The second show of “Saturday Night Live’s” 51st season aired Saturday night. And, just like the first episode, it was a tad disappointing.
Humor is subjective, and “SNL” can be polarizing. Admittedly, I’m a big “SNL” fan and usually give the show the benefit of the doubt, but both shows this season have been underwhelming.
This past weekend’s episode two was stronger than the season premiere hosted by Bad Bunny, but it was still a bit disheartening considering the host was Amy Poehler, a former “SNL” star.
To be clear, the shows haven’t been awful. They’ve just been OK, even though Poehler was good and energetic as host, and there were a couple of laugh-out-loud moments. (The Atlantic’s Michael Tedder was complimentary in his piece, “Amy Poehler Understood the Assignment.”)
But, overall, it has been an uneven start for “SNL.”
I think I know part of the problem.
Both episodes, like most “SNL” shows, had cold openings based on the past week in politics. This past week, for instance, had Poehler playing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Tina Fey, in a special guest appearance, playing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The issue is that the news is so depressing these days that the sketches don’t even seem like parodies. For example, Poehler played a defiant and rude Bondi from her recent Senate hearing. Was it over-the-top? Of course. But not by a lot.
In the sketch, Poehler, as Bondi, started by telling senators, “What’s up, nerds? Furious to be here.”
When asked if she would swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Poehler said, “No.” Then she said her name was Bondi and it was spelled with an “I” because “I ain’t gonna answer any questions.”
So, yeah, it was supposed to be silly. But it really wasn’t that far from Bondi’s actual tone in that hearing. And, instead of being a funny jab at Bondi, it was actually a depressing reminder of what happened when Bondi actually testified.
Only Fey’s imitation of Noem, and a good “Old Yeller” joke, saved an opening that was too close to reality to be entertaining. And these cold openings set a bleak tone right from the start.
Back in the very first season of “SNL,” original cast member Chevy Chase made fun of then-President Gerald Ford, who had a reputation for being clumsy. Chase played an exaggerated version of Ford, constantly knocking over pencils, tripping over chairs and crashing through desks.
That was funny. Viewers looked forward to those sketches, just as they looked forward to the exaggerated imitations that Dan Aykroyd did of Jimmy Carter, and Darrell Hammond did of Bill Clinton and Will Ferrell did of George W. Bush.
Are people looking forward to such sketches now? Or are they almost dreading them because the actual news is so outrageous?
Poehler playing Bondi like a spoiled brat at a Senate hearing is not that funny. Not because Poehler isn’t funny. Not because the writers didn’t try. It’s because Bondi did act like a brat. It was because Poehler’s version did not feel like that much of an exaggeration.
I’m not sure of the solution. “SNL” should not back off parodying and mocking our political leaders. But it’s hard for “SNL” to parody the actions of our leaders when the actual behavior is often so brazen and shameful. And too dire to even make fun of.
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Sunday morning showdown
Credit to ABC “This Week” moderator George Stephanopoulos for his strong performance interviewing Vice President JD Vance on Sunday. The two tangled when Stephanopoulos pressed Vance on reports that Border Czar Tom Homan was recorded on an FBI surveillance tape in 2024 accepting $50,000 in cash.
Vance pushed back, saying, “George, you’ve covered the story ad nauseam.”
It was the start of a long diatribe by Vance, who never really answered Stephanopoulos’ question. So Stephanopoulos kept pressing, and then Vance turned personal, saying, “And here’s, George, why fewer and fewer people watch your program, and why you’re losing credibility. Because you’re talking for five minutes with the vice president of the United States about this story regarding Tom Homan, a story that I’ve read about, but I don’t even know the video that you’re talking about.”
Vance then went on to filibuster about Democrats and Sen. Chuck Schumer and the government shutdown and on and on. He called the Homan story “some weird left-wing rabbit hole.”
Finally, Stephanopoulos had enough. He told Vance, “It’s not a weird left-wing rabbit hole. I didn’t insinuate anything. I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50,000, as was heard on an audiotape recorded by the FBI in September 2024, and you did not answer the question. Thank you for your time this morning.”
Vance started to angrily reply, but by then it was too late. His feed was already cut and Stephanopoulos was going to commercial.
Wait, there was more
At one point during “This Week’s” interview with Vance, Stephanopoulos brought up reporting by ProPublica. Vance referred to ProPublica as a “far-left blog.”
To be clear, ProPublica is not a “far-left blog.” It is a well-respected, independent, nonprofit investigative journalism organization. Earlier this year, ProPublica won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, considered the top prize in journalism. It was the nonprofit’s eighth Pulitzer.
ProPublica responded to Vance’s insults by tweeting, “We are an independent, nonprofit newsroom with more than 150 dedicated journalists. For those who want to read the facts of our reporting — and the documents on which it is based — here’s the full story:”
It then linked to the story that was brought up in the “This Week” interview: “Trump Is Accusing Foes With Multiple Mortgages of Fraud. Records Show 3 of His Cabinet Members Have Them.”
Fact check
At 12:38 a.m. on Sunday morning, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: “THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6. If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM - DO SOMETHING!!! President DJT.”
To be clear, Joe Biden was not president on Jan. 6, 2021. Who was the president that day? Donald Trump.
Remembering our colleague
Last week was a difficult one for us at Poynter. As I mentioned previously, we lost a beloved colleague — Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds.
I want to take this moment to now turn it over to my colleague and a good friend of Rick’s: Kristen Hare. She writes:
Usually when I write an obituary, I leave thinking, “I wish I'd known that person.” Last week, I wrote an obituary for someone I did know, and I spent the week thinking, “I wish I'd known him better.” Poynter's longtime media business analyst was a skilled business reporter, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, and a former publisher. He was also a generous source and lowkey guide for an impressive group of media reporters, including Poynter's Angela Fu, The New York Times’ Ben Mullin and The Washington Post's Elahe Izadi, who all knew Rick would pick up the phone anytime they had questions. In an industry in churn, Rick was a constant. Here's his remembrance:
“Rick Edmonds chronicled the media business with savvy, care and wit.”
A movie legend
Sad news over the weekend as Academy Award-winning actress Diane Keaton died. She was 79. The cause of death is not yet publicly known, but reports are that Keaton's health had declined over the past several months.
Keaton won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall,” which came out in 1977. She is also known for playing Kay, the wife of Michael Corleone, in the “Godfather” trilogy, as well as dozens of other movies ranging from romantic comedies to serious dramas.
Aside from her win for “Annie Hall,” the prolific and talented Keaton garnered three other Oscar nominations, including a movie that had journalism ties: 1981’s “Reds.” She played Louise Bryant — a writer from the early 1900s — who was close with journalist John “Jack” Reed, who was known for his coverage of the Bolshevik Revolution. That movie (which is high on my list of journalism movies) picked up 12 Oscar nominations, including Warren Beatty, who won for Best Director, and Maureen Stapleton, who won for Best Supporting Actress. The New York Times’ Alissa Wilkinson wrote about that movie in “Diane Keaton in ‘Reds’: A Remarkable Performance but Also a Returning Point.”
Here’s an excellent remembrance of Keaton from The New York Times’ Anita Gates.
Not only was Keaton known for her acting, but also for her fashion. Here’s The Washington Post’s Rachel Tashjian with “Diane Keaton’s style was wildly eccentric — and the most authentic thing in Hollywood.”
Media tidbits
