Round 3: Tears for Kristen Wiig, cheers for Kate McKinnon
As a few readers have pointed out, the results of our “SnL” bracket are likely affected by the age of the Globe audience, which skews toward the older side, it being a newspaper and all. I think that is indeed the case, which partially explains the ongoing survival of early cast members through three rounds. They’re still winning, those old-timers — Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, and John Belushi from the original cast, along with season-two addition Bill Murray — likely supported by folks who watched them live.
Some other observations:
1. What do you do when your favorite loses? You cry into your cloudy coffee, redo your figurative mascara, and move forward. Y’all, I am the biggest Kristen Wiig fan, and I have been rooting for her from the start. no one on “SnL” has entertained and impressed me more than Wiig, and I still send her sketches to friends for a laugh. In one, she is Liza Minnelli trying to turn off a lamp for 3½ minutes, and in its companion piece she’s Ann-Margret trying to throw away a wad of paper. both are stellar pieces of physical comedy. As a woman who can’t keep a secret, or an actress on a 1960s game show who can’t keep the secret word secret, or one of the A-holes with Jason Sudeikis, or the hostess who really doesn’t want to sing, or one of the Californians, or nervous, fast-talking travel writer Judy
Grimes (“Just kidding”), she is fully committed and captivating. Ah well.
John Belushi pushed Wiig out with 62.1 percent of the vote, so that is that. I respect belushi, and the power of his gonzo energy, which was perfect for its moment. but yeah, I voted for Wiig.
2. More old-timers victory: Dan Aykroyd, like belushi, is still going strong. One of the most beloved originals, he beat the talented Maya Rudolph (who hosted a good episode last weekend) with 71.3 percent of the vote. And Bill Murray, also considered a kind of “SnL” royalty, squeezed by Eddie Murphy with 50.4 percent of the vote, despite Murphy’s brilliance during his four-season run in the early 1980s, when he was just about the only reason to watch.
3. I am sorry to say goodbye to Kenan Thompson, who has been a staple on the show for 21 seasons. but I am simultaneously relieved that Dana Carvey is still in the running, having beaten Thompson with 61.5 percent of the vote. Carvey’s joy in making comedy has always been infectious, and I could listen to him do his impressions, with their exaggerations and hooks, for hours at a time. He’s one of the cast members who helped usher the show back into relevance after the failures of the early 1980s. He’s also one of the cast members who, with Church Lady, the Hans and Franz sketches, Garth, and his George H.W. bush and Ross Perot impressions, clearly registered outside of the show.
4. Interestingly, Kate McKinnon beat Will Ferrell, with 54.5 percent of the vote. I felt certain that she’d lose, given the way the competition has consistently leaned toward the veterans. She is now the newest cast member to still be in the running in this competition. McKinnon was the big star during her 11 seasons on the show, and, like Kristen Wiig before her, she seemed to shine in each one of her many sketches. The show could use a talent like her right now, to give the large ensemble more definition.
5. I’m surprised that Tina Fey beat Chris Farley with 66 percent of the vote, given the fond feelings for the late comic. I’m also surprised that Amy Poehler beat Jane Curtin with 58.6 percent of the vote, given the abiding love out there for the originals. but I’m not disappointed. Fey and Poehler led some of the show’s best years, in the early 2000s. They are definitely a pair of classics, individually and as a team. Sadly, in one of the more agonizing face-offs, they’re up against each other in the fourth round.