I would say the writers phoned it in, but I’m not sure that’s sufficient. This was so lame and played out they faxed it in. They beepered it in. They had Leonardo DiCaprio go on a boat and sketch it in. No that’s still not quite it. Let me think about it. Meanwhile, here is the clip.
“That’s pretty tight, isn’t it thugs?”
There were one or two good ones in there. Basic bitch was good. I chuckled at the Jindal bit. The gay marriage line was pretty solid. Yep, that about covers it. In SNL’s defense, they didn’t attack Republican policy positions very much. Just played the “Republicans are lame” card, which is a fine card to play, honestly. Certainly I can cop to using that theme for jokes once or twice on Twitter.
But, as with the Fox & Friends sketch last week, there was just no real effort at the basics of comedy here. Because as the partisans they are, just the very idea that a person can be young and hip, or old and hip for that matter, and simultaneously be Republican, is self-evidently hilarious. No jokes needed. Just point and laugh. Effort over.
And for gosh sakes, can we get someone on the SNL cast who can do impressions? Throughout all the years and all the casts, the good casts and the “what the hell am I watching” casts, there has always been a few decent impersonations. Even if you didn’t like them, like Tina Fey’s Palin. But this cast … yeesh. Come on SNL. Get it together.
Wait, I’ve got it. It was so lame and played out they “Doc Brown got hit by lightning but isn’t dead and wrote a letter that sat undelivered for decades until the exact moment that they were going to write the cold open”ed it in. That’s what they did. I’m pretty sure anyway.