Worst. SNL. Opening . EVER!

[WeDidIt]

Armesin simply CANNOT DO OBAMA!

When the fuck are they going to get a REAL Obama impersonator?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. He really isn't very good at it, is he?

[spanone]

2. he's terrible, but so is snl

so far, the rest of the show is pretty awful

i guess the writers don't know that the announcer nick faldo is british...the actor has no accent

[Subdivisions]

3. I wager they're not looking for a replacement. n/t

[Orrex]

4. Is that horrible show still on the air?

I thought that they mercifully pulled the plug in like 1994.

Or maybe I was just wishing.

[customerserviceguy]

8. Catch Tina Fey doing Caribou Barbie

and then tell me what you think.

[proteus_lives]

9. I thought that was hilarious!

[Orrex]

13. I'll tell you what I think

I think that if you filtered through every episode of SNL that's ever aired, you might get enough top-rate material for one season, maybe two.

Tina Fey would be in the mix but she's one of the vanishingly rare bright spots in an otherwise completely unfunny spectacle.

[customerserviceguy]

14. Ok, you have a point

I'll admit, I've watched quite a few shows in the last few years, and if it wasn't for the contemporary humor on Weekend Update, I would have felt they were a near-total waste of time.

But every once in awhile, they have a good one, tonight's that night.

[Berry Cool]

30. I agree. This show was the first really funny one they've had in a long time.

They have been very uneven over the years. They have seasons where they have some really sharp casts, great impersonators and snappy writing, and then they have other seasons where everyone just seems to be writing one-note jokes with one-note characters who utter stupid catchphrases, in hopes of getting a movie deal for themselves by stretching one of those characters into a 90-minute movie. When the truth is, most of the characters they create aren't funny enough for a five-minute sketch full of laughs, much less a whole movieful.

[begin_within]

5. The good news is that Betty White is going to host it on May 8.

[TomCADem]

6. Did They Have Armesin Simply Reciting I Accomplished Nothing Again?

You would think that with Health Care Reform, Nuke Treaty, Stimulus, Auto Bailout, they would improve their material.

[customerserviceguy]

7. I thought it was funny

Yes, it's exaggerated, but that's what impressionists do. And the bit was humorous, made fun of all the dimwits who think that the census is some sort of socialist plot.

[theophilus]

18. Yep, I liked it. There is always something funny on SNL, imo. If

you don't like it, don't watch it and don't post about it.....PLEASE.

[Berry Cool]

29. I agree.

Armisen doesn't do Obama that well, but I thought the sketch was a good tweak on what freepers THINK the Census is for and the questions they act like it has. The kind of sketch that will make freepers laugh because they think "Ah, see they're showing the real agenda!" and also make people with brains laugh because they realize it's actually goofing on the stupidity of what freepers think.

[jobycom]

10. Great, now you've started it.

Now we're going to have to slog through all the "I can insult SNL worse than you can insult SNL" escalation. You know, first there's the "The whole show sucked," then "No, the whole season sucked," then "It's sucked ever since Bill Murray left," then "It sucked the moment it come on television!" and then "All television sucks and so does anyone who has ever watched television!!!!"

Then someone like me will throw in a gratuitous "It doesn't suck as bad as Rush or The Lord of The Rings movies," and all hell will break loose.

[WeDidIt]

11. WTF???

The Lord of the Rings movies were masterpieces.

[jobycom]

15. WTF??

Masterpieces of formulaic melodrama, maybe. Like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" without the intended humor.

(Actually, you stumbled into a backstory. I'm just helping Orrex set his watch.)

[WeDidIt]

16. I've seen them like fifty times

My wife and I often watch the trilogy as bedtime fare. We always put something in the Blu-Ray player and watch 20-40 minutes each night before bed.

[jobycom]

19. 20 to 40 minutes would do it for me.

Actually I'd be out after about five minutes, unless I got to laughing too hard.

I literally cried during The Return of the King. I wanted it to end so badly it was like a physical pain. During the scene where the eagle is carrying Frodo in slo-mo melodrama for about 36 hours, and the screen fades to black, I let out a loud sigh of relief. It then faded back into another 36 hours of slow-mo melodrama with Frodo dangling upside down over orange lava and trying to communicate something to the audience with his eyes, and I started crying. I remember saying something like "For God's sake, get it over with," and half the theater laughing.

I was stunned at the reviews and awards. I've even watched part of it again to see if I was in a bad mood that day, but I just couldn't stomach it again.

But if you like, like it. Just my reaction to it.

[WeDidIt]

27. The extended versions are better than the theatrical presentations.

We've done the full day thing complete with Hobbit meals.

Breakfast.

First disk of Fellowship.

Second breakfast.

Second disk of Fellowship.

Elevenses.

First disk of Towers.

Luncheon.

Second disk of Towers.

Afternoon tea.

First disk of Return.

Dinner.

Second disk of Return.

Supper.

You have to make the Hobbit meals really be like snacks, though.

[jobycom]

32. Ha!

Sounds like you really do love it. Sorry I dissed it. I really did react that way in "THe Return of the King," but I exagerate my hatred of it. They were amazingly elaborate productions with great acting, but I didn't like the directing and thought the storyline was sloppy. Mostly I was messing with a couple of other DUers who always pop up in these types of threads. Sorry.

[Morning Dew]

31. It would have saved time if that eagle had just taken Frodo from Rivendell straight to Mordor.

[jobycom]

33. Ha!

I remember thinking that in the books, too.

[CraftyGal]

23. Hey...no picking on the Rocky Horror Picture Show!

TrogL will be upset! This is one of his favorite shows, well next to "The Wall" by Pink Floyd.

CraftyGal

[jobycom]

34. I wasn't!

I said it was supposed to be funny! I have many fond memories of that show!

[robinblue]

21. LOL

[Cleita]

12. The Obama impersonator is not good but otherwise the premise was brilliant.

It shot down all the Michele Bachmann, we aren't doing the census, idiots. When they got into all the personal stuff, it showed how ridiculous all these Tea bagger objections to the census are. Tina did an impression of Sarah Palin that zeroed right into her comedic rifle sights. You really need some lessons in satire.

[TexasObserver]

24. Well written parody of tea baggers. Weak impersonation.

Chevy Chase did Ford. Dan Ackroyd did Carter. Will Farrell did Bush, Jr. Amy Poehler did Hillary.

All did credible impersonations, capturing the essence of the person they were impersonating, even though not doing an otherwise credible impersonation. But they got the job done by their caricaturing.

Armisen is hopeless as Obama, however. It's a ridiculous attempt, and SNL looks bad every time they use him. Like George Bush, Lorne Micheal doesn't care about black people. If he did, he would hire one to play Obama. Fred Armisen looks more like Lorne Michael than he looks like Obama.

[proteus_lives]

17. I liked it.

[Cetacea]

20. yucko. give someone who is funny more time please

[4lbs]

22. Except for the rare bits like Tina Fey's Palin, the other weekly comedy variety show destroys

SNL. It has done so for a long time.

That would be "Mad TV", which is now on Comedy Central.

"Mad TV", unlike SNL, isn't afraid to be totally politically incorrect. They'll make fun of anyone and any group to get a laugh.

[CBR]

25. Have you seen this guy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxAKC3KKTC4

[ThatsMyBarack]

26. Just a few years ago....

They aired classic SNL from the 70s and 80s on Saturday-Sunday overnight--terrific stuff that hadn't seen the light of day in ages! They replaced it with a poker show since then.

[Bluenorthwest]

28. The best satirical Obama is animated

Supernews on Current TV or Hulu. The voice is very accurate, and the animations are good as well. They tend to be kind to Obama, and hard on the rest of the administration in the cartoons. Love them.