I know plenty of folks won’t agree with me on this one, but I thought Saturday Night Live’s cold-open skit on Trump’s resounding election victory was pretty funny. Although the show has been openly—viciously—anti-Trump in the past, I thought in this bit they poked some fun at themselves and showed they were aware of their and their audience’s political leanings, but they didn’t lean into the histrionics and fear-mongering that they’ve engaged in in prior years.
Remember the absolutely horrid “song” Kate McKinnon delivered in 2016? It was NYC-Tinseltown hysteria at its worst:
An emotional Kate McKinnon opens #SNL singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" as Hillary pic.twitter.com/kzMANTdkZW
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) November 13, 2016
They took some potshots at Trump in this latest bit, but they were mostly soft punches without the malevolence they have shown in the past with things like the Alec Baldwin impersonations of the former and future president. Those were just venal, hysterical, and humorless bits that I won’t even bother to link to.
Here, to me, as a media critic, the cast seemed almost good-natured and accepting of what happened Tuesday night. As I said, many on social media completely disagree and think it was yet another example of SNL’s continuing descent into promoting extremism, but compared to the drivel they’ve put on in the past, I thought it had a different tone.
They throw you at first, acting as if they're going to deliver another somber, polarizing message that we've become all too used to. But at the 43-second mark, things suddenly change.
You decide:
One of the BEST #SNL Cold Opens in a while. #ArtWillSaveUsAll pic.twitter.com/frHuI0Vu6c
— Nother Brother Ent. (@NotherBrother) November 10, 2024
Compare it to some of the other garbage they’ve put out there.
SNL Alum Dropped Out of Awful Antisemitism Sketch Minutes Before Airtime, Was 'Uncomfortable'
Watching Angry SNL Trans Skit Was About as Fun as Hitting Yourself Over the Head With a Mallet
WATCH: Kamala's 'SNL' Skit Reveals Just What an Inauthentic Copycat She Is
Most of our readers despise SNL, with good reason, and would presumably rather watch “Gutfeld!” if they’re looking for some good comedy. To me, however, I find it interesting that SNL didn’t go scorched earth or throw out some despicable propaganda like the Kate McKinnon cr*p mentioned above. They will never be on our side, that is obvious, but I thought it was notable that they admitted that fact in tongue-in-cheek fashion and didn’t go nuclear. I actually chuckled at some of the lines, especially when Colin Jost came out in “QAnon Shaman” garb and told Trump to go after his co-host Michael Che, and not him.
Sure, there was some subversive humor in there, but that’s what comedy used to be about. I personally love a little subversion here and there. Internet star Peachy Keenan, who I love, completely disagrees with me, but that’s ok; people used to be able to disagree with each other:
Real comedy works when it contains uncomfortable truth. It's literally funny because it's true, and usually unsayable.
— Peachy Keenan (@KeenanPeachy) November 10, 2024
These lame insults are just stale liberal lies delivered sarcastically. Instead of doing the obvious joke, which is that no one is coming to arrest SNL comics… https://t.co/hgfXTdR8cD
Instead of doing the obvious joke, which is that no one is coming to arrest SNL comics and only self important psychopaths fear this, they instead betray their profound brainwashing. People in a cult cannot be funny, Exhibit one million
SNL will probably never return to its heights of the Chevy Chase-John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd-Eddie-Murphy (and so many others) eras, but if you’re looking for the nasty DNC propaganda junk they’ve thrown out for far too long now, to me, this wasn’t it. I actually chuckled at times.
As an added bonus, check out comedian Bill Burr's opening monologue. It's hysterical, and it's something they simply wouldn't have aired in the past:
This is one of the funniest sets I’ve seen on SNL. Bill Burr talks about Trump’s big win. pic.twitter.com/Gdcj7lhKjk
— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) November 10, 2024
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