The cake sketch is by Kent Sublette (and I think some of the newer writers helped). It seems to be easy laughs for the studio audience and a filler around the holidays. The Target commercial is Mikey and Streeter Seidell. I guess those are partly product placement (in a few cases) and partly just generic holiday …

I think even with Trump still clogging the drain, Ivanka herself has become irrelevant enough that most viewers are less likely to watch and compare Shiv to her. 

I was thinking of this in the part of the recap about not much with Greg and Tom tonight. I thought their little scenes together were fascinating, in large part due to Matthew’s performance. Greg is using Tom, when Tom is in a very low moment, and you can’t really feel sorry for Tom, because Tom was abusive toward him…

I wonder if the situation is a bit like what I thought happened with The Sopranos, where the producers wanted us to remember most of the characters are horrible and we shouldn’t expect them to ever change, unless it’s to get worse. (there are some characters like Tom where I’m not sure if they are becoming more…

This gets to an idea I was thinking while reading this article. The new Star Wars trilogy and the 2016 Ghostbusters both got heavy marketing and praise on the “This is for fans who aren’t like those OTHER fans” mindset, based on the idea that pandering to female fans or fans of color with what turned out to be…

Indiana Jones and Karate Kid also seem to keep coming back into pop culture. I’m surprised Gremlins never has had a big revival, unless I’m forgetting one in the last few decades. 

“Someone in the comments mentioned that if SNL were to get more biting in their political satire, people would start seeing them as part of the establishment. I definitely understand that point of view and it would annoy me a little as well, but it would be far less frustrating than them going “wow, Republicans sure…

SNL used to be much more reliant on recurring sketches than they are now, so waiting 3 and a half years for a second installment doesn’t bother me too much. It helps that I thought this was better than the first, which drags at the start. But if I thought this was a new concept and then learned about the first I would…

I agree that tiktok or Youtube comedy with the different impressions from one person is a better execution of a karaoke idea. The main reason I liked the karaoke sketch is because I just like seeing the cast getting to have fun, especially the people who aren’t on as much (like Melissa). It’s the same reason I like…

I think it comes from some of the show’s own tub-thumping of their greatness, but yes, SNL was not a “outlaw rebel” program for long at all, if ever. The closest would probably be the first season, when they had Gerald Ford’s press secretary on and decided to humiliate him by having some very juvenile sketches in the…

I think Pete was cast as a mix of a young Sandler and Andy Samberg, with a mix of Fallon too with all the breaking. Then he had his own story due to losing his father on 9/11. Somewhere along the way he became his own person, with all the relationship headlines, but the traces still remain. When Pete first started I…

Usually Pete gets 3-4 of these a season. We are already near that quota so I wonder if he asked for more. He doesn’t do music outside of SNL so it does seem like this is his main change to just have fun, which the show caters to because they get talk and social media views. I would rather he just get his own show. I’m…

If you’re a MAGA who needs a hit you can easily see his many interviews on various cable “news” channels or just watch his old crap over and over. MAGA people don’t watch SNL anymore, they just swarm  comment sections to talk about how it was last good in 1995. 

I don’t think it makes Trump seem bumbling and harmless - I think it just represents what he tends to do when he gets a spotlight (rambling incoherently). I know there’s a train of thought which says if you focus on Trump you should just focus on how terrible he is, but that is difficult and awkward to write and…

This felt like one of the more Thanksgiving-heavy episodes around Thanksgiving - usually they just have one sketch, maybe two. It helped add a nicer sensation to what was, as you mention, a pleasant if not standout episode. I do think they could have done more with Simu, but aside from the stunt (Kim K) and the…

I know what you mean, but this is the type of material I connect more with from Amber. I feel like her studio audience takes away some of the direct connection she has with the viewer and are too often reliant on lazy, glib material which doesn’t let the host have a heart. 

“SNL has had a decidedly mixed 47th season”

This show is one of the reasons I finally got rid of Netflix. Glorifying and deifying animal abusers and racists is clearly just the ideal for what they have become. 

I wasn’t that into most of the Stewart era Daily Show  correspondents. He was alright in Anchorman and I did enjoy some of his  partnerships on  the Dana Carvey Show. I guess even there I don’t ever quite remember the comic tones just for themselves - his best character on the Dana Carvey Show was the guy who, with …

I remember watching the first version of Trivial Pursuit, with Wink Martindale. The set was very nice. The show itself felt like it should have been much more interesting than it was.