The long-awaited comic book film featuring the delightfully psychotic Harley Quinn hauled in around $33.25 million in North America, shy of the $40 million to $60 million that many analysts had predicted. It is the weakest opening of any film in Warner Bros.' DC extended universe.
It's possible that some moviegoers shied away from seeing the film in its opening weekend because of its ties to the not-so-beloved "Suicide Squad." However, with word of mouth, "Birds of Prey" could still have a solid box office run.
"Despite coming in a bit below expectations in North America, 'Birds Of Prey' was solid internationally and with great reviews and high marks from audiences, Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and her flock could enjoy long-term playability in the coming weeks," Paul Deregarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, said.
The film debuted internationally to the tune of $48 million, bringing its worldwide gross to around $81.3 million.
The second-highest box office earner over the weekend was "Bad Boys For Life," garnering $12 million in ticket sales. After four weeks the film has hauled in $166.3 million in ticket sales in North America. Worldwide its tally is up to $336 million.
"1917," Universal's award season darling picked up an additional $9 million ahead of the Academy Awards Sunday. It has now collected $132.5 million domestically and $287.4 million globally.
"Dolittle" also continued to chug along this weekend. The poorly reviewed Robert Downey Jr. flick about the famed doctor who can speak to animals secured $6.66 million in ticket sales domestically, bringing its North American gross to $64 million and its global tally to $158.7 million. The film still has a ways to go to make back its $175 million production budget and its additional marketing spend.
Rounding out the top five films at the box office over the weekend was "Jumanji: The Next Level" which in its ninth weekend garnered $5.53 million. The film now has nabbed $298.4 million domestically and $768 million globally.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of CNBC and NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal distributed "1917" and "Dolittle."
The Margot Robbie-led DC superhero pic opened almost $20 million behind expectations.
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn failed to gain altitude in its box office debut, earning a tepid $33.3 million from 4,236 theaters to mark one of the lowest domestic launches in modern times for a studio superhero pic.
The female-led film also struggled overseas, where it opened to $48 million from 78 markets for a global start of $81.3 million. The coronavirus is starting to impact moviegoing in Asian markets outside of China, including South Korea, where Birds of Prey grossed a muted $1.9 million.
Birds of Prey was never meant to score a mega-opening since it is a spinoff and sports an R rating. Still, the Warner Bros. and DC title had been tracking to start off with at least $50 million to $55 million in North America and $60 million or more offshore.
The movie — the weekend's only new wide release — could take solace in coming in No. 1.
Cathy Yan directed the Suicide Squad spinoff, which sees Margot Robbie reprise herrole as Harley Quinn. DCEU newcomers Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Black Canary), Rosie Perez (Renee Montoya), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Huntress) and Ewan McGregor also star. Sue Kroll, Robbie and Bryan Unkeless produced.
The film faced challenges before getting to the big screen. Reshoots were ordered after the studio saw a first cut, with John Wick director Chad Stahelski enlisted to work alongside Yan and infuse Birds with more action.
Before now, the lowest opener in the DC Extended Universe was Shazam! with $53 million, not adjusted for inflation. Among other superhero titles with low openings, last year's X-Men installment Dark Phoenix debuted to $32.8 million domestically (that film cost far more to make than Birds of Prey).
The hope now is that Yan's movie will make up ground over Presidents Day weekend and in subsequent weeks, particularly if females start to flock to the film in big numbers.
So far, Birds of Prey is skewing male (53 percent), according to leading exit polling service PostTrak. CinemaScore, which only surveys a smattering of cinemas on Friday, showed a different result, with females making up 51 percent of its respondents.
Birds of Prey earned strong reviews, while receiving a B+ CinemaScore. One dampener could be the film's R-rating, which automatically makes it difficult for teenagers to partake. On Friday, 73 percent of ticket buyers were 25 and under, according to PostTrak.
The opening is another blow for Warner Bros., which has suffered a string of misses or under-performers in recent months. The big exception is Joker, which is up for a leading 11 nominations at today's Academy Awards ceremony, with Joaquin Phoenix considered a shoo-in for best actor.
Elsewhere, Sony hit Bad Boys for Life fell to No. 2 in its fourth weekend with $12 million for a domestic cume of $166.3 million.
Best picture contender 1917 saw a nice boost on the eve of the Oscars, declining just 5 percent to $9 million for a domestic cume of $132.5 million. The Amblin and Universal release marched to another $15.2 million overseas for a foreign tally of $154.8 million and $287.3 million globally.
Specialty pics Parasite and Jojo Rabbit, which are also up for top honors at the Oscars, likewise saw a nice bump. Parasite earned another $1.5 million, a gain of 9 percent from last weekend, for a domestic total of $35.5 million and more than $165 million globally. Jojo, which was up 13 percent, likewise grossed $1.5 million for a domestic cume of $30.3 million and $74.3 million globally.
Little Women, another best picture contender, took in $2.3 million domestically and $5.8 million overseas for a worldwide cume of $177 million, including $102.7 million domestically.
Elsewhere, Dolittle placed fourth in North America with $6.7 million for a domestic cume of $64 million and $94.7 million globally.
Jumanji: The Next Level rounded out the top five with $5.5 million for a domestic total of $298.6 million and $768 million worldwide.
Knives Out, which placed No. 8 in its eleventh weekend, all but jumped the $300 million mark globally after earning another $2.4 million domestically and $1.3 million overseas for a global tally through Sunday of $299.6 million.
The Margot Robbie-led DC superhero pic opened almost $20 million behind expectations.
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn failed to gain altitude in its box office debut, earning a tepid $33.3 million from 4,236 theaters to mark one of the lowest domestic launches in modern times for a studio superhero pic.
The female-led film also struggled overseas, where it opened to a $48 million from 78 markets for a global start of $81.3 million. The coronavirus is starting to impact moviegoing in Asian markets outside of China, including South Korea, where Birds of Prey grossed a muted $1.9 million.
Birds of Prey was never meant to score a mega-opening since it is a spinoff and sports an R rating. Still, the Warner Bros. and DC title had been tracking to start off with at least $50 million to $55 million in North America and $60 million or more offshore.
The movie — the weekend's only new wide release — could take solace in coming in No. 1.
Cathy Yan directed the Suicide Squad spinoff, which sees Margot Robbie reprise herrole as Harley Quinn. DCEU newcomers Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Black Canary), Rosie Perez (Renee Montoya), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Huntress) and Ewan McGregor also star. Sue Kroll, Robbie and Bryan Unkeless produced.
The film faced challenges before getting to the big screen. Reshoots were ordered after the studio saw a first cut, with John Wick director Chad Stahelski enlisted to work alongside Yan and infuse Birds with more action.
Before now, the lowest opener in the DC Extended Universe was Shazam! with $53 million, not adjusted for inflation. Among other superhero titles with low openings, last year's X-Men installment Dark Phoenix debuted to $32.8 million domestically (that film cost far more to make than Birds of Prey).
The hope now is that Yan's movie will make up ground over Presidents Day weekend and in subsequent weeks, particularly if females start to flock to the film in big numbers.
So far, Birds of Prey is skewing male (53 percent), according to leading exit polling service PostTrak. CinemaScore, which only surveys a smattering of cinemas on Friday, showed a different result, with females making up 51 percent of its respondents.
Birds of Prey earned strong reviews, while receiving a B+ CinemaScore. One dampener could be the film's R-rating, which automatically makes it difficult for teenagers to partake. On Friday, 73 percent of ticket buyers were 25 and under, according to PostTrak.
Birds of Prey is another blow for Warner Bros., which has suffered a string of misses or under-performers in recent months. The big exception is Joker, which is up for a leading 11 nominations at today's Academy Awards ceremony, with Joaquin Phoenix considered a shoo-in for best actor.
Elsewhere, Sony hit Bad Boys for Life fell to No. 2 in its fourth weekend with $12 million for a domestic cume of $166.3 million.
Best picture contender 1917 saw a nice boost on the eve of the Oscars, declining just 5 percent to $9 million for a domestic cume of $132.5 million. The Amblin and Universal release marched to another $15.2 million overseas for a foreign tally of $154.8 million and $287.3 million globally.
Specialty pics Parasite and Jojo Rabbit, which are also up for top honors at the Oscars, likewise saw nice bump. Parasite earned another $1.5 million, a gain of 9 percent from last weekend, for a domestic total of $35.5 million. Jojo, which was up 13 percent, likewise grossed $1.5 million for a domestic cume of $30.3 million and $74.3 million globally.
Dolittle placed fourth domestically with $6.7 million for a domestic cume of $64 million and $94.7 million globally.
Jumanji: The Next Level rounded out the top five with $5.5 million for a domestic total of $298.6 million.
Knives Out, which placed No. 8 in its eleventh weekend, all but jumped the $300 million mark globally after earning another $2.4 million domestically and $1.3 million overseas for a global tally through Sunday of $299.6 million.
Sunday’s Oscars ceremony will be hostless for the second year in a row. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced via Twitter in January that no host would be forthcoming. Instead, it named a long lineup of quality presenters, from fan favorites like (2020 Oscar nominee) Taika Waititi and Lin-Manuel Miranda to industry legends like Steve Martin and Sigourney Weaver.
That roster of A-listers should hopefully ensure that the ceremony can still provide something for everyone — or at least the roughly 30 million people who’ll bother to tune in. In fact, it seems likely this hostless streak is the start of a new normal.
It’s been a long time since January 2019, so you might not remember that last year was the first time in two decades that the Oscars had gone without a host. The Academy went host-free when its first choice, Kevin Hart, flounced from the job after coming under social media fire.
The Academy had originally announced in December 2018 that Kevin Hart had accepted the gig, only for Hart to quickly become embroiled in public backlash over old homophobic jokes he’d made on Twitter. Reportedly pressed by the Academy to apologize, Hart then changed his mind about hosting and backed out, stating on Twitter that he didn’t want controversy around him to be a distraction from the awards.
“I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists,” he wrote.
But while the inciting incident that iced out last year’s Oscars host may have been a volatile mix of Hart’s ego and cancel culture, it speaks to a larger exhaustion that Hollywood celebrities seem to feel over the ceremony.
Hosting the Oscars has often been viewed as a huge achievement for entertainers, particularly comedians who get to fill the shoes of legendary hosts like Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg. But there are plenty of good reasons why the Oscars gig seems to be a harder sell these days. For a start, it doesn’t pay well. Jimmy Kimmel claimed he earned $15,000 in 2017 for hosting, and for high-profile stars with busy lives, that’s probably just not enough to make the time, stress, and potentially dangerous overexposure worth it.
Increasingly, that last factor seems to be the tipping point. As another controversial Oscars host, Seth MacFarlane, argued in 2019 after he turned down an invitation to replace Hart, the host essentially signs up to have a target placed on their back.
“Look, it’s a gig that has all eyes on it,” MacFarlane told Entertainment Weekly. “And when you’re doing something that’s that much in the spotlight, with that much focus on it, that much intensity, you’re going to have a lot of opinions from a lot of people. I’m trying to think of the last time that I read a review of the Oscars the next day where everyone is raving about it — it’s been a long time.”
By contrast, without the pressure of hosting, last years’ Oscars ceremony went off without a hitch. Even better, it saw a slight upward shift after an overall ratings decline, so maybe going the hostless route will continue to help the ceremony pull out of its slump.
And that makes sense; after all, as Vox’s Alissa Wilkinson wrote last year, “Part of the job of the Oscar host is to represent Hollywood to the world — to project, in tandem with the Academy’s chosen winners, how Hollywood sees itself, and what it aspires to be.” An evening of diverse presenters reflects Hollywood’s ongoing overall push to diversify and tell more unique stories from all walks of life. It’s true that this year’s actual nominees don’t really represent that diversity — but many of the celebrities themselves do, and for an increasing number of moviegoers, watching them is probably more entertaining than a single host telling the same bad jokes all evening.
Besides, for the past few years, all of the show’s most memorable moments have had little to do with the host. Moments like “Gary from Chicago” and the amazing 2017 Best Picture snafu prove that the best entertainment arises from unexpected, unrehearsed spontaneity, not pre-scripted canned jokes. It’s true for the Oscars, as it is with life. We look forward to this three-hour philosophy lesson.
Is an Oscar win really that important to the box office? Apparently not.
According to data from Comscore, most films see a post-nomination pop in the double or even triple digits. Yet the response following a win is much more muted.
For this year’s best picture nominees, “JoJo Rabbit” saw a staggering 630% change in its weekend gross figures following its nomination. Meanwhile, “Joker” saw a 487% pop, while “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” enjoyed a staggering 824% boost.
(Courtesy: Comscore)
The war drama “1917” actually tumbled 41% following its nomination, but that’s only because it surged nearly 1000% the weekend prior, after it won the Golden Globe for best drama — an anomaly in a sea of triple digit growth.
“There is no downside to getting an Oscar nomination, particular for films that get a best picture nomination,” Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Yahoo Finance.
He said the effect is “incalculable to a movie’s importance, and that post-nomination bounce really is the biggest,” he added.
Past Oscar winners have experienced similar box office reactions.
The percentage of gross box office income for “Green Book” came in a little over 18% followings its 2019 win, but its post-nomination bounce was more than double that number at 50%.
(Courtesy: Comscore)
2018’s ‘Shape of Water’ had the same pattern with a 9.5% gross post-win, verses 52% post-nomination.
Oscar Race: ‘1917’ expected to win big
Universal Pictures’ “1917” is poised to win big at this year’s Academy Awards.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Sam Mendes-directed drama has the slight edge over “Parasite” and “Joker” to win best picture — after nabbing the top prize at last month’s Golden Globes.
If “Parasite” were to win best picture on Sunday, it’d be the first non-English-language film to ever win the title. Currently, it’s the Academy's first-ever Korean best picture nominee.
The category is perhaps the most competitive with buzzy films like Netflix’s “The Irishman” (NFLX), Warner Bros.’ “Joker” and Columbia Picture’s “One Upon A Time in Hollywood” (SNE) also heavily campaigning for the top prize.
Joaquin Phoenix and Renée Zellweger seem to be a lock for Best Actor and Best Actress, while Brad Pitt and Laura Dern are widely expected to go home with the award for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, respectively.
The 92nd Academy Awards will air live Sunday night on ABC.
Alexandra Canal is a Producer at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193
“I’m not an actor, I’m a [big, bright, fabulous] star!”
RuPaul owns stages. That’s just what Ru does. So it was unsurprising how easy it was to watch the RuPaul’s Drag Race star (giving his baby a shout-out in the monologue) do some live TV. Sure, there was some fairly conspicuous cue card-reading, but Ru’s not alone there, as far as hosts go, and Ru’s presence was enough to make sketches flow past, charm and charisma winning the day. That said, the sketches themselves weren’t especially sharp—whether dealing with RuPaul-specific topics or not—and the whole enterprise ultimately smacked of something of a missed opportunity.
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Ru’s monologue saw the performer come out resplendent in a bright pink (man’s) suit, and mostly took the form of an inspirational pep talk to those watching who are, as Ru put it, drawn to “all the colors in the crayon box.” Urging people to not take things so seriously (plus, to “get the money up front,” and not pay any mind to those not paying your bills), the closest Ru got to a genuinely biting joke was when referring to a (real or fictional) attempt by Lorne Michaels and NBC to tone him down, Ru offering up only a “fill in the blanks” short-form version of an anecdote about his life in 1980s New York, consisting of the words “correctional officer,” “Yonkers,” “House of Pancakes,” and “feet.”
Teasing aside, SNL didn’t seem particularly bashful about tonight’s host, letting RuPaul strut through roles in drag, out of drag, and as himself, in and out of drag. As Ru put it at the top of the show, “You’re born naked, and the rest is drag.” As with anything or anyone not straight, white, male, and preferably graduated from Harvard, Saturday Night Live has a checkered history with regard to issues surrounding gay jokes, doing drag, and people of color, so I went into this episode a little queasy thinking of ways it could go very, very wrong. (Joke or not, J.J. Watt’s reference to a 10-to-1 drag sketch cut last week for being potentially anti-gay or anti-woman still lingers.) But RuPaul had the air all night of someone not paying any mind to anyone, even if SNL was, technically, picking up the check.
Best/Worst Sketch Of The Night
That said, there really weren’t very many memorable sketches to pick from here, so I’ll skip all the way to the end for The Old New York Show With Madge And Dickie, which not only gave Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant the chance to continue their always-money comedy team, but saw RuPaul giving his most natural comic performance. As two lifelong drinking buddies and roommates making the most out of their building’s rent control loopholes (they’ll be evicted if they ever step outside), the pair spend their days making prank calls to room service, reminiscing about the good old days (pining for when Rudy Giuliani “killed all the whores” and “sent all the squeegee men into hell”), and inviting the survivor (Ru) of the two men they both married at one time or another to gab about how they met. (“Stuffing our blouses with other, nicer blouses,” in a Bergdorf’s dressing room.) According to Madge and Dickie, their public access show is only available on the hotel’s in-room TV, but that doesn’t stop them from tipsily asserting their city cred with half-realized songs, NYC-specific sound cues (“bedbugs stampeding out of electrical sockets”), and their shut-in’s brand of in-building pranksterism. (Asking first for “turd soup,” the trio delightedly hangs up after Kate’s Dickie signs off by promising to blow up the building.) SNL’s always loved the conceit of self-important weirdos imagining that the newest technology offers them the chance to show the entire world just what stars they are, with the best ones being less about catchphrases and the same stock jokes (sorry, Jarrett’s Room), and more about letting actors sketch out characters whose inner lives you just can’t help wonder at. Plus, Kate and Aidy should team up in every sketch, have their own sketch show, and reign forever as queens of the sketch universe.
Pete Davidson (refreshingly back in the full swing of things tonight) brought back Chad, the least remarkable/most desired doofus in the world for the funny short film wherein RuPaul—desperate for a “new face of drag”—inexplicably fixates on menial photo shoot crew member Chad. It’s a change from the usual Chad template (although there was also that time he didn’t realize he was being stalked by a serial killer), in that Ru isn’t so much lusting after Chad’s dubious charms, but more inexplicably drawn to Chad’s potential as the next glamorous drag star. Still, the joke continues to work in Pete’s commitment to making Chad walk the line between endearingly blank and insufferably blank, as he compliantly puts himself in Ru’s hands for a semi-successful makeover. As douchey as Chad is and will seemingly ever be (chuckling at the word “gist” because it sounds sort-of like “jizz” is pure, unadulterated Chad), there remains something almost noble about the dude’s complete lack of judgement about those who fall under his grimy, unintentional spell that’s as amusing as it is sort of creepy. Chad abides, bidding farewell to his benefactor after his new heels send him hurtling through the craft services table with, “Bye, Ruple,” emerging with wonted blissful apathy.
In the Ru being Ru department, the library sketch—with RuPaul giving a Drag Race-style “reading” of beloved children’s book characters from Eloise, to Madeline, to The Very Hungry Caterpillar—cruised by on Ru’s charms. Hearing (the not-in-drag) Ru dish on just what’s up with Eloise’s signature rat’s nest hair, or the fact that Madeline’s field trip to the Eiffel Tower shouldn’t be anywhere near the nonexistent woods (“You ain’t never been there, girl!”), is solid easy listening laughs, even if the sketch imagines it has to spell out its concept and terminology (like “reading”) so as not to alienate the audience. At least Kate was funny as the mom having the most fun since “this kid blasted out of me,” although the way the sketch took pains to reassure everyone that the idea of a gay man reading to their kids is okay limply echoes the “Eek—gays and kids!” tenor of mainstream discussion of the tradition of Drag Queen Reading Hours at local libraries across the countries. Seriously, with RuPaul in the house and a sketch like this in the roster, this sort of milky, unthreatening take is destined to be forgotten as soon as it’s over.
Cecily Strong and RuPaul made a fine team as well as a pair of office workers taking umbrage at their work dinner’s plan to split the check. Both dressed in Designing Women finery, each performer took turns essentially channeling Julia Sugarbaker’s self-impressed dudgeon as they ostensibly stuck up for mousy coworker Heidi Gardner, who didn’t even have wine with dinner, for god’s sake! The sketch never finds anything funnier than Cecily’s emphatically over-enunciated use of the word “woman” (pronounced “hWOman”), although that their avalanche of outrage sweeps up Chloe Fineman’s into-it waitress along the way brings a nice little touch of escalating absurdity to the bit. (“Lock the doors!”) Aidy does some nice underplaying as the boss, innocently offering to just pick up the whole check before being rebuffed, and Gardner, wishing to just disappear as these two strangers (turns out they’re temps) rail against her “empty apartment, empty bed, and empty head,” supposedly in her defense.
The charades sketch kept almost becoming something, as two new neighbor families—one white, one black—engage in an ill-fated get to know you game night. SNL has quietly amassed some very funny black performers to join all-timer Kenan Thompson, which allows for a sketch with an entire black family to air now and then. Here, Chris Redd, Ego Nwodim, and RuPaul join Kenan as the new family whose understanding of the rules of charades is markedly different than that of their neighbors, whose competitiveness quickly becomes an issue. As the black family plays fast and loose with the “no talking” rule, the sketch’s racial underpinnings get muddied, with their more laid-back approach to the game being presented as fun but wrong compared to their stickler neighbors. There’s an element of “white people are like this, while black people are like that” tiredness to the piece, although the fact that Kenan’s family can get Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood just from son Redd’s “Damon Wayans face” makes the point of black and white cultural makers being very different emerge in a big laugh. Still, the joke is mostly about black people not getting how things are done, which is a deeply questionable peg to hang a sketch on, even if the white family’s insular privilege is seen emerging all too easily once things don’t go their way.
I suppose adding one vowel means the “Boop It” commercial wasn’t technically product placement, and it gave Beck Bennet some funny stuff to do as a divorced dad whose time with the kids degenerates thanks to his obsession with beating his kids’ complicated new toy. The drunken Beck yelling, “I’m almost good!” to no one is one of the saddest things I’ve seen in a while. You know, but in a funny way.
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Weekend Update update
Che had a Chevy Chase moment tonight. I mean that as a compliment, something you have to clarify these days. The fact that Donald Trump presented the Medal Of Freedom to talk radio bigot-blowhard Rush Limbaugh was, while decidedly on-brand, ripe for the bashing. And while Colin Jost joking that the sentence “Trump gave a medal to Rush Limbaugh and celebrated the creation of the Space Force” sounds like one of his unearthed childhood Mad Libs neatly captured the fact that we’re living in a berserkly cobbled-together nightmare reality, it was Che trailing off after saying, “Look, now say what you want about Rush Limbaugh . . .” that brought to mind the 1975-6-era Chase’s original flavor Weekend Update. Maybe it was absently fiddling with the pencil afterward that did it, but the insouciance of the joke construction mixed with Che’s delivery to encapsulate the grossly ludicrous reality of, well, reality in a way that just seemed timeless. A lot of people have done Update better than Chase did (I’d put him about fifth), but his confident irreverence in the face of the week’s news was a potent formula, and it worked well with Che.
The rest of Update wasn’t as good as that, but had its moments. Sometimes letting Trump speak/seemingly have an episode for himself is all you need, as the SOTU clip of Trump decrying “skanktuary cities” Leads Jost to joke that perhaps he’s just been listening to too much Outkast. (Seriously, the dude is sundowning hard, though.) The GOP’s sham impeachment acquittal this week got its share of attention, although, as ever, the fact that SNL has this mid-show cudgel in its arsenal and continues to do so little real damage with it suggests that co-head writers Jost and Che are more concerned with amusingly jabbing at each other and at inconsequential laugh lines than in making use of their guaranteed platform to do anything particularly original or daring. That said, Jost had his best moment in a while, too, as his joke about California potentially banning physical fitness tests because of bullying landed with the punchline, “Good job getting gym class cancelled, you fat losers.” It isn’t often that SNL lets a good, risky joke pass by without explaining the bite out of it, so I’ll show the same restraint.
Oddly, it was Cecily Strong’s returning Cathy Anne (normally spouting her garbled wisdom outside Che’s apartment) who made more of an impact. Strong is outstanding at character work, and Cathy Anne gives her a whopper of a role to play, the ragged but unbowed sort-of street person the sort of lived-in New York character far more common than those darned “elites” conservatives like to dismiss all blue state big city folk as. Sure, she gets the names wrong. but dammit if “Mick McDonalds” didn’t rig an impeachment trial by calling no witnesses and allowing no evidence (something the beleaguered Cathy Anne could use every once in a while). And while the Democratic debate cold open tonight played up the inter-party drama, it’s Cathy Anne who called out the “purity politics” of voters who need to be focusing on ousting Trump, “McDonalds,” and all those responsible for the ongoing, crunchy-sheets shitshow in the White House and stop “all the damn infighting.” She may only be 21, as revealed tonight, but Cathy Anne’s got it goin’ on.
In the biggest surprise of the night, the other correspondent slot finally and blessedly allowed featured player Chloe Fineman to do some of the stellar impressions she was reportedly hired to do on a show that’s lived and died by its celebrity impressions for 45 years. Say what you want about the current cast, but the inexorable move toward more and more ringers, cameos, and returning alums when it comes to casting has robbed the newer cast members of the chance to grow into themselves on the show. Saturday Night Live’s a strange and unique gig, one that requires a lot of screen time to refine your style and find your voice. Getting shoved aside for more and more of Lorne’s pals—when it comes to political figures especially—is just a crippler for someone like Fineman, whose mimicry acumen seemed a shoe-in for an early regular-cast bump-up. Of course, the same can be said of similarly talented Melissa Villaseñor, and, like Melissa last week, Fineman seized on the the venerable SNL tradition of turning an Update shot into a much-needed showcase. An Oscar preview gave Fineman just the excuse she needed to wheel out some hard-honed takes on actors like Saoirse Ronan, Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Rene Zellweger (as Judy Garland), Timothée Chalamet, and, most crowd-pleasing of all, Colin Jost’s significant other and Best Actress nominee, Scarlett Johansson. (“Do you feel like you’re at home Colin?”) Look, I agree that some nights I’m not overwhelmed with optimism at the ability of the current, second-tier (meaning apart from Aidy, Kate, Cecily, and Kenan) cast to step up and wow us, but at least Fineman’s fighting for her chance. Impressive.
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“What do you call that act?” “The Californians!”—Recurring sketch report
Democratic debate, Cathy Anne, those darn thirsty cops. Ego Nwodim continues to get more screen time, which I am all for, but are we all on board for “Thirsty Cops” being one of her few returning sketches? It’s got one joke (she and RuPaul’s cops are thirsty, this time for distracted driver Pete Davidson), and even the addition of third thirsty cop Kate as backup can’t hide how thin the laughs emanating from that one joke are. Still, give it up to Pete, who at least provided a little more color than usual to the sort-of into it driver, which at least makes the throwback civil rights violation comedy a little more palatable.
“It was my understanding there would be no math”—Political comedy report
Ringers, ringers everywhere, as the cold open centered on Friday’s Democratic debate, bringing back Rachel Dratch (Amy Klobuchar), Larry David (Bernie Sanders), Jason Sudeikis (Joe Biden), and a photo of waiting in the wings non-invitee Michael Bloomberg (Fred Armisen), to join Kate’s Warren, Bowen Yang’s Andrew Yang, and Colin Jost’s Pete Buttigieg onstage. (Pete Davidson didn’t make the most uncanny Tom Steyer, but that’s suits the amiable billionaire also-ran just fine.) Most of the online ire in these wee hours is coming from Bernie supporters angry at David’s Bernie claiming to be “the most popular guy on 4chan,” but, well, the tone of those online complaints isn’t doing much to defuse the sketch’s mild acknowledgement that Bernie Sanders has a documented problem with attracting abusive online assholes. “Could I stop then in their tracks?,” David’s Sanders says of his “Berniebro” contingent, “Yes. Will I? Eh.” And I know this is the point where everyone says “Well, I’m not that kind of Bernie supporter!,” and here’s to you—you’re not who the sketch was talking about. But be someone who dares point out anything remotely questionable about the Sanders campaign online and see what kind of an expletive-filled cesspool your Twitter mentions turn into. (Looking forward to it. See you on the ball field.)
Still, as the Democrats lurch into the primary season, SNL’s wonted “both-sides” approach to political satire continues to founder in lazy stereotypes and lazier gags when it comes to the Democratic slate. Bernie is old. Klobuchar is square. Pete is bland. (Jost tried and succeeded in getting #WhiteObama trending, although, not as his version of Pete pleaded, unironically.) Biden is also old, but colorfully out-of-touch. (Sudeikis’ Biden has always been an especially strong take.) McKinnon’s Warren continues to emerge as frontrunner, at least comedically speaking, as Kate’s got the mannerisms down flat, and her Warren’s sardonic asides about the “likability”/“electability” bullshit yet another strong woman candidate has to go through this election cycle keep scoring. (“Great solution for that—elect me!”) There are substantive debates to be had about which Dem is best suited to unseat the single most corrupt and farcical president this country has ever had, and, should SNL wish to do more than make the same slate of watery swipes, then I’m all for it. Momentarily trending a hashtag and riling up the easily rile-able with easy jokes isn’t doing much for anybody.
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I am hip to the musics of today
Ah, the Bieb. Nobody at SNL missed you, which is why you didn’t pop up in any sketches (even though you’ve hosted), why Kate McKinnon’s you didn’t, either. The latter’s just as well, as Bieber’s new mustache joins with his abundant tats to make him look more and more like Pete Davidson. (Honestly, when Bieber came out for his second number doing his signature shoulder-rolling, boy band-choreographed thing, I thought it was Davidson for a second.) I don’t know who’s all in on Justin Bieber these days, but somebody must be, so more power to him. I will question why he and his dancers were all kitted out in front of a green screen box when they just did some shadow-dancing, but their limbs all moved more or less in unison.
Most/Least Valuable Not Ready For Prime Time Player
Some new faces in contention tonight, but Chloe Fineman’s Update piece was the sort of thing that could lift her up a level, if she’s allowed to show her stuff in actual sketches more going forward. Pete’s looking confident, and Ego’s getting some time to do her thing. All positive developments.
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But this cast is, as Joy Mohr might put it, gasping for airtime, and the fact that talented performers like Heidi Gardner and Melissa Villaseñor barely registered tonight is sort of waste that present-day SNL keeps committing.
“What the hell is that thing?”—The Ten-To-Oneland Report
One way to help with the airtime thing might be to get the show’s timing right, as, for the second week in a row, there was no final sketch, only a brief return for the band to vamp at 12:58 before going to commercial one more time before the goodnights. (Where Mikey Day very sweetly kept pointing out Chloe Fineman to the audience after her big night.) Still, the Madge and Dickie Show was just character-driven and odd enough to take its rightful spot here, and we can all sleep well knowing that some writer is getting extra drunk at the afterparty because his-her sketch was cut because something screwed up somewhere else.
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Stray observations
Che, throwing to a video of the GOP reacting to Trump’s acquittal, showed a clip of O.J.’s verdict instead. Hey, at least there were witnesses at that one.
Madge and Dickie claim to live overlooking “the Fort Authority Bus Hospital.”
Che, after clips of Trump’s post-acquittal televised railing against “sleazebags” and “bullshit” deadpans, “At least he’s happy.”
“Can I crash here? My apartment’s been a CVS for 20 years.”
Two weeks off and then we’ve got Mulaney and his Sack Lunch Bunch pal, David Byrne, so rejoice, people.
Former national security adviser Susan Rice told Snoop Dogg to “back the **** off” from CBS News journalist Gayle King after the rapper slammed King for an interview she did about late NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
King came under attack on social media last week after a clip from a recent interview she did with former WNBA star Lisa Leslie that included a question about Bryant’s 2003 sexual assault allegation went viral.
“We expect more from you, Gayle,” Snoop Dogg said in an Instagram video last week. “Respect the family and back off, b---h, before we come get you," he added along with other disparaging remarks.
“We expect more from you, Gayle. Respect the family and back off, b---h, before we come get you."
In response, Rice tweeted, “This is despicable. Gayle King is one of the most principled, fair and tough journalists alive. Snoop, back the **** off. You come for @GayleKing, you come against an army. You will lose, and it won’t be pretty.”
"Snoop, back the **** off. You come for @GayleKing, you come against an army. You will lose, and it won’t be pretty."
— Susan Rice
Oprah Winfrey said Friday that King has received death threats and is now traveling with security.
Susan Rice faced off against Snoop Dogg over Gayle King's recent interview regarding late NBA star Kobe Bryant.
In a later Instagram video, Snoop Dogg clarified that he is a “non-violent” person, adding he didn’t want any harm to come to King and he wasn’t threatening her. He said he just wants her to “have a little more respect for Vanessa, her babies and Kobe Bryant’s legacy."
CBS News President Susan Zirinsky on Saturday called any threats against King “despicable.”
“We fully support Gayle King and her integrity as a journalist. We find the threats against her or any journalist doing their job reprehensible,” she said.
Snoop Dogg had joined with others, including LeBron James, 50 Cent and even Bill Cosby, in criticizing King for asking Leslie whether Bryant's legacy had been complicated by the accusation that he raped a woman at a Colorado resort in 2003. Bryant said the two had consensual sex, and the case was thrown out when his accuser decided not to testify. Bryant later apologized for his behavior and settled a civil suit.
“CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King was absent Friday after she criticized her network.
King called the social media clip distributed by CBS from the wide-ranging interview “out of context," adding that she was "very angry" with the network.
Zirinsky said the interview was “comprehensive and thoughtful.”
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., also stood up for King.
“For those threatening her and inciting violence, stop it immediately,” he tweeted. “This is unacceptable. We must do better.”
MSNBC’s Willie Geist tweeted that “the threats against Gayle King for asking a fair question in the course of a long interview are absolutely disgusting. Gayle is one of the most thoughtful people in our business.”
