Monday, January 19, 2009

SNL Does Ann Coulter, About As Well As They Do Everything Else

SNL has posted a Weekend Update visit from Ann Coulter as a web exclusive--apparently it didn't make it to the final cut (guess they have SOME taste) but I wouldn't know, since if I did manage to stay up that late, it wouldn't be to watch them.

One of the new cast members in their rotating team of talentless hacks puts a blonde wig on and goes for it :





Points they find to make fun of Coulter:
-she's mean
-she's skinny
-she won't go away
-she's victimized by liberal interviewers


Now, SNL isn't worth getting mad over. They've had a few decades too many and despite having a crapload of money and time and writers, and thus every opportunity to think of something funny and original, they fail every single week. I mean, a high school could do a better sketch comedy show.

But Coulter, as the anti-Christ of all their personal and publicly stated views, politically or otherwise, is full of possibilities for parody. The woman has done about a dozen interviews, just in the last week, making several hilarious jokes and not only surviving awkward situations and direct attacks, but turning them around and regularly dominating the interview.

They could have had her and Seth have a sword fight, or her and Rush arguing over who is really the true standard bearer of conservatism. She could have hijacked Weekend Update and read the news and started interviewing Seth, the way she takes over all her appearances. They could have used facts from any of the thousands of arguments she's made in her career, and multiple best-selling books, but as usual they were either frightened by her substance, or they just hadn't actually read any of her work. What they knew about her was gained from pop culture, the same way they get their information about Bush. (i.e. she's a bitch and he's a moron.)

Even when they had their lame writer's strike, and basically got an entire 12 months off, they didn't come up with a single idea. They returned immediately with lame shows and horribly long pointless sketches. I understand there was some principle involved with not-writing, but is it so wrong to brainstorm? Jot down some ideas? Why does the process have to involve coming in on Monday and trying to think of something to do on Saturday?

If SNL is going to survive, which would be nice since it's such a familiar institution, they need to fire absolutely everyone involved (except maybe Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen), especially the black dude and Seth Meyers, get new writers who have something to prove and are actually funny, and do a halfway decent show for once this century.

And if anyone wants to make fun of Ann Coulter, go ahead and try. I've yet to see it work.

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