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somepartsareme posted:no, but you can be sure that they're patting themselves on the back right now for all the help they did over 4 years of orange man funny voice jokes The Trump SNL skits have been absolutely wretched. They started out ok but quickly turned into skits where the joke is just Alec Baldwin mugging at the camera. The Larry David ones eventually went the same way, except he plays a better Sanders than Baldwin plays Trump. However, I remember the Tina Fey/Sarah Palin ones being good because they contained actual jokes and she can do an impression without turning it up to 11. They also didn't oversaturate the episodes with them -- I think they did like 4 or 5 total, including a few guest appearances. So they can do funny political skits, it's just easier to get their famous friends to walk onstage in orange makeup.
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Nov 23, 2020 05:54
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GrandpaPants posted:The weird thing about Studio 60 was that at the time The Daily Show was way more politically relevant and funnier than SNL. Like I would argue there was an entire generation where TDS was the main source of political news. There's not really any question that The Daily Show, and with it The Colbert Report, were how a lot of people got their news for a while. The Daily Show basically developed into something during the insanity of the 2000 election, and during the 2004 election season it was drawing higher ratings than a bunch of actual news shows (Particularly among younger demographics). By comparison, I literally had never heard of Studio 60 until it was brought up on the last page, although some quick searching on Wikipedia says it's timeslot mainly had it airing opposite Monday Night Football (In the first year ESPN had it), which fully ensured I'd have never given it a second thought back then.
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Nov 23, 2020 06:13
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I still love that, at the time, conventional wisdom was that 30 Rock was doomed and Studio 60 was the show to watch - because when you're making a show about comedy, you, don't want to have the show itself be comedic, you want it to be unrelentingly serious, solemn, and always having an overinflated sense of its own importance. That's what people will want!
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Nov 23, 2020 06:35
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somepartsareme posted:no, but you can be sure that they're patting themselves on the back right now for all the help they did over 4 years of orange man funny voice jokes 
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Nov 23, 2020 07:12
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GrandpaPants posted:The weird thing about Studio 60 was that at the time The Daily Show was way more politically relevant and funnier than SNL. Like I would argue there was an entire generation where TDS was the main source of political news. "More Americans get their news from The Daily Show than probably should." That was a fantastic tagline and painfully true - at the time I wasn't watching any actual news program and hadn't for years.
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Nov 23, 2020 07:25
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mllaneza posted:"More Americans get their news from The Daily Show than probably should." I've seen the USAs news programmes, I think you might have gotten the better end of the deal.
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Nov 23, 2020 09:57
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As an Australian kid, I managed to become pretty well-informed on American news from one of the cable channels here airing Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien (and David Letterman but I didn't find him funny and still don't know why people do), and then later the Daily Show. You can actually tell it influenced Australia in a weird way, because eventually one of the major networks here hired a bunch of comedians, alongside some actual TV journalism types, to do a current affairs show with what they thought was the same air, The 7PM Project (later The Project because it got a better time slot). It's a panel show, because most Australian TV only knows how to make four shows: Panel shows, crime dramas, acclaimed shows set in the outback and/or the suburbs that nobody watches, and Neighbours. It still remains pretty popular, but it has the same problem as a lot of Australian comedic TV: the only avenues for newer comedians to break into TV dried up around 2012, so it's still the exact same people every time, and most of them are younger boomers/older Gen-X who I suspect were never funny. Cleretic has a new favorite as of 10:48 on Nov 23, 2020 |
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Nov 23, 2020 10:43
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Cleretic posted:(and David Letterman but I didn't find him funny and still don't know why people do), Cleretic posted:Jay Leno
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Nov 23, 2020 11:06
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Sarcopenia posted:Fair, I get it. I was like, twelve or thirteen when I was watching him. I could definitely tell that he was the lesser comedian, but there were still some segments worth watching at that age. Cleretic has a new favorite as of 11:34 on Nov 23, 2020 |
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Nov 23, 2020 11:13
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hyperhazard posted:The Trump SNL skits have been absolutely wretched. They started out ok but quickly turned into skits where the joke is just Alec Baldwin mugging at the camera. The Larry David ones eventually went the same way, except he plays a better Sanders than Baldwin plays Trump. Palin was only important for like... 3 months? Imagine if they had to keep it going for 4 years.
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Nov 23, 2020 16:16
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Dr Christmas posted:Was there ever anything in SNLs history that gave credence to the idea that it and the shows like it that formed the basis for Studio 60 were important institutions that spoke truth to power or whatever? it's mostly just that SNL had a lot of audience reach during the time when network TV was all there was to watch. SNL was HUGE in the 80s among the 21-35 demographic and it filled a similar role that the daily show filled in the aughts, that of relatively topical comedy. it was not really incisive commentary though as much as it was just immediately topical, as the only other stuff commenting on the events of the week was boring panel shows and news shows. even just gently caricaturing the president came off as subversive in a pre-internet time where now you can't really post any take on a public figure without someone sliding in the comments to inform you about how you're supporting a war criminal/pedophile and should be ashamed in a lot of ways SNL is still coasting on the cultural cred it picked up in the 80s and then also in the brief "SNL is good again!" time of the mid 90s, before most young adults started drifting away from tentpole television as the TV landscape splintered
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Nov 23, 2020 16:30
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hyperhazard posted:The Trump SNL skits have been absolutely wretched. They started out ok but quickly turned into skits where the joke is just Alec Baldwin mugging at the camera. The Larry David ones eventually went the same way, except he plays a better Sanders than Baldwin plays Trump. Honestly think the main issue is that Trump's nearly impossible to really parody, despite so many people trying. His whole campaign has been leaning into his act and being too ridiculous for any mockery to really land, and getting his supporters to identify any mockery and derision of him with mockery and derision of themselves. Palin was a ridiculous figure with zero self-awareness, is the key thing.
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Nov 23, 2020 17:42
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There was the guy who had a Comedy Central show who was a pretty good impersonator, but he still was just Trump and not really that exaggerated. Alec Baldwin felt like a bad joke that for some reason made Trump mad once so they kept going with it.
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Nov 23, 2020 17:47
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk-ZBYyjsko These ones are pretty good too but they work because he's imitating Trump's style of speech rather than a a political parody
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Nov 23, 2020 19:10
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Gordon Shumway posted:Having just rewatched Sports Night, I can say that it holds up the best out of everything Sorkin's done. 
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Nov 23, 2020 23:37
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Ghost Leviathan posted:Honestly think the main issue is that Trump's nearly impossible to really parody, despite so many people trying. His whole campaign has been leaning into his act and being too ridiculous for any mockery to really land, and getting his supporters to identify any mockery and derision of him with mockery and derision of themselves. It kind of falls under the Flava Flav principle. During his comedy central roast, one of the comedians (Jeff Ross, maybe?) said something to the tune of: "You're wearing a giant clock around your neck, a viking helmet and cornrows. How do you roast charcoal!?" Trump is the same way. He's such a caricature on his own that it's hard to properly mock him
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Nov 24, 2020 00:12
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I dunno, I think the thing you could do is treat him seriously by treating him as intensely dull. Just not even "contempt" just low energy "and now he's doing stuff".
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Nov 24, 2020 00:44
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Josef bugman posted:I dunno, I think the thing you could do is treat him seriously by treating him as intensely dull. Just not even "contempt" just low energy "and now he's doing stuff". The only way to beat Trump with momentum is to dominate him, which is why the GOP backed him. They realized early on that Democrats and most of his opponents are too weak-wristed without collective energy, and have been subdivided (and easily turned against each other) for decades. Even with him being hideously unpopular with huge swaths of the country it took an extremely hard effort to beat him by a slim margin.
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Nov 24, 2020 00:48
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Zero One posted:Palin was only important for like... 3 months? Fair enough. I know it's also an issue of availability and casting--they've been milking Warren for the past 4 years because Kate McKinnon is too good to lose (and she got the short end of the stick when Clinton lost). But their funniest political sketches are definitely their one-offs, like when Matt Damon came in to play Kavanagh.
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Nov 24, 2020 04:12
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Trump is pretty easy to make fun of. The current media class just can't do it because accurately capturing his character means he isn't a charismatic mastermind and that a consummate buffoon mopped the floor with every one of Obama's VSPs who graduated summa cum laude from the Harvard Kennedy War Criminal Factory. And what are they going to make fun of on policy? Concentration camps? Drone strikes? Using chemical weapons against protestors? They can't even make fun of him for flying on the Lolita Express, because they all flew on it too. The only thing they can make fun of is class signifiers like "he is incorrectly tanned", "he eats his steak wrong", or "he serves McDonalds to his guests", which works about as well as accusing William Henry Harrison of living in a log cabin drinking hard cider did in 1840.
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Nov 24, 2020 15:41
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I wouldn't have minded Trump winning if his presidency had been similar to Harrison's. Although Pence is a terrifying alternate history.
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Nov 24, 2020 16:39
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christmas boots posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk-ZBYyjsko I am gonna have to toot my own country's horn here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnsP1zhpNxE
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Nov 25, 2020 02:16
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I would also argue that a lot of good satire, (many say the best), involves being an affectionate pisstake. Making fun of someone involves making people laugh, and there is always at least a kernel of good feeling in most laughs. But Trump doesn't inspire any affection. At all. Even from his most fervent supporters. He is either worshiped as an unassailable god-king that is shining and pure and above it all, or he is hated, reviled and held in contempt by normal people. Neither of these provide much laughs.
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Nov 25, 2020 02:37
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I think something like Gorilla Channel worked because Pixelated Boat didn't try to exaggerate Trump's personality or anything, they just put him in a surreal situation and showed exactly how real Trump would've acted.
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Nov 25, 2020 08:54
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Josef bugman posted:I dunno, I think the thing you could do is treat him seriously by treating him as intensely dull. Just not even "contempt" just low energy "and now he's doing stuff". If I am remembering right, Daryl Hammond's Trump was just that. A boring racist empty suit who doesn't know what he's doing. But then Baldwin came in and made Trump seem almost better/more competent than he really is. It's like Phil Hartman's Reagan was much cooler than the real Reagan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wfPlgKFh8 SNL has to make their characters entertaining and we don't need an entertaining Trump.
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Nov 25, 2020 18:38
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Trump is entertaining all on his own. Kinda hard to lampoon a cartoon character.
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Nov 25, 2020 19:24
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Solice Kirsk posted:Trump is entertaining all on his own. Kinda hard to lampoon a cartoon character. Entertaining in the sense of watching a juggler with an unending supply of poo poo smeared flaming knives hurling them into the audience at anyone not showing sufficient adoration. But enough about the Jim Rose Circus.
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Nov 25, 2020 19:34
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MrUnderbridge posted:Entertaining in the sense of watching a juggler with an unending supply of poo poo smeared flaming knives hurling them into the audience at anyone not showing sufficient adoration. Gallagher took a new and dark turn 
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Nov 25, 2020 20:10
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Icon Of Sin posted:Gallagher took a new and dark turn Didn't Gallagher already go weirdly dark a while ago? It's tough to tell since Gallagher's younger brother also performs as Gallagher. I think the original one is the evil one though.
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Nov 25, 2020 20:30
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Yeah, Gallagher has been poo poo for a while now. Apparently all he does now is shout racist/sexist/homophobic stuff while smashing watermelons.
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Nov 25, 2020 20:32
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There Gallagher, Gallagher 2 and also Black Gallagher
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Nov 25, 2020 20:40
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gallagher himself represents to me that whole aging hippie aesthetic, which as a group has not aged well. it's sad to see some long haired old boomer who in their mind is still a freewheelin' spirit with a sharply anti-authoritarian core as they rant about tax increases and job stealing mexicans. like when someone reaches that bitter old man stance from a church background or some greedy old gently caress in a dated business suit i get, but the same opinions coming from a guy whose hero is jerry garcia... sad as a comic he was never that great, and aside from the smashing food bit it must be remembered he's a Prop Comic, which is one of the lowest forms of stand up comedy. but just being a bleak observational cynic doesn't work anymore unless you can be more self-confessional, george carlin was getting kind of bitter in the end and i fear if carlin were still around today what he'd say to get himself canceled
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Nov 25, 2020 20:47
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Speaking of lovely comics, Jeff Dunham was on TMZ last night bitching about how you just can't make jokes like you used to these days. I'm just sitting there thinking, "dude, you get up on stage with extremely racist puppets, what do you expect?"
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Nov 25, 2020 20:54
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for what it's worth and killin them softly are the only stand up bits I need, and the only ones Dave did before his tragic death in africa RIP Dave
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Nov 25, 2020 20:59
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muscles like this! posted:Yeah, Gallagher has been poo poo for a while now. Apparently all he does now is shout racist/sexist/homophobic stuff while smashing watermelons. I think he had that kind of crap in his set the whole time, it just took people forever to notice anything besides the food smashing. There's a terrible bit from one of his 80s specials about plane hijacking that's burned in my brain that goes like "You know TWA stands for? Travel With Arabs. That's why I fly DELTA: Don't EVEN Let Them Aboard" I also can't let Gallagher discussion pass without posting this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdi_WgV7rGA
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Nov 25, 2020 21:12
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Iron Crowned posted:Speaking of lovely comics, Jeff Dunham was on TMZ last night bitching about how you just can't make jokes like you used to these days. I'm just sitting there thinking, "dude, you get up on stage with extremely racist puppets, what do you expect?" He's probably just saying that to advertise his new special on Comedy Central; yes, it's 2020 and Jeff Dunham is still getting promoted TV specials.
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Nov 25, 2020 21:17
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londonarbuckle posted:I think he had that kind of crap in his set the whole time, it just took people forever to notice anything besides the food smashing. There's a terrible bit from one of his 80s specials about plane hijacking that's burned in my brain that goes like "You know TWA stands for? Travel With Arabs. That's why I fly DELTA: Don't EVEN Let Them Aboard" yeah there's a direct line from his 'edgy' commentary in his early career as a man headed into middle age, and then add on a few decades of comfortable hacky irrelevancy and he drops any pretense of simulating humor and it's hateful old man rants this is from his first standup special. warning, casual racism, prop comedy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-0P-p1wQu0&t=1107s Mr. Fall Down Terror has a new favorite as of 21:35 on Nov 25, 2020 |
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Nov 25, 2020 21:25
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The last major thing about Gallagher I remember is he was being interviewed on a podcast and the host asked, pretty politely if I remember, what Gallagher thinks about people saying some of his material is problematic and Gallagher lost his poo poo and walked out
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Nov 25, 2020 22:07
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that was marc maron, who was getting a little deservedly contentious because gallagher is a lovely unfunny racist and gallagher blew his stack and tantrumed off. gently caress him
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Nov 25, 2020 22:21
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luxury handset posted:that was marc maron, who was getting a little deservedly contentious because gallagher is a lovely unfunny racist and gallagher blew his stack and tantrumed off. gently caress him One of Maron’s best episodes imo, even though he’d agree that he was a little aggressive https://www.vulture.com/2015/11/that-time-gallagher-displayed-his-true-awfulness-and-then-stormed-out-on-marc-maron.html E: lol I forgot that Gallagher mentions trying to sell his veg-o-magic routine to George Carlin and was shocked when he turned it down. Just imagine living in that reality christmas boots has a new favorite as of 22:40 on Nov 25, 2020 |
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Nov 25, 2020 22:35
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