The political comics of America owe a heartfelt “thank you” to Mitt Romney for his “47%” bungle that became public this week. (So do the Democrats, but that’s another story.) Jon Stewart has been going to town on it all week, and tonight’s inaugural SNL WEEKEND UPDATE THURSDAY of the season used it as the show’s anchor bit. The cold open was a parody of Fox & Friends, with the hosts desperately trying to find ways to rationalize a flood of increasingly racist off-the-cuff Romney gaffes. The sketch was fine, but the true highlight came for those watching on DVRs who freeze-framed the list of “corrections” the FOX News show had to post due to supposed errors earlier in the broadcast. These included such gems as “Not all cats are gay,” “A dead person’s skull does not contain their memories,” “Animal Planet is not an acceptable nickname for Telemundo,” “Left-handed people cannot read your thoughts,” and “Star Wars is essentially a work of fiction.”
The show moved on to Seth Meyers and the regular Weekend Update set for a few more Romney one-liners. Bill Hader did his James Carville parody, which found time for a self-mocking plug for Joseph Gordon-Levitt hosting real SNL on Saturday. A toothless fake commercial followed, for a DVD of silly political convention cut-away shots (“Woman Who’s Just Walking Around,” “Guy Who Didn’t Know There’d Be Balloons”).
The third act was the show’s weak spot, as Bobby Moynihan’s Drunk Uncle bit defied the laws of physics, going on so long with so few laughs that it felt like an entire 90-minute episode of the parent show. That did it for the night, as NBC hopes the live half-hour will kick-start the network’s once-glorious Thursday of sitcoms, while SNL has a little over 48 hours to come up with some new Romney gags.
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About the Author
Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."
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