For more than a generation, Saturday Night Live has made its name by making fun of pop culture, religion, sports, etc., but above all has always been politics. But last night wasn’t meant to be funny.
The cold open was a veritable dirge with Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton singing “Hallelujah.” The audience was treated to an over-abundance of liberal tears — seriously, Kate McKinnon was tearing up at the end — from people who live in a progressive Democrat bubble and held the smug belief that Hillary would break their perceived ‘glass ceiling’ to become the first woman president last week.
Such earnest sobriety has rarely been seen on the show, and conservative Twitter was hardly amused:
That was literally a redo of the post 9/11 open with Paul Simon singing "The Boxer"
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) November 13, 2016
Wow, that sucked, SNL. Just giving up on even trying to say anything funny about the election, deciding it’s a national tragedy.
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) November 13, 2016
#SNL just jumped the shark… acting like it's 9/11… they obviously don't know half the country is celebrating… big depressed liberals.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) November 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/NoahCRothman/status/797658472473133061
Okay, so at least one person expressed high amusement:
Hey SNL: I laughed gleefully through your sad sack cold open.
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) November 13, 2016
Thankfully, Dave Chappelle was there to provide some comic relief.
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