the cat’s out of the bag that they are completely against Trump, which I think makes it less interesting because you know the direction dthe piece is going.”
The 54-year-old San Francisco native, who was part of the show’s cast in the 1990s that included Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, David Spade and Adam Sandler, says the show today is no different in some ways.
Yet when it comes to politics, they are too obviously “showing their hand” by consistently bashing President Trump and Republicans.
Schneider compares Baldwin’s visceral portrayal of Trump to that of Carvey, who impersonated President George H.W. Bush on the show more than 30 times between 1987 and 2000.
“Carvey played it respectfully,” Schneider said. “To me, the genius of Dana Carvey was Dana always had empathy for the people he played, and Alec Baldwin has nothing but a fuming, seething anger toward the person he plays.”
Schneider said Baldwin is “hard to watch” as Trump because his political slant is obvious by a quick glimpse at his Twitter account.
“Alec Baldwin is a brilliant actor…he’s not a comedian,” Schneider said.
“I don’t find his impression to be comical,” he added. “Because, like I said, I know the way his politics lean and it spoils any surprise. There’s no possible surprise. He so clearly hates the man he’s playing.”
A Democrat for most of his life, Schneider recently became an Independent.
He confronts a shifting political climate as he regularly performs stand-up, including upcoming gigs in Portland, Ore., Jacksonville, Fla., and Nashville, Tenn.
He’s also been accompanying his dear old friend Sandler on his comedy tour, which was filmed for an upcoming Netflix special at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark this week.
He enjoys finding humor in making fun of liberals so they can find the “hypocrisy” in their actions — something Schneider says has become increasingly difficult in today’s “PC” culture.
“I make fun of the Republicans too,” he told The News. “I think attacking immigrants is ignorant. Immigrants are what make America great.” The second season of “Real Rob” stars his real-life wife Patricia Azarcoya, who’s from Mexico, and their 5-year-old daughter, Miranda, who was raised bilingual.
Schneider said the future of entertainment is narcissism, so why not do the most “real” thing he could think of by pulling stories from his actual life.
The comedian did not say if he supports Trump, referring to himself as a centrist.
But he thinks the Trump-bashing is counterproductive — and could undermine the President’s success.
“Nothing good can come from making Trump nervous,” Schneider continued. “It’s like asking Bill Cosby to top off your drink.”