SNL - Debate Skit Tonight - Spoof on ShiftySwiftyVetsforTruth

[Infomaniac]

Tonight is the first SNL I've watched in a very long time. I nearly didn't make it past the opening skit, which was the debate spoof. SNL did a good job of spoofing Bush's "It's hard work" comments, but it lacked the comedic edge I find on the Daily Show or even Mad TV. The spoof of the Shifty Vets for Truth was much better than the debate spoof and I just caught Ben Affleck, the guest host, give a respectable performance as James Carville. Does it matter? Does anybody really watch this show anymore? Anybody watching tonight?

[Walt Starr]

1. I;m watching. I loved the opening skit

and it's been a luagh riot since it started.

Best SNL in nearly four years!

[nankerphelge]

10. Only 50% funny

They had all the material to make fun of Bush, but they must have felt the need to be "fair and balanced" because they resorted to making him a flip-flopper. Sad attempt at easy comedy...

[meisje]

2. SNL has not been funny for years

[didntvote4shrub]

3. I plan to...

...but I have to wait two and a half more hours...

[LEW]

4. I've been watching

Very funny!!!!

[shivaji]

5. Nope....I have a headache tonight honey LOL

[wheresthemind]

6. debate was no good....

carville bit was funny... i don't know why the hell it is all about kerry not bush...

[Walt Starr]

7. James Gandolfini!!!!

They've pulled out the stops on this. This is the most LIBERAL SNL in almost FOREVER!!!

[Infomaniac]

13. The Tony Soprano bit was hilarious!

It's the only thing, thus far, that made me laugh out loud.

[Digit]

8. Pretty lame tonight

[ant]

9. they're just not funny

The Daily Show is funny in that "because it's true" way. SNL just repeats the standard storyline - Bush is an idiot and Kerry's a flip-flopper. Merely playing the roles of the established story line isn't funny. Calling attention to the established story line, pointing out the absurdities of our politics is what makes things funny.

Though I will say that I thought Affleck did an excellent Carville, and I hate Affleck.

[Cha]

11. I love Affleck!

He wants Kerry in!

[ant]

14. sorry

Even his politics aren't enough to turn me. He just annoys me.

And I hated Good Will Hunting, too. :)

[cindyw]

12. SNL's comedy is going the way of Dennis Miller, if you get my meaning.

Hope they stop trying to be so fair in their comedy and start trying to be funny.

[mainer]

15. I wish they'd lampoon Fox "News"

They could show Fox pundits watching the debate as Bush repeats over and over "It's hard work. It's -- yeah, it's hard work. No, let me finish! It's hard work!" And then have Bush fall off the podium.

And the Fox pundits would say, "He shows conviction! He's really hammering home his message!"

[Lefty48197]

16. SNL cycles from having really good ensembles to really bad ones

They're pretty weak right now, but there are a few funny people around these days. I think the guy playing Kerry might be a Bushite.
I did think the swiftboat liars parody was pretty funny.

[fujiyama]

17. It was OK

The guy playing Bush is no Will Ferral.

The Carville thing was funny...and so was the Swiftboat thing.

Overall, not a bad show...but the debate skit wasn't quite as good as 4 years ago.

[Roland99]

18. heh heh...that spoof ad was good

Steve Cordier - builds models of the boat John Kerry served on

<some other guy> - Once saw Platoon

:D



And Affleck nailed Carville!

[genius]

19. I'll be watching.

[lakemonster11]

20. Not particularly funny.

I thought the opening scene pretty much sucked. It did have some funny moments, I suppose, but the guy playing Bush didn't really nail the impression. Plus, I was irritated by SNL's reinforcement of the idiotic "flip flopper" description of Kerry. I was looking forward to tonight's SNL, too---I came across a video clip of their parody of the Bush/Gore debate today and thought it was pretty funny, if a bit sickening in retrospect.

The Shifty Vets for Truth thing was sort of funny.

The hotel room scene with John and Theresa Heinz Kerry, James Carville, and Bill Clinton was pretty funny, though. I loved watching Clinton hit on Theresa.

[ThoughtCriminal]

21. Flashback

Bush-Dukakis Debate
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/88/88adebate.phtml
Michaek Dukakis.....Jon Lovitz
George Bush.....Dana Carvey
.
.
.
George Bush: Let me sum up. On track, stay the course. Thousand points of light.

Diane Sawyer: Governor Dukakis. Rebuttal?

Michael Dukakis: I can't believe I'm losing to this guy!

[Awsi Dooger]

22. Geez, I went to Burger King after the debate skit

No idea there would be more politics to follow. Damn, I would have loved to see Ben Affleck play Carville. Unusual, I realize, but I have zero impression of Affleck other than he's a Democrat. The next movie I see of his will be my first.

The debate skit damned Bush more than Kerry, but that panderer line at the end was damaging and will be isolated for replay by Matthews, etc. Overall the writing was pathetic, or as someone posted elsewhere on DU tonight it just wasn't tight. I thought every word was supposed to count? These lame writers presented one mediocre line after another for Bush, ignoring so much potential material like vociferously and moolah and Poland and "I know that" regarding Bin Laden attacking us, not Saddam. Simply no brilliance. The split screen facial expressions were treated very briefly and ineffectively, to the point you wouldn't catch the meaning if you didn't know what happened on Thursday already.

My Whoppers? Good, just not very hot.