‘Saturday Night Live’ back with room to improve
It’s time for “Saturday Night Live” to step it up.
The venerable late-night comedy show returns for its 43rd season Saturday, Sept. 30, fresh off of winning six Emmy Awards, riding a ratings and cultural resurgence in the wake of Donald Trump winning the White House.
Great, swell, well deserved, whatever.
Now get better.
Why? After all, every new episode last season, it seemed, found fodder in Trump’s latest misstep or gaffe, with Alec Baldwin (the winner of one of those Emmys) portraying Trump as a swollen gasbag belching out toxic pronouncements.
It wasn’t much of a stretch.
And that’s part of the problem. The bits worked better during the campaign, with events like the debates offering plenty of surreal material to work with (playing the “Jaws” music when Baldwin’s Trump stalked the stage behind Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton). But once Trump won — an event mourned by the show the Saturday after the election with McKinnon singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” alone at a piano, which also served as a memorial to the recently departed Cohen — the going got complacent.
A sameness set in quickly — though wildly praised in knee-jerk fashion on social media every time he showed up, Baldwin’s portrayal relied more on simple mimicry than any kind of deeper understanding of who Trump is, or why he might behave this way. (Granted, figuring that out is a tall order.)
We often hear that the outrageous things Trump says at rallies are red meat to his base.
Baldwin’s portrayal is Brie and chardonnay to the other side.
This is not to say brilliance couldn’t be found occasionally (and Baldwin is funny, just monotonous over time). Melissa McCarthy — recipient of another of the Emmys — did what Baldwin did not with her savage Sean Spicer satire: She created a wholly new character, “Spicy.” It was so rich and thorough and devastating in the denials and justifications that it was impossible to separate her version from the real thing when Spicer conducted media briefings during his brief tenure as White House press secretary. (Spicer spoofed her portrayal of him at the Emmys, a weird bit of meta-business that didn’t go over so well.)
But for inspired genius, nothing topped McKinnon’s KellyAnne Conway. Conway, a presidential advisor, had been photographed kneeling on a couch in the Oval Office while the president met with leaders of historically black colleges. McKinnon (yet another Emmy winner) simply showed up without comment throughout the episode, playing Conway kneeling in various places. No explanation, no nothing, just a surreal addition to scenes that pointed out the absurdity around us.
More of that, please.
It’s also important to remember that this isn’t “The Daily Show” (though one could argue the whole idea for that show sprang from the “Weekend Update” segment of “SNL”). The show doesn’t exist solely to take shots at Trump, or whoever is in the White House. Host Ryan Gosling and musical guest Jay-Z may get political Saturday, they may not. It may not matter. What classic skits do you best remember? Sure, some political ones — Dan Aykroyd’s monstrous Richard Nixon, raving with John Belushi’s Henry Kissinger at his side — but also the straight comedy routines, like the Basso-matic; Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber; Velvet Jones; Wayne and Garth.
What skit do you remember from last season that didn’t have to do with politics? Be honest: How many times did you check out after the cold open last season, once the show was done with Trump?
Here’s hoping “SNL” doesn’t play it safe this season — not in its political humor or anywhere else. You’ve got the audience again. You’ve got the material, though when watching CNN is as bizarre as political parody used to be, it’s a challenge. But it can be done. Take more chances. Get weird. Go big.
And above all, be funny. We all could use it.