Sunday, September 29, 2024

'SNL' returns with Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris after winning six Emmy Awards

Saturday Night Live returned last night and the first episode of the new season began with Harris and Trump Rallies Cold Open.

News anchor David Muir (Andrew Dismukes) checks in with Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph), Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan), Doug Emhoff (Andy Samberg), Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), JD Vance (Bowen Yang) and Joe Biden (Dana Carvey) at Harris' and Trump's campaign rallies.
That was a hilarious contrast between the two campaigns portrayed by an all-star cast for the speaking roles! Welcome back! The audience, including me, missed you this summer!

As I usually do, I'm skipping to Weekend Update: Trump Calls Kamala Harris “Mentally Disabled Person”.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like SNL kicking off its 50th season and New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams indictments.
First, convicted criminal Donald Trump calling Kamala Harris a "mentally disabled person" is another example of Projection being the Right's favorite defense mechanism as well as Trump being unable to imagine Harris any other way. As I wrote in Stewart, Colbert, and Kimmel recap last night's debate, "the voices he's listening to aren't reliable sources. This includes JD Vance." It also includes the voices in his head.

Second, I told my readers "I expect NYC Mayor Eric Adams will be the subject of either the cold open or Weekend Update" and he earned two spots on Weekend Update. Here's the second, Weekend Update: New York City Mayor Eric Adams on His Federal Indictments.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (Devon Walker) stops by Weekend Update to discuss his mayorship and his federal indictments.
I was right again, as "I also anticipate rat jokes in his (dis)honor" and I was not disappointed. Speaking of being right, I forecast the following in 'SNL' begins 2022 with a message from Biden about the pandemic and movies.
Welcome to being Mayor of New York City, Your Honor. It will be a great four years — for Chris Redd and his fans. I'm not so sure about you.
After the title story, Weekend Update: Meryl Streep Speaks at United Nations featured science, space, and technology stories, so of course I'm embedding it.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like a scientists (sic) saying an asteroid will become earth’s mini moon.
"Space" made a good punchline for the origin of the Chicxulub impactor, but as LiveScience reported Dinosaur-killing asteroid was a rare rock from beyond Jupiter, new study reveals. There, value added.

Weekend Update concluded with a cute animal story, Baby Hippo Moo Deng on Fame.

Moo Deng (Bowen Yang) stops by Weekend Update to discuss her newfound fame.
Here's to hoping bits like this help earn Bowen Yang another Emmy nomination next year.

Follow over the jump for more clips from last night's episode and a celebration of SNL's Emmy Awards.

I mentioned that "Tonight's host is Jean Smart, who won an Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy and whose show Hacks won Outstanding Comedy Series."* Watch Jean Smart Monologue.

First-time host Jean Smart talks about hosting the season premiere of SNL 50 before singing “I Happen To Like New York.”
Even Smart couldn't resist a Mayor Adams joke.

I close the highlights of last night's episode with a commercial parody, Spirit Halloween.

An ad for the one store that will always be there, Spirit Halloween.
Watching this reminds me that CityNerd has a fun video about Spirit Halloween that will make a good tale of the Retail Apocalypse, so stay tuned for that. It also reminds me of what I've written repeatedly, most recently in Earthquake, eclipse, and other news on 'SNL', "This clip serves as another demonstration of the commercial...parodies being one of the best parts of 'SNL.' When they're on, they're on, and this one was ON!"

Now for the Emmy Awards SNL, Hacks, and Maya Rudolph won, beginning with a category I covered in 'Jon Stewart Debunks GOP's City Crime Narrative' plus 'The Daily Show's Emmy nominations.

Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series
  • The Daily Show: "Jon Stewart Returns to The Daily Show" - David Paul Meyer (Comedy Central)
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live!: "Trump Still Mad About Oscars Joke and Thinks Jimmy is Al Pacino, Chris Stapleton's Ballad for John Stamos, Guest Rob McElhenney & the Return of Our Outdoor Stage!" - Andy Fisher (ABC)
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: "December 21, 2023: GOP Wants Biden Kicked Off Ballot, Bankrupt Rudy Hawks Supplements, Elf on the Shelf for Parents; Meanwhile; Anderson Cooper & Andy Cohen; Louis Cato and the Late Show Band" - Jim Hoskinson (CBS)
  • Saturday Night Live: "Host: Ryan Gosling" - Liz Patrick (NBC)
SNL won this category in January so it's my pick to repeat. The editors, experts, and top 24 users all agree with eight of nine editors, all three experts so far, and all six users so far picking SNL to win with one editor picking The Daily Show.
The experts writ large at Gold Derby all predicted this category correctly, so congratulations!

Next, two categories I covered in John Oliver debunks 'Migrant Crime' in the middle of covering the RNC on 'Last Week Tonight'.

Outstanding Production Design for a Variety or Reality Series
  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: "Freight Trains" – Eric Morrell and Amanda Carzoli (HBO)
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: "February 11, 2024: Super Bowl Episode with John Krasinski and Ryan Gosling and a Special Appearance by Jon Stewart" / "March 13, 2024: The Biden-Trump Rematch, Lara Trump Makes the RNC Great Again, RFK Jr. Courts Aaron Rodgers for VP; Stephen Meets "The Shower Witch"; Paul Rudd; Cecilia Vega; Jon Hamm; Amy Sedaris" – Jim Fenhagen, Larry Hartman, Riley Mellon, and Brendan Hurley (CBS)
  • RuPaul's Drag Race: "RDR Live!" / "Werq the World" – Gianna Costa, Jen Chu, and Gavin Smith (MTV)
  • Saturday Night Live: "Host: Josh Brolin" – Joe DeTullio, Kenneth MacLeod, Melissa Shakun, and Kimberly Kachougian (NBC)
  • Squid Game: The Challenge: "War" – Mathieu Weekes, Ben Norman, and Lizzie Chambers (Netflix)
Saturday Night Live won this award last year, so it's the nominal favorite, but RuPaul's Drag Race won the year before, breaking SNL's streak, so it's my choice for number two and a chance to upset.
I called this award without any assistance from Gold Derby, so yay me.

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series
  • America's Got Talent: "Finale Performances" – Allan Wells, Zach Greenberg, Kary D’Alessandro, John Gardner, Helena Jackson, Mark Koonce, Ron Lehman, Dave Levisohn, Adam Margolis, David Plakos, Brian Reason, Dann Webb, and Easter Xua (NBC)
  • Dancing with the Stars: "Finale" – Charles Ciup, Dave Bernstein, Bert Atkinson, Jonas Brueling, Mike Carr, Jimmy Garcia, Bruce Green, Nathanial Havholm, Ron Lehman, Bettina Levesque, Adam Margolis, Rob Palmer, Derek Pratt, Brian Reason, Jofre Rosero, Daniel Schade, Daryl Studebaker, Cary Symmons, and Easter Xua (ABC)
  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: "Elon Musk" – Dave Saretsky, Jerry Cancel, Franco Coello, Dante Pagano, Mark Britt, and Joe DeBonis (HBO)
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: "April 8, 2024: Strange Eclipse Behavior, NYC's Earthquake, Mt. Etna Blows Smoke Rings, Trump's $50m Fundraiser; Meanwhile; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Tyla" – Karen Obel Cape, Roberto Lopez, Brian V. Cimino, Joe DeBonis, John Hannel, John Harrison, and Dante Pagano (CBS)
  • Saturday Night Live: "Host: Timothée Chalamet" – Bill DiGiovanni, John Pinto, Paul Cangialosi, Anthony Tarantino, Dave Driscoll, Brian Phraner, and Daniel Erbeck (NBC)
Dancing with the Stars won last year, but Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won for several years before that, so I'm provisionally designating them co-favorites. I'll re-examine this category after I examine the rest of the variety and reality competition categories.
I didn't look at this award again, posting Gold Derby's predictions for reality programs at the Emmy Awards instead, so I didn't get a change to update my prediction. I probably wouldn't have changed it anyway, so I'll just write that I'm happy to be surprised.

Now for a category I examined in Presidential jokes from Stephen Colbert for National Presidential Joke Day.

Outstanding Lighting Design / Lighting Direction for a Variety Series
  • America's Got Talent: "Episode 1818" – Noah Mitz, Will Gossett, Hannah Kerman, Ryan Tanker, Patrick Boozer, Matt Benson, Terrance Ho, and Scott Chmielewski (NBC)
  • American Idol: "Top 14 Reveal" – Tom Sutherland, James Coldicott, Nathan Files, Bobby Grey, Ed Moore, Luke Chantrell, and Scott Chmielewski (ABC)
  • Dancing with the Stars: "Semi-Finals" – Noah Mitz, Patrick Brazil, Andrew Law, Casey Rhodes, Hannah Kerman, Matt Benson, Ed Moore, Stu Wesolik, and Matt McAdam (ABC)
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: "May 21, 2024: Billie Eilish Visits the Late Show for an Engaging Interview with Stephen Colbert and a Performance Off of Her New Album on the Ed Sullivan Theater Stage" – Michael Scricca, Hillary Knox, Constantine Leonardos II, and Tom Carrol (CBS)
  • Saturday Night Live: "Host: Kristen Wiig" – Geoffrey Amoral, Rick McGuinness, Trevor Brown, Tim Stasse, William McGuinness, and Frank Grisanti (NBC)
  • The Voice: "Live Finale, Part 2" – Oscar Dominguez, Dan Boland, Ronald Wirsgalla, Erin Anderson, Andrew Munie, Jeff Shood, and Terrance Ho (NBC)
SNL and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert form a distinct minority in a field full of talent competition shows. That hasn't historically hurt SNL, as it had a string of wins in this category from 2018-2021, followed by The Voice and Dancing with the Stars, the defending winner. I think it's among those three shows. As for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, this looks like the show's first nomination in this category, so it should just be happy to be nominated.
At least I knew that it was a contender, but didn't call it. No credit for me, but congratulations to the winners.

Now for two awards I didn't already analyze with fields from the 76th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program (Juried)
  • Saturday Night Live: "Host: Ryan Gosling" – Jodi Mancuso, Cara Hannah, Inga Thrasher, Joseph Whitmeyer, Amanda Duffy Evans, Chad Harlow, Gina Ferrucci, and Elliott Simpson (NBC)‡
  • The Boulet Brothers' Dragula: "Trash Can Children" – Marco Gabellini (Shudder)
  • Dancing with the Stars: "Finale" – Kimi Messina, Dwayne Ross, Joe Matke, Jani Kleinbard, Amber Maher, Marion Rogers, and Brittany Spaulding (ABC)
  • So You Think You Can Dance: "Challenge #2: Broadway" – Crystal Broedel, Cynthia Chapman, Antoinette Black, Ashley Sedmack, Rie "Leay" Cangelosi, and Victor Paz (Fox)
  • We're Here: "Oklahoma, Part 3" – Abdiel "Gloria" Urcullu and Tyler Funicelli (HBO)
This decade's winners were Saturday Night Live, RuPaul's Drag Race, and We're Here, in that order, so I'd have handicapped the nominees in reverse order. Consequently, I would have been pleasantly surprised by SNL winning. To celebrate the show's somewhat surprising victory, I'm sharing Gold Derby's 'Saturday Night Live' (Best Hairstyling) 2024 Emmys press room interview.

The hair department for "Saturday Night Live" won Best Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program at the 2024 Creative Arts Emmys.
Congratulations and good luck with Season 50!

Outstanding Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program
  • Saturday Night Live: "Host: Ryan Gosling" – Louie Zakarian, Jason Milani, Amy Tagliamonti, Rachel Pagani, Young Bek, Brandon Grether, and Joanna Pisani (NBC)‡
  • The Boulet Brothers' Dragula: "Terror in the Woods" – The Boulet Brothers (Shudder)
  • Dancing with the Stars: "Monster Night" – Zena S. Green, Julie Socash, Angela Moos, Donna Bard, Sarah Woolf, Brian Sipe, James MacKinnon, and Tyson Fountaine (ABC)
  • Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music – Anastasia Durasova (HBO)
  • The Voice: "Live Finale, Part 1 and Live Finale, Part 2" – Darcy Gilmore, Gina Ghiglieri, Kristene Bernard, Nikki Carbonetta, Carlene Kearns, Elie Maalouf, Anthony Nguyen, and Marylin Lee Spiegel (NBC)
  • We're Here: "Oklahoma, Part 3" – Tyler "Laila" Devlin and Kalyd Sebastian Odeh (HBO)
I'm celebrating SNL winning this award by sharing Gold Derby's Making of 'Saturday Night Live' roundtable panel with Mikey Day and 3 behind-the-scenes artisans featuring one of the winning makeup artists.

Making of 'Saturday Night Live' roundtable panel with Mikey Day and 3 behind-the-scenes artisans. Joining Day are hair department head Jodi Mancuso, makeup department head Louie Zakarian, and producer/costume designer Tom Broecker. Gold Derby editor Marcus James Dixon hosts this special event.
I had no idea how important 3-D printing had become in hair, makeup, and costuming until I watched this video — technology in entertainment that isn't special visual effects! Welcome to science fiction times! Also, this makes today a good day because I learned something new.

The panel talked about the achievement in Beavis and Butt-Head, so here it is.

A NewsNation livestream event on AI is derailed by two audience members (Ryan Gosling, Mikey Day).
HAHAHAHA! I have the same reaction to this sketch that I had to watching David S. Pumpkins for the first time: "I can see why it's [already] a classic and I can't believe it took me until now to watch this."


Time to revisit 'The Bear' leads comedy winners and nominees at the Emmy Awards in honor of Smart.
I already forecast "Hacks could win both actress awards while both actors could repeat for The Bear." That's still the case, as Gold Derby's editors have predicted that The Bear will repeat in Comedy Series, Comedy Actor, Comedy Supporting Actor, Comedy Directing, and Comedy Writing, while Hacks will return with wins in Comedy Actress and Comedy Actor [Supporting Actress], along with an outside chance of winning Comedy Writing.
Surprise, Hacks beat The Bear! Watch Comedy Series: 76th Emmy Awards.

The Team from Hacks accepts the Emmy for Comedy Series at the 76th Emmy Awards.
The cast and crew looked as surprised as anyone to win this award.


Now for the award that Gold Derby called, Lead Actress In A Comedy Series: 76th Emmy Awards.

Jean Smart accepts the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series for Hacks at the 76th Emmy Awards.
I can tell that the Television Academy loves Smart.


Gold Derby's outside chance paid off for Writing For A Comedy Series: 76th Emmy Awards.

The Team from Hacks accepts the Emmy for Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series at the 76th Emmy Awards.
It's good to see the other nominated writing teams stand for the winners. Congratulations!

*Maya Rudolph also won an Emmy Award, which Gold Derby predicted and I reported in Gold Derby predicts guest actor, guest actress, reality host, and voice-over at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance
  • Hank Azaria - The Simpsons: "Cremains of the Day" as Moe Szyslak (Fox)
  • Alex Borstein - Family Guy: "Teacher's Heavy Pet" as Lois Griffin (Fox)
  • Sterling K. Brown - Invincible: "I Thought You Were Stronger" as Angstrom Levy / Angstrom #646 (Prime Video)
  • Maya Rudolph - Big Mouth: "The Ambition Gremlin" as Connie the Hormone Monstress (Netflix)
  • Hannah Waddingham - Krapopolis: "Big Man on Hippocampus" as Deliria (Fox)
The editors unanimously see Maya Rudolph returning for a fourth Emmy in this category. Eight of the experts agree with the editors on Rudolph, while one brave soul singled out Sterling K. Brown to step off the stage with the trophy. Twenty-three of the top 24 users think Rudolph will repeat, while agreed with the lone expert on Brown.
And Gold Derby called it. To celebrate, watch Maya Rudolph (Best Voice-Over Performance, 'Big Mouth') 2024 Emmys press room interview.

Maya Rudolph won the 2024 Emmy for Best Voice-Over Performance ("Big Mouth").
I plan on recycling this clip and image for the entry on diversity among Emmy winners post I've been promising for a couple of weeks now. In the meantime, congratulations to Rudolph and all the other winners!

Previous posts about the 76th Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards
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