After a chorus of boo’s from the audience at a mention of Prop. 8, SNL “Weekend Update” host Seth Myers looked taken aback and ad-libbed “Okay. Vote’s over, but thank you” before introducing a segment on the gay marriage ban featuring Snagglepuss.
While being able to laugh at yourself is important, I can’t but help wonder if SNL were on the air during the Black Civil Rights movement it would air a Weekend Update segment featuring say, a jive-talking Aunt Jemima bottle– because really, that’s the equivalent stereotype here and it’s just plain embarrassing.
Seth Abramovitch at Defamer has broken down the whole minstrely episode for you, complete with highlight reel.
ggreen
SNL cant seem to get it right they always laugh at gays not with gays.
Mike
It wasn’t even a very good Snagglepuss impersonation.
jodygreeneyes
I am as upset about the passing of Prop 8 and the measures in other states as everyone else, but I really do not feel as if SNL is ‘laughing at gays’. In fact, I think that SNL is rather supportive by making fun the ignorance. This sketch was funny and I thought it was a good impersonation.
Just my opinion.
Justin Allen
This was disappointing. I thought better of them.
fredo777
I wasn’t all that taken aback by the skits that night, but I did really dislike the fact that Seth had a cheesy-ass grin on his face when mentioning the gay marriage ban. Not too thrilled.
The Prop 8 skit with Paul Rudd wasn’t horrible, maybe even a little cute.
Adam
They make fun of everyone; get over it.
We were all laughing when they trashed Sarah Palin. Watch the show, if it is big in the news, they make fun of it. They hate everyone equally.
Keith
Seth Meyers is a narcisisant douche. I think all he ever does is Weekend Update. He brother Josh was way funnier on MadTV and hotter. He was one of the original A & F boys in the A & F skits
Keith
I meant narcissistic douche. Sorry
Miley Crisis
I thought the SNL skits were terrible. Not funny, not clever, and propagated stereotypes. Lisps, bathroom cruising, glory holes…zzzz…come on.
It must also be noted that Sunday night saw the return of a lisping short short wearing queen on The Simpsons that seemed straight out of the early 90s. It was appalling.
Then…you had the bitchy queeny neighbors on Desperate Housewives…ugh.
So it was a relief then to see the three gay men portrayed on Brothers & Sisters as diverse, funny, hardworking, and SEXUAL! The married couple Kevin & Scotty kissed no less then 3 times and I love that it is no big deal on the show.
A bright light in a sea of retroactive mediocrity.
fredo777
@Keith:
Olbie, is that you?
Jaroslaw
It looks to me like (possibly) Seth Myers was grinning to keep from laughing at Snagglepuss. Otherwise, I tend to have the same wonder – would SNL put on Aunt Jemima.
REBELComx
I’m more offended that the skit just wasn’t funny. But SNL has been hit or miss the last few years.
DistinguĂŠ Traces
The whole episode was really slack and unfunny.
And, yes, homophobic. Big disappointment from Rudd and Samberg.
Paul Raposo
@Adam:
They make fun of everyone; get over it.
Adam, there’s a difference between making gays part of the joke and making us the butt of the joke.
Jon
I thought it simply wasn’t funny regardless of whether it was making fun of gays or not. The whole weekend update was mediocre at best. I really didn’t get the whole snugglepuss thing…maybe it was before my time.
Joe
None of you seemed to mention that later in the show there was another sketch with Paul Rudd and the guy who plays Vincent Price where they were pretending to be parking attendants looking at a Prop 8 protest, acting homophobic but in reality they were a couple that ends up getting engaged at the end of the skit.
I think its really interesting that not even Queerty mentioned that skit which seemed to be a ironic jab at all the “average joe’s” that voted against the measure or have an ill opinion of homosexuality. Did anyone actually watch the show or are we all just piggybacking on someone else’s opinion?
The Gay Numbers
I am okay with the comedy part. I am not okay with the whole “get over it” part. One is just joking. The other is him being a dick, and not in a good way.
Joe
Let me add that while I understand why no one watches SNL anymore (I was only watching because Paul Rudd was the host) lets not just assume there’s some sort of ill will at SNL. Seth Meyers is the head writer, he probably approved both skits.
fredo777
@Joe:
Yes, I watched the whole ep…
And I just mentioned that very skit @ comment #5.
Christian
SNL, like pretty much every other show on TV, is by & for straight, white men & boys. I don’t watch, because I already have low expectations to begin with, so what’s the point? I’m not as concerned with their toilet, tired humor as I am with the fact that TV can’t seem to break out of the mold. Why not have a female, gay, or person of color-centric show on mainstream TV? We should protest these cheap shots of humor such as that displayed on this episode of SNL, but also just not watch, period.
go to girl
it sounds like our community can’t take a joke. we had no problem laughing at mccain/palin jokes for the past 2 months, but once we become the punch line it isn’t fair. all is fair in comedy.
Puddy Katz
what a bunch of prisspots on this site. is this what gay men are coming to! Seth is hot and funny!
KPB
You are all the most uptight bunch I’ve come across in a long time. Zero sense of humor. I can actually hear the sound of water dripping as I read these posts.
fredo777
Is it at all possible, KPB, Puddy Katz, + the like, that humor is subjective + we might not all find the same things humorous?
Just like we don’t all find the same persons attractive, etc., it doesn’t make us oddballs; it’s just a matter of individual personal taste.
Matt
While under normal circumstances I can take a gay joke… as constant as they are… this is not really a good time to be gay bashing or making gays look bad on TV.
When we are no longer the focal point of the conservative agenda (lolz, I’m usin’ their own word against them), then it’ll be alright again. Until then, gays should be represented in at least a somewhat respectful way… that’ll never happen though… we are the only large group of people who seem to allow this shit, and that’s why it’s ok to make fun of us. Blacks got their equality when they stopped pussy-footing around issues and letting themselves be bullied; I’m not seeing why we shouldn’t do the same.
Kumbia
Good idea, surprisingly poor and unfunny execution.
KPB
No, Fredo. These posts are about a lot more than not finding something funny. They’re about the shock that gay people could be made fun of. And that’s the problem. If we, as a community, are so uppity that we can’t take a joke, we’ll get nowhere in this world. In fact, this particular video isn’t even really making fun of gay people. It’s a joke about a cartoon character that we all grew up with who for years we’ve probably all realized was gay. And now he’s coming out of the closet. Only, it’s a guy dressed in a pink suit. Guess what, on a Saturday night at midnight, this IS kinda funny. But some humorless folks that worry that we we can’t get married because of something like this can’t find it in themselves to let out a laugh.
Rowen
Sarah Palin, through her actions in preparing for debates and other events during the campaign set herself up for ridicule. Did she deserve it? I’m not sure, but she showed a good sportsmanship and rolled with the punches.
This is different. This is SNL trotting out an out of date and demeaning stereotype as a group of people fight for their civil rights.
It’s also not funny, but then again, SNL hasn’t been funny in a while.
KPB
And just like that, my point gets made.
fredo777
@KPB:
Feh.
I’m still not sure it’s even a worthwhile point. Regardless of the reasoning, some people are just not going to find the same things funny. Plenty of people don’t think the recent SNL is funny, tbh.
KPB
If someone doesn’t find it funny, so be it. But to claim that SNL is somehow hurting us or that they are homophobic, or that they shouldn’t be making fun of us “at a time like this” is so completely off base and absurd. Look at comment #9 from Miley which calls the gay character on the Simpsons a 90’s cliche. Wake up Miley, the entire show is one GIANT stereotype. EVERY freaking character on there!!!! And that’s my problem with these comments. That people are so wound up in their own lives that they can’t laugh at themselves. The Snagglepuss skit is pure silliness. It’s not meant to be cutting edge. It’s a guy in a pink animal suit, people!!! It’s SUPPOSED to be pure stupidity. And after a long week of work, late on a Saturday night, sometimes people enjoy that. It is beyond me that people are so up in arms over this. And even worse is the editors of this very website that don’t find it funny but then put up a cartoon making fun of Mormons and they practically soak their underpants they find it so funny. If you don’t see the double standard, you are blind as bat.
fredo777
Yawn.
Of course they’d be less offended by the Mormon comic strips. I didn’t find anything all that objectionable about the toons, for starters. How are you drawing a parallel between perpetuating generic stereotypes of gay as femme + foppish + showing Mormons dressed as they actually do go out + approach people?
Furthermore, if you think most gay persons who aren’t Mormon are going to be as offended about a mildly mocking cartoon targeting Mormons as they are about skits which they find to be making jokes of gays, maybe it is you who is blind as a bat. Double standard or not, I’m sure most Mormons would also me more offended by the Mormon toons than the gay-centric SNL skits, although I found the toons to be much tamer. It is what it is.
That said, I was not particularly offended by most of the SNL skits; however, to jump down someone’s throat because they took offense to stereotypical humor that could quite easily/understandably be taken as a slight against gays, in general, is way out-of-order.
If you weren’t offended by the SNL skits, great. Keep watching. Don’t tell anyone else that he/she doesn’t have a right to take offense to whatever they very well please without ridicule, though, even if you disagree with it.
fredo777
* also be more offended
KPB
Fredo, list your top 5 favorite comedies (movies or shows) and explain to me how they are not filled with humor based on stereotypes.
I really wish you could hear what you’re saying. You call the Mormon jokes “mildly mocking” yet you somehow see the jokes about gays as more than that. You seriously don’t see the double standard you see the world through. And you know why that upsets me? Because it is that double standard that will hold us back. We will always be divided because of it.
BTW, your “yawn” is such a stereotype. Way to go!
Snagglepuss
Fredo777 has got to be a troll or a European. No real American can be that prissy and self-important.
fredo777
@Snagglepuss:
I’m not self-important; I’m just more important than you.
fredo777
@KPB:
Yawn again.
I’m not listing jack-shit. My sense of humor isn’t on trial here.
Like I said, I didn’t find most of the SNL skits offensive, but I certainly didn’t find the Mormon toons even as offensive as those skits which might have been mildly offensive to gays.
Life is full of double standards, btw. B.F.D.
Kevin
Not to worry, I know why you won’t list them. I’ll spare you from being proven wrong.
Fredo, you’re, unfortunately, too busy yawning to even fully comprehend the point I’m making. I don’t find EITHER joke, either directed at Mormons or at gays, to be offensive. One mocks the way some of the members of a group dress. The other mocks the way some members of a group talk. Big deal. My problem is that people on this site can laugh freely at one joke yet find the other offensive. It should signal to you a major problem. If it doesn’t, you’re unwilling to admit things to yourself.
Ask yourself this, though, fredo. Why are you so afraid of gays being viewed as foppish and femme? And before you come back with some snippy answer, REALLY think about the question I’m asking you. I’ll be quite curious to read your answer.
fredo777
Good. I’m glad you know why I won’t list them.
For those who aren’t so perceptive, it’s because I don’t owe you a damn explanation on what I find funny or why.
“Why are you so afraid of gays being viewed as foppish and femme?”
I’m not afraid of anything of the sort. It happens + people get offended by it. Plain + simple.
This argument is annoyingly pointless, though. Move on.
Kevin
Yes, Fredo, correct, you don’t owe me anything. But we’re having a discussion. If you didn’t wish to have one, you shouldn’t have started one. I commented on these posts. You posed a question to me. And so a discussion began. See how that works?
I posed the “foppish” question in my last post because you said people would be offended by that stereotype. I would like to know why you feel someone would be offended by that. Because I don’t understand why someone would be. So, if you choose to, please give me your thoughts. Or anyone else for that matter. Help me understand what is wrong with that depiction.
fredo777
Yes, Sarcasmo, I know how a discussion works.
And we were having one until you took it upon yourself to start dissecting my taste in humor so you could judge whether or not it met your standards of stereotypical/not stereotypical.
Emphasis on the were. Later, slick.
Kevin
Clearly you don’t know how one works because you keep squawking that you don’t owe me anything. Who said you did?
And my reason for asking your sense of humor was to show you that, what you do find funny, is heavily based in stereotypes. Most comedy is. It just amazes me how people start bitching when the stereotype hits too close to home. All of a sudden, it’s not funny anymore.
I’d still like you to comment on why you think people find the foppish stereotype offensive. I know I won’t get you to answer but that’s ok.
Keith
Seth Meyers is head writer? That explains a lot.
Sarah Pa.. Uh I mean Tina Fey was so much better.
I saw the whole show and I wasn’t offended by the Snagglepuss skit. I was more offended by the Beyonce skit with Justin Timberlake and the other two as back up dancers with their lisping.
Snagglepuss was pure nostalgia and went with the assumption that when we were kids we knew Snagglepuss was a little bent.
If you had a problem with him you’d have a problem with the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz movie. When I watched it over the weekend, he seemed like a mincing faggot to me. and that bow. I’m just sayin.
Should we be offended by that?
Exit, stage left even.
BTW Seth Meyers is still a snarky douche.
fredo777
@Kevin:
Correct. You will get no more answers from me. About anything.
You finally got it right.
Kevin
I always had it right, boo. đ
fredo777
lol
yeah, yeah
; )
Dee
“I can’t but help wonder if SNL were on the air during the Black Civil Rights movement it would air a Weekend Update segment featuring say, a jive-talking Aunt Jemima bottleâ because really, that’s the equivalent stereotype here”
WOAH!!! i’m sorry but the struggles gays have had and the struggles blacks have had are no way near the same
yes gays have been through a lot and it sucks that people are so ignorant but that doesn’t even begin to compare to slavery, jim crow, and the racism that still exists today.
strumpetwindsock
Actually they did do the Jemima sketch:
http://www.genwi.com/play/530095
And when did the civil rights struggle end? Sorry… I guess I forgot to read the papers that day.