Close X
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
ADVT 
Interesting

Was Donald Trump's Widely-panned 'Saturday Night Live' Appearance Worth It To NBC?

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 09 Nov, 2015 01:33 PM
    NEW YORK — "Saturday Night Live" earned the expected ratings benefit of an episode hosted by Donald Trump but, given the protests and vicious panning the show received, NBC has to wonder if it was all worthwhile.
     
    From a pure business viewpoint, the Nielsen company said Saturday's show had its highest rating since January 2012 in the nation's top 56 markets, all the way back to an episode featuring Charles Barkley and Kelly Clarkson. A viewership estimate taking the nation as a whole into account won't be available until Thursday.
     
    Latino organizations protested the booking for the same reason that NBC cut ties to its former "Celebrity Apprentice" host last summer: the presidential candidate's comments about Mexicans crossing the border into the United States illegally. That led one of the show's highlights: Larry David shouting "you're a racist" to Trump, in reference to an advocacy group's offer of $5,000 to someone who heckled the host.
     
    Trump's appearance as host despite the corporate decision to back away from him spoke to both the autonomy of "Saturday Night Live" executive producer Lorne Michaels and Trump's proven ability to draw an audience.
     
    Sure, Trump earned ratings, but viewers who tuned in were punished with "a joyless, unfunny show, which ended in a curtain call with Mr. Trump and the cast that played like a hostage video," wrote critic James Poniewozik of The New York Times.
     
    That conclusion typified a brutal critical response. Both Poniewozik and Time magazine's Daniel D'Addario pulled out the phrase "anodyne" — fancy word for bland.
     
    "Forget Iowa voters," D'Addario wrote. "It's hard to imagine the 90 minutes NBC aired getting much of a reaction out of anyone."
     
    The "anemic and halfhearted dud" heavily taxed the show's integrity, wrote Hank Stuever of The Washington Post.
     
     
    Although it's not the first time "Saturday Night Live" has had a political host, several critics expressed alarm at the comedy show's co-opting a figure it would seem more comfortable satirizing from afar. Some jokes poked fun at Trump and his image, but Trump has said he took advantage of a host's prerogative to veto material he deemed offensive.
     
    "'SNL' is more comfortable being frat brothers with politicians than satirists of them," wrote Chris White of Paste magazine.
     
    When Vanessa Bayer's character cracked about not wanting to be in a sketch where the comic conceit was Trump "tweeting" mean comments about the actors, Stuever said it didn't feel like a joke.
     
    "The show's writers also dropped the ball — or simply never felt like playing to begin with," he wrote. "Who can blame them? They never should have been put in this position."
     
    For "Saturday Night Live," it was also a missed opportunity. The show frequently regenerates itself and now has a relatively young cast; this represented a chance to reel in more casual viewers.
     
    Then again, what's one misfire in the context of a 40-year-old show? Critics may not be happy, but NBC accountants certainly are, said television analyst Marc Berman.
     
    "It's not going to hurt the show," Berman said. "It's got everybody talking about it again."

    MORE Interesting ARTICLES

    Distraction does not hamper learning

    Distraction does not hamper learning
    Researchers at Brown University in the US have found that as long as our attention is as divided when we have to recall a motor skill....

    Distraction does not hamper learning

    Online students biased against women instructors

    Online students biased against women instructors
    A new study demonstrates that college students in online courses give better evaluations to instructors they think are men, even when the instructor is actually a woman....

    Online students biased against women instructors

    This paperless office runs on wind energy, apps

    This paperless office runs on wind energy, apps
    In a move to ensure environmental sustainability, a futuristic office is here where the energy is supplied by wind farms, bosses drive electric vehicles and...

    This paperless office runs on wind energy, apps

    Personality Linked To Real Estate Choices

    Personality Linked To Real Estate Choices
    Your personality traits are strong indicators of real estate decisions, says a new study.

    Personality Linked To Real Estate Choices

    Put Smartphone Away To Rekindle Romance

    Put Smartphone Away To Rekindle Romance
    Smartphones are affecting the love lives of nearly 70 percent of women, says a study, adding that technology and the screens that consume us are creating a "technoference" in couples.

    Put Smartphone Away To Rekindle Romance

    British town drops 'narrow' pavements designed to stop romantic walks

    British town drops 'narrow' pavements designed to stop romantic walks
    An English town where romance was banned because it upset an 18th century wealthy spinster is finally planning to welcome cupid onto its streets....

    British town drops 'narrow' pavements designed to stop romantic walks