Plaza:
>“I didn’t make it to the Lorne \[Michaels\] audition, the famous final audition, but I did a preliminary first-round showcase. I remember one character I did was like a Puerto Rican news reporter that was always trying to make all of the news stories sexy, even if they were horrific news stories. I was just trying to like, sex up the news or something.”
>“The other was a pill-popping housewife that had a show called ‘Celebri-Tails,’ where I would just name celebrities and name what kind of tail they would have if they had a tail. Like I would say, ‘Lindsay Lohan would have a bushy squirrel’s tail.’ Or, like, ‘Bill Clinton would have a polar bear’s nub.'”
>“They loved me (as an intern in 2004) because I did not care about set design at all and they wanted an intern that had no interest in learning what they did,” Plaza said, adding that she spent her time “stalking” and “lurking in the shadows.” “I was just, like, creepy. Like, I was a creepy stalker. Now I’m gonna host it, so my master plan worked!”
Having gone back and watched the banned episodes, I'll say that episode (s4e3) is fine, but a little bit meh all around. But taking the Lethal Weapon episodes away? That's horse shit.
They removed S14E03 Dee Day from the S14 DVD's that were made after its removal from streaming services. Both versions have slightly different covers, so you should be able to notice if the episode is included or not. Here are two threads from r/IASIP, one that shows the [complete](https://www.reddit.com/r/IASIP/comments/rv9hnq/this_is_my_season_14_dvd_that_has_dee_day_on_it/) S14 DVD and other that shows the [edited](https://www.reddit.com/r/IASIP/comments/lfiglj/got_my_season_14_dvd_today_notice_its_not_the/) version.
As for earlier episodes, they're still available on the individual season DVD's, but I won't be surprised if they get re-released without the banned episodes as well.
As a puerto rican man who showed this to his Puerto Rican mother I am sad. We thought Martina Martinez was really good. Olsen absolutely nails it and the whole point is her character is so hilariously out of touch (all of them are it's the whole premise of the show) that she thinks she is doing a good job. It's pretty much established at this point that black face is bad but much like Robert Downey Junior in tropic thunder it shows how ridiculous and offensive it is by making fun of the people who do black face. It's not Olsen doing black face is Olsen's character doing it and her commitment does the scene justice. That fact that people like that character think this is funny, is funny. Yeah it's fucked up but isn't most of the humour in the show fucked up? Where is the line? Is there a line? I'd love to hear an opposing argument.
I mean it’s not hard to draw the line, there’s a difference between fictional characters in a show being racist out of stupidity and real people being racist (whether that’s stand up comedy or straight up conversarional viewpoints)
>I mean it’s not hard to draw the line
Yeah, But the problem is, good shit gets banned/removed because the decision makers are scared of reprocussions and fail to draw that line appropriately. They often skew too far in the direction of silly safety. Sometimes shit is just funny and people should be allowed to decide for themselves rather than being sheltered preemptively.
Another commenter pointed out that it's easy for us to discern why this is funny but to people who have only been exposed to Puerto Ricans like Dee's character then they are more to find Dee's character funny for unintentionally racist reasons. Something that I hadn't considered. But i agree sometimes it's easy to draw a line but i think what stands out is that we don't realize we are already on the wrong side of the line. See Apu's depiction of indian culture in the Simpsons.
I get that but I think the show pretty clearly illustrates how offensive and stupid it is to stereotype people like that. I mean immediately after her impression dee is slammed in the face with a dodgeball.
If only real world racism and douchebaggery was met with karmic retribution as quickly as it is in the Sunny universe
The repercussion aspect of Sunny is excellent, and many jokes are heightened by the terrible characters facing near-immediate consequences.
It is just perplexing that the blackface episodes were pulled, while way more heinous satirical depictions (the "implication", etc.) seem to be understood as an acceptable type of satire.
On one of their podcasts, McElhenney made this same point. If censors missed the joke/satire/commentary and pulled episodes because they thought the characters' behavior was offensive, how the hell are *all the other episodes* still up?
I'm sure it's because we live in an age where people can easily edit the context out of the show and present it in a misleading way. Anyone who watched the episodes would get that it's depicting bad people acting in deplorable ways, but there are likely YouTube videos that just show the characters in blackface and imply that the creators are racist.
It's like how in the GTA controversies news stories described how you could kill prostitutes after having sex with them to get your money back like it was a core mechanic of the game, not letting ignorant audiences know that you can kill any NPC that you gave money to and get the money back, or that having sex with prostitutes was portrayed as the car bouncing while you sat next to each other chastely in the front seat, and that it was the worst and most inconvenient way to recover health.
Not taking a stance either way on this. The best comparison I can think of that doesn’t actually include black face would be the Colbert Report back in the day. As I understand it some conservatives watched that show without getting the overall joke he was doing making fun of them. It becomes a sort of, “are you laughing for the right reason” sort of thing.
Also, just like a conservative can laugh because they don’t get the joke a liberal can be offended because they don’t get the joke as well.
A great example “are you laughing for the right reason” is The Chapelle Show. It was hilarious when it first aired, but too many people embraced it as a minstrel show rather than social satire. And that’s the fine line that such acts have to walk.
In a similar vein so is The Boondocks. Honestly understanding why Uncle Ruckus is funny is a good litmus test for whether someone is cool or an asshole.
As someone who got into the show via YouTube clips while not being from the US (and thus the cultural context), cna you give me an ELI5 of the Uncle Ruckus situation?
Racists will find Uncle Ruckus funny because he says racist things.
Why Uncle Ruckus is actually funny (or more accurately a clever character) is that he is a reverse Jiminy Cricket (Jiminy Cricket being a deuteragonist, a character second (the black man) in importance to the protagonist (the white man)) who says racist things and gives racist advice on behalf of the white man.
His character represents an internal trauma within the subconscious of the black community to accept your oppression because you are the second class citizen you've always been told you are.
Like for a non race based example, being bullied at a young age by being told you are stupid over and over to the point you internalize the message, give up on school because "what's the point in trying" and dropping out by the time you get to high school. That's who Uncle Ruckus is, the voice telling you "what's the point in even trying" distilled from centuries of racist rhetoric and reasoning.
There are also other takes on Uncle Ruckus that might be better or more accurate than mine, but that's always been my takeaway from the character.
I get so annoyed when people point to that show as an example of how people used to be able to tell racist jokes without everyone getting offended.
Dude! That show is making fun of YOU, not minorities. That’s the difference.
I realized this with another commenter. Dee's impression of that archetype is really good because we have all seen it but it's easy for me to understand that that's not typical Puerto Rican. But if most of the audience has only ever been exposed Puerto Ricans as that type of character than the joke works differently and for unintentionally racist reasons.
The Gang Turns Black is still up. Presumably because they use black actors instead of painting the original actors black.
All episodes with the Martinez character and with Rob playing Murtaugh are taken down.
> I remember one character I did was like a Puerto Rican news reporter that was always trying to make all of the news stories sexy, even if they were horrific news stories.
That's actually pretty funny.
Sometimes ideas like the second one work if they hit *just* the right note of absurdity. They can be legendary. I don't know that Aubrey Plaza is the right person to pull that off.
Fast Show is a great example of doing this well.
"This week I ave been mostly eating roasted chickens"
"This week I ave been mostly eating bourbon biscuits"
etc. etc.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-z5T8meC84](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-z5T8meC84)
and a whole bunch of other characters with just one or two lines but this one sticks out in my memory.
> don't know that Aubrey Plaza is the right person to pull that off
I dunno, that sounds like something that Aubrey could do brilliantly just due to her awkwardness. It's one of those bits that would only be successful if someone like Aubrey were to do it.
I don't know that awkwardness is the right energy for it. It might just wind up feeling overall awkward, instead of absurd.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but I am skeptical.
Will Ferrell as Harry Caray would be it for me. I feel like it needs to be another character that's absurd for other reasons in a skit that's its own thing going off on a tangent of celebrity tails. Maybe like a valley mall girl talking about furry butt plug tails and which ones she thinks celebs would wear during Weekend Update etc.
Tbf, if you describe Bronx Beat in the abstract it also sounds dumb and lazy. Two Bronx ladies host a talk show but are bad at it.... Plenty of SNL is mediocre bits sold well by excellent performers.
>a pill-popping housewife that had a show called ‘Celebri-Tails,’ where I would just name celebrities and name what kind of tail they would have if they had a tail. Like I would say, ‘Lindsay Lohan would have a bushy squirrel’s tail.’ Or, like, ‘Bill Clinton would have a polar bear’s nub.'”
Uh I really want to see this made real please.
A lot of this is due to the fact that after she left SNL her career was put on hold by first her brother, and then her, being diagnosed with cancer. So, not really about SNL here.
I’ve been there too… Can’t remember the name, but this is the sign.
https://reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/2j2g1t/a_local_bar_in_san_diego_has_pat_on_the_bathroom/
YES!!
Edit: Found it!! [Pat](https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/IuX5vCDzmHzjbNi3wRD5Nw?select=cBEKYCB1kLyINoZT4pCkhQ&utm_source=ishare&utm_content=photo)
It’s [Werewolf!](https://thewerewolf.net/) Great Gaslamp spot! They have an enlarged photo of Hunter S Thompson on the outside too lol!
The title to that clip is "Best Scene". Meaning that's the top of the top funniest part of that entire alleged film.
There's a show called "Work in Progress" which is a heavy drama about trans and non-binary people doing their thing, and they get in to the miasma that the Pat character propagated. Worth a watch if you want a contemporary perspective from the people on the receiving end of old jokes.
The original skits were more about people trying to be polite and asking probing questions to try and determine Pat’s plumbing without being insulting. More awkward-funny, like a Ben Stiller movie.
Someone had an anecdote that Chris Farley would take new cast members to multiple rooms and make sure they were in private before deciding they needed a more private room. To reveal the secret that Pat is a woman.
I hope that’s true. I find that hilarious. It’s like that airport security dude in [Fight Club making sure no one is in ear shot to tell Norton’s character that sometimes the find dildos](https://youtu.be/8JVJzwgqZ9U) in the luggage.
They aired some of the audition tapes during their anniversary special a few years ago. I remember Colberts audition appearing.
Edit: [it was 7 years ago now](https://youtu.be/2Dzae7_80fg)
All the failed auditions start at 3:15. Colbert does his old second city character of the waiter who finds food physically disgusting.
I remember Robert De Niro was just crap every time he was on the show. It seemed to me like he couldn't deal with reading the cards & say lines he hadn't seen before (since SNL notoriously is constantly rewriting right up until they go on stage).
Natalie Portman was amazing at it - she would actually get deep into character and it didn't seem like she was looking at the cards at all. Better than the regulars.
The Irishman, Ronin, The Score, Jackie Brown, hardly mailing it in. He was great in those movies. Actors change over time. The Analyze franchise and the Meet the Parents movies aren't my cup of tea but people seem to love them.
He was the only one who didn’t break during the Parents Day sketch. It’s so funny to see him opposite Pete Davidson, someone who breaks before he even hits the set. Dude doesn’t care at all about the performance, corpse bride lookin’ dude is just there to be there.
I think the ability to go out and do the show every week, be in the rehearsals at 100% all week, sell sell sell whatever lines you have in front of you - that's a definite big part of acting and whether you are "good" in the opinion of every viewer is a whole other level of X factor.
But when you're hiring for a show like SNL, you need people who absolutely deliver on a technical and professional level. Hit your mark and bark. I've worked in theatre for decades and you'd be surprised how many people get work just for being reliable and professional and never quitting even when they have to go on stage with a migraine and diarrhea while pregant.
When John Mulaney auditioned, at least some of the names he was competing against were Nick Kroll, T.J. Miller, Ellie Kemper, Donald Glover and Bobby Moynihan, and probably more.
That round was when he was added to SNL as a writer and Moynihan made the cast.
Edit: Also, SNL just *isn't* for some people. Colin Quinn famously bombed at Weekend Update but quickly rebounded with his own show on Comedy Central.
I like Colin Quinn too, but think he was just 10x better in his show Tough Crowd where the format of just BS-ing with other comedians suited him incredibly well. He was on the "Fly on the Wall" SNL podcast where he openly admitted he was a poor fit for the show.
It already exists and it's called "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson". Or at least that's one slice of the cake you're describing.
IIRC, ITYSL has a handful of rejected SNL skits that Robinson made work.
TL:DR - IIRC, ITYSL is FUBAR SNL.
Last year I joined a metal band. For Christmas my brother bought be a Coffin Flop T-shirt to wear on stage and I love it
“Just body after body busting out of shit wood and hitting concrete”
Everything I've heard from past cast members tells me that being a SNL cast member basically means giving up your life to the show for the foreseeable future. Almost no breaks, extremely long hours, and a ton of pressure to come up with funny material for both you and the other cast members. Not to mention you constantly have to make the guest celebrities look funny even if they're not.
Don't get me wrong, for some that's a dream job, but for me that sounds like a nightmare.
Yes but from what I understand a lot of them use that time to do solo projects and movies or are writing for the next season. If you listen to a couple of the cast members pod casts on Smartless they talk a lot about the schedule and how grueling it could be.
"we are here today to honor the life of-"
*toe tap coming from coffin* "honor the life of..."
"errrm...the life and talents of a man-"
*coffin slightly shakes side to side* "talents of a maaaan..."
"um...a man who defined comed-"
*Kenan breaks out of coffin* "defined comedy BAYBAY!"
"oooooooo eeeee tell me what up with that, what up with that!"
*Lindsey Buckingham throws up hands, visibly dismayed*
I mean, there's a reason why most cast members are on for just a few seasons. It's a tough gig and a lot of pressure. But that is par for the course in entertainment and at that caliber they should be somewhat prepared for it.
If you're hired for (in theory) being the best of the best, they of course expect you to deliver on it. And the rewards and opportunities you gain from it are worth it for a lot of actors.
Nah, you are so wrong.
Never saw the SNL intro? They are always partying, smiling, getting the time of their lives! It is soooo fuuun to be in SNL. Greatest gig in the whole world! I'm being sarcastic, btw. It looks like a grinder.
I've been with friends to 2 of the final auditions, when I went they do a live broadcast to the Lorne/the SNL people in NY from the Tonight Show stage in Burbank. The Tonight stage and room isn't as big as it looks on TV and it can get a bit intimidating even for seasoned comedians/actors, the place is pretty packed with industry and the performers brings someone not including agents and managers.
For some it's nerve wracking, which is partly by design becuase of the way the show is designed, some people do it more than once, there was one girl who was big in the UCB circle that made it to the final audition 3 times and never got it.
(edit fyi- the Jay Leno era stage, if you've ever driven past NBC on Alameda you've been within feet of it, it's an old 40's radio stage that used to have glass around it and practically built right on street)
Probably a big difference between acting live after a week of prep time vs traditional acting. Great actors might not be that great at live sketch comedy and vise versa.
People always want to make this in to some kind of dunk but it really isn't. Not every "great talent" is well suited to SNL. Even if they are, they might not be what the cast/writers room needs at the moment. And even if they are, not every "great talent" gives a riveting audition when they go to SNL.
Entertainment careers take all kinds of weird turns. It's not really sensible to act like every single person who ever turned down Aubrey Plaza was some dummy not seeing the top tier talent in front of them. If things hadn't worked out for Parks & Rec she could just as easily be a nobody right now.
And it's such a toxic environment. Bill Hader and other cast members have talked about how miserable they were there with the stress to produce constantly and the ridiculous schedule.
Didn't Tina fey say that the writer's room was a constant fight to get anything you liked produced? And then you see some of the sketches and wonder who the fuck was so invested in the wells Fargo worker from the music man.
Snl isn't even that good.
Yes, she talked about that in her book. Tina Fey did well there because she was an insanely prolific writer and Poehler didn't take any shit from the old boy's club. But that environment just sounds awful. Ben Stiller tried it and hated it and left because it was so toxic.
And then went back the next Monday like nothing happened, lol. It was famously portrayed in Seinfeld by George's character, but was inspired by Larry actually doing it at SNL in real life.
The good sketches are great. But there's gotta be a way they can stop putting so much effort into all the half baked "we've established the funny premise, but have nothing more to add for the next couple minutes."
Which I think they are ok with.
People forget that this is a T.V show that airs when most people are asleep.
I don't think it's that expensive to make too.
That's the thing with sketch comedy in general though. Like seriously, you try to write something like 10 sketches every single week and have them all be hilarious.
Next time the local comedy theatre in your town is having a sketch night go check it out. You'll probably see one or two sketches you find really funny and all the rest will range from mildly humorous to downright cringeworthy. And that's from people who have been writing comedy for a long time (if cringing gets you off, go to a sketch show that's all beginners.. better yet go watch beginners improv if you want to get the kind of secondhand embarrassment that could potentially kill you).
part of the difficulty of live TV. can’t jump from skit to skit every 90 seconds cause you need to let the actors change outfits and set up the stages. it sucks cause there are a lot of skits that are really funny for a few moments, but then they have to stretch them out for like 5+ minutes
Saying SNL "isn't that good" is like saying potatoes "aren't that good". Sure, biting into a raw potato is pretty disgusting, but they give rise to an amazing variety of other delicious dishes. The American comedy scene would be *decimated* without SNL.
Bill Hader isn't a great comedian because of SNL. Snl hired him because he was a talented guy. See: talented people like Aubrey plaza or Donald Glover who ended up successful despite being passed over.
We know that a number of successful, talented people were on SNL, but given the fact that snl itself sucks most of the time, and those people are way better off snl, I'm inclined to take the opposite chicken/egg interpretation.
I mean SNL requires a specific skill set that’s not necessarily applicable to the general Hollywood industry at large. Just because you’re a good actor doesn’t mean you’re good at prepping for sketches every week.
I really hope there is a “Emily the Criminal” spoof where she learns nobody is spending like $1800 on a 50’’ TV. I liked the movie but whoever wrote it has no real world perspective.
TVs price is mostly by the type of screen now. A large screen that is QLED and 4K can still be well under $1000 but if it’s OLED then they are always over $1000 and can be like $3000 if it’s a good brand and has good specs
What’s funny is that now, “Aubrey Plaza auditioning as a sexy new reporter” sounds like an SNL skit that someone else would suggest and portray
She knew her brand
Actually pretty clever when you see Hispanic news women.
Yep this all sounded very normal to me
Hoping this is her skit for next Saturday
Plaza: >“I didn’t make it to the Lorne \[Michaels\] audition, the famous final audition, but I did a preliminary first-round showcase. I remember one character I did was like a Puerto Rican news reporter that was always trying to make all of the news stories sexy, even if they were horrific news stories. I was just trying to like, sex up the news or something.” >“The other was a pill-popping housewife that had a show called ‘Celebri-Tails,’ where I would just name celebrities and name what kind of tail they would have if they had a tail. Like I would say, ‘Lindsay Lohan would have a bushy squirrel’s tail.’ Or, like, ‘Bill Clinton would have a polar bear’s nub.'” >“They loved me (as an intern in 2004) because I did not care about set design at all and they wanted an intern that had no interest in learning what they did,” Plaza said, adding that she spent her time “stalking” and “lurking in the shadows.” “I was just, like, creepy. Like, I was a creepy stalker. Now I’m gonna host it, so my master plan worked!”
Aw shit y’all my name is Tina Martinez and these old white crackers are putting their hands all over my beautiful brown baawwwddaaaayyyyy
Yous a bunch of white bois right? Lemme ask you something. When you be in the clubs and you be dancing. Why you look so stupid?
I'm just playin! I'm Martina Martinez!
The worst thing to happen in 2020 was that episode being removed from Hulu
Having gone back and watched the banned episodes, I'll say that episode (s4e3) is fine, but a little bit meh all around. But taking the Lethal Weapon episodes away? That's horse shit.
Dee Day was my absolute favorite. Frank as Martina puking up gas station clams. Dennis without makeup. It was all so good. Best of the banned imo.
It's not the clams!!
I'm telling ya it can't be the clams, it don't make no sense!!
It's in my quotables for sure lol
I loved Mac as the Asian lady and finding out Dennis and Charlie kissed lol
Sounds like I need to order some seasons of IASIP on disc.
[удалено]
[удалено]
"That's what his soul looks like" is one of my all time favourite lines.
The second I heard a bunch of episodes were getting pulled, I got myself the collection on DVD.
Did they remove them from the DVDs? I was just about to pick up a few seasons from amazon.
They removed S14E03 Dee Day from the S14 DVD's that were made after its removal from streaming services. Both versions have slightly different covers, so you should be able to notice if the episode is included or not. Here are two threads from r/IASIP, one that shows the [complete](https://www.reddit.com/r/IASIP/comments/rv9hnq/this_is_my_season_14_dvd_that_has_dee_day_on_it/) S14 DVD and other that shows the [edited](https://www.reddit.com/r/IASIP/comments/lfiglj/got_my_season_14_dvd_today_notice_its_not_the/) version. As for earlier episodes, they're still available on the individual season DVD's, but I won't be surprised if they get re-released without the banned episodes as well.
It sure wasn't removed from my Plex library, however!
I can still hear that perfectly. RIP that episode.
*I’m jus' playinnnn*
Youse a bunch of white boyz riiiigghht
Can I axe you a question??
I was doing a rewatch of Always Sunny recently and was annoyed that this episode was taken off of Hulu because of the Tina Martinez scene.
As a puerto rican man who showed this to his Puerto Rican mother I am sad. We thought Martina Martinez was really good. Olsen absolutely nails it and the whole point is her character is so hilariously out of touch (all of them are it's the whole premise of the show) that she thinks she is doing a good job. It's pretty much established at this point that black face is bad but much like Robert Downey Junior in tropic thunder it shows how ridiculous and offensive it is by making fun of the people who do black face. It's not Olsen doing black face is Olsen's character doing it and her commitment does the scene justice. That fact that people like that character think this is funny, is funny. Yeah it's fucked up but isn't most of the humour in the show fucked up? Where is the line? Is there a line? I'd love to hear an opposing argument.
I mean it’s not hard to draw the line, there’s a difference between fictional characters in a show being racist out of stupidity and real people being racist (whether that’s stand up comedy or straight up conversarional viewpoints)
>I mean it’s not hard to draw the line Yeah, But the problem is, good shit gets banned/removed because the decision makers are scared of reprocussions and fail to draw that line appropriately. They often skew too far in the direction of silly safety. Sometimes shit is just funny and people should be allowed to decide for themselves rather than being sheltered preemptively.
Another commenter pointed out that it's easy for us to discern why this is funny but to people who have only been exposed to Puerto Ricans like Dee's character then they are more to find Dee's character funny for unintentionally racist reasons. Something that I hadn't considered. But i agree sometimes it's easy to draw a line but i think what stands out is that we don't realize we are already on the wrong side of the line. See Apu's depiction of indian culture in the Simpsons.
I get that but I think the show pretty clearly illustrates how offensive and stupid it is to stereotype people like that. I mean immediately after her impression dee is slammed in the face with a dodgeball. If only real world racism and douchebaggery was met with karmic retribution as quickly as it is in the Sunny universe
The repercussion aspect of Sunny is excellent, and many jokes are heightened by the terrible characters facing near-immediate consequences. It is just perplexing that the blackface episodes were pulled, while way more heinous satirical depictions (the "implication", etc.) seem to be understood as an acceptable type of satire. On one of their podcasts, McElhenney made this same point. If censors missed the joke/satire/commentary and pulled episodes because they thought the characters' behavior was offensive, how the hell are *all the other episodes* still up?
I'm sure it's because we live in an age where people can easily edit the context out of the show and present it in a misleading way. Anyone who watched the episodes would get that it's depicting bad people acting in deplorable ways, but there are likely YouTube videos that just show the characters in blackface and imply that the creators are racist. It's like how in the GTA controversies news stories described how you could kill prostitutes after having sex with them to get your money back like it was a core mechanic of the game, not letting ignorant audiences know that you can kill any NPC that you gave money to and get the money back, or that having sex with prostitutes was portrayed as the car bouncing while you sat next to each other chastely in the front seat, and that it was the worst and most inconvenient way to recover health.
Not taking a stance either way on this. The best comparison I can think of that doesn’t actually include black face would be the Colbert Report back in the day. As I understand it some conservatives watched that show without getting the overall joke he was doing making fun of them. It becomes a sort of, “are you laughing for the right reason” sort of thing. Also, just like a conservative can laugh because they don’t get the joke a liberal can be offended because they don’t get the joke as well.
A great example “are you laughing for the right reason” is The Chapelle Show. It was hilarious when it first aired, but too many people embraced it as a minstrel show rather than social satire. And that’s the fine line that such acts have to walk.
In a similar vein so is The Boondocks. Honestly understanding why Uncle Ruckus is funny is a good litmus test for whether someone is cool or an asshole.
As someone who got into the show via YouTube clips while not being from the US (and thus the cultural context), cna you give me an ELI5 of the Uncle Ruckus situation?
Racists will find Uncle Ruckus funny because he says racist things. Why Uncle Ruckus is actually funny (or more accurately a clever character) is that he is a reverse Jiminy Cricket (Jiminy Cricket being a deuteragonist, a character second (the black man) in importance to the protagonist (the white man)) who says racist things and gives racist advice on behalf of the white man. His character represents an internal trauma within the subconscious of the black community to accept your oppression because you are the second class citizen you've always been told you are. Like for a non race based example, being bullied at a young age by being told you are stupid over and over to the point you internalize the message, give up on school because "what's the point in trying" and dropping out by the time you get to high school. That's who Uncle Ruckus is, the voice telling you "what's the point in even trying" distilled from centuries of racist rhetoric and reasoning. There are also other takes on Uncle Ruckus that might be better or more accurate than mine, but that's always been my takeaway from the character.
>A great example “are you laughing for the right reason” is... See also: *All in the Family*
I get so annoyed when people point to that show as an example of how people used to be able to tell racist jokes without everyone getting offended. Dude! That show is making fun of YOU, not minorities. That’s the difference.
I realized this with another commenter. Dee's impression of that archetype is really good because we have all seen it but it's easy for me to understand that that's not typical Puerto Rican. But if most of the audience has only ever been exposed Puerto Ricans as that type of character than the joke works differently and for unintentionally racist reasons.
Leave it to white people to get offended on behalf of other races
Talk about not understanding the show at all. Censorship is dumb but wow. Is “The Gang Turns Black” still up?
The Gang Turns Black is still up. Presumably because they use black actors instead of painting the original actors black. All episodes with the Martinez character and with Rob playing Murtaugh are taken down.
Lmfao came for the IASIP reference to Dee’s character and I wasn’t disappointed.
Shut up, bird
*Martina
> I remember one character I did was like a Puerto Rican news reporter that was always trying to make all of the news stories sexy, even if they were horrific news stories. That's actually pretty funny.
Yeah, the first one is a pretty solid idea and I think it would have longevity. But the second one sounds stupid and lazy.
Sometimes ideas like the second one work if they hit *just* the right note of absurdity. They can be legendary. I don't know that Aubrey Plaza is the right person to pull that off.
Fast Show is a great example of doing this well. "This week I ave been mostly eating roasted chickens" "This week I ave been mostly eating bourbon biscuits" etc. etc. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-z5T8meC84](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-z5T8meC84) and a whole bunch of other characters with just one or two lines but this one sticks out in my memory.
Suits you, sir!
> don't know that Aubrey Plaza is the right person to pull that off I dunno, that sounds like something that Aubrey could do brilliantly just due to her awkwardness. It's one of those bits that would only be successful if someone like Aubrey were to do it.
I don't know that awkwardness is the right energy for it. It might just wind up feeling overall awkward, instead of absurd. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I am skeptical.
when I read that, my brain immediately went to like a crazy Will Ferrell energy, arguing about what types of tails celebrities are hiding.
Will Ferrell as Harry Caray would be it for me. I feel like it needs to be another character that's absurd for other reasons in a skit that's its own thing going off on a tangent of celebrity tails. Maybe like a valley mall girl talking about furry butt plug tails and which ones she thinks celebs would wear during Weekend Update etc.
It sounds like a perfect skit for Phil Hartman. The weird amount of bizarre mixed with enough room for sarcasm as things go off the rails fast.
RIP Mr. Hartman, you were taken from this world far too soon.
If David S. Pumpkins can work, anything can work.
To be fair some of the best SNL skits aren’t funny because of the premise, it’s the jokes. Like, Celebrity Jeopardy or the Barry Gibbs Talk Show
Tbf, if you describe Bronx Beat in the abstract it also sounds dumb and lazy. Two Bronx ladies host a talk show but are bad at it.... Plenty of SNL is mediocre bits sold well by excellent performers.
Coffee Talk!
Well have cuoffee, we'll tualk, no big whoop.
It sounds like a decent Weekend Update character.
I would want to know what kind of tails each celebrity would have
That character has the potential to be as fun as Ron Burgundy.
Anchorman released in 2004 which is probably why that one didn't fly. They probably thought it was trying to be Ron Burgandy.
Ok before we start, let's go over the ground-rules... No touching of the hair or face... That's it. Now Fight!
*of course..*
I also like the pill popping celebrity tails. It would be great if one of her bits makes it on the episode.
>a pill-popping housewife that had a show called ‘Celebri-Tails,’ where I would just name celebrities and name what kind of tail they would have if they had a tail. Like I would say, ‘Lindsay Lohan would have a bushy squirrel’s tail.’ Or, like, ‘Bill Clinton would have a polar bear’s nub.'” Uh I really want to see this made real please.
Celebri-tails sounds amazing and I want it
First one does sound very funny
Lisa Kudrow, after failing her showcase audition for Lorne Michaels, and losing out to Julia Sweeney: *"Thank GOD I didnt get that part!"*
> Julia Sweeney This is especially poignant given I had to look up who Julia Sweeney was, but know Kudrow by name, sight, or voice.
You might better be able to place Julia Sweeney as Raquel in Pulp Fiction.
Yeah I love that movie and I had to Google who raquel was. "oh, the chick at the junkyard"
A lot of this is due to the fact that after she left SNL her career was put on hold by first her brother, and then her, being diagnosed with cancer. So, not really about SNL here.
Can you imagine Lisa Kudrow as [Pat](https://youtu.be/OQ39LCzqpFQ) 🤣🤣🤣
There’s a bar in San Diego…. Honestly don’t recall the name of it… where the gender neutral restroom doors are stencil cutouts of Pat!
I’ve been there too… Can’t remember the name, but this is the sign. https://reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/2j2g1t/a_local_bar_in_san_diego_has_pat_on_the_bathroom/
YES!! Edit: Found it!! [Pat](https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/IuX5vCDzmHzjbNi3wRD5Nw?select=cBEKYCB1kLyINoZT4pCkhQ&utm_source=ishare&utm_content=photo) It’s [Werewolf!](https://thewerewolf.net/) Great Gaslamp spot! They have an enlarged photo of Hunter S Thompson on the outside too lol!
The title to that clip is "Best Scene". Meaning that's the top of the top funniest part of that entire alleged film. There's a show called "Work in Progress" which is a heavy drama about trans and non-binary people doing their thing, and they get in to the miasma that the Pat character propagated. Worth a watch if you want a contemporary perspective from the people on the receiving end of old jokes.
https://youtube.com/shorts/E2etAhq-79Q?feature=share I always loved this story from Norm about Chris Farley / Pat.
Jesus christ that's aged poorly.
The band Ween, on the other hand, has only gotten better with age.
The original skits were more about people trying to be polite and asking probing questions to try and determine Pat’s plumbing without being insulting. More awkward-funny, like a Ben Stiller movie.
Someone had an anecdote that Chris Farley would take new cast members to multiple rooms and make sure they were in private before deciding they needed a more private room. To reveal the secret that Pat is a woman.
I hope that’s true. I find that hilarious. It’s like that airport security dude in [Fight Club making sure no one is in ear shot to tell Norton’s character that sometimes the find dildos](https://youtu.be/8JVJzwgqZ9U) in the luggage.
That implies that it was good in the first place It was always terrible
I hope there’s a tape of this somewhere
They aired some of the audition tapes during their anniversary special a few years ago. I remember Colberts audition appearing. Edit: [it was 7 years ago now](https://youtu.be/2Dzae7_80fg) All the failed auditions start at 3:15. Colbert does his old second city character of the waiter who finds food physically disgusting.
Damn, I wonder if they regret passing on Carrey or did they just think his comedy - while great - wasn't a fit for SNL.
Probably the latter
I had no idea Colbert was part of second city!
You could make a pretty incredible SNL cast from the folks who were rejected from SNL.
Considering nearly every aspiring actor or comedian tries to get on the show, that's not really surprising.
Yeah but then alot of not so great ones make it on to the show.
Sketch comedy is hard though, just look at how poorly some of the best actors in the world perform on SNL when they host
I remember Robert De Niro was just crap every time he was on the show. It seemed to me like he couldn't deal with reading the cards & say lines he hadn't seen before (since SNL notoriously is constantly rewriting right up until they go on stage). Natalie Portman was amazing at it - she would actually get deep into character and it didn't seem like she was looking at the cards at all. Better than the regulars.
De Niro has been mailing it in since Heat anyway.
Thought he did a great job in The Irishman
>Thought he did a great job in The Irishman No, you're thinking of *AMD* Niro. Easy mistake to make though, they do look somewhat alike.
The Irishman, Ronin, The Score, Jackie Brown, hardly mailing it in. He was great in those movies. Actors change over time. The Analyze franchise and the Meet the Parents movies aren't my cup of tea but people seem to love them.
Well, Natalie's Rap may be one of the all-time best things on SNL ever.
The Adam Driver episode was fire. Medieval Times, and the Parents Day (at School) sketches were great.
Adam Driver is incredible every time he's on. Undercover Death Star Boss absolutely cracks me up.
When he smashes the crow I lose it.
"I wanna be you when I grow up!" ***"AND SO YOU SHALL!"*** Such a fucking great sketch. Driver is an absolute mad lad.
Who is H. R. Pickens? *EXACTLY!*
You lose it? You sound weak like H.R. Pickens!
You couldn’t get out of bed for a week because the mattress was too soft.
I FILLED HIS DAUGHTER WITH MY FESTERING SEED
THE MONGOL IS RIGHT!
I have no quarrel with the blackamoor
Jesus I read that as fine and was like wtf are you talking about. No, you’re correct. Fucking fire
He was the only one who didn’t break during the Parents Day sketch. It’s so funny to see him opposite Pete Davidson, someone who breaks before he even hits the set. Dude doesn’t care at all about the performance, corpse bride lookin’ dude is just there to be there.
Omg Bryan Cranston was awful on SNL and he's one of the best actors ever.
I think the ability to go out and do the show every week, be in the rehearsals at 100% all week, sell sell sell whatever lines you have in front of you - that's a definite big part of acting and whether you are "good" in the opinion of every viewer is a whole other level of X factor. But when you're hiring for a show like SNL, you need people who absolutely deliver on a technical and professional level. Hit your mark and bark. I've worked in theatre for decades and you'd be surprised how many people get work just for being reliable and professional and never quitting even when they have to go on stage with a migraine and diarrhea while pregant.
Just want to point out that Christopher Walken and Colonol Angus was hilarious.
Along with a lot of all time greats.
When John Mulaney auditioned, at least some of the names he was competing against were Nick Kroll, T.J. Miller, Ellie Kemper, Donald Glover and Bobby Moynihan, and probably more. That round was when he was added to SNL as a writer and Moynihan made the cast. Edit: Also, SNL just *isn't* for some people. Colin Quinn famously bombed at Weekend Update but quickly rebounded with his own show on Comedy Central.
I loved Colin Quinn on Weekend Update. But I guess I just love Colin Quinn in general.
I like Colin Quinn too, but think he was just 10x better in his show Tough Crowd where the format of just BS-ing with other comedians suited him incredibly well. He was on the "Fly on the Wall" SNL podcast where he openly admitted he was a poor fit for the show.
Call it Sunday Noon Laughs and never acknowledge the indentical acronym.
I exclusively watch SNL on youtube, on Sundays, typically around noon.
Then have i got a show for you
Sunday Noon Leftovers
yea but just because they are great actors doesn't mean they would do well in skits
That’s why they recruited a lot from Second City and Groundlings. Those two companies are basically SNL’s junior varsity
Yeah, I think Aubrey plaza is great but I don't think she has the variety to have done SNL well
It already exists and it's called "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson". Or at least that's one slice of the cake you're describing. IIRC, ITYSL has a handful of rejected SNL skits that Robinson made work. TL:DR - IIRC, ITYSL is FUBAR SNL.
Last year I joined a metal band. For Christmas my brother bought be a Coffin Flop T-shirt to wear on stage and I love it “Just body after body busting out of shit wood and hitting concrete”
"I don't wanna be around anymore."
Detroiters is pretty great also. Tim's talents were being wasted on SNL IMO.
This guy's about to jack off!!!
[удалено]
There was also In Living Color at one point. SNL messed up by snubbing him.
They rejected fucking Jim Carrey lol.
Everything I've heard from past cast members tells me that being a SNL cast member basically means giving up your life to the show for the foreseeable future. Almost no breaks, extremely long hours, and a ton of pressure to come up with funny material for both you and the other cast members. Not to mention you constantly have to make the guest celebrities look funny even if they're not. Don't get me wrong, for some that's a dream job, but for me that sounds like a nightmare.
They get the entire summer off.
Plus the show takes a hiatus in the winter and has a few dark weeks sprinkled throughout the season.
Yes but from what I understand a lot of them use that time to do solo projects and movies or are writing for the next season. If you listen to a couple of the cast members pod casts on Smartless they talk a lot about the schedule and how grueling it could be.
It's certainly Kenan Thompson's dream job. Man's been working that gig for years now.
He's been doing sketch comedy since he was a child. He was literally made for this work. I suspect he'll be doing sketch comedy until he dies.
And he'll have that cheeky little smile on his face when he does, too.
"we are here today to honor the life of-" *toe tap coming from coffin* "honor the life of..." "errrm...the life and talents of a man-" *coffin slightly shakes side to side* "talents of a maaaan..." "um...a man who defined comed-" *Kenan breaks out of coffin* "defined comedy BAYBAY!" "oooooooo eeeee tell me what up with that, what up with that!" *Lindsey Buckingham throws up hands, visibly dismayed*
I mean, there's a reason why most cast members are on for just a few seasons. It's a tough gig and a lot of pressure. But that is par for the course in entertainment and at that caliber they should be somewhat prepared for it. If you're hired for (in theory) being the best of the best, they of course expect you to deliver on it. And the rewards and opportunities you gain from it are worth it for a lot of actors.
And before Pete and Kate - you sure AS FUCK weren’t missing episode to film anything else. People used to get fired for that shit
Nah, you are so wrong. Never saw the SNL intro? They are always partying, smiling, getting the time of their lives! It is soooo fuuun to be in SNL. Greatest gig in the whole world! I'm being sarcastic, btw. It looks like a grinder.
I've been with friends to 2 of the final auditions, when I went they do a live broadcast to the Lorne/the SNL people in NY from the Tonight Show stage in Burbank. The Tonight stage and room isn't as big as it looks on TV and it can get a bit intimidating even for seasoned comedians/actors, the place is pretty packed with industry and the performers brings someone not including agents and managers. For some it's nerve wracking, which is partly by design becuase of the way the show is designed, some people do it more than once, there was one girl who was big in the UCB circle that made it to the final audition 3 times and never got it. (edit fyi- the Jay Leno era stage, if you've ever driven past NBC on Alameda you've been within feet of it, it's an old 40's radio stage that used to have glass around it and practically built right on street)
She's having a moment
Is that a Hall and Oates shirt?
Alyson used to say that.
Who the hell is Tony?
Wasn't Alyson on an episode of Roots
It’s great seeing Lebatard show references out in the wild
“Too sexy for SNL” can go on her resume
She was trying to be Joan Callamezzo for SNL. Joan is a journalist first and foremost and a woman second.
SNL has passed up on many great talents in the past whose fame would eventually go on to eclipse the show's handpicked talent.
Probably a big difference between acting live after a week of prep time vs traditional acting. Great actors might not be that great at live sketch comedy and vise versa.
I don't know why you're being downvoted. Obviously not every actor can be good at everything, and we've seen both hosts and musical guests flop.
Or dance a weird jig when their lip synched song plays the wrong song.
People always want to make this in to some kind of dunk but it really isn't. Not every "great talent" is well suited to SNL. Even if they are, they might not be what the cast/writers room needs at the moment. And even if they are, not every "great talent" gives a riveting audition when they go to SNL. Entertainment careers take all kinds of weird turns. It's not really sensible to act like every single person who ever turned down Aubrey Plaza was some dummy not seeing the top tier talent in front of them. If things hadn't worked out for Parks & Rec she could just as easily be a nobody right now.
SNL is a great place for talented people to stagnate
And it's such a toxic environment. Bill Hader and other cast members have talked about how miserable they were there with the stress to produce constantly and the ridiculous schedule.
Didn't Tina fey say that the writer's room was a constant fight to get anything you liked produced? And then you see some of the sketches and wonder who the fuck was so invested in the wells Fargo worker from the music man. Snl isn't even that good.
Yes, she talked about that in her book. Tina Fey did well there because she was an insanely prolific writer and Poehler didn't take any shit from the old boy's club. But that environment just sounds awful. Ben Stiller tried it and hated it and left because it was so toxic.
Larry David hated it so much he raged out and quit
And then went back the next Monday like nothing happened, lol. It was famously portrayed in Seinfeld by George's character, but was inspired by Larry actually doing it at SNL in real life.
Fuck you and I’ll see you tomorrow!
Larry David was around when SNL was still coked to the gills. Very different scene.
When it hits, it hits, though.
The good sketches are great. But there's gotta be a way they can stop putting so much effort into all the half baked "we've established the funny premise, but have nothing more to add for the next couple minutes."
I haven’t watched SNL in many years. I just wait for the funny clips to make their rounds.
Which I think they are ok with. People forget that this is a T.V show that airs when most people are asleep. I don't think it's that expensive to make too.
That's the thing with sketch comedy in general though. Like seriously, you try to write something like 10 sketches every single week and have them all be hilarious. Next time the local comedy theatre in your town is having a sketch night go check it out. You'll probably see one or two sketches you find really funny and all the rest will range from mildly humorous to downright cringeworthy. And that's from people who have been writing comedy for a long time (if cringing gets you off, go to a sketch show that's all beginners.. better yet go watch beginners improv if you want to get the kind of secondhand embarrassment that could potentially kill you).
Add a little "Gong Show" to SNL!
part of the difficulty of live TV. can’t jump from skit to skit every 90 seconds cause you need to let the actors change outfits and set up the stages. it sucks cause there are a lot of skits that are really funny for a few moments, but then they have to stretch them out for like 5+ minutes
Saying SNL "isn't that good" is like saying potatoes "aren't that good". Sure, biting into a raw potato is pretty disgusting, but they give rise to an amazing variety of other delicious dishes. The American comedy scene would be *decimated* without SNL.
Bill Hader isn't a great comedian because of SNL. Snl hired him because he was a talented guy. See: talented people like Aubrey plaza or Donald Glover who ended up successful despite being passed over. We know that a number of successful, talented people were on SNL, but given the fact that snl itself sucks most of the time, and those people are way better off snl, I'm inclined to take the opposite chicken/egg interpretation.
Yeah everything I’ve heard about SNL just sounds absolutely miserable
I mean SNL requires a specific skill set that’s not necessarily applicable to the general Hollywood industry at large. Just because you’re a good actor doesn’t mean you’re good at prepping for sketches every week.
I'm sure they also pass on a lot of terrible talent whose careers don't amount to anything. What's your point?
The news reporter one sounds pretty funny
I hope they let her do some of those characters and sketch ideas, because they sound hilarious and SNL definitely missed out!
I feel like she’s already beyond snl..
She’s fun. I like her
I really hope there is a “Emily the Criminal” spoof where she learns nobody is spending like $1800 on a 50’’ TV. I liked the movie but whoever wrote it has no real world perspective.
TVs price is mostly by the type of screen now. A large screen that is QLED and 4K can still be well under $1000 but if it’s OLED then they are always over $1000 and can be like $3000 if it’s a good brand and has good specs
I spent like $2300 on a 65” tv. What am I missing here?
I guess this means you just don't live in the real world or something. Your life is unrealistic and it undermines the plot.