Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Emmy Episodes: Saturday Night Live

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. This year, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

Saturday Night Live: Season 41, Episode 15 “Ariana Grande” (B)
Nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Kate McKinnon)

There are five nominees from “Saturday Night Live” for hosting gigs and just one this year for a regular performer on the series. For the third year in a row, that honor goes to Kate McKinnon, an actress who, like Kristen Wiig before her, is fully committed to the comedic craft and especially to physical comedy. There’s one scene in this episode that casts McKinnon as a blobfish who torments one poor guy who doesn’t have the fortune of being seduced by mermaids, who spend their time flirting with the other two guys. McKinnon is totally into the scene, and it’s clear that she doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her – she’s going to give it her all. Her biggest role this entire season has been playing Hillary Clinton. She appeared in all five other episodes as the Democratic presidential frontrunner, and in this episode she gets to star in an ad in which she tries to be much more like Bernie Sanders to attract the votes of the young people who seem to hate her. She does a great job with it, and though it’s very much the same thing over and over again, she’s all about it and doesn’t let up. This is her third consecutive nomination, and she’s the fourth cast member, after Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, and Bill Hader, to earn an Emmy nomination in the comedy races. None of them won, and I don’t see this year being the year that McKinnon triumphs. Maybe if Hillary wins and she gets to play the president next year!

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