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December 7, 2016

SNL: Stone, Baldwin, and Anniston
by Katie Conway - 0


Emma Stone - best known for her dramatic movie roles in The Help (2011), Birdman (2014), and the upcoming La La Land (out December 9th) - is in fact no stranger to comedy. On Saturday, December 3rd, Stone brought her talents to the table and delivered yet another hilarious night of hosting Saturday Night Live - her 3rd time, to be precise! Stone previously hosted way back in 2010 and 2011, and made memorable appearances as Gwen Stacy opposite her then-boyfriend Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man during his first time hosting, and again as Gilda Radner’s Roseanne Roseannadanna during SNL’s 40th Anniversary. Stone is only 2 hosting gigs away from The Five Timer’s Club! 

Emma’s night definitely delivered some highs and lows, but she proved yet again her talents lie in her love of character work and her exceptional comedic timing. She opened the night reminiscing about her time in Studio 8H, claiming coming back to SNL was almost like coming home for her high school reunion - which Stone never actually attended (cue Simple Mind’s “Don’t You Forget About Me”!)  

Some of Stone’s highlights include “High School Theater Show” and “The Christmas Candle.” “High School Theater Show” is about every stereotypical liberal drama student who wanted to make a statement about politics and social activism, but maybe wasn’t quite as educated on the subject matter as you would hope, and the parents who have to endure these artsy, mediocre productions. “The Christmas Candle” was one of my personal favorites - an 80’s music video about that $9 peach-scented candle we give to those on Christmas who we could really care less about. Please note the “We are the World” inspired ending and fade-away film editing. 





Aside from Emma, SNL scored big on another cold open staring Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump. This time, the focus was on Trump’s ridiculous tweeting habits. While he retweets random sixteen-year-olds and dudes with skulls as their profile pics, he refuses to be an actual adult and listen in on his intelligence briefings. To quote Kate McKinnon’s Kellyanne Conway, “He does it to distract the media from his business conflicts and very scary people in his cabinet.” One of those very scary people? Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon, whose character makes an appearance in the sketch - appropriately dressed as the Grim Reaper. DUN-DUN-DAAA!


As art imitates life, so does life imitate art. The real Donald J. Trump continued his ridiculous tweet storm Sunday morning and bashed SNL for the umpteenth time, tweeting out “Just tried watching Saturday Night Live - unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just can’t get any worse. Sad.” Sometimes the jokes just write themselves. Alec Baldwin responded to Trump, claiming he would drop the impersonation if the President-elect releases his tax returns. Want to see an even bigger drag? Check out Danielle Muscato’s epic take-down on Trump in a series of tweets you’ll need a glass of water for after such a lengthy burn. “Baldwin’s impression isn’t “Sad”. You know what’s sad? In 7 wks you’ll be responsible for 330m lives & you can’t think of anything better to do than tweet abt a comedy show.” You can catch up on the rest of the tweet attack here

Aside from Baldwin and Stone, SNL had one more trick up their sleeve: a surprise appearance from comedy legend Jennifer Anniston! During Weekend Update, Vanessa Bayer makes a special appearance with her on-point impression of Rachel from Friends. Anniston eventually slides on over to the desk, followed by massive applause. The two talk about how they became friends on the set of their new movie Office Christmas Party (in theaters December 9th), and engage in a hilarious back and forth of “What? Oh! Yeah. What?” that perfectly showcases just how good Bayer’s Anniston impression is. Bonus: Anniston sticks around for another sketch about a round-table of female actresses who discuss sexism in Hollywood. Emma Stone and Jennifer Anniston may be in the bit, but the real star of the show is Kate Mckinnon’s Debette Goldry.  


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