I was so looking forward to SNL when I got home from work and it was probably the worst show I'd seen in years. Hell, Ryan Reynolds is hysterical in his movies and he was hosting. And Lady GaGa performing is always going to intrigue me.
So imagine my surprise when I sat there in complete silence with the opening Obama skit. There is Fred Armisen going through a list of non accomplishments.
Yeah, just watched it again. Still not funny. At first I thought maybe I've become so partisan and jaded that it's gotten to the point of laughing hysterically at skits slamming Republicans (the Joe Wilson "You Lie" skit made me chuckle) and being completely unable to laugh at myself when Democrats are attacked. The difference I'm realizing is that they really have to stretch the truth when trying to razz Democrats, but can almost take the GOP verbatim. "It's funny because it's true" isn't just an empty phrase.
The whole point of satire is in the truth behind it. Last week's skit on Thursday's Weekend Update with Obama appearing on every network including MTV and The Food Network was humorous after he'd done the Full Ginsburg for obvious reasons. This one was just completely off base. When you can complete every sentence with an obvious qualifier to discredit the point, it becomes unfunny. For example, "Close Gitmo... in one year." "Get out of Iraq... in 18 months." It just went on and on.
Unfortunately, the "we can attack Democrats too and we will so as not to be called in the bag for Obama" meme was shining right through with that most recent sketch. And as impressions go, Fred Armisen wasn't even trying this time. Maybe his heart wasn't in it because he knew it was bullshit and a crap ass skit.
When the funniest sketch of the evening comes at the end of the show with Lady GaGa and Adam Samberg in identical "bubble dresses" trying to kiss, it's time for the writers to take stock and get back at it.
UPDATE (7:20pm): Here's PolitiFact's review of the SNL skit.
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1 comment:
I thought the same thing. Fred Armisen's Obama impersonation is never particularly good, but the other night he was just awful. And the SNL people are really stretching to prove they're "not liberal." Pathetic.
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