# "That little Corn Pop was me." Saturday Night Live Season Premier **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010 "2019-09-29T21:10:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/1 "2019-09-29T21:10:10Z")
Just about every sketch got a laugh out of me. I loved Maya Rudolph as Kamala and I hope she comes back. And the Inside the Beltway sketch is a testament to what makes a live show hilarious. It’s amazing that they were doing all of those wardrobe changes so quickly. If the stagehand hadn’t shown up, most people would not have even known they were changing in real-time. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/2 "2019-09-29T21:41:27Z")
Yeah I thought it was a really strong episode! I thought Woody Harrelson could be hit or miss but he did great, and I enjoyed the musical guest Billie Eilish. Maya Rudolph brings 110% to every character she plays and she was really spot-on as Harris. Harrelson was great as Biden, too. The low point was probably the “Dad” sketch/film. Kyle Mooney creeps me out that he plays a teenager 90% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/3 "2019-09-29T23:27:59Z")
Apparently Kamala liked it, too. > [@](#): > > “That girl being played by @MayaRudolph on @nbcsnl? That girl was me,” she tweeted Sunday. [https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/entertainment/kamala-harris-maya-rudolph-snl-trnd/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/entertainment/kamala-harris-maya-rudolph-snl-trnd/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/4 "2019-09-29T23:37:26Z")
Harrelson did a nice job on the Joe Biden impression, “I’m like plastic straws. I’ve been around forever, I’ve always worked, and _now_ you’re mad at me? Drink up, America!” ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/5 "2019-09-30T00:10:13Z")
My favorite line was how Elizabeth Warren has “mother of five boys who all play different sports” energy. I can’t remember ever seeing one where everyone broke so badly while it happened (rather than everyone talking about it before I get a chance to watch it). But I thought it was charming. I think they all must have had some of Uncle Woody’s special treats because they broke again during the apple sketch. I enjoyed that sketch a lot too because apple picking is something that sounds a lot more fun and affordable than it ends up being. The last time I went it was like 90 in October in New England and I thought I was gonna die. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/6 "2019-09-30T02:41:47Z")
I thought Harrelson brought the funny pretty consistently, loved the apple-picking sketch, and the musical guest was rather captivating, but I’m just about as tired of Alec Baldwin’s Trump as I am the real article, and Weekend Update (which has always been my favorite part of the show) seemed oddly truncated. Didn’t much care for most of the political bits, except for the “Inside the Beltway” sketch (and not just because of the hilarious cockup in that one). Regarding SNL’s political content in general, I’ve long felt that the show too frequently tends to pull its punches…well, the reviewer for the _AV Club_ says it better than I could: > [@](#): > > The problem with SNL’s hit-or-miss political content has never been that the show is a bastion of liberalism—it’s that Lorne Michaels has long seemed to view political neutrality as some sort of recipe for not pissing anyone off enough to hurt his show. If there’s a smart joke to be made, regardless of the political issue or figure involved, I guarantee there are writers with smarter takes than the ones that traditionally get on the air. Saturday Night Live might be an institution, but someone needs to convince Lorne it doesn’t have to be run like a public utility. > **[In its Season 45 premiere, Saturday Night Live plays things too comfy with...](https://www.avclub.com/in-its-season-45-premiere-saturday-night-live-plays-th-1838581128)** > > “If you choose to stick around, we’ll be right back.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/7 "2019-09-30T03:38:26Z")
Nah, Dennis Perkins should have been moved off the SNL review beat years ago. He hates all the political comedy on the show and like Kyle Mooney’s film pieces – pretty much exactly the opposite of why everybody else in America still tunes in. He wants SNL to be a completely different show than it is. You can predict everything he’s going to say before opening the page. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/8 "2019-09-30T12:02:26Z")
I couldn’t figure out what they were laughing about. I figured the flashback bits were taped, the same as the Downton Abbey bit. I agree - solid show. I especially liked Larry David as Bernie! And the apple skit - “Pay $45 for $10 worth of apples!” That “Dad” rap number was about the only one that was completely lost on me. And the “musical” guest… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/9 "2019-09-30T12:18:29Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > The low point was probably the “Dad” sketch/film. Kyle Mooney creeps me out that he plays a teenager 90% of the time. That was the kind of retro bit that Mooney usually does with Beck Bennett. There didn’t seem to be much Bennett in the show. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Harrelson did a nice job on the Joe Biden impression, “I’m like plastic straws. I’ve been around forever, I’ve always worked, and _now_ you’re mad at me? Drink up, America!” Yep. > [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I’m just about as tired of Alec Baldwin’s Trump as I am the real article Yes, the Trump cold-open was by-the-numbers, as it has been for too long now. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Nah, Dennis Perkins should have been moved off the SNL review beat years ago. He hates all the political comedy on the show [Garrett Martin of Paste](https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/09/snl-trump-impeachment.html) is pretty savage toward the political comedy, at least the Alec-Baldwin-as-Trump stuff. IMHO the show’s biggest problem is that it doesn’t have any writers who really know what to do with Trump and his shitshow, but they feel obligated to do something anyway. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/10 "2019-09-30T12:26:19Z")
Baldwin started doing Trump during the 2016 Campaign and I can guarantee he did not intend on that being a long term gig! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/11 "2019-09-30T12:34:37Z")
Frankly, Trump didn’t intend on this being a long-term gig. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/12 "2019-09-30T13:08:33Z")
I thought the musical guest with the rotating room was a blast. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/13 "2019-09-30T15:35:12Z")
We muted Billie Eilish’s 2nd song after awhile. An emo 17 year old crooning a boring ballad about loooove became rapidly tedious. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/14 "2019-09-30T15:56:20Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I thought the musical guest with the rotating room was a blast. I liked watching this too. The first move to the wall was a surprise but then I started watching for it and it was pretty impressive though the last move from the wall to the floor was not as smooth. I thought her voice was a little too quiet compared to the music as well but I did like the song. I did enjoy the ep but I also think the biggest problem with SNL is the political bits are mostly toothless, which has been mentioned above. It’s worsened by the fact that a good portion of the country is in favor of a president who is basically a walking SNL sketch himself. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/15 "2019-09-30T21:06:34Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > Baldwin started doing Trump during the 2016 Campaign and I can guarantee he did not intend on that being a long term gig! Yeah, but he could stop any time he wants to, you know? His Trump schtick is long past its sell-by date. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/16 "2019-10-01T00:20:33Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > . . . > That “Dad” rap number was about the only one that was completely lost on me. And the “musical” guest… :rolleyes: I thought Eilish was great. At one point though I clearly heard someone say “Turn up her microphone” from off stage, and it came through louder than the singer’s voice. So that’s a technical problem. Whoever came up with the "Mickey Duck _thing_ " sketch must really hate Woody Harrelson. I can’t believe nobody else has mentioned it. That was just painful to watch. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/17 "2019-10-01T01:43:36Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Yeah, but he could stop any time he wants to, you know? > > His Trump schtick is long past its sell-by date. It really isn’t. Sure, if it was some random character like Head Wound Harry, enough is enough. But they can’t drop frigging Trump, the first pure cartoon President in history. At best, they could get someone else to do it but I don’t think most viewers would like that. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/18 "2019-10-01T06:13:08Z")
Do you all know that Eilish was doing something similar to what Fred Astaire did in a movie?: > **[Billie Eilish Recreated Fred Astaire’s Best Trick on Saturday Night Live](https://slate.com/culture/2019/09/snl-billie-eilish-bad-guy-performance-astaire-royal-wedding-richie-ceiling.html)** > > Even when Lionel Richie was the musical guest, he only danced on the floor. In a way, this is similar to what Joseph Gordon-Levitt did on _Saturday Night Live_ in 2009, when he did a version of the Donald O’Connor number “Make 'em Laugh” from _Singing in the Rain_. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/19 "2019-10-01T08:12:30Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Do you all know that Eilish was doing something similar to what Fred Astaire did in a movie?: > > [SNL: Billie Eilish performed "Bad Guy" while recreating a famous Fred Astaire effect from Royal Wedding.](https://slate.com/culture/2019/09/snl-billie-eilish-bad-guy-performance-astaire-royal-wedding-richie-ceiling.html) > > In a way, this is similar to what Joseph Gordon-Levitt did on _Saturday Night Live_ in 2009, when he did a version of the Donald O’Connor number “Make 'em Laugh” from _Singing in the Rain_. The moment she put her foot on the wall, I turned to my wife and said, “Hey, she’s doing that Fred Astaire-[Lionel Richie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovo6zwv6DX4) thing.” Interesting that you mention Joseph Gordon-Levitt, though, seeing as he \*also \*did a variation of that scene in _Inception_. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010/20 "2019-10-01T12:58:52Z")
I saw a comment on you tube of someone condescendingly explaining how the shot worked and I thought: yeah, no one is really puzzled by it, but it’s still unexpected and interesting. I was going to add a sarcastic comment explaining how a strobe light worked. But it’s still cool to see. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-little-corn-pop-was-me-saturday-night-live-season-premier/841010.md?page=2)