Alex Moffat OUT at SNL!

Alex is no Mikey Day. He didn’t add much. Nor did the other departees.

I'll miss the unsung Melissa Villaseñor. She's talented, but underused.

Melissa is getting out young enough, at 34, to have a stab at acting in tv series or movies.

Melissa has her Penney's adverts to keep her busy!

The guy who announces the cast was always pleased with himself for the way he pronounced her name.l

This shitty show is still on the air? It jumped the shark in the 2000s…

There was a time in my life, long ago, when this news would’ve mattered to me.

The new cast is all Trans Womyn of Color

Fire more people, including the hack head writers, Jost and Che.

This show has been unwatchable for three decades and it really steams me up. Every week after I watch it I make a beeline to DL, bitching about how horrible it is on the weekly DL thread. What kind of sad sack idiots still watch this show? I feel the same about Bill Maher. Totally jumped the shark years ago and completely unwatchable. Did you hear what the senile old codger said last week? He's lost his mind. Week after week it gets worse.

Alex gone. Ah, me... the last of the prime jack-off material. Any new boys been cast? Hopefully, a looker, without tatts, will be cast.

I honestly cannot figure out whether R10 is being serious or is doing a pitch-perfect parody of DL bitchery.

"The show is unwatchable. I know because I never miss an episode."

So, it's going to be a whole season of "What Up With That?" and stupid game show parodies? Ugh, this show sux.

Moffat's last "guy who just bought a boat" sketch was hilarious. He was underutilized and given his looks, hopefully will have a solid post-SNL career. Leaving the show could work out very well for him.

That said, I don't understand how Moffat gets the boot but not Kenan Thompson, who does the same mugging character in every sketch and is never funny on his own, doesn't and apparently never will.

Moffat has hairless arms.

I love how Alex Moffat and Mikey Day portray Trump's two oldest sons. Alex makes you almost feel a soft spot for Eric.

Aristotle Athari Is a loss. He’s handsome & hilarious. His character work was very strong.

I will miss Alex and Mikey as Eric and Don Jr. SNL has always been good at these "caricature, not impression" style of mocking celebrities.

^ Great minds, R16.

[quote] Moffat has hairless arms.

r15 Mofatt is a home chef, as well. Saw an article on it. Chefs have their arm hair burned off long ago. And eyebrows, sometimes.

[quote]This show has been unwatchable for three decades . . . Every week after I watch it I make a beeline to DL . . . What kind of sad sack idiots still watch this show?

Um . . . haven't you answered your own question, r10?

Ah. Okay. Well done, r10!

Alex should be staying and Mikey going. I have nothing against Mikey, but he plays the same exasperated/sarcastic character in all his sketches.

I loathe Kenan and his endless mugging. No thanks.

I don't watch entire episodes anymore but I catch sketches and Weekend Update on youtube or wherever. It's still funny. I still enjoy the bits I see, I've just watched it for so many years (I remember seeing the first episode as a kid) that I don't bother anymore.

I don't really understand the almost reflexive hate for the show. It seems to be because it's lasted for so long. I also don't understand the love for zombie shows, vampire shows and sit-coms so what do I know?

I don't have reflexive hate, I just don't think it's very well done.

It's not just nostalgia. There have been a few eras where the cast was really good at characters and doing comedy that could cut deep.

Now every skit is a talk show or game show of some sort. Just very lazy writing. The show has ALWAYS been about impersonations of course, especially political, but they've leaned too heavy on that, too.

I think Lorne just wants to keep it alive for 3 more years and then shut that shit down.

What is a "home chef"?

People who are serious home cooks and cook complicated stuff, R27. They also tend to have lots of cooking equipment and good knives.

I always feel bad for the one season featured players who don’t get a chance to shine. There are middling cast members who stay on the show for years, and yet there have been a large number of these one-and-dones who seemed like they could have grown into something great. There’s obviously a lot of interpersonal stuff that goes into these decisions that goes beyond talent.

[quote] I always feel bad for the one season featured players who don’t get a chance to shine

Like Aristotle Athari. I saw him in one sketch where he was brilliant. I’m guessing his brand of talent wasn’t appreciated. Too highbrow.

Athari was hardly in anything last year.

And wasn't there a period of a couple of months when he wasn't on the show at all? I was impressed the first time he was on but it was downhill from there.

I sort of liked Villasenor, but then I saw her stand up special and thought it was terrible. And then she started to grate on me on SNL.

I don't really have an opinion on Moffat. It's not like SNL has a shortage of white guy comics.

Here's the talented Melissa Villaseñor imitating Dolly Parton. I first thought she was lip-syncing Dolly, but that's actually her own voice.

Alex is hot as fuck (love a white boy with some ass on him and Alex definitely has one), so I'll miss him for that if nothing else. MV I thought could be quite good when given the chance (see R32 above). And as for Aristotle, I think it's a shame that he wasn't given more of a chance -- the few times he was on during the season, I thought it was clear he's very talented. I wish them all well.

I don’t remember ever seeing this Aristotle person do anything on the show.

I always liked Alex Moffatt--he has a sweetness to him that really was enjoyable sometimes (like in the Trump brothers skits).

I hope both he and Villasenor have some chance at doing good television comedy from here on out. They're both very talented.

I liked Alex. I'll miss him.

Melissa Villasenor did decent celeb impressions. But, she fucked up her lines in sketches where she wasn't impersonating celebrities. Overall, I thought she was one of the weaker cast members. I also suspect her racist tweet scandal screwed her over behind the scenes. She doesn't really do much outside SNL.

Melissa looks sort of rough for 34. I don't see her doing much outside SNL. Her stand up sucks.

They were all homely. That’s show biz.

Melissa Villasenor pings to high heaven. I wouldn't be surprised if she is a closeted lesbian due to her family.

They need to bring back Leslie Jones. I didn't realize just how good she was until she was gone. I absolutely adore her on Supermarket Sweep.

Aristotle not coming out was a mistake. At least he would have stood out more. Now we are stuck with Bowen Yuck.

They'll have lifetime careers appearing in anything Poehler, Fey, Myers, Fallon etc. produce.

Villasenor is too bland to be in a Poehler or Fey production.

This year, with about a thousand cast members, it was especially hard for someone like Aristotle. Just because he wasn’t on much doesn’t mean he’s not good. The show is beyond competitive, a big part is clicking with writers who want to write for you (and I can tell from following some on Instagram that it’s a very clique-y thing), and then there are some cast members like the vastly overrated McKinnon and Yang who the writers know they have to serve.

[quote] The new cast is all Trans Womyn of Color

And Scientologists

I miss Beck Bennett

I miss this Beck Bennett. Will anyone ever replace him?

Guy with a Boat, has motored…

[quote]The new cast is all Trans Womyn of Color

Ooooh-wheee, wassup with dat.. wassup with dat.

[quote]And Scientologists

I wonder if Fineman ever knew about this sketch that was done several before she joined SNL.

Aidy Bryant will be missed. She could be entertaining. And although SNL has continued to decline, it still has its moments

Is that Chinese queen still on the show?

No Newbies will be able to replace the hotness of Andrew Dismukes and Mikey Day.

[...]

Several past cast members have said in order to get airtime at SNL you have to constantly pitch or write/co-write sketches. Villasenor probably didn't do much writing and probably wasn't close buddies with any of the writers.

I have to go to bed, my vision is getting blurry. I read the thread title as Anna Moffo.

R39 if Melissa Villaseñor is not a dyke, then I'm married with five kids and have never had a dick in my ass

R32 Thanks for posting that, Melissa.

Melissa is admittedly great at impressions, but that's really the extent of her talent. Her standup comedy is not that interesting, and she's definitely not an actress.

Villasenor will do fine doing voiceover for animated TV and movies and probably commercials. Moffat probably won’t have a huge post-SNL career but should be a solid supporting actor in things.

Aristotle is kind of a mystery. He did seem to disappear for about half of last season but still was credited for every show. I wondered if something happened to him like an accident or illness. Not shocked he’s not returning

[quote] Alex Moffat OUT at SNL!

SNL might regain some of its old ratings if for his final show they had Alec Baldwin come by and murder him

[quote]Aidy Bryant will be missed. She could be entertaining.

I always thought so, but she also became tedious when she started following Kate McKinnon's lead and playing lots of male characters. Being a drag king was not her strong suit.

Alex has nice feets

I liked Alex and Melissa, but I always did think SNL was probably not the best venue for their talents. I can see Alex landing in a sitcom or something . As for Melissa.. I don’t know. Maybe a weird show like Maria Bamford’s Lady Dynamite.

There’s a baseline anger to Mikey Day that made it hard to warm up to him. There’s just something about him that screams uptight prick. He did best with Alex because it humanized him in a way. Both of their best bits were the Trump brothers but now that Donald’s gone, it’s pointless for that to continue.

This Chloe Fineman is talented but they really are treated her like she’s the second coming of Gilda Radner and she’s, uh, not.

Melissa’s voice holds he back as a sketch player. It’s actually strange she can do such amazing impressions because her standard speaking voice is so odd.

Hoping they promote Andrew Dismukes to regular cast member. I want him inside me so bad!

[quote] Melissa’s voice holds he back as a sketch player. It’s actually strange she can do such amazing impressions because her standard speaking voice is so odd.

Her regular voice sounds like a muppet. She could probably get voice acting jobs due to that.

R67 Dismukes has been the show for two seasons. He'll probably be made a repertory player for this next season.

I feel bad for Ari. Melissa at least had a decent run.

Alex is out on his moffat.

I remember Aristotle choked and missed a big cue in one of his scenes early in the season. It was obvious enough for my boyfriend and I to comment on.

I’ve watched SNL long enough to know that once that happens, and you don’t have an established reputation yet, people stop trusting you enough to put you in sketches and you eventually fade away from the show entirely.

I liked that weird singing character he did. I would’ve given him another shot.

I know he's straight but there's something so sexy about Andrew Dismukes. Would love to get fucked by him.

Melissa Villasenor should have been fired after her first season.

Hopefully we'll get a hot gay guy to replace them.

"Y'all, I'm sorry, but what the fuck is a 'dismuke'? What language is this word from?"

R75, the comedy community’s idea of a “hot” gay guy is Billy Eichner so I’ll pass.

Thank God. How Melissa Villawhatsit even got on the show in the first place is a mystery. Ugly, weird voice, weird hair, can’t act. What was she doing there?

Who the FUCK is Aristotle?

R78 Villasenor had some kind of following on social media because she had been a contestant on America's Got Talent and a lot of her youtube videos of celeb impersonations were popular. She was also involved in a sketch comedy youtube channel Mas Mejor which was affiliated with Broadway Video. I think she was just easy pick for Lorne because he already knew her. But, it was a dumb move because she sucked in sketches where she wasn't playing celebrities.

As much Villasenor's fans bitched about the show not including her in a lot of sketches. They don't realize that Villasenor probably didn't help herself if she wasn't pitching sketches or making friends with writers for sketches.

[quote] Melissa has her Penney's adverts to keep her busy!

I don't watch SNL and don't know this woman, but I know the ads you're talking about. It may be the most annoying ad I've seen in years. It makes me want to stab the TV. It's definitely memorable, in a bad way.

I thought Ellen was the big J. C. Penney’s shill?

It’s remarkable how few impressions she did on SNL, especially the first few seasons.

I think the low number of responses in this thread confirms that the right choices were probably made.

There has been a guy like Aristotle in most of the recent seasons …. someone who was a promising standup or did some quirky online comedy, but just couldn’t establish himself on the show for whatever reason. John Milhiser (gay) Brooks Whelan (hot), Luke Null (dudebro who had one of the most excruciating on air flops I’ve ever seen), Tim Robinson (who has had the last laugh with his own successful show).

I thought adorable Dismukes was going to be another one of these guys but he’s slowly gotten a foothold, though I’m not sure what he’s good at really. It helped that Pete missed a number of episodes this season so Andrew could get his “young guy” roles.

Andrew Dismukes was writer on the show before becoming a featured player.

Why did Scarlett Johansson marry Colin Jost?

Didn’t she knock him up and the good Catholic that he is entrapped her in marriage?

I think the low number of responses in this thread confirms that the right choices were probably made.

Colin Jost has a huge dock. That was enough for ScarJo

R85, I was trying to find the moment Luke Noll messed up o the show but I see now your comment was in reference to his whole run. In my research I found out that he was apparently hated behind the scenes and deliberately kept out of the show.

R90 Why, does she have a super yacht?

R77 there have been some hot comedy guys. Some on SNL, too.

After Norm MacDonald died, someone mentioned he kind of looked like Paul Newman.

He was a very good looking guy but he never played it up.

Madtv had some studs...Pat Kilbane could do me anytime.

I stopped watching this show when it went down the toilet the time Rob Reiner hosted in 1975. I can't understand why people ever watched it after that. It was brilliant up until then.

The discussion was on hot gay comedians. Of which there are none.

[quote]After Norm MacDonald died, someone mentioned he kind of looked like Paul Newman. He was a very good looking guy but he never played it up.

So instead he played up how unfunny he was?

r95...Arent you special. SNL debuted in 1975...so you quit watching in the first season...before it even reached its pinnacle ?

[quote]The guy who announces the cast was always pleased with himself for the way he pronounced her name.

When the famous TV and radio announcer Don Pardo died in 2014, former SNL cast member Darrell Hammond was offered the job. Hammond was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2009, and has been its announcer since 2014.

Hammond is best known on the show for impersonating Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Donald Trump, John McCain, Regis Philbin, Dick Cheney, Chris Matthews, Phil Donahue, Phil McGraw, Ted Koppel, John Travolta, Jesse Jackson, Geraldo Rivera, Dan Rather, and Sean Connery, in the recurring "Celebrity Jeopardy!" skits.

His impression of Clinton is currently the most frequent SNL impression of all time, appearing in 87 sketches over 14 years in the cast and numerous cameos.

Hammond also impersonated SNL announcer Don Pardo, filling in for Pardo on occasions when the announcer was unavailable.

R98 - it reached its pinnacle long before I stopped watching. I just happen to be the oldest of all the people who like to whine about how SNL used to be funny but hasn't been funny since the Hayes administration.

I've felt for years SNL might benefit from instead of having a set cast they instead transformed into being the Grand Ole Opry of comedy, where they have members instead of an actual fulltime cast. A handful of members could be counted on to form the veteran core and bigger ones and guests who might appear one week a year. They could start by saying anyone who has been an official cast member or writer before is now a member, if they choose to be. And, also throw in the five-timers. Then they can add new members whenever, from across the wider comedy/celebrity world.

Also, I somehow missed MV's Dolly before R32 posted it, and that was very, very good. Considering how huge Dolly Parton is in pop culture, especially over the last few years it is ridiculous that she didn't get to do that imitation more than once, plus they could've probably gotten Dolly to appear with her, she seems to love doing that kind of stuff.

And, never found Alex Moffat too funny, but I do find him hot and would love to be comforting him right now.

[quote] anyone who has been an official cast member or writer before is now a member

That’s a dangerous Pandora’s box to open. People with nothing else going on like Victoria Jackson and Rob Schneider could end up being eternal cast members like Kenan Thompson. Do we really want to give Goat Boy any further airtime?

At one point, Lorne should have hired some of the cast of Mad TV! Especially Debra Wilson, she's an actress, a comedian and she can also sing. Other cast members from MadTV went on to acting roles on various sitcoms.

Why does Lorne hire such terrible performers? Does he owe people favors? Lorne is terrible, he should be fired.

Melissa is such a great impressionist, yet we rarely saw her doing impersonations. She never got to shine on SNL.

R102 Well they can be a little judicious, the Opry doesn't just let any member show up and perform they have to be scheduled. Also I think Opry members only get paid scale for their appearances, because the prestige is supposed to be enough, I would do the same for SNL.

I wish the show “punched up”, ie played to adults.

Everything’s a one-note sketch.

I started watching around 1988 and to me this era simply seems sophisticated. Although sometimes they hit things square on the nose and it became a mindf—k.

I like Alex Moffat! His "Man who bought a boat" is hilarious.

Big mistake to let him go.

R103 Both Jeff Richards and Taran Killam were hired after being on MadTV

I’ve watched SNL almost weekly ever since I graduated college close to fifteen years ago. The quality ebbs and flows like that everyone says but the 2019-2021 seasons were unwatchably bad. They improved a bit last year but not a ton. Hopefully this shake up will be beneficial. The new writers they hired were promising.

R105. Nora Dunn playing "Pat Sevens" ranks up there as one of the best characters and skits of all time SNL.

"Attitudes" was great too.

Darrell Hammond has some pretty dark demons, I wasn’t expecting to get as sucked into the documentary as much as I did as he was very tertiary to the cast I remember or was fond of, but it’s a brutal story.

R105, that was brilliant. No cast member in the last few seasons could pull that off except maybe Cecily Strong.

R111 I wish the Driftwood Sculptor “Attitudes” would pop up on YouTube. Jan cranked up her Dee a notch for that one.

R96 Oh, I guess I'm not hot.

Chris Redd Exits ‘SNL’ After Five Years:

No one watches SNL anymore.

Chris who?

Wow; it seems like it’s a sinking ship, R114!

This is certain to revive the show. Lorne hired a THEY.

I can't wait for the first argument about Molly's pronouns

I'm wondering if Chris Redd wanted to some project that conflicted with SNL and he decided to walk.

The show didn't appreciate the genius of Villasenor.

Wasn't Chris Redd appearing on Kenan's sitcom? Has that been renewed?

I do remember Kenan had an NBC sitcom last year, the other co-star was Don Johnson!

R122 NBC cancelled it in May.

The first season of SNL was funny. I liked SCTV and make monty python. I liked mad tv. Snl sucks.

[quote]The first season of SNL was funny.

R124 hasn't liked anything on SNL since 1976.

R124 needs Muriel to red-tag him with “Okay, Boomer”

R118, I really thought you were kidding. How sad. The show truly is dead now as the TQs aren't capable of being funny and many subjects will now have to be avoided due to "their" presence.

How did this show get so woke? I won't be watching anymore. Why is NBC so obsessed with pushing transgenderism?

I've said it for a decade and it's never untrue: SNL is rarely funny, abd it benefits from this strange retrograde mismemory of viewers always thinking it was better in the past and only recently has degraded. It's almost never been consistently funny. We just remember the funny skits or funny moments within bad skits that are few and far between. The show always has been terrible 80-90 percent of the time.

R128, I don't agree with your take. SNL was designed to be very hit-and-miss due to the show being live and only having a few days to write and stage it each week.

I've never had a problem with that aspect of it but I understand why some don't like the show's format. It's not guaranteed funny like taped and edited programs such as In Living Color and Mad TV were back in the day.

What I don't like is the inclusion of religion which is what transgenderism is to me. They might as well go out and get their first nun or first Baptist preacher castmate.

R129 It's mostly unfunny.

One change in recent years, though, is the level of comedy has sunk to middle school or maybe elementary school levels. Is it the doing of Colin Jost as head writer? I asssumed that Kate McKinnon might be partially responsible at least. One episode a couple of seasons ago was full of skits whose humor was about farts, diarrhea, period blood, vomit and snot, and it turned me off to the point I stopped watching for several weeks. I turned on a later episode when Kate McKinnon was off for several weeks and there wasn't one skit of that type in the entire episode. I can't believe adults want to watch that type of content. It's gross and unfunny to me. The show is usually at least somewhat funny when it skewers politicians. I don't get why they have to do poopy pants jokes.

R130, I enjoy that it is live and the way that it is put together. I think it is very unique and I like a lot of the people who have been on the show. I know many of the sketches fall flat but I accept that as part of the deal.

At least with YouTube the bad sketches (and the enby) can be avoided.

I’s expecting without the musings of Kyle Mooney, the writings is bound to get better just by his absence.

I’m sad to see Chris Redd go.

R134 Eh, he was really non value added for me, I can’t recall any particular character he did beyond dumb Black guy, and those seemed very embedded in racism. How many Black writers are in the writing room anyways?

R134, me too. Like Chris Rock, he'll probably do better work post-SNL.

I think the relative greater sophistication of SNL's writing, cast and sketch performance from the late 1980s through the early 2000s, which I agree with and noticed too, reflected the the television media and social era that those late Baby Boomer-era performers knew, lived, grew up in. Those years featured a splash of genius with the creativity more obvious in the show's writing and sketch ideas and characterizations. Memorable show times. Of course SNL remains iconic and we tune in so we can muddle through the weak installments in order to catch and laugh at the intermittent awesomeness. It's just that its greatness -- and sometimes its Achilles's Heel -- is in its reflecting its times for better or worse, IMO.

Yikes, they hired an enby?

I'm sure everyone agrees there's nothing funnier than a female person who's had a double mastectomy.

R138, I don't much about her but I'm guessing she is just a fat, unattractive woman who latched onto the enby identify as a way to stand out and increase her chances of being a diversity hire.

I've seen commenters online say her standup is also not funny but I'm too disinterested to check it out for myself. She has 1 season written all over her. I think SNL just wanted to check that box.

I watched one sketch a few months ago and it came off like a theater camp end of summer production. Put it out of its misery. It’s over.

They let too many people go all at once.

I liked Alex Moffat and his man who bought a boat.

Melissa villensenor is kind of like Chloe Fineman, in that their talent is really only for impressions. When they attempt original characters they are very forgettable.

Melissa Villasenor has written that she quit for her emotional health. She was having a lot of panic attacks.

Villasenor is full of shit.

[quote]Melissa Villasenor has written that she quit for her emotional health. She was having a lot of panic attacks

That's certainly not going to help her gain future employment.

Alex Moffat has ten juicy inches.

How do you know this, R146?

[quote]That's certainly not going to help her gain future employment.

She's still shooting herself in the foot with the various interviews where she mentions panic attacks and mental health issues. Villasenor in a few recent interviews has said that the SNL environment wasn't mean to her. She's probably doing that to save face with Lorne and other people connected to SNL. Lorne wields a lot of power and Villasenor is probably hoping that Tina Fey or Amy Poehler will throw her bone at some point. I wouldn't be surprised if her whiny cry baby antics have turned off other writers and directors who work on non-SNL projects.