SNL: Please No More Joe Biden Sketches

[Britethorn]

Run time: 02:51 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9I1svvq2zA   Posted on YouTube: November 15, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: November 15, 2009 By DU Member: Britethorn Views on DU: 1621

 
This is a review of tonight's SNL show, with particular emphasis on the political content (which was extremely lacking tonight.)

You can see the Joe Biden sketch here (as soon as NBC finishes posting them.)
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/biden-cold-open/1175900/

http://www.britethorn.com

[Tx4obama]

1. They should do more of the Glenn Beck skits, last week's Beck was pretty darn good! n/t

[Britethorn]

10. Glenn Beck

I agree. I also think that Jason Sudeikis does a better Glenn Beck than Joe Biden. His Biden is way too loud and similar to his Rod Blagojevich.

[PatSeg]

17. I think Sudeikis is very talented

I thought his Jimmy Stewart was very good. Too bad the sketch turned into one big fart joke, which would probably be funny to a six-year-old. His Biden impersonation is way off. Think SNL needs some new writers.

[Tx4obama]

2. What they should do is ...

get all the good ones - the impersonators of Beck, Paterson, Palin, Carville, Bachmann and whoever else... and have a Meet the Press type skit every week with them all sitting around a table arguing (in a funny way) about what ever the current issue is :)
I'd like to see a 30 minute skit of THAT every week! LOL :)

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

4. There was a show like that (kind of)

long time ago. TW3 or That Was The Week That Was.

[Britethorn]

11. Your idea. . .

. . . is great, but it sounds like a pitch for a separate show. I think David Gregory would be easy to parody as the moderator.

[Tx4obama]

19. Good Lord NO!

I can't stand David Gregory.
Unless they were to do a MTP with a Rachel Maddow impersonator as the host, but NOT dweeby David ;)

The new SNL MTP could be: Meet The Politicians

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

3. Yes. Thank you.

When they mock the bad guys, they're so often not that funny. When they do our guys, they're not funny AND they're regressive.

[Wizard777]

5. Yes! Thank you for putting that guys picture on the promo shot.

Now That I don't feel like I'm being tricked into watching him. I can quit calling him that asshole. Keep this up and I might start clicking on the video link to watch him.

[PatSeg]

6. That was right on the money

SNL was barely watchable last night. I fast-forwarded through most of the sketches and the Biden one was just awful. Parody only works if you are exaggerating reality and SNL's Biden bits aren't a reflection of any current events or our Vice President's personality.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert manage to find plenty of material for political satire four nights a week, but SNL writers seem to be oblivious to current events and incapable of originality.

[Tx4obama]

14. The way I watch SNL with my remote...

Play - Opening Skit ... FF ... Play - Music segment ... FF ... Play - Weekend Update ... FF ... Play - Music segment ... FF ... Play - Everyone Waving Goodnight ... FF ... Erase

[PatSeg]

15. Yeah

I remember a time when I enjoyed pretty much every minute of SNL and hated to see it end. Now I go mostly for the opening skit and Weekend Update, both of which were disappointing last night. The Dairy Queen and Rear Window sketches were painful to watch. After the first 15 seconds, they just repeated the same juvenile joke over and over again. I'm about ready to give up on them.

[dhpgetsit]

16. True.

Comedy has to have a ring of truth.

The Court Jester was the only one who could ridicule the Monarch, and it proved a valuable form of feedback that didn't have to totally kiss ass the way a royal adviser did.

When Tina Fey was doing Palin it was so dead on many people who saw clips out of the SNL context actually thought it WAS Palin. THAT was funny!

[PatSeg]

18. And Daryl Hammond's

impersonations of Bill Clinton, Chris Matthews, and Dick Cheney were brilliant, because they did ring true.

[Red Knight]

7. Biden skit was great

The audience seemed to like it. This guy needs to quit blowing smoke up his own @##. The Taylor Swift episode last week was great? Are you kidding me?

The fact of the matter is that the Biden skit WAS the truth.

Afghanistan is a mess and we can't win anything there. Unless you have stars in your eyes that Obama is some sort of miracle worker you have to be realistic enough to know that we can only lose lives in Afghanistan. Nothing more.

The economy is NOT fixed. When unemployment is this high, people don't feel great about it. They're hurting. Maybe it will get better, in time. But on a personal level to someone who can't find a job NOW, that's little comfort.

Obama WILL sign anything with Health Care BIll on it. His leadership on the issue has been non-existent. He just wants A bill.

Look, I don't like to see the Dems embarrassed any more than anyone else--but when they earn that they earn it. This goes deeper than TEAM. This is about what's right for America.

This reviewer obviously can't handle the truth unless it comes against the bad guys. That won't help us move forward. We have to hold OUR guys accountable, or what does any of it matter?

[swishyfeet]

8. You're missing the point. It's not about the truth, it's about creating comedy

Darrel Hammond always did a great job with Bill Clinton. I completely expect SNL to skewer whatever President in office, but their Obama impression is HORRIBLE. So horrible that it's painful to watch and never funny. For Christ sake, we've got the guy in office for at least 4 years, and he'll be joke worthy for years after that. Why not get someone funny to do Obama.?

The Biden stuff is just as lame. It's not funny that he talks too much.

Taylor Swift was good because she's cute, current, and was one of those guests who has that innate ability to DO SNL. Garth Brooks and Justin Timberlake are a couple other musicians that do a great job. I wasn't a huge fan of Taylor Swift, but gained a lot of respect for her last week.

[TheEuclideanOne]

9. I disagree. The truth is what makes it funny.

If you look at the Glenn Beck bit, for example, it would not be funny if it weren't true. If you try those mannerisms on another news anchor, it just won't be funny. Just having folks do an impression of a celebrity will not make the show funny. Sure, you might be impressed that they nailed the nuances of the personality of the person (say, Obama), but you won't laugh. That is my point. Look at Sarah Palin being done by Tina Fey. If those bits had nothing at all to do with the current events, they would not be as famous as they were. They were funny because they were based on Truth and that is what made them great comedy. In fact, all of the most viral bits on Sarah Palin were based on reality and things that happened, one even taking directly from her own words.

When it comes to politics, the SNL writers should borrow from the approaches of the Daily show writers, who seem to totally nail it and on a nightly basis. The Daily show makes me LOL several times in each episode. I hardly even watch SNL online, except for a skit here and there, because I just do not laugh. In general, it puzzles me that the SNL folks have such a hard time producing good comedy. There are many funny people in the world. SNL must have a big budget to bring on the best of the best, but they don't seem to do so.

[Britethorn]

12. The Truth. . .

. . . is that the sketch wasn't funny for a whole host or reasons (bad impersonation, boring and predictable. . .)
I am also not blind to the fact that Obama is being forced to compromise on a whole host of health care issues in order to try and begin the PROCESS of fixing our nation's health care system. What's truly amazing is how far along the process has gotten, with a Public Option still a viable possibility. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.

[TheEuclideanOne]

13. I don't agree that Britehorn is blowing smoke

It is not really about whether SNL takes shots at one side or another. Britehorn has commented in the past when SNL grills Obama and the dems and had good comedy as a result. When Obama and the dems fail to produce and then SNL calls them on it, that is completely justified and a good thing, IMHO. The point that I took from his commentary (and agreew with) is that they are just not paying attention to politics and it shows in their skits. Think about it, Sarah Palin came out with a book this week and Tina Fey's version of Sarah Palin is clearly one of the most memorable SNL characters ever. Yet, nothing. If they can't even capitalize on this low hanging fruit, then they are simply not trying hard enough.

I will cut SNL some slack this week and give them the benefit of he doubt that maybe they are coming out with a Palin bit next week. If they don't, I can only conclude that they really need to bring on some writers with polical savvy because they have a great opportunity here to produce some really hilarious comedy in this very political climate.