Alec Baldwin’s Trump Addresses Assault Accusers on ‘SNL’: “They Need to Shut the Hell Up”

October 15, 2016 8:49pm PT by Jennifer Konerman

Cecily Strong's Martha Raddatz started the evening: "Welcome to the second and worst-ever presidential debate."

Screengrab

Cecily Strong’s Martha Raddatz started the evening: “Welcome to the second and worst-ever presidential debate.”

Saturday Night Live wasted no time diving into the latest presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and of course, the latest allegations against Trump. 

Appearing once again as Trump, Alec Baldwin took the stage with Anderson Cooper (new castmember Alex Moffat) and Martha Raddatz (Cecily Strong), who started the evening: “Welcome to the second and worst-ever presidential debate.”

Taking a shot before they began, the duo decided to “get this nightmare started.”

Baldwin as Trump and Kate McKinnon as Clinton faked out a handshake as they waved to the voters in the audience, who Strong called “undecided, uncommitted and not remotely camera ready.”

When asked if he thinks he’s exhibiting proper behavior for today’s youth, Trump answered quickly, “No. Next.”

“I love kids, I love kids so much I’d marry them,” he continued. “I helped a kid, Kevin McAlister, find the hotel lobby. You might remember the documentary, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.” 

He also noted that though he is innocent of the allegations of groping and inappropriate touching made against him, he commended Bill Clinton’s accusers for coming forward. “Their voices need to be heard.” As for the women accusing him of sexual misconduct: “They need to shut the hell up.”

On Friday, former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos said Trump kissed and groped her at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007. Zervos is the latest of several women to come forward about Trump’s past, which also included two women who told their stories to The New York Times and a former People reporter, all of whom recall Trump inappropriately touching or kissing them without consent.

Echoing his behavior during the real debate, as Clinton answered a question about health care, Trump stalked behind her and walked back and forth directly behind her, at one point yelling “wrong!” as she spoke.

Calling one voter “Denzel” (Michael Che), he took the opportunity to switch the topic to the inner cities, even though that’s not what the audience member had asked about, earning a loud “boo” from the crowd. 

Finally, the moderators announced it was “time for a special treat” since everyone had been so good during the debate. And so, debate favorite Ken Bone (Bobby Moynihan) showed up in his red sweater to dance. “I needed that,” said Alex Moffat’s Anderson Cooper. 

Just as in the real debate, a voter made the final request, which was for each of them to name what they liked about each other. 

“I do like how generous he is,” said Clinton. “Just last Friday he handed me this election.”

Trump encouraged his supporters to get out there against Crooked Hillary: “I need all my voters to get out there and vote. Mark your calendars, its Nov. 35.” (Recently, the real Trump told supporters at a rally in Florida to get out to vote on Nov. 28.)

Last week, Baldwin appeared as Trump to address the Access Hollywood tapes, asking “Are you not entertained?” When asked why he would say such offensive things, he said he was “trying to look cool.” “I mean what normal, red-blooded American doesn’t want to impress THE Billy Bush?” He later added that he was a “childish, 59-year-old man.”

Girl on the Train star Emily Blunt hosted the Oct. 15 episode with musical guest Bruno Mars, who makes his fourth appearance on SNL of the November release of his third album, 24K. Tom Hanks will host for a ninth time Oct. 22, with Lady Gaga, who is getting ready for the release of her new studio album, Joanne

Saturday Night Live

Jennifer Konerman

Jennifer Konerman

THRnews@thr.com

Continue Reading

‘SNL’: Margot Robbie Tries Out Her Ivanka Trump, Keira Knightley Impressions

October 01, 2016 10:05pm PT by Jennifer Konerman

Larry David also returned as Bernie Sanders for the season 42 premiere.

Screengrab

Margot Robbie as Ivanka Trump on ‘SNL’

Larry David also returned as Bernie Sanders for the season 42 premiere.

Saturday Night Live kicked off its new season with Margot Robbie and Alec Baldwin’s first appearance as Donald Trump, with special appearances from Larry David and Darrell Hammond. 

The season 42 premiere, also featuring The Weeknd as musical guest, was Robbie’s SNL hosting debut. The actress, who just finished a busy summer with her role as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad as well as Jane in The Legend of Tarzan, poked fun at herself and the debate’s recent fact-checking conversation. She even fact-checked her own monologue. 

The season premiere’s cold open started off with a faux presidential debate with Baldwin as Trump, who attacked Hillary Clinton and explained the economy: “Our jobs are fleeing this country. They’re going to Mexico. They’re going to Jina,” he said, trying to pronounce “China.”

“I will stop that. If Hillary knew how, she would have done it already. Period. End of story. I stayed calm, just like I promised,” he told Holt, declaring the victory. When Holt reminded him that the debate was still going on, Trump quickly responded. “My microphone is broken. She broke it. With Obama.”

On “Family Feud,” Robbie played a stoic Ivanka Trump with teammates Vladimir Putin (Beck Bennett) and Chris Christie (Bobby Moynihan), against Team Clinton, with Bill Clinton (Darrell Hammond) and Bernie Sanders (Larry David).

Sanders faced off against Kate McKinnon as Trump adviser KellyAnne Conway, who revealed her gameplan was to “talk and talk until people forget he question then I’m going to make an insane claim about Hillary: Hillary Clinton is North Korean.”

Robbie’s Ivanka Trump needed some help from her brothers, who suddenly appeared from behind the podium with her to attempt to answer Steve Harvey’s questions, before he called them “Children of the Corn.” 

Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda (next week’s host) even made an appearance thanks to castmember Cecily Strong, who played on Team Clinton for “Family Feud,” but first had a rhyme ready for the host. 

In “Melania Moments,” in the vein of “Deep Thoughts” with Jack Handey, Strong starred as the candidate’s wife, staring out the window, wondering about life’s big thoughts. “She saw a man walk just out of sight and wondered, ‘What happens to them? To the people. Once they leave 5th Avenue. Do they disappear?'” 

Robbie showed off her Keira Knightley impression in a roundtable interview along with McKinnon’s legendary actress character. Through laughs, she explained how the roles she is offered are limited, often “the girlfriend” or “the beautiful girlfriend.” 

To conclude the season premiere, Leslie Jones approached Mr. Robot’s Elliot to help find out who hacked her over the summer, in “a puzzle unlike any he’s faced before.” The investigation got more interesting when Jones revealed that her password was “password.”

When Christian Slater’s character from the USA show appeared, Jones vowed that she wasn’t “afraid of no ghost.” 

Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda will make his hosting debut on the Oct. 8 episode with Twenty One Pilots as musical guest. 

SNL has made several cast changes coming into this season, adding new castmembers after the departures of Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah, both of whom have since booked Showtime pilots. Jon Rudnitsky also will not return after one season. 

This season’s additions include Alex Moffat, Melissa Villasenor and writer-turned-performer Mikey Day, and two new head writers: Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider. 

Saturday Night Live

Jennifer Konerman

Jennifer Konerman

THRnews@thr.com

Continue Reading

‘Last Man on Earth’ Returns in Season 3 With a Major Short-Lived Guest Star

September 25, 2016 7:01pm PT by Jennifer Konerman

Sunday night's season premiere featured a big moment.

Ray Mickshaw/FOX

‘Last Man on Earth’

Sunday night’s season premiere featured a big moment.

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Sunday’s season three premiere of The Last Man on Earth, “General Breast Theme with Cobras.”]

Fox’s Last Man on Earth is coming back with a bang. 

After the group spotted intruders on the beach in the season two finale, Tandy (Will Forte), Carol (Kristen Schaal), Melissa (January Jones), Todd (Mel Rodriguez), Erica (Cleopatra Coleman) and Gail (Mary Steenburgen) panicked and prepared for combat. 

When season three kicks off, the Malibu group is still under siege by those three armed strangers and they’re forced to make some hasty decisions. Faced with a fight-or-flight situation, and with no way to escape, the group chooses to fight. 

In the melee, Melissa fatally shot one of the interlopers, Darrell, played by none other than Jon Hamm.

This is a significant moment for Melissa, who will have to process murdering a man. But it’s even more significant for Mad Men fans, who have to process Betty Draper killing Don Draper on screen.

Mad Men left off with the couple, long divorced, keeping up a strained relationship, so the Last Man on Earth premiere serves as a moment of closure – for Betty, at least. 

Hamm’s surprise appearance was a big moment for the post-apocalyptic show, which is consistently adding new characters, but the actor’s onscreen performance was short-lived, dying in the first few minutes of season three. More importantly, he passed away moments after he revealed that his group (along with Kenneth Choi as Lewis and Mark Boone Junior as Pat, who first appeared in season two) came in peace, making his untimely end all the more impactful.

After the Mad Men showdown, season three continued with the newcomers getting to know the group, including Lewis warning the group about Pat, who might be more dangerous than Tandy wants to believe. 

The Last Man on Earth airs Sunday nights at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.

The Last Man on Earth

Jennifer Konerman

Jennifer Konerman

THRnews@thr.com

Continue Reading