“the tweet from the SNL writer about 10 year old Barron Trump”
Of course targeting ANY child of ANY president is out of line. I don’t think most sane people would disagree with that sentiment. The SNL employee was also suspended. We’ve seen this type of behavior from people throughout many presidencies and its never been right. Also, this wasn’t televised for a broader audience. Moving on…
^^Yes, please let’s not talk about that-it’s a prime example of the awfulness that people feel compelled to incessantly inject onto my FB feed. I think some people like being miserable, and I think they like to spread it so they can get validation for their unhappiness. I think some people are addicted to evoking those feelings. 
@gosmom that video popped up for me this morning as well, it’s so sweet.
My tastes tend to run towards people doing good things for animals, like this one of the humpback whale holding still so the humans can free him/her from a fisherman’s net:
Not so sure comedians were always so clean, political humor has always been around (Mort Sahl), and it isn’t just those ‘liberal comedians’ either, Dennis Miller and others are just as out there as Bill Maher or John Oliver (who IMO Is a genius, he cuts through a lot of BS and points out just how bad political thought has gotten on all sides, I think he is in for a good time going forward).
BTW,Carson and Leno had restrictions because of TV standards for broadcast that still somewhat exist, Leno when he was doing standup could be pretty cutting. My mom used to laugh when people claimed how back in their day, comedians were all these respectable people, didn’t need to use filth to get a laugh, etc…My mom said the biggest hypocrite of them all was Jerry Lewis, in later life he became one of these ‘family advocates’ deriding filthy comedy and so forth, my mom saw some of the routines he and Dean Martin used to do in nightclubs back in the day, and it was raw and blue, to the point my mom, who wasn’t exactly a shrinking violet, said it was a total turn off.
I admit that I have had to check my FB to make sure I don’t overdo it with the political posts. In fact, I posted something this morning and decided to delete it.
A lot of the old comedy was pretty sexist, racist, etc. Wouldn’t want to go back to those days.
Yes, John Oliver is great. Very clever.
My feel good item of the day. I’ve always known Dolly Parton is very giving to her community and state but didn’t learn about this more far-reaching program until today. Her organization sends a free book every month to children from birth until age 5. How great is that?!
https://usa.imaginationlibrary.com/register_my_child.php#.WIfUVFcleGQ
Dolly Parton is one classy person, I love her as a person and as an actor. From everything I can tell, she is a warm, genuine person and I don’t think she has a mean bone in her body. When the wildfires hit the Smokey Mountains she was one of the first people to respond, and when she built what is now Dollywood (I think she bought out an old amusement area) she said her primary reason was to try and bring hope to the area with jobs and such…plus I love the fact she isn’t afraid to dress the way she wants, anyone who can say “it takes a lot of money to look this cheap” is okay in my book, shows a really good sense of humor smile…would love to meet her someday, you don’t see too many people like her.
@lilmom …me, too. I’m trying to back off somewhat as I think too much is just too much.
It’s one thing to make fun of politicians and current political absurdities, but what’s going on with SNL & the late night talk shows is they establish a FALSE premise, then continually work off of that, over and over again. Since the premises are false, the jokes dont ring true, and aren’t funny. They are fabrications meant only as propaganda.
Like if someone claimed Mormons were big drinkers, and made endless jokes about their overconsumption of alcohol, they wouldn’t be funny because the starting premise is false–Mormons AREN’T big drinkers. So the jokes wouldn’t be clever observations, they would just be desperate attempts to disparage.
The Barron Trump home-school shooter “,joke” is one such example. Yeah, it’s a cruel attack on a little kid, but from a comedy perspective it’s not funny because it’s not based on anything. Has he been seen playing with toy guns or GI Joes? Does he wear an NRA hat? Is his family noted for their gun-fetish or big-game hunting? No. A premise that might make it even a little funny isn’t there, which makes the quip just a desperate attempt to harm.
Nicholas Kristof had a column titled “2016 was the best year ever” or somesuch. (not ironically)
The WashingtonPost has a daily or weeky column called “The Optimist”.
I don’t think Late night talk shows and SNL work from the same premise.
Late Night comments on actual news, actions, and comments made during the previous 24-30h, and skewer them. There’s new stuff coming up to provide them with material every day. Watch old programs from the year 2007-2008 to see how that hasn’t changed. What’s changed is that cable comedy has grown.
SNL is an absurdist comedy. Watching the skits over the year, you can"t escape that they function within a particular universe that reflects upon us through its absurdity. They have characters, who function both as their real life counterparts and as characters. SNL would totally go for “mormons are big drinkers” and milk it.
You’re absolutely right. Context is purposefully being left out of the dialog, or it is modified in such a way to present a false narrative.
Actually, Yes. His older brothers do hunt big game.
Oh, OK. I guess the home-school shooter joke really IS a knee-slapper.
Also, I have no beef with Weekend Update. It’s the regular skits that are tedious, repetitive, and desperate.
I guess I am one of the few that didn’t know they were noted for big-game hunting. I had heard they had done so, but didn’t know they were noted for it.
^but what you’re referring to isn’t a SNL skit. It’s a personal tweet by some idiot who seems to think everything that goes through her head is worthy of tweeting, like probably half the tweeting people out there; the idiot worked for SNL but did not produce the tweet for SNL, and it was found so out of bound she was suspended.
I remember there were Dick Cheney hunting jokes for AT LEAST a year (or two).
In terms of the regular skits: a lot of them function as within their own universe, and they’re not necessarily funny, but no one forces us watch. I’m guessing SNL is an acquired taste that requires a certain amount of alcohol to appreciate.
I used to watch the show but not anymore. I read somewhere that the ratings are actually falling down. I have never been a fan of Alec Baldwin and don’t really think much of him as a person. Not worth my time. For entertainment I would rather watch Jimmy Fallon or Steve Corbin karaoke.
The Cheney gun jokes were funny only cuz he actually shot a guy.
and re drunk Mormons…Ironic, but not funny. Cheap Scotsman, funny; cheap Frenchman, not funny. Bill Clinton mooching food in a McDonalds & telling secret service agents "There’s a whole LOT of things we aren’t going to tell Mrs. Clinton, " funny. Same skit with Nixon doesn’t work because he wasn’t a noted womanizer with a weight problem. Californians obsessing over traffic routes, funny; Minnesotans doing same, not funny.
So the Barron “joke” actually was not anything performed on SNL, wasn’t written for the show, and wasn’t put forward by the show?
If so, why is it being framed in this manner?
No idea why or who framed it that way (i stay away from facebook news) I didn’t even know some people thought it was a SNL skit joke.
Happy video : on USA today 's front page, the video about abandonned dogs getting their matted fur cut and groomed. Happy dogs = happy humans.
John Oliver is amazing. His outraged intellectual humor really resonates with me.