Trump
SNL May Have Gained Ratings, But NBC Lost Any Ounce of Credibility
For those of us who didn’t watch Donald Trump on ‘Saturday Night Live’ last night, a quick Internet search shows that the critics feel it was largely a flop.
Fusion recaps the barrage of negative coverage and reviews of Trump’s appearance in a story titled, “Everybody Hated Donald Trump’s ‘SNL’ Appearance.” In a piece entitled “Donald Trump on ‘Saturday Night Live’: Not Hugely Entertaining,” Variety TV Columnist Maureen Ryan writes: “The fevered lead-up to Donald Trump’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ episode turned out to be more exciting than the edition of the show he hosted. Most of the sketches involving Trump were weak, timid or predictable, and we have Drake to thank for one of the few moments that worked.” The New York Post headline asks “Did ‘Saturday Night Live’ Purposely Sabotage Trump?”
And the Washington Post’s TV critic, Hank Stuever, called the episode an “anemic and halfhearted dud” in his piece entitled “Trump’s Sorry Night On ’SNL’: An Overhyped Bummer For Us All.” Stuever’s analysis about Trump and the media is spot on, and explains exactly why there was so much energy around the Racism Isn’t Funny campaign that America’s Voice was a part of. Writes Stuever:
“Having Trump host ‘SNL’ is a tacit nod of approval — of his message, his antics and, yes, his campaign to be the Republican presidential nominee. Worst of all, it provided Trump with more dubious evidence of his own preeminence. When and if boffo ratings reports come out Sunday, Trump will promote them as proof of his electability, rather than as evidence that anyone will slow down to gawk at a car wreck. (Never mind the fact that overnight TV ratings are fast becoming an unreliable insight into American cultural sensibilities; Trump still regards them as the gold standard of existence.)
“’SNL’ is not alone in its mistake — every media outlet (The Washington Post included) has wrestled with intense bouts of Trump fever, especially late-night TV, which for several months has joked about and imitated Trump and, of course, invited him to appear on their shows. No one seems able to deal him the ultimate blow and ignore him.”
According to Juan Escalante, Digital Campaigns Manager at America’s Voice and one of the leaders of the Racism Isn’t Funny campaign: “We feel that Saturday Night Live and NBC lost something important last night. They may have gained ratings—we’re still waiting to see—but they lost any ounce of credibility they had by providing a platform to a man who has no respect for immigrants or Latinos. The network, along with SNL creator Lorne Michaels, chose to ignore the voices of more than half a million Americans who called on them to rescind Trump’s invitation to host of SNL because we don’t think racism is funny. We are calling on our supporters to stop watching Saturday Night Live indefinitely, as it is clear that the show has no intentions of adequately representing members of or community. As I’ve said before, we will continue to call out anyone who is willing to normalize Trump’s hateful rhetoric. This fight will continue onto 2016, as our community remains united and committed to electing a leader who recognizes the contributions of the Latino community, and treats immigrants with dignity and respect.”
For more information, see www.racismisntfunny.com; the America’s Voice blog (www.americasvoice.org/blog); and follow Juan Escalante on Twitter (@Juansaa).
Follow Frank Sharry and America’s Voice on Twitter: @FrankSharry and @AmericasVoice
