SNL: Torture Is Teh Funny!
I know that comedy should push the envelope occasionally and make you uncomfortable, but sorry, I'm having a hard time finding teh funny in this SNL skit from last night.
Cast member Jason Sudeikis plays a federal agent eager to rid Gitmo of instruments of torture in its "Going Out of Business" sale.
What does it say about this country that we can joke about torturing others with car batteries, jumper cables and waterboarding? Woo hoo, it's hilarious to offer german shepherds used to threaten and terrorize detainees on a "buy two, get the third for free" deal. Here's a knee slapper: let's violate the Geneva Conventions, but don't look back for accountability to those responsible, and hey, maybe we'll joke about it on the longest-running comedy program on American network television!
Nope, still not finding teh funny.
I find it difficult to find anything funny on SNL for the last 19 years.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I take some of that back, the commercial breaks for Taco Bell with that chihuahua were hilarious.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
nuff said
please...i hope progressives are not losing their senses of humor
Although I did find the Palin and to a lesser extent Clinton impersonation skits pretty funny but I think those were a combingation of "the skit writes itself" (I think in one they used the actual text of a Palin interview with virtually no changes) and the talent of the comedians. But otherwise SNL stopped being funny a long time ago. A great/awful example was their latest bit with Dianne Sawyer interviewing Cheney. They take on gag that isn't that funny to begin with and just run it into the ground. BTW, best spoof of SNL is the thinly disguised version of the show portrayed in the funny and scarily prescient movie Bob Roberts.
The skit writes itself...
Absolutely. Most of the decent stuff on SNL as of late (like the Palin/Fey sketch) is really a superficial, obvious take on the events of the day. The writing (even in this sketch) is lazy, as it was in those Fey/Palin sketches. Palin herself was such a dunce it was a no-miss situation for SNL, and Fey was absolutely spot on as Palin (I still laugh when I think of Fey saying "I can see Russia from my house"). It wasn't like SNL gave their own distinct spin to it.
I't just statin' the obvious.
This skit is a direct rip off of a recent internet sensation which is really funny - Jones Big Ass Truck and Storage advertisement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0gb9v4LI4o
I normally enjoy SNL and the actor in this skit too - great Joe Biden..LOL... though I am saddened to see SNL putting such crap out.
We can not allow this administration nor the public to DILUTE the concept of TORTURE.
- Jonathan
I miss Tina, Amy, John, Phil, and the Chrises (Rock and Farley)
NOBODY 2012
First, and I ask this respectfully, WTF? The "Blowout Sale" scenario in sketch comedy goes back almost as far as the trend of such real ads appearing on television- the 1950's.
I've watched this SNL sketch a few times now, and I see what the writers were trying to point out: that the instruments of torture are things that you find around the basement or garage of your house. It's an absurdly ironic thought, and could have been even funnier, and edgier, if they hadn't used the cliche(e?)d setting.
Oh, and Tina's on 30 Rock, on NBC, Thursdays at 9:30pm Eastern/8:30pm Central.
:D
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Yeah... Direct Rip Off?? Lol, you must have just seen that Jones' commercial and thought that HE was the first one to ever do something like that... These types of skits/commercials have been around for quite some time.
With that said, the Jones' commercial was hilarious too..
As far as SNL, yes overall it's a very weak comedy show that's only propped up by tradition. Fortunately, the actors and actresses lately have been a bit better than they were 5-10 years ago - But you can't tell it from watching the show, they have to go make their own show like 30 rock.
But really? You're going to post about how inappropriate a comedy sketch is? It's fine that you are not so enthused by it, but if this offends you, then a whole lot more should too. Sometimes I wonder if I should be laughing at certain shows/sketches, but whatever. I'm a well informed individual and I don't believe I'm being desensitized by seeing parodies. The Daily Show, though, goes about 10 times farther than this at times...
so right.. this is a completely watered down (sorry) version of the satire stewart and colbert do on a four nights a weekly basis..
that said i'm not really offended by it.. nor am i offended by the superior humour of the daily show or the report.. it quite obviosuly is not condoning torture or lampooning the victims
Ehh, I've always seen how progressives are more than capable of making an flawless argument against all types of humor, but I prefer humor. I prefer humor and seriousness, both of which I am capable of enjoying. This was funny, it was silly, and through its silliness we see what we are doing is truly terrible. You may disagree, but I refuse to give up humor in the face of assholes. I still want to see it ended. I still want to see people go to jail. But this sketch has no effect either way on either of those things.
I agree. It wasn't laughing at torture. It was attacking it. It's called parody...jesus people...
is intended to be a factual statement
Yes, good observation. Whether or not you think this sketch is funny is a matter of your taste. But I think it shows a lack of intelligence to be morally outraged just because someone does find this funny. I thought it was hilarious and I find no inner moral conflict with the shame I feel that my country has violated the Geneva convention and tortured people. The two are simply not connected. Get off your moral high horse.
What isn't funny is the place being open a day longer. Too bad it won't be closing Tuesday. Or better, yesterday.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Tell that to Gerald Ford.
I agree. There has been a concerted effort by "certain parties" (not SNL particularly) to make torture acceptable.
It is never funny. Gestapo comedies are few and far between.
Here's one but it didn't last too long.
Heil Honey I'm Home!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys9OY2kkFu8
and i would submit that hogan's heros was also a gestapo comedy, tho severely slanted towards the allies as good guys.
also, monty python did some great gestapo humor.
Agreed. The only thing is this is directed at Americans showing the barbarity of their actions first hands. The only responses to these accusations are emotional pre-programmed responses.
Your country tortures, if you don't want it to, change your country.
'The devil crept into Heaven, God overslept on the 7th, the New World Order was born on Sept 11th.' - Immortal Technique
That was pretty funny. The only real way for Americans to understand how stupid they are, is to have them presented to itself in this fashion.
You have the board...and the water....waterboarding. Half of America said "How Awful"...the other half said "See that's not torture".
done with steve colbert and the guy who does comic the insult triumph dog. That is some SNL that is funny, but I don't think they do those anymore either.
Don't understand it. So much good potential material out there and just really bad writing.
of telling the truth. Not funny but at least they are being upfront and honest, while all the rest of the MSM is hiding the truth or even cheerleading the torture.
Not exactly funny, but at least they are talking about it.
I think they are pointing out that everyone knows these fuckwads tortured people in our name even though Chris Matthews and David Gregory are too cowardly/complicit to say anything about it.
but everyone copes with the dark side of humanity in different ways. Some weep, others choose to make jokes to deal with it.
You guys/Nicole were emotionally affected by the Bush administration...I understand but do not let them affect your sense of humor. All of this is a slap on the face to the Bush Administration. I saw events with even more degrees of hilarity (like this skit) take place at all of the Obama/Prop 8/Bush rallies I went to.
You know that this is all aimed towards...is Bush so that we DO NOT let him forget what he has done. If we never Speak of this issue in a bold manner then history could take its course, as it has done before, and write a more...nicer story...you know, like Christopher Columbus. Well I doubt you will find a skit of the Pilgrims and Indians too harmful on SNL, would you? and if you do, then you probably should start a bingo career at your local YMCA.
Please, dont lose your sense of humor...look at what Jon Stewart pulls off every day...you don't get mad at him.
The skit is boring but it does show why we should shut the place down.
Goodnight, Frau Blücher
boring, I don't think so but definitely no where close to the best. Funny, yeah, it gave a couple of giggles.
C'mon, I'm the snark specialist here on the site. You should see the emails the site team trades...we know how to use humor to get us through the darkness.
But until I see some acknowledgment, much less outrage on the part of Americans about torture being committed in our names, the only thing I can be is offended by this speech.
Maybe I'm wrong but I think we ARE outraged. The skit demonstrates, abeit in a humorous way, the monstrosities that were committed there.
Yes! Great point.
You're offended by an SNL sketch. Noted. Feel better about yourself now?
Because not enough Americans are in the streets protesting torture, it can't be made fun of?
Did you think the SNL sketch sanctioned torture? Has any in the past? Of course it didn't and none did. Being offended is not your only choice here.
Not that sketch, particularly, but SNL has a history of sanctioning torture. See SNL season 6. I dare you.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
"Snark" specialist?
1) They're comedians. They make jokes. I'm a comedian. I make jokes. Sometimes the things I think of are so offensive to people that they stand up and yell at me, and you know what? I wouldn't want it any other way. If everyone is comfortable with your humor, then you aren't doing it right. Safe humor is bad humor. Not everything that pushes the envelope is good, but taking risks is the only way to make your comedy important, special, or even memorable.
This was actually a half-decent SNL sketch, and that is a rarity these days. The local car dealer ad framework is a little worn, but the presentation made up for that somewhat.
2) If you use the word "snark" seriously, I cannot consider you a valid judge of humor.
...as it is the King's Jester doing what no one else can do: Tell the truth through silliness. That's all the mainstream media will allow, Saturday evenings in a comedy sketch
Radix Omnium Malorum Avaritia
could make torture the subject of humor.
And if he couldn't, no one could.
He's dead?
See? I told you he couldn't do it!
Mel Brooks is 82 and still not dead (to paraphrase an old SNL bit -- a funny one at that).
To summarize: The Producers=Funny; SNL Torture w/Jason Nobody=Not funny.
Thank god! Somebody tell him, quick!
Have you ever seen "History of the World, Part I"? There's a whole musical number about the Spanish Inquisition.
And it's hilarious.
anyone?
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
see "the inquisition" dance number in history of the world part one.
only mel brooks could combine torture, catholic anti-semetism and esther williams.
Sorry, but torture is NEVER funny to be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSe38dzJYkY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jV8QQSlEq8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHZplq_QW_U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoBTsMJ4jNk
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I had mixed feelings about this bit. I winced, I chuckled. I do think this shows just how ridiculous the entire Bushco operation has been.
and you have to admit...rosario dawson is just haaaaaawt
something like the old barbarians.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
The Producers?
Lighten up. There is nothing better to do about the pastr 8 years of our collective, national spinelessness than to make fun of it.
Charlie Chaplin.
So did Jack Benny.
even before chaplin
moe played hitler
go over to The Onion and hire some writers with skill and a better sense of humor?
The skit could've been funny -- and a real jab at Bush -- if the SNL writers hadn't fubbed it so badly.
There's no better way to ridicule Bush than by making a mockery of the way he has turned this country into a torturing, bankrupt husk.
Go to The Onion's offshoot, The AV Club, and hire Nathan Rabin. Funny, funny writer. The folks who make those Onion videos are pretty effin' good, too, but no one is funnier than Rabin.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
It is funny in a perverse kind of way.
What this does is shove the issue in peoples faces.
So it won't be forgotten.
Shocking savings. I have to admit, that was kind of funny.
But we have to remember the overall purpose of this.
Reality check. So this has a subliminal purpose.
So I'm ok with it. I certainly don't like the issue.
But I find this a good thing. People need to remember what happened there. And anyway that this issue stays alive, is ok by me.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Right. Would people prefer that it didn't enter the dialogue at all? Entertainment is a form of social commentary. Comedy is dangerous, it's a way to explore taboo subjects.
I like the analogy someone made of the King's Jester telling truth to power. Someone else mentioned they chuckled and winced at the same time. Art is supposed to be provocative, if it made you uncomfortable, generated a conversation, then it did it's job.
SNL writers need to get back on dope.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
They are. They need a new supplier. Or a higher dosage.
I visited the local offices of my congressman and one of my senators over the last two weeks (about Gaza). That didn't do any good either. I'm thinking that SNL has a slim chance of affecting our policy; my visiting my congressmen: none. Oh, I mailed a shoe to the White House too, just so I could tell people that at least I tried to make a statement as an American. (I'd previously written letters and all that crap too). Gimme my comedy bit, I NEED it for my mental health.
for the bank that doesn't loan money or take unnecessary risks; it stores your money under mattresses. Not especially funny, but the genius part came at the end when we learned that the back was founded in October 1987.
Nicole:
This is satire.
Do you only like realistic art? Do you only like poetry that makes you feel all warm and gooey inside? Do you only listen to music that is mellifluous?
This is a depiction of exactly how disturbing our society is. I commend SNL for having the balls to put this on the air. This is protest. They just mocked the Bush Administration on main stream TV and your complaining? Get some perspective.
Personally I think skits like this are important because they keep the spotlight on how abhorrent these abuses were and how ridiculous the official government response was. When your own eyes are witnessing torture, yet people from the President on down keep saying "we don't torture", these skits help keep the obvious alive, which is that all of this was torture, plain and simply. The Bush administration were the kings of using Orwellian doublespeak to call something the exact opposite of what it was, and then wishing it would all go away. I think skits like this help point out the absurdity of what we have witnessed over the last eight years.
Only traitors torture.
It lacks taste. It offends and it brings up a source of contention.
Yes, it has a lot of merit on those grounds alone.
and you're right...
You know, this reminds me of the first time I watched a clip from The Daily Show. Jon Stewart had made a joke about Guantanamo Bay prisoners that I felt was so inappropriate that I decided to never watch the show again.
Fortunately, I later decided to give the show another chance...
Yeah, I'm with those arguing in favor of this. It's supposed to make you uncomfortable, and the whole point of satire done right is to make funny with things so awful you shouldn't be able to. I've also seen jokes about pedophilia, the Spanish Inquisition (as linked in a couple of other comments, which was easily every bit as horrifying as Gitmo), and child abuse by priests, all of which were simultaneously sickening and funny. Hell, half the material on Family Guy fits into this category.
This sketch isn't in any way legitimizing torture, it's putting a jester hat on and pointing at it so as not to forget. If anything, in fact, it's mocking those who DO want to just forget it.
That said, it wasn't very funny, but then I've seen approximately five SNL sketches I thought were funny since sometime around the mid-90s.
Personally, I thought the sketch was OK, especially for SNL, whose track record is abysmal. So when I laugh (and I actually laughed a few times), I'm pleasantly surprised.
I don't think it was in bad taste. I understand your anger, but it's not like they're endorsing torture or indefinite detention.
I find that the point of this sketch is not it's overt humor (or lack thereof). It's that they are pointing out the absurdity of the Bush torture regimen as well as the Democrat's refusal to uphold the US Constitution and the Rule of Law. That torture in the US has become the primary part of Foreign Policy that the Bush Admin can even advertise it on TV.
That the Democratic Leadership is under the direct control of the GOP is obvious.
SNL gets progressively less funny with each season. I stopped watching it in the mid-'80s. Except for Tina Fey as Sarah Palin!
This wasn't good enough to be dark humor, but I think it's ok to be able to find the humor in the worst situations. If you can't do that, then you'll go crazy. (at least, I would)
I don't agree that this diminishes the horrible actions taken by the outgoing admin. It's supposed to be satire (again, not good enough).
We've been somewhat desensitized over the last 8 years to the horrors of the Bush admin. How many times can you be outraged? I have more a sense of outrage for the whole, entire mess more than I do for the individual atrocities. It's a collective sense. Not that the individual atrocities are any less horrible. Those are the things that should land the perpetrators behind bars. That's where the details should be poured over. But as for me, I'll be glad to finally get over this feeling of nausea every time I think of our government.
I like dark humour, too, even though this sketch wasn't fantastic. It's better than most SNL garbage (I laughed a few times), but it's still not a great, great sketch.
For those who think this sketch was overboard, watch Monty Python's Salad Days sketch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vd3jGkxw0c
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I'm almost convinced that SNL scooped up and put to work all the writers from Fox's dismally unfunny "1/2 Hour Comedy Hour," after it folded, in some misguided attempt to provide balance---no matter how staggeringly unfunny that balance might be.
I agree completely: not funny to make light of people suffering terribly, especially since it's still going on, with the approval of much of the US population.
I guess you'll just have to develope a sense of humor.
Better yet, SNL should.
I'm beginning to miss the Charles Rocket days.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
i miss tim kazurinsky in "i married a monkey."
I disagree. Yes the skit is pushing the envelope and should make some feel uneasy, however it is funny in a way that Chris Rock's satire is funny. We point at something wrong about our American society, throw it in our face to make us uncomfortable with it so we can reassess, do something different, and hopefully move on. Consider examining the satire itself and the message it portrays. To me, this skit isn't saying that "Torture" itself is funny, but sort of celebrating the relief in that our new President in two days will close down Gitmo and that will be a major step in rebuilding our image in the world.
i quit watching on or around 'operaman' and 'cajunman'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpZ8EkK3eWY
That was hilarious. What is the name of that show?
Muse77 It's called That Mitchell and Web Look. Good stuff, that.
In response to Steve in LA. The difference between finding the leader of a nation pretending to look for WMD's horrifying (while the press looked on and laughed) and being offended by a skit on an actual comedy show is vast. It's just my opinion.
No one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition.
No one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition.
The main weapon is surprise, surprise and fear..
Er, our two main weapons and fear and surprise...
You can fill in the rest...
It is not uncommon to hear public approval for the idea that some criminal or other will be raped as part of the benefit of the American justice system. Some countries will not extradite as their judiciary has deemed the prison system to be cruel and inhumane, and execution as barbaric.
I don't think it is really about the funny. But how is it that there is no regular coverage from the MSM about torture. This, and what we get from Colbert and Stewart is the best we can hope for. MSM is about entertainment and oddly enough what should be about entertainment is where we get our reporting. Man this country is f&^^%.
.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
It's about as funny as George W Bush "searching" for his WMD in that insipid video for the national press club.
I don't know why I found it funny. They say comedy is tragedy plus time. There hasn't been enough time since the tragedy at Gitmo (which is still going on). So I understand how many people cannot laugh about torture committed in the name of the United States.
Maybe the silver lining is that, the more people point out the torture at Gitmo, even in a comedy sketch, the less the Bush Administration liars and revisionist historians will be able to deny it.
is not always meant to be funny. The idea of fattening Irish babies to grace English tables was not funny but it surely made Swift's point.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
I get your point, but let's not go crazy here. This sketch is nowhere near the brilliance of Jonathan Swift.
In addition I think the term satire is used too freely.
Just because you squish to current events together (torture and close out sales) doesn't necessarily equate to either humor or satire. It can also be more akin to class clownism.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Two current events. That's what I get for typing sober.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
the use of "teh" is getting way out of control here. Overuse of such devices limits their effectiveness.
how about "taint" and "village" and "schaudenfraud"?
I think you're playing this a little close to the bone. I'm not American, but I can see how this might feel 'too soon'. I didn't think the spot was funny, but not for the same reasons.
I saw it through eyes that it was amusing take on economically-driven 'closing out sales', the fact that a new, caring and thoughtful person was about to run your country and that they wanted to be crass to match the attitude of your sitting President.
It was amusing (although not laugh out loud funny) because -- in its way -- it displayed the end game of a market-driven attitude (with a patina of torture) which was championed by your President of the last 8 years and estimated forward to the ultimate resolution of such hollow goals.
I understand that you're offended by the material Nicole, but I get the sense that the writers we offended by GitMo as well, and needed to do this as a catharsis.
Then again, I'm just a simple Canadian.
I know it's hip to talk all "tricked out," but what the fcku does "teh" mean?
just a common typo that has taken on new meaning...try wikipedia for a defintion
These typos that have been adopted are really kind of stupid. Like, "pwned" for "Owned" and such. I understand high school kids using these things, but when it starts to go adult mainstream, I just shake my head.
Speaking of things that aren't funny, it is no longer funny to type "teh" instead of "the" on all of your posts, Nicole. It's actually getting rather annoying and cheesy. Please make it stop.
Yeah, I also remember them doing a sketch mocking battered women.
I think I'm old.
I remember them doing a sketch about...bees.
I thought that was funny. I guess you play to "teh" generation.
Sun, 01/18/2009 - 12:11 — Professor Farnsworth
Yeah, I also remember them doing a sketch mocking battered women.
Onion or chocolate batter?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
they'll do a sketch showing the security people at the Inaugural Ball are greater in number than the amount of US soldiers in Afghanistan? Talk about battling terrorism.
"What does it say about this country that we can joke about torturing others?"
It says we have freedom of speech! If you don't like it, you don't have to watch it.
unless you have your eyelids taped open and are forced to watch it in some undisclosed location.
Now that is funny!
http://blogs.reuters.com/frontrow/2009/01/16/...
and they'll give you any answer they think will make you stop.
If he had said, "look the guy was a total Deke dips..t a..hole. Like a Canadian he clung to his mother too tightly and couldn't stand the comparison to his better looking, smarter sibling. Laura only married him because her biological clock was ticking, and he obviously never gave those "twins" the timne of day." They would have kept asking, and asking.
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
....nobody mentions that, clearly understood by everyone, is Obama's assumption that Bush is essentially an idiot and a knee-jerk fascist who couldn't read the Constitution without a picture book, much less understand it, so "the best decisions that he could" doesn't set the bar very high.
I'll bet poster Nicole Belle didn't find funny George W. Bush's "comedy" routine about "where are those WMD?" at the White House Correspondents Dinner a few years back either. You remember-- the skit that videoed Bush himself literally searching under his Oval Office desk for Iraq's missing Weapons of Mass Destruction? Remember that comedy classic?
That was one of many truly horrifying moments from the last eight years. Without exaggeration, that "skit" was truly worthy of 1942 Nazi Germany with what sounded like the entire White House press corps busting their guts with laughter watching "the Boss" looking behind the drapes for those pesky non-existent Iraqi WMD.
"Not funny" is monumental understatement. As Ms. Belle points out, it is an inditement of our US society's imperial savagery and moral bankruptcy if the Obama Administration decides to sweep these criminal acts under a very lumpy Oval Office rug.
In bush's Correspondent's Dinner sketch, it was the de facto torturer/war starter himself smugly flipping us the bird. It was not satire.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
I stopped watching it years ago. They had their chance for eight long years of the Bush Junta to take advantage of satire and help wake the American people from their slumber but yet they didn't.
We had to turn to John Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
Now they put on this lame attempt of poking fun of Gitmo? Gimmee a break.
$5.99 - for water? I could see if it was "Holy Water"!
Things to do with holy water > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omXZxsVUIAM
Study the symptoms not the virus...
I think what it says about America is that we are truely a third World country now.
this was another lazy, unfunny show in general. SNL is a very uneven show to begin with, and this entire episode was lackluster. The Gitmo skit was weak, but by no means the worst part of the show.
Declaring something unfunny is often the realm of past their prime comedians. It was sad listening to Steve Allen turn serious and declaring current comedy unfunny before he died. Same for Bill Cosby now.
To posit that something is "never funny" is to underestimate humor. If you go deep enough all humor is founded on pain. It is a way of dealing with something emotionally, especially things that are otherwise unbearable. A problem can be in the timing - comedians who joke about a still sore subject run the risk of joking "too soon". This happened with 9/11 for instance, but no one really complains about the Lincoln assassination joke - "other than that, how did you like the play Mrs. Lincoln?" - do they? It is a horrible subject, but the joker is in no way condoning or validating the assassination, in my view.
The sketch gave me a chuckle especially when the Cuban woman got some prison garb, flip flops, and the picture of Rumsfield ("I don't know who he is....")
Torture isn't funny but sometimes you have to laugh or you might blow your brains out. I like to laugh because I can do that a lot more times than the other.
I've been watching SNL since the begining of the show and yes they hit and miss - thats what I like about the show. I do take exception to some people saying it has never been funny... wait I forgot about the 1980-81 season - it was so bad the cast and producer were fired except for Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo.
...he uses big words like 'particularly' and 'delicatessen.' -- Jack
Part of that was because of a sketch that was considered in bad taste where some southern crackers were going commie hunting. This was within a few weeks after of an actual murder that fell along such lines.
I think Charles Rocket also said the F word on air.
But man, they had the best musical guests ever that year.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
They had Fear on, I'm certain, but was that the year Prince was on wearing a purple trenchcoat, purple banana hammock, and nothing else?
On edit: He was wearing something else: a scarf or something. I think it was purple, too.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Fear performed a song called "New York is for People who Like Saxophones". It was awful, but looking back at it, it was much more interesting than most of the musicial guests they've had on in the last number of years.
They actually had Captain Beefheart on during that dismal 1980-1981 season. He actually was awesome. He did 2 cuts from Doc at the Radar Station (Hot Head and Ashtray Heart).
I remember Elvis Costello on the show, and then I think both B-52's and Blondie.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Costello was banned after that (eventually reinstated) because he didn't do the song he was supposed to do.
The ultimate crime, I guess.
He performed "Radio, Radio," an anti-corporate screed, and Lorne Michaels stood next to the camera and popped the bird at him the entire song.
Rocket had been in a sketch where a blank was fired at him. Now, blanks actually discharge "material" (for lack of a better term), and Rocket got hit in the head with the "material" during the sketch. He was (rightfully) pissed off about it, and said "I would like to know who the F*** shot me" at the end of the show. It wasn't a way of just getting attention.
Brandon Lee died on the set of The Crow because of a blank hitting him.
The "blank" that hit Brandon Lee wasn't a blank, it was a real round.
I believe it was a blank though that killed the male star of Outrider.
But the guy who died starring in Alias Smith and Jones was a suicide.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I started watching SNL during season 2, when I was 11/12, and I've really loved the show at times (hated season 6, the Jean Doumanian year you reference, as well as the Anthony Michael Hall/Robert Downey,jr season, or the first year or two with that whole cast that had Ferrell), but I've been watching seasons 1&2 lately on dvd, and I'm not sure how it really ever lasted. Maybe I'm jaded. I just hope I don't feel the same 20 years from now about the Hartman era.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
I've seen some of the 1st season shows off and on and sometimes they make me cringe today. Very dated - probably why it makes me cringe - though I would love to see the New Orleans special they have never shown since the initial showing in 1977.
...he uses big words like 'particularly' and 'delicatessen.' -- Jack
Eric Idle talked about that, and how it was an immense cock up. There was supposed to be a parade during the show, but the parade never showed up. There were also painful moments when Penny Marshall, who was supposed to appear with Cindy Williams, had to fill time because of various things that went wrong (like the parade I mentioned above that never showed, and Cindy Williams not showing either).
Idle talks about it in the book "Before and After Monty Python" by Kim "Howard" Johnson.
We'll probably never see it because it was of such poor quality. Idle said the show was more hype than humour, even in the old days. I would like to go back and watch entire episodes of the old days to see if he was right. When you watch old Python shows, they are still funny.
I love the early 90s era, all of those guys are still amazing, but you watch re-runs from that time, and they did a *lot* of bad skits. Plus, everyone thinks that it was funniest when they first started to watch.
As a political parodist/satirist, I definitely support SNL's gloves-off approach. I'm not going to comment on whether or not there has been a lack of quality over the years, as we're discussing this spot, not an ad hominen slam of the whole show. (okay, there were a lot of sketches that sucked.) However, throwing a painful spotlight on some of the uglier, "untouchable" topics is a vital democratic tool. Let's not be too effete to use gallows humor to heal wounds, demonstrate outrage and (I can speak from experience) provide an escape valve for an audience's angst.
the point of the skit is the same point you are making yourself here. hello!
Come on, boards and water! That's funny. Buy two german shepherds, get the third free.
When it comes to comedy, the more offensive the better for me.
Tio Pepe. Classic.
I think the point of all of it was to show how absurd it is that the Bush Administration used torture and nobody did a goddamn thing to stop it until he was out of office. It was what good comedy can do, make you laugh and make you think at the same time. I applaud him for having the nuts to do that on live television.
There have been torture skits in comedy for a long time. Is it only morally unacceptable when it's in our country? Or is it because it's going on right now? What ills do you see coming out of this skit? Do you believe someone actually made up their mind on Guantanamo Bay based on this skit? Do you believe that someone who initially thought torture was bad, now believes that torture is actually funny? Is it that someone who was about to write a letter to their Senator asking for the closure of Guantanamo, now will not write that letter because they think it's all just a big joke?
... It could be because it cuts too close to the bone.
It's one thing to be morally superior and laugh at all the pitiful fools breaking all the laws, it's quit another thing to claim moral superiority when it is you who are breaking those very laws.
I especially like the "Git'mo dis, and Git'mo dat" joke.
In a way it can be cathartic for a people to laugh at their failures. It is one way of looking back...
... But are we ready to discuss why it's oh, so, NOT very funny?
Starve the WAR Beast...
... Save the World.
.
The real joke is on Americans and their Congress...
... Be because Americans keep electing a body of CONgress critters who support acts of war crimes.
.
Starve the WAR Beast...
... Save the World.
sometimes watching an entire 90 minutes of snl is itself torture.
but rosario dawson is teh hot! i think they wrote that stupid aladdin parody just to see her in that harem girl outfit.
It's torture just to hear someone say again that idiotic term teh.
It makes me want to pull my hair out.
Oops...
Anyone got any scalp-wax?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
acceptable from 1000 stations blasting to 60MIL, selling CLUB GITMO wear and working for the white house/pentagon. that's what determines what is and what isn't acceptable in America the last 20 years, since reagan killed the Fairness Doctrine.
Because of the psychosis of Bush, this country lost its moral compass on torture and invading a sovereign nation, cleverly disguised as preemptive defense or the "Bush doctrine". It's amazing what has happened to a once moral people.
Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity. Albert Einstein
Sometimes the only way to make the point is to show an issue for being as ridiculous in humour as it is in reality.
To deny torture is wrong is ridiculous, hilarious even.
I mean, people have known about torture going on for years, the press belatedly reported on it. Renditions, secret prisons, all that has been going on. But we justify it based on our safety, or at least some do.
And whether you knew or not, as Americans we are all guilty of what the government has done in our name, and our lack of outrage at these practices certainly makes us seem indifferent to the suffering of others, whether on the battle field or in our "prisons".
Obama has not said whether prisoners at Guantanamo -- whose evidence was extracted using torture -- will have their cases thrown out, nor has he indicated he will prosecute Bush for essencially crimes against humanity -- Bush has as much admitted he approved the use of torture -- saying instead that we need to "look forward". This attitude could be a whole skit unto itself.
People should feel uncomfortable about torture, very uncomfortable, because if you allow torture to happen to one group of individuals, you open it up to being used against everyone.
I like Obama and voted for him, but my concern is that now that the election is over people will become complacent and he will be pressured down a slippery "national security" slope back into some of the Bush policies. With Gates in there, I'm not so sure that's not a realistic concern.
In any other third world country, a skit like that highlighting the corruption of the ruling classes would get you shot. We have the right to free speech, including the right to make fools of ourselves by pushing the envelope. Cheers to SNL. If you feel uncomfortable, that might have more to do with your moral landscape and how you feel within it and less to do with the material.
I find very few of the sketches funny. The cast hasn't been good since the "old days" in my opinion. I also think that this kind comedy (sketch comedy) has to be edgy and go against the grain, kinda like "Fridays" was when it first came out, and maybe MadTv at first. SNL was like this at first, but lost that edginess-maybe because of it's right producer Lorne Michaels? Who knows.
This skit is just dumb. Another one that was dumb was the one making fun of the blind NY Gov Patterson. Attacking the least powerful, least able to defend themselves-yeah, that's funny.
Comments are closed on this entry