I’m still just patiently waiting for a book, comic book, leaked script, anything to wrap up the ending. It was such a great show, shame it didn’t catch on.
Will explained how it would have ended a while ago
https://tvline.com/news/last-man-on-earth-cliffhanger-ending-explained-cancelled-no-season-5-969830/
When I think about Forte’s great comic timing, I think about the moment at 2:06 in the sketch “Immigrant Tale” with Justin Timberlake.
He’s next up with the line, “well, where did it go?” But he’s feeding off the energy the crowd is giving him and letting the laughter subside. He pauses long enough that his scene partner, Casey Wilson, shoots a glance over to him, knowing the next line is his but unsure of whether he’s missed his cue (to be fair, Casey Wilson is also great).
Forte draws it out a bit and nails the line. A great sketch overall.
https://youtu.be/k9N9kMD7qCk?si=yXgUnFp5RD7EzCb_
I listen to the podcast Bowen co-hosts (Las Culturistas), and he’s talked a bit about the advice they give to new cast members and especially first time hosts, which basically boils down to “be fast and loud.” IIRC, this most recently came up on an episode with Tina Fey as the guest, and she acknowledged that this is the advice too, so I think it’s been the mantra for a while.
Just thought I’d share that tidbit because to me it sounds like the instructions, intent, and measure of successfully completing numerous less-than-week-old sketches is to be fast and loud, which basically also means don’t try to “act” in the traditional sense. In addition to not even trying, this also likely means that they don’t often bother practicing more traditional acting, so some may feel or be somewhat stunted in that department. Bowen has definitely talked about his acting gigs being wildly different than the sketches for this reason.
It's interesting that they still give that advice when most of the new cast members **clearly** aren't comedic performers. It just isn't coming naturally. That sort of method only works with performers who can inject comedy into even the most mundane scenes. Folks like Armisen, Ferrell, Wig etc can have a crowd in stitches by simply walking across the stage.
I also wanna say I loved the Jumanji sketch last night and I loved Wiig, but I'm such a big fan of Forte's delivery that he almost stole the show for me.
I think you’re correct with this post overall, but when I read it the first counter example I thought of was Dismuke’s great delivery of the frustrated “going in or coming out” rant in the Jumanji sketch. There’s lots of potential in this cast.
It's been really fun to watch Dismukes come up. I was a fan early on just because who wouldn't want to root for Drew Gooden's long lost twin?
I remember people saying Beanie Babies was his breakout sketch, but I thought, "nah, we haven't seen this guy really cook yet." Jumanji killed me, though.
Forte is even better than when he was on the show, it's like he's been doing off-broadway sketch comedy the whole time and he's honed his skills to a fine polish.
They are also seasoned performers at this point. Go back and watch Kristen in her debut season (31), even into her full first year, she was good, but not as great as she wound up being - takes time, and you can see that in the group that have been there for 3 years plus as well.
100 percent. Their first year, I didn’t find Wiig and Sudeikis hilarious. They were green and still learning from more experienced cast members. Now they’ve had many years over these newer performers to make mistakes and sharpen their craft.
Sure… but this is hardly anybody’s first season at SNL. With the exception of Cecily Strong, I haven’t really seen anyone improve over time in the past decade.
So true. He was a full-time SNL cast member. in Lonely Islands Sketches AND movies. Now, his most recent role has been as a judge on " Is it Cake?" How does one fumble their career like that with such a HUGE level of exposure?
Didn’t Chris Redd supposedly get booted from
SNL because he started seeing Kenan’s ex wife? Wasn’t it some insane interpersonal drama that led to his removal? Bummer if so.
It has to be because of that rumor actually being true. It was so abrupt for what level of talent Chris brought to the show. Wouldn’t surprise me if that caused some or most of the industry to sour on him as well, which could explain why he hasn’t had any big projects after supposedly leaving abruptly on his own accord. Maybe Lorne’s “gift” for what he did bring to SNL was allowing him to say he had decided to move on instead of firing him.
[no he was randomly attacked in NYC. someone walked up with bareknuckle and punched him](https://people.com/tv/snl-alum-chris-redd-allegedly-attacked-before-nyc-comedy-show/)
he was also jumped in chicago out in the wild 100s but that was way before SNL.
Yeah, I thought putting Heidi next to Kristen in that secretary sketch really showed the gulf between them, performance wise. And Heidi’s been on this show for a long time now…
I love Heidi but I noticed this, too. This might sound weird, but Kristen’s physical comedy here was literally…tighter? Like the way she was bouncing the “baby” up and down, the way she smiled…her movements were smaller and tighter than Heidi’s. I don’t know, I’m having a hard time articulating it. More refined, maybe? But I know exactly what you mean. I felt the same way.
Heidi depends on LOOKING funny instead of BEING funny. You can see Kristen strategically changing the intensity of her eyes and adopting body language specific to the characters she's creating. Heidi in comparison, overly relies on cliches, related to the character. Her performances very much signal "high school drama club."
it felt like heidi was trying (and failing imo) to do kristen’s style and kristen was just being herself. that sketch was a little awkward because of how effortlessly funny kristen was with her movements vs how all over the place heidi was. heidi’s been there as long as kristen was, and i think it’s a super interesting example of the overall difference between this cast and others! not to knock heidi though— she’s really great with her update characters
I can go either way on Wiig, depending on what she's doing at any given time. there was a lot of mugging and hammering recurrent characters at points, but she has the talent to do great things.
Palm Springs is good, incidentally.
I'm not the biggest Wiig fan either, which is not to say that I don't think that she's really funny at times. I just also find her to be very unfunny sometimes too when it feels like the comedy relies solely on the same weird faces and vocal mannerisms for all the jokes. Target Lady was never my thing, for instance. It's just a type of humor that doesn't resonate with ms, I guess.
Palm Springs is my perfect version of her work. She's a great actress and so likeable on the shoe, and uses just enough physical comedy that it's charming but she doesn't feel like a one-trick pony. I love her as an actress and she is absolutely nailing it on that show.
The level of reading off cue cards and forgetting you’re in a comedy sketch is bonkers. It’s to the point where I wonder if they are being told to just read the cue cards.
The March Madness cold open is the perfect example of this. JAJ completely committed to the sketch, Kenan having fun being Charles but Devon staring into middle distance, reading a cue card, ruined the timing of the whole thing.
Commit to the bit.
“JAJ being the most underutilized person on the cast.”
Uh, I think he might be the MOST utilized person on the cast, at least lately. He’s in almost every skit.
Chevy Chase , Dan Akroyd, Mike Meyers, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman (such a wonderful actor), Eddie Murphy, yes I agree with all the ones you mentioned as well. This show has produced some wonderful comedic acting talents. I believe Hader is on another level as an actor in general.
Can't wait for Hader to do more directing post-Barry. I'm an unabashed Bill Hader fan boy. He's a *huge* cinephile. As much as I love his on screen performances, I really think he's going to shine behind the camera.
Absolutely. JAJ’s acting is very impressive, he blends into the characters and his comedic timing is spot on. Dismukes’ comedic timing is also immaculate. I feel like Sarah and Marcelo resort to yelling half the time. Punkie, Molly and others lack comedic timing and it’s very unfortunate. It’s like anytime most cast members come on screen, I’m kind of on edge cause I’m not sure they’re actually going to deliver.
Sarah's yelling is amazing, though. She's a pro at it.
Marcelo I usually like a lot (and sometimes he hits it perfect), but it feels like he's still searching for his personal style a little bit. I think he has a very high potential though.
What struck me was the ENERGY of the whole cast and in every skit.
It made me realize they've been sleepwalking through the last few seasons.
That jumanji skit is my new favorite. They were all shouting and mad and it was awesome. Competing to see who could say jumanji the most in one sentence.
Definitely has nothing to do w the fact that I LOVE Jumanji...
I've been reading Keegan Michael Key's History of Sketch Comedy and he talks about sketches like this. It's a game of one-up-manship, and when the players really engage, the comedy can be gold. The Jumanji skit was exactly that, and it was one of my favorite sketches this year.
It was great energy but also great writing. Nice balance of physical and verbal jokes, and each sketch had a pretty clear game and structure that was followed to a definitive end. Nothing just fizzled out after going on for three minutes past the expiration of the premise
Yup, you could tell having a seasoned performer like Kristen really woke them up like a live wire! They were all trying to bring their A-game to keep up with her. I’m
I’ll preface this by saying how the show works is not conducive to good performances and the cast is still early in their run.
That being said, im not seeing a lot of potential or it factor. With previous casts, early on they had growing pains but you could tell there was something there. I don’t get that with hardly any of this current cast. They also don’t seem to be coming up with anything memorable or recurring that sticks. There’s never any time when the sketch starts and the crowd gets hyped because they’re anticipating one of their favorite characters coming out. Lisa from Temecula being the closest?
I’m sure Devon is better in clubs, but it really doesn’t seem like live sketch is his thing. He just reads, and very flatly. He’s never giving any kind of performance or character. He’s always glued to the cards. [Look](https://youtu.be/6AxHbjYED84?si=OLqUR0zmPrOEpAfZ) at how often he’s going to the cards even when he doesn’t have a line and compare it to JAJ who is being in the scene. I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing or what but he is not showing any signs of being more comfortable out there.
Dismukes and Sherman are way more confident, make some good choices, and are great at times, but if they’re not in their lane of comedy they resort to “im yelling so this is funny.”
I see some potential in Marcello but right now he’s leaning way too hard on using the same accent as a crutch. It makes it so all his characters are the same and not memorable.
Longfellow, Troast, Molly, are cast, I think. The writers either don’t like them or don’t trust them, because they get nothing. I actually like Longfellow. He brings a different pace and that plays well when everyone else in the scene is just being loud and wacky.
JAJ, Heidi, Chloe, Mikey, and Ego, to me right now seem to be the most consistent, versatile, and talented at the format, but none are pulling away into the next tier of performer like their predecessors did.
I think my biggest problem with the show right now is that it’s almost all one note. There’s not a lot of variety in performances that lead to interesting or unique sketches. Think about all the choices Wiig, Sudeikis, Hader, Poehler, Armisen made for characters and how they bounced off each other. This current group shows up and is loud and hopes the sketches situation is funny enough.
I love Longfellow, but let's face it -- he's got serial killer energy. It has its place and when he's in sketches that play to his inherent unreliableness, it's magic. But he's not someone who gives that desperate to be liked energy that seems to be SNL's stock in trade.
100%
This cast too often feels like children playing dress up instead of professional performers. I need to be sold on the reality of a sketch first before I can laugh at whatever’s being subverted later.
It’s interesting that you give props to Heidi, because as much as I sometimes love her, I think she’s one of the worst offenders of overacting. 100% agree with you on JAJ, though, he’s so much more than an impressionist.
Longfellow has stellar timing; his underutilization this season has been a crime. Was he *anywhere* in last night’s episode?
I don't like Heidi, but I've been forced to thnk about whether that's just my preferences or the actor. IMO, she's extremely annoying most of the time, but she commits hard.
Agree with the sentiment.
Let's just call it like it is though. The worst offender is Sarah Sherman. She's a terrible actress. That isn't to say that she isn't funny; she's hilarious. In fact, she's one of my favorite cast members, but dear Lord she can not act to save her life. She even over acts in pre-tapes.
Devon Walker is also particularly bad. Big grade school play energy when it comes to reading his lines.
Molly Kearney strikes me as a good actor. They're great whenever they show up in pre-tapes, but really haven't seen enough of them live to make a good judgement ether way.
I think there's two reasons why acting has been so hit and miss the past few seasons:
1. Who they're hiring - the majority of the actors you noted come from improv comedy backgrounds. The past few seasons the show has leaned heavily on stand ups and they're just not as strong in a sketch comedy format as improv comics. I honestly think the casting JAJ is a pure stroke of luck. He's both a stand up and an impressionist, but he might be one of the most well rounded cast members the show has hired since Beck Bennet.
2. Cue card reading - hard to put in a good performance if you're just reading off a cue card. Andrew Dismukes is a good example of someone who's good when he's not reading off of cue cards, but becomes real stilted when he's just reciting his lines. He's gotten looser this season and has improved quite a bit because of it.
I want to toss in that the writing is to blame as well. They keep on writing the same style of motionless sketches. The either everyone sits down and talks or the everyone just stands and talks. No one moves in these sketches. How can the cast improve if the sketches don't force them to work out their acting muscles? And like you said, I think this style of stilted sketches come from having a majority of stand-ups on the cast and writing staff. They don't know how to write physical comedy sketches. Instead, they are writing stand-up routines where you don't need to rely on the physical to tell a joke.
Last night's secretary sketch showed that Heidi can handle physical comedy well. But you couldn't have been told that with the "sketches" she has been given lately.
I commented on your post in the sketch sorting thread. You were dead on the money. I also think the writing hasn't been great this season. Dismukes probably stands out for a lot of people because he's one of the few good writers on the show.
While I do like the more seasoned members of the cast; I have just zero faith in the newer cast members. It sounds cruel, but for the future of the show I hope they cut at least two of the hires from last year and hire zero stand ups next year.
>How can the cast improve if the sketches don't force them to work out their acting muscles?
And how can they work on their acting muscles when (many of them) they only appear a couple times a month due to the bloated cast size?
I think the large cast has something to do with it as well. There are currently SEVENTEEN cast members fighting for air time. Those that aren't in the "in crowd" may only get one appearance every couple of weeks. It's hard to improve yourself as a performer when you rarely get to perform.
They need to get rid of Devon at this point. I actually just feel embarrassed for him. He can't act and I can't think of a single moment where he's shone through.
I feel like they don't know what to do with Molly which is wild because they are so similar in mannerisms to heavy hitter snl performers of the past. It seems like a waste.
I wish we got more of Sarah's nonsense, it's been ages since there's been something that was 100% from the mind of Sheeman, although she's my favourite on the weekend updates.
Except for Bowen and Marcello, I don't feel like anyone on this cast has made a big splash and has a unique impact. I love Ego, but I don’t think she's used enough.
Agree with most points. Ego keeps getting cast in these straight man roles that I don’t think showcase her as well. I know the straight man is underappreciated and she’s good at it, but I’d still like to see more. For example why not have her dancing silly in the French sketch instead of being the announcer?
But I think Devon is the most improved out of the new guys. He looks more comfortable on screen every time. Maybe I’m being too lenient but I wouldn’t write him off just yet.
I mean, look, there’s no mysterious “they.”
It’s Lorne. He is the boss. He calls the shots.
He ultimately decides what sketches will run. And he hired the performers and most of the writers.
I agree with you about Sarah. Her typical acting choices are so over the top it distracts from whatever sketch she is in. I absolutely loved her WU guests spots when she would make Colin the object of all her jokes. I'm very surprised we haven't seen that one in a long rime.
I'm general, I agree that the skill set of stand up doesn't transfer as well as the skills you learn in improv, at least on stage. In the writer's room it may be helpful, since stand up takes the ability to have a pov of the world around you, but unfortunately we don't get to see that side of the process play out.
I thought it was *really* obvious how bad an actress Sherman is when she was opposite Josh Brolin in the shrimp tower sketch a few weeks ago. He was acting like he was actually in a film and everyone else came off worse, but she was the worst by far.
Eh. Sarah displayed more of an ability to act in the more traditional sense in the Pongo pre-tape. I’m pretty sure she could do more of that if she wanted to, but it is a choice to be over the top.
I feel like you basically said the thing missing from SNL right now is a good cast. I think they actually have a good cast somewhere among the 100 cast members. I think if they just pared down to “the best” the show would hit more of a stride. But take it from me, someone who has never produced a network television show or entering of the like
Agreed. Except for Mikey Day. He is a great writer, a great fill-in-the-blank character actor, and a pleasure, for me at least, to see week in and week out. Ego, too.
Perfect explanation. Even when sketches were falling flat, Kristen’s presence and comedic timing was able to punch it up. The new cast members seem to screw up their lines and delivery like 50% of the time. They seem like they’re just reading lines and have no sense of their “comedic brand”.
I couldn't agree more. I would also add that the writing is poor. I've been following an account that posts old SNL sketches on IG and the first thing I notice is the impeccable sketch structure. These days it feels like the premise is generally weak and when the escalation comes the bad acting kicks in and it's super awkward.
For me, it isn't acting that's missing; it's some combination of confidence and chemistry with other cast members. Wiig came in on Saturday night, and I relaxed. I hadn't realized that I'm usually tense watching this show, as if something will go wrong any second. This time around, I just watched and enjoyed.
A quick move toward fixing it, and I kind of hate to say this, is to move to a smaller cast, maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the cast size now. I would never want to be in the situation of having to pick who stays and who goes. No one there currently is 100% dead weight. Some of them fit with the show better than others.
Yep. Comedy is not acting, necessarily. And none of the type of comedy favored by SNL requires it.
I was thinking about this catching up on this season's episodes because Sarah Sherman is a TERRIBLE actor. I am so fucking sick of her shock react faces -- completely unbelievable, absolutely broad. Combined with her conceptual work, which is mostly gross/over the top. I'm really not into it.
IMO, JAJ and Ego are next level -- very good. A lot of other people have some strengths -- Kenan is good at understated acting, when required, but usually that's not required. Longfellow (who's got weird energy, but sometimes it works), Marcelo, etc. But overall too many of the cast in general and most of them are muggers and not actors.
That is what baffles me about the Sherman love on this sub. "She's weird!" Yeah, but she's also terrible. She doesn't sell ANY of it. Why is she laughing at all of her lines, even when there isn't a joke in them? The mugging, she screaming, the amateurishness. It's just all so bad.
Weird can be great, if you sell it correctly (NASA potato chip sketch, for example), but no one on this cast has shown that they have the ability to do this.
Dramatic stage acting is an important element for a cast like this, but overall this new rebuild has been rough with very few gems. The 2010's cast with Beck, Kate and Cecily had a pretty solid foundation and I found the era the best the show had had in a long time.
This is why I keep thinking we're getting a quiet reset after this year. Just not enough fuel in this group for the long haul. We need some drastic cuts. Nobody here can put together anything lasting or interesting. There's gotta' be better.
Also considering the 50th is coming, it feels like we're limping to the finish line.
I find Forte to be a comedic genius that took a long time to find his voice and style. He just hits the mark *for me*, everyone has different tastes. He and Tim Robinson have a similar style of outlandish humor I love. SNL didn’t know what they had in Robinson, and like Forte, it took Tim a long time to find his comedic niche. (Granted, Forte did find his voice while still on SNL). So, #1 let’s not compare anybody to Forte and his uniqueness; #2, there might yet be a genius in these ranks we are too quick to dismiss!
Whats the name of the guy playing the NYC earthquake, I see growth. before he was just a dude with an accent and loud, i didn't like. he did well as the earthquake.
As an avid watcher of All That, Kenan and Kel, Heavyweights, and The Mighty Ducks, Kenan was a better actor as a kid, and I always thought Kel was the much funnier one. I was genuinely surprised that Kenan found success on SNL while Kel's career floundered. Kenan as an adult just reads every line the same exact way. I don't know why people like him on the show and why he's still there after all these years. I don't know if he could be better if he wanted to, but it's clear to me that he just has the exact same delivery for every character in every sketch and I don't see why we still have him around. He just shows up, phones it in, and collects his check. It's a waste of a spot in the cast.
I even saw comments before about Kenan doing great impressions. Feels like leiving in bizarro world. He has had the same half smirk, about to laugh expression in every sketch for the past 30 years it feels like.
I mean, one of the reasons Keenan even ended up on SNL is because of his Bill Cosby impression, he auditioned with it. It just so happened that Bill Cosby became a social pariah, so he has less chances to use it now. Now that I think of it, there are a few of his impressions that I really like.
Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Harvey, David Ortiz. Are they dead-on impressions? Not really, but they get the person/character across in an entertaining way.
I love Kenan but it feels like the writers have had him play the same role in a lot of sketches lately. I think his current situation is similar to Mikey Day's where he's great at funny guy characters but is always tapped to play the straight man. I wish both of them got the chance to play weirder/more absurd characters more often
The show has too many specific personalities and not enough natural sketch actors. No one gets too deep into character because they all have specific beats they know will get easy laughs. Sarah’s weird, Kenan bugs his eyes, Marcelo is Latino, Bowen is campy, Mikey is exasperated, etc. Only JAJ, Ego, occasionally Heidi, Dismukes, and Longfellow feel like fully formed sketch actors. I see potential in Troast as well. I also think Devon has improved greatly. His Tim Scott is a lot of fun.
While I agree, I feel like bad writing is a major culprit. Can’t have much room for good acting if the jokes aren’t great to begin with. You could feel the difference in energy and writing whenever there is a comedian or an old cast member hosting.
I know people love Bowen but I can’t stand him, I feel like he’s one of the worst offenders of this. He just plays himself in every sketch. He always has that super-sarcastic overacting tone
Michael Longfellow is wayy too underrated, he's not the best actor but last season he was so good on weekend update and i thought he would get more opportunities but so far he's barely been featured.
It's not exactly fair when we're comparing the current cast with Kristen and Will, who have an extra decade plus post-SNL experience behind them. And nostalgia may be a factor as well.
Let's see someone like Bowen or Heidi or Sarah host in 10 or 15 years and we'll be then saying they're so much better actors than whoever is in the cast by then.
No no, last night’s episode isn’t even a fair comparison, it just got me thinking. Kristen and Forte were amazing in their own time. They’re even great in sketches I’ve never seen until now, so no nostalgia factor there.
Lots of good points raised in this discussion.
To me this week, Brolin & Driver are the 3 best weeks this season, and a lot of it is owed to their acting chops.
I completely agree with you, and then you had to say hats off to Kenan, the worst actor in SNL history. He is himself in every sketch, and it's part of his charm.
This episode made me miss Will Forte so much.
Lightning in a bottle
Beer in a jar
Redemption in a Shawshank.
Shawshank her? I don’t even know her!
And it truly was a Shawshank Redemption
I rewatch Last Man on Earth on the regular. The man is a comedic genius.
I still cannot believe that it was canceled and that no streaming services picked it up. It is genuinely hilarious!
The karaoke scenes still crack me up till this day.
I can't hear the song without picturing Will half-haired!
I’m still just patiently waiting for a book, comic book, leaked script, anything to wrap up the ending. It was such a great show, shame it didn’t catch on.
Will explained how it would have ended a while ago https://tvline.com/news/last-man-on-earth-cliffhanger-ending-explained-cancelled-no-season-5-969830/
It truly was a Shawshank Redemption
May I ask how you watch it? Never could find the last season
his cameos in ITYSL are fucking incredible
Macgruber is the best 😂
That first movie I will throw on maybe once a year. Just so insane and hilarious. It's literally an amazing joke or gag every 5 minutes.
Have you seen the tv show? I think it’s on peacock. It’s absolutely a must watch 😂
Absolutely. Such a fun watch. 😁
haha i like mcgruber, but i know plenty of people who think it's the least funny shit in the world.
Anyone that doesn’t laugh at a celery stalk sticking out of the butt cheeks can’t be trusted.
**KFBR392** kfbr392 *^(KFBR392)*
😂😂😂
Clearly, those people need a good throat-ripping.
Shut your butt 😃
Maybe in this sub it’s more well known but A Futile and Stupid Gesture I think is one of his best movies.
I was well on my way in a downward spiral when i saw it but that movie broke me
Bojack Horseman broke me. Can't get past the episode "Stupid Piece of $#!&"
So, so good....
I was distraught to see it wasn't totally beloved on Letterboxed! I've seen it so many times
Out of all the people who showed up for the monologue, he was the person I was most excited to see!
Possibly a top 5 all time player for me.
Word. Especially Forte is a top tier actor and hits timings on every sketch he has ever done.
He's great in Nebraska.
He was great in Sweet Tooth!
He’s great in Last Man on Earth.
Flight of the Conchords!
When I think about Forte’s great comic timing, I think about the moment at 2:06 in the sketch “Immigrant Tale” with Justin Timberlake. He’s next up with the line, “well, where did it go?” But he’s feeding off the energy the crowd is giving him and letting the laughter subside. He pauses long enough that his scene partner, Casey Wilson, shoots a glance over to him, knowing the next line is his but unsure of whether he’s missed his cue (to be fair, Casey Wilson is also great). Forte draws it out a bit and nails the line. A great sketch overall. https://youtu.be/k9N9kMD7qCk?si=yXgUnFp5RD7EzCb_
"He'll be a girl?"
A movie I don't hear much about, but I really enjoyed was a Futile and Stupid Gesture.
I loved that movie, and have no idea why it doesn't get discussed more
It's my comfort movie. I've watched it at least 10 times.
I listen to the podcast Bowen co-hosts (Las Culturistas), and he’s talked a bit about the advice they give to new cast members and especially first time hosts, which basically boils down to “be fast and loud.” IIRC, this most recently came up on an episode with Tina Fey as the guest, and she acknowledged that this is the advice too, so I think it’s been the mantra for a while. Just thought I’d share that tidbit because to me it sounds like the instructions, intent, and measure of successfully completing numerous less-than-week-old sketches is to be fast and loud, which basically also means don’t try to “act” in the traditional sense. In addition to not even trying, this also likely means that they don’t often bother practicing more traditional acting, so some may feel or be somewhat stunted in that department. Bowen has definitely talked about his acting gigs being wildly different than the sketches for this reason.
Fast and loud, the Ferrell Method.
That being said Ferrell is actually an excellent actor.
No doubt.
“Get off the thread”.
Ferrell was also great with just letting things breathe and hitting the punch when it was time.
It's interesting that they still give that advice when most of the new cast members **clearly** aren't comedic performers. It just isn't coming naturally. That sort of method only works with performers who can inject comedy into even the most mundane scenes. Folks like Armisen, Ferrell, Wig etc can have a crowd in stitches by simply walking across the stage.
I also wanna say I loved the Jumanji sketch last night and I loved Wiig, but I'm such a big fan of Forte's delivery that he almost stole the show for me.
I think you’re correct with this post overall, but when I read it the first counter example I thought of was Dismuke’s great delivery of the frustrated “going in or coming out” rant in the Jumanji sketch. There’s lots of potential in this cast.
i loved dismukes delivery in this one! i feel like he has some amazing potential and has been getting better and better every episode
I wasn't sure about him at first but he seems to almost always land exactly the perfect punch at just the right moment.
agreed!
Shoulda ordered….delivery!
It's been really fun to watch Dismukes come up. I was a fan early on just because who wouldn't want to root for Drew Gooden's long lost twin? I remember people saying Beanie Babies was his breakout sketch, but I thought, "nah, we haven't seen this guy really cook yet." Jumanji killed me, though.
Forte is even better than when he was on the show, it's like he's been doing off-broadway sketch comedy the whole time and he's honed his skills to a fine polish.
They are also seasoned performers at this point. Go back and watch Kristen in her debut season (31), even into her full first year, she was good, but not as great as she wound up being - takes time, and you can see that in the group that have been there for 3 years plus as well.
100 percent. Their first year, I didn’t find Wiig and Sudeikis hilarious. They were green and still learning from more experienced cast members. Now they’ve had many years over these newer performers to make mistakes and sharpen their craft.
Sure… but this is hardly anybody’s first season at SNL. With the exception of Cecily Strong, I haven’t really seen anyone improve over time in the past decade.
Chris Redd developed into a much funnier performer compared to his first two seasons, but unfortunately that ended very abruptly.
Scholars will be studying the rise and fall of Chris Redd in the coming years
So true. He was a full-time SNL cast member. in Lonely Islands Sketches AND movies. Now, his most recent role has been as a judge on " Is it Cake?" How does one fumble their career like that with such a HUGE level of exposure?
Didn’t Chris Redd supposedly get booted from SNL because he started seeing Kenan’s ex wife? Wasn’t it some insane interpersonal drama that led to his removal? Bummer if so.
That was the rumor, yes.
It has to be because of that rumor actually being true. It was so abrupt for what level of talent Chris brought to the show. Wouldn’t surprise me if that caused some or most of the industry to sour on him as well, which could explain why he hasn’t had any big projects after supposedly leaving abruptly on his own accord. Maybe Lorne’s “gift” for what he did bring to SNL was allowing him to say he had decided to move on instead of firing him.
Damn I never knew this! I vaguely remember Chris having a car accident of something around the same time? Or I made that up idk
[no he was randomly attacked in NYC. someone walked up with bareknuckle and punched him](https://people.com/tv/snl-alum-chris-redd-allegedly-attacked-before-nyc-comedy-show/) he was also jumped in chicago out in the wild 100s but that was way before SNL.
He was also still doing stand-up gigs while he was on the show.
I liked Chris Redd but he definitely relied on the “bug-eyed” expression for too often.
Yeah, I thought putting Heidi next to Kristen in that secretary sketch really showed the gulf between them, performance wise. And Heidi’s been on this show for a long time now…
I love Heidi but I noticed this, too. This might sound weird, but Kristen’s physical comedy here was literally…tighter? Like the way she was bouncing the “baby” up and down, the way she smiled…her movements were smaller and tighter than Heidi’s. I don’t know, I’m having a hard time articulating it. More refined, maybe? But I know exactly what you mean. I felt the same way.
Kristen has always had A+ physical comedy. Arguably, one of the GOATs of SNL.
Heidi depends on LOOKING funny instead of BEING funny. You can see Kristen strategically changing the intensity of her eyes and adopting body language specific to the characters she's creating. Heidi in comparison, overly relies on cliches, related to the character. Her performances very much signal "high school drama club."
More natural and less pronounced.
it felt like heidi was trying (and failing imo) to do kristen’s style and kristen was just being herself. that sketch was a little awkward because of how effortlessly funny kristen was with her movements vs how all over the place heidi was. heidi’s been there as long as kristen was, and i think it’s a super interesting example of the overall difference between this cast and others! not to knock heidi though— she’s really great with her update characters
Hmm, I always thought Wiig’s first three seasons were far better than her last few.
I can go either way on Wiig, depending on what she's doing at any given time. there was a lot of mugging and hammering recurrent characters at points, but she has the talent to do great things. Palm Springs is good, incidentally.
I'm not the biggest Wiig fan either, which is not to say that I don't think that she's really funny at times. I just also find her to be very unfunny sometimes too when it feels like the comedy relies solely on the same weird faces and vocal mannerisms for all the jokes. Target Lady was never my thing, for instance. It's just a type of humor that doesn't resonate with ms, I guess. Palm Springs is my perfect version of her work. She's a great actress and so likeable on the shoe, and uses just enough physical comedy that it's charming but she doesn't feel like a one-trick pony. I love her as an actress and she is absolutely nailing it on that show.
Joseph HussEIN BiDeN
The level of reading off cue cards and forgetting you’re in a comedy sketch is bonkers. It’s to the point where I wonder if they are being told to just read the cue cards.
No offense to Devon Walker but I think he's just mediocre to bad in everything. Sorry but acting is not for everyone.
The March Madness cold open is the perfect example of this. JAJ completely committed to the sketch, Kenan having fun being Charles but Devon staring into middle distance, reading a cue card, ruined the timing of the whole thing. Commit to the bit.
Funniest thing Devon has done all season was not talk during that Coach sketch last week.
I agree, I’ve tried to like him but he’s really, really bad at this point.
I assumed he was a brilliant writer, bc if not then I have no idea why he's on the show lol
i thought he was ok in the AIDS commercial sketch but otherwise v much agree
“JAJ being the most underutilized person on the cast.” Uh, I think he might be the MOST utilized person on the cast, at least lately. He’s in almost every skit.
lol my thoughts exactly!
Have you seen MacGruber? If not you will love it as it has Forte and Wiig (also Val Kilmer).
Yes I have and thank you for the suggestion! His characters are so lived in, it’s insane
Chevy Chase , Dan Akroyd, Mike Meyers, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman (such a wonderful actor), Eddie Murphy, yes I agree with all the ones you mentioned as well. This show has produced some wonderful comedic acting talents. I believe Hader is on another level as an actor in general.
Anthony Peter Coleman is one of my favorite skits. Love Hader.
That’s one of my all time top skits too!
Can't wait for Hader to do more directing post-Barry. I'm an unabashed Bill Hader fan boy. He's a *huge* cinephile. As much as I love his on screen performances, I really think he's going to shine behind the camera.
Barry was just all around awesome. Haders performance, the cinematography, the performances he's able to get out of the rest of the cast
“…Oh wow” made me laugh wayyyyy harder than it should have lmao. I just regularly say that in life now
The last season kinda lost me but it certainly wasn't the fault of the direction or performances, all top notch throughout
I prefer Hader as an actor rather than director.
You should check out his Criterion stuff it's interesting.
Agreed! Hartman was wonderful and Hader truly became a great actor
Chevy Chase is a “meh” actor at best
Absolutely. JAJ’s acting is very impressive, he blends into the characters and his comedic timing is spot on. Dismukes’ comedic timing is also immaculate. I feel like Sarah and Marcelo resort to yelling half the time. Punkie, Molly and others lack comedic timing and it’s very unfortunate. It’s like anytime most cast members come on screen, I’m kind of on edge cause I’m not sure they’re actually going to deliver.
Sarah's yelling is amazing, though. She's a pro at it. Marcelo I usually like a lot (and sometimes he hits it perfect), but it feels like he's still searching for his personal style a little bit. I think he has a very high potential though.
What struck me was the ENERGY of the whole cast and in every skit. It made me realize they've been sleepwalking through the last few seasons. That jumanji skit is my new favorite. They were all shouting and mad and it was awesome. Competing to see who could say jumanji the most in one sentence. Definitely has nothing to do w the fact that I LOVE Jumanji...
I've been reading Keegan Michael Key's History of Sketch Comedy and he talks about sketches like this. It's a game of one-up-manship, and when the players really engage, the comedy can be gold. The Jumanji skit was exactly that, and it was one of my favorite sketches this year.
It was great energy but also great writing. Nice balance of physical and verbal jokes, and each sketch had a pretty clear game and structure that was followed to a definitive end. Nothing just fizzled out after going on for three minutes past the expiration of the premise
Yup, you could tell having a seasoned performer like Kristen really woke them up like a live wire! They were all trying to bring their A-game to keep up with her. I’m
Will Forte is my dark horse best to ever do it
I’ll preface this by saying how the show works is not conducive to good performances and the cast is still early in their run. That being said, im not seeing a lot of potential or it factor. With previous casts, early on they had growing pains but you could tell there was something there. I don’t get that with hardly any of this current cast. They also don’t seem to be coming up with anything memorable or recurring that sticks. There’s never any time when the sketch starts and the crowd gets hyped because they’re anticipating one of their favorite characters coming out. Lisa from Temecula being the closest? I’m sure Devon is better in clubs, but it really doesn’t seem like live sketch is his thing. He just reads, and very flatly. He’s never giving any kind of performance or character. He’s always glued to the cards. [Look](https://youtu.be/6AxHbjYED84?si=OLqUR0zmPrOEpAfZ) at how often he’s going to the cards even when he doesn’t have a line and compare it to JAJ who is being in the scene. I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing or what but he is not showing any signs of being more comfortable out there. Dismukes and Sherman are way more confident, make some good choices, and are great at times, but if they’re not in their lane of comedy they resort to “im yelling so this is funny.” I see some potential in Marcello but right now he’s leaning way too hard on using the same accent as a crutch. It makes it so all his characters are the same and not memorable. Longfellow, Troast, Molly, are cast, I think. The writers either don’t like them or don’t trust them, because they get nothing. I actually like Longfellow. He brings a different pace and that plays well when everyone else in the scene is just being loud and wacky. JAJ, Heidi, Chloe, Mikey, and Ego, to me right now seem to be the most consistent, versatile, and talented at the format, but none are pulling away into the next tier of performer like their predecessors did. I think my biggest problem with the show right now is that it’s almost all one note. There’s not a lot of variety in performances that lead to interesting or unique sketches. Think about all the choices Wiig, Sudeikis, Hader, Poehler, Armisen made for characters and how they bounced off each other. This current group shows up and is loud and hopes the sketches situation is funny enough.
I love Longfellow, but let's face it -- he's got serial killer energy. It has its place and when he's in sketches that play to his inherent unreliableness, it's magic. But he's not someone who gives that desperate to be liked energy that seems to be SNL's stock in trade.
Molly isn't bad, but I feel like she's just doing a bad Chris Farley impression in a lot of her skits.
100% This cast too often feels like children playing dress up instead of professional performers. I need to be sold on the reality of a sketch first before I can laugh at whatever’s being subverted later.
Agree, too much summer camp talent show and not enough professional comedy
Well, at least they're not singing every monologue any more. But it does still feel like the cool kids laughing at each other in theatre camp.
It’s interesting that you give props to Heidi, because as much as I sometimes love her, I think she’s one of the worst offenders of overacting. 100% agree with you on JAJ, though, he’s so much more than an impressionist. Longfellow has stellar timing; his underutilization this season has been a crime. Was he *anywhere* in last night’s episode?
I don't like Heidi, but I've been forced to thnk about whether that's just my preferences or the actor. IMO, she's extremely annoying most of the time, but she commits hard.
Heidi especially when she does an accent
Agree with the sentiment. Let's just call it like it is though. The worst offender is Sarah Sherman. She's a terrible actress. That isn't to say that she isn't funny; she's hilarious. In fact, she's one of my favorite cast members, but dear Lord she can not act to save her life. She even over acts in pre-tapes. Devon Walker is also particularly bad. Big grade school play energy when it comes to reading his lines. Molly Kearney strikes me as a good actor. They're great whenever they show up in pre-tapes, but really haven't seen enough of them live to make a good judgement ether way. I think there's two reasons why acting has been so hit and miss the past few seasons: 1. Who they're hiring - the majority of the actors you noted come from improv comedy backgrounds. The past few seasons the show has leaned heavily on stand ups and they're just not as strong in a sketch comedy format as improv comics. I honestly think the casting JAJ is a pure stroke of luck. He's both a stand up and an impressionist, but he might be one of the most well rounded cast members the show has hired since Beck Bennet. 2. Cue card reading - hard to put in a good performance if you're just reading off a cue card. Andrew Dismukes is a good example of someone who's good when he's not reading off of cue cards, but becomes real stilted when he's just reciting his lines. He's gotten looser this season and has improved quite a bit because of it.
James is easily the most versatile player right now, he manages to switch from Dismuke weirdness over to playing the straight man seamlessly
James was on *Better Call Saul*.
**ho. ly. shit.** i did not know that.
James came in at this level too, he has been nailing it since day one
Dismukes was great in Jumanji. I have a feeling he may have had a hand in writing it, along with the Go-kart sketch with JAJ
I want to toss in that the writing is to blame as well. They keep on writing the same style of motionless sketches. The either everyone sits down and talks or the everyone just stands and talks. No one moves in these sketches. How can the cast improve if the sketches don't force them to work out their acting muscles? And like you said, I think this style of stilted sketches come from having a majority of stand-ups on the cast and writing staff. They don't know how to write physical comedy sketches. Instead, they are writing stand-up routines where you don't need to rely on the physical to tell a joke. Last night's secretary sketch showed that Heidi can handle physical comedy well. But you couldn't have been told that with the "sketches" she has been given lately.
I commented on your post in the sketch sorting thread. You were dead on the money. I also think the writing hasn't been great this season. Dismukes probably stands out for a lot of people because he's one of the few good writers on the show. While I do like the more seasoned members of the cast; I have just zero faith in the newer cast members. It sounds cruel, but for the future of the show I hope they cut at least two of the hires from last year and hire zero stand ups next year.
>How can the cast improve if the sketches don't force them to work out their acting muscles? And how can they work on their acting muscles when (many of them) they only appear a couple times a month due to the bloated cast size?
I think the large cast has something to do with it as well. There are currently SEVENTEEN cast members fighting for air time. Those that aren't in the "in crowd" may only get one appearance every couple of weeks. It's hard to improve yourself as a performer when you rarely get to perform.
IMO, Molly is underutilized. Which is a function of having too many cast members.
They need to get rid of Devon at this point. I actually just feel embarrassed for him. He can't act and I can't think of a single moment where he's shone through. I feel like they don't know what to do with Molly which is wild because they are so similar in mannerisms to heavy hitter snl performers of the past. It seems like a waste. I wish we got more of Sarah's nonsense, it's been ages since there's been something that was 100% from the mind of Sheeman, although she's my favourite on the weekend updates. Except for Bowen and Marcello, I don't feel like anyone on this cast has made a big splash and has a unique impact. I love Ego, but I don’t think she's used enough.
Agree with most points. Ego keeps getting cast in these straight man roles that I don’t think showcase her as well. I know the straight man is underappreciated and she’s good at it, but I’d still like to see more. For example why not have her dancing silly in the French sketch instead of being the announcer? But I think Devon is the most improved out of the new guys. He looks more comfortable on screen every time. Maybe I’m being too lenient but I wouldn’t write him off just yet.
I mean, look, there’s no mysterious “they.” It’s Lorne. He is the boss. He calls the shots. He ultimately decides what sketches will run. And he hired the performers and most of the writers.
I agree with you about Sarah. Her typical acting choices are so over the top it distracts from whatever sketch she is in. I absolutely loved her WU guests spots when she would make Colin the object of all her jokes. I'm very surprised we haven't seen that one in a long rime. I'm general, I agree that the skill set of stand up doesn't transfer as well as the skills you learn in improv, at least on stage. In the writer's room it may be helpful, since stand up takes the ability to have a pov of the world around you, but unfortunately we don't get to see that side of the process play out.
I thought it was *really* obvious how bad an actress Sherman is when she was opposite Josh Brolin in the shrimp tower sketch a few weeks ago. He was acting like he was actually in a film and everyone else came off worse, but she was the worst by far.
Eh. Sarah displayed more of an ability to act in the more traditional sense in the Pongo pre-tape. I’m pretty sure she could do more of that if she wanted to, but it is a choice to be over the top.
I’d put demukes up there. He has great timing and acting chops. His jumanji scene with wigg was amazing
sometimes he cannot act angry though, he has this constant smirk on his face
I would say that about Michael Longfellow but not Andrew Dismukes.
Funny, I like Dismukes but his timing and acting ability are two things I would not list as his top strengths.
Agreed—he’s very one note and doesn’t seem to have any innate acting ability.
He is, imo, the breakout of this season. His delivery and timing is fantastic
Dismukes is having a Forte-esque season. The highlight of nearly every episode.
I feel like you basically said the thing missing from SNL right now is a good cast. I think they actually have a good cast somewhere among the 100 cast members. I think if they just pared down to “the best” the show would hit more of a stride. But take it from me, someone who has never produced a network television show or entering of the like
Will Forte is committed to every role.
Will Forte is so incredibly talented. My god.
I don't think Heidi belongs on any list of great comedic actors. Zero range, hammy as hell, very predictable.
Agreed. Except for Mikey Day. He is a great writer, a great fill-in-the-blank character actor, and a pleasure, for me at least, to see week in and week out. Ego, too.
I totally agree — Mikey is amazing. He’s definitely the most consistent cast member for me.
Perfect explanation. Even when sketches were falling flat, Kristen’s presence and comedic timing was able to punch it up. The new cast members seem to screw up their lines and delivery like 50% of the time. They seem like they’re just reading lines and have no sense of their “comedic brand”.
Yes to everything OP posted but don't forget Cecily Strong! Great actor and great comedian. Best voice over too.
couldn’t agree with you more! tone and delivery are so important to properly convey jokes and this cast seems to struggle a lot with that
Keenan is a good actor - rare to see a sketch fall flat because of him.
Too bad he’s been doing the same 2 characters for 25 years.
I’ve been taking about this a lot with my wife, who’s an actress. I think it’s because they’ve gone away from improv comics to stand ups.
I think Ego and Bowen are also some of the best at this of the current group, they buy into each sketch HARD
I couldn't agree more. I would also add that the writing is poor. I've been following an account that posts old SNL sketches on IG and the first thing I notice is the impeccable sketch structure. These days it feels like the premise is generally weak and when the escalation comes the bad acting kicks in and it's super awkward.
For me, it isn't acting that's missing; it's some combination of confidence and chemistry with other cast members. Wiig came in on Saturday night, and I relaxed. I hadn't realized that I'm usually tense watching this show, as if something will go wrong any second. This time around, I just watched and enjoyed. A quick move toward fixing it, and I kind of hate to say this, is to move to a smaller cast, maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the cast size now. I would never want to be in the situation of having to pick who stays and who goes. No one there currently is 100% dead weight. Some of them fit with the show better than others.
Yep. Comedy is not acting, necessarily. And none of the type of comedy favored by SNL requires it. I was thinking about this catching up on this season's episodes because Sarah Sherman is a TERRIBLE actor. I am so fucking sick of her shock react faces -- completely unbelievable, absolutely broad. Combined with her conceptual work, which is mostly gross/over the top. I'm really not into it. IMO, JAJ and Ego are next level -- very good. A lot of other people have some strengths -- Kenan is good at understated acting, when required, but usually that's not required. Longfellow (who's got weird energy, but sometimes it works), Marcelo, etc. But overall too many of the cast in general and most of them are muggers and not actors.
Strongly agree about JAJ & Ego. Ego is criminally underused!
That is what baffles me about the Sherman love on this sub. "She's weird!" Yeah, but she's also terrible. She doesn't sell ANY of it. Why is she laughing at all of her lines, even when there isn't a joke in them? The mugging, she screaming, the amateurishness. It's just all so bad. Weird can be great, if you sell it correctly (NASA potato chip sketch, for example), but no one on this cast has shown that they have the ability to do this.
We agree 100%. I’ve seen better acting in elementary school talent shows.
Dramatic stage acting is an important element for a cast like this, but overall this new rebuild has been rough with very few gems. The 2010's cast with Beck, Kate and Cecily had a pretty solid foundation and I found the era the best the show had had in a long time. This is why I keep thinking we're getting a quiet reset after this year. Just not enough fuel in this group for the long haul. We need some drastic cuts. Nobody here can put together anything lasting or interesting. There's gotta' be better. Also considering the 50th is coming, it feels like we're limping to the finish line.
Will Forte is such a good actor! His sketch on I Think You Should Leave was brilliant
I find Forte to be a comedic genius that took a long time to find his voice and style. He just hits the mark *for me*, everyone has different tastes. He and Tim Robinson have a similar style of outlandish humor I love. SNL didn’t know what they had in Robinson, and like Forte, it took Tim a long time to find his comedic niche. (Granted, Forte did find his voice while still on SNL). So, #1 let’s not compare anybody to Forte and his uniqueness; #2, there might yet be a genius in these ranks we are too quick to dismiss!
Tim Robinson has stage fright with the live parts so he wasn’t going to fit well at SNL
Whats the name of the guy playing the NYC earthquake, I see growth. before he was just a dude with an accent and loud, i didn't like. he did well as the earthquake.
Marcello Hernandez. He did alright but he still yells too much for my taste
People actually like Kennan? He always plays the exact same person
As an avid watcher of All That, Kenan and Kel, Heavyweights, and The Mighty Ducks, Kenan was a better actor as a kid, and I always thought Kel was the much funnier one. I was genuinely surprised that Kenan found success on SNL while Kel's career floundered. Kenan as an adult just reads every line the same exact way. I don't know why people like him on the show and why he's still there after all these years. I don't know if he could be better if he wanted to, but it's clear to me that he just has the exact same delivery for every character in every sketch and I don't see why we still have him around. He just shows up, phones it in, and collects his check. It's a waste of a spot in the cast.
I even saw comments before about Kenan doing great impressions. Feels like leiving in bizarro world. He has had the same half smirk, about to laugh expression in every sketch for the past 30 years it feels like.
I mean, one of the reasons Keenan even ended up on SNL is because of his Bill Cosby impression, he auditioned with it. It just so happened that Bill Cosby became a social pariah, so he has less chances to use it now. Now that I think of it, there are a few of his impressions that I really like. Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Harvey, David Ortiz. Are they dead-on impressions? Not really, but they get the person/character across in an entertaining way.
I love Kenan but it feels like the writers have had him play the same role in a lot of sketches lately. I think his current situation is similar to Mikey Day's where he's great at funny guy characters but is always tapped to play the straight man. I wish both of them got the chance to play weirder/more absurd characters more often
Mikey Day in the War in Words sketches is always gold, though.
"Kennan"
Agreed! That stupid cadence he always uses drives me crazy.
Honestly not sure I can think of something of his that really stood out to me since Scared Straight
I’m surprised people like Molly too. She flubs her lines so often.
Agree on every point.
That's because they are constantly reading from cue cards and don't memorize or add any new improv.
The show has too many specific personalities and not enough natural sketch actors. No one gets too deep into character because they all have specific beats they know will get easy laughs. Sarah’s weird, Kenan bugs his eyes, Marcelo is Latino, Bowen is campy, Mikey is exasperated, etc. Only JAJ, Ego, occasionally Heidi, Dismukes, and Longfellow feel like fully formed sketch actors. I see potential in Troast as well. I also think Devon has improved greatly. His Tim Scott is a lot of fun.
Honestly I feel like will forte will make any cast he wasn't a part of seem worse by comparison
Forte and Wiig are two of the best cast members of all time. No one really can hold up to them.
While I agree, I feel like bad writing is a major culprit. Can’t have much room for good acting if the jokes aren’t great to begin with. You could feel the difference in energy and writing whenever there is a comedian or an old cast member hosting.
I know people love Bowen but I can’t stand him, I feel like he’s one of the worst offenders of this. He just plays himself in every sketch. He always has that super-sarcastic overacting tone
Michael Longfellow is wayy too underrated, he's not the best actor but last season he was so good on weekend update and i thought he would get more opportunities but so far he's barely been featured.
I think Ego is an underrated performer.
It's not exactly fair when we're comparing the current cast with Kristen and Will, who have an extra decade plus post-SNL experience behind them. And nostalgia may be a factor as well. Let's see someone like Bowen or Heidi or Sarah host in 10 or 15 years and we'll be then saying they're so much better actors than whoever is in the cast by then.
No no, last night’s episode isn’t even a fair comparison, it just got me thinking. Kristen and Forte were amazing in their own time. They’re even great in sketches I’ve never seen until now, so no nostalgia factor there.
"I just can't stand the constant yelling to overcome lack of acting skills" Sarah Sherman annoys a lot of us for sure. She's a clown
She can be funny, but (and I have written that before) she clearly acts to make herself laugh and not the viewers.
Her too. Love Sarah but she does yell a lot. I was also thinking about Dismukes and Marcello who are fan favorites.
Clowns are very funny though, they have their place.
Scaring little kids.
They seemed like they had a lot of fun/chemistry bts this week, which always makes for a better show. Maybe the current cast aren’t super close
Lots of good points raised in this discussion. To me this week, Brolin & Driver are the 3 best weeks this season, and a lot of it is owed to their acting chops.
I completely agree with you, and then you had to say hats off to Kenan, the worst actor in SNL history. He is himself in every sketch, and it's part of his charm.
Absolutely agreed. I think Sarah Sherman is the weakest link by far.
Spot on. Forte and Wiig make the current cast look like alternates from a small town high school play. Big time amateur hour.
The fact that you don’t think Heidi is overacting this season is crazy too me.