THANK YOU
For a few minutes on Saturday night, all was right with the program that was once must-see-TV for comedy aficionados.
The once-vaunted — and occasionally brilliant — Saturday Night Live has largely been reduced to an anti-Trump diaper-soiling/boring video feelings journal in recent years. Sure, it was in decline even before the 2016 election, but it’s been unwatchable since if one isn’t participating in the Trump tantrum.
Eddie Murphy returned to the show that helped turn him into one of the biggest stars in television and film history and it was freakin’ glorious. He began with a monologue that saw Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, and Dave Chappelle join him on stage, then spent the rest of the show reprising his most famous SNL characters.
What struck me while watching Murphy bring hilarious characters like Buckwheat and Velvet Jones back to life was that the wokescolds would probably keep them from ever becoming SNL staples were he starting out on the show today. We just had to endure several days of them rending their garments because Joe Biden once had a stutter and people were wondering what his bizarro imitation of a stuttering kid was at the end of the last debate. The entire character of Buckwheat is built on a speech impediment.
Velvet Jones refers to women as “Ho”s.
It’s almost certain that the #NeverFun crowd would have been weeping rivers over the development of either character.
Murphy is, of course, immune to all of that because he occupies a level of stardom that makes him almost unassailable. That’s why he was able to have the scolds’ nemesis Chappelle on stage with him.
There was a time when SNL was an equal opportunity offender, much like Family Guy is now. After eight years of turning Barack Obama into a sacred cow, followed by three-and-a-half of mistaking Trump complaints for Trump jokes, the show has all but abandoned the idea of being as funny as possible.
Eddie Murphy single-handedly schooled the new kids on what humor really is.
It would be nice if at least a couple of them learned something.
I’m going to give you a double dose from the show today. First the monologue in this section, then the Buckwheat sketch to finish up the post today.
Enjoy (the line about Cosby KILLED me).
The Socialist Perversion of Purity
During last week’s Democratic debate, Mayor Pete took a dig at Fauxcahontas for the fundraising “purity test” that she’s trying to force on the other candidates.
Lizzie and Ol’ Gramps Sanders like to go on and on about their small money donors, the implication being that they aren’t beholden to any big contributors.
This past weekend, Warren practically canonized herself because she now eschews high-dollar fundraisers and doesn’t “sell access” to her time.
Warren and Sanders may very well have a lot of small donors, but those small donors often work for the evil corporations the two constantly demonize. She acts as if the getting a hundred bucks from an individual who works for Amazon means that the money has undergone some sort of magical purity test.
If we had any real journalists left in America, someone would ask her about this.
If.
PJM Linktank
From the Mothership and Beyond
Her torture is delightful: Alyssa Milano: Please Join Me in Chanting to Make Trump Go Away