The long-running sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live might still be airing new episodes on NBC every year, but as far as Rob Schneider is concerned, the show died several years ago. A veteran actor and comedian, Schneider is an SNL alum who’d spent several years on the show in the late 80s and early 90s. He is also known sometimes to be vocal with his political views as an outspoken supporter of the Republican Party.
Schneider recently spoke about what went wrong with SNL in a new interview with Mediaite. The comedian names the cold open of the first SNL episode that aired after the 2016 presidential election as the moment of no return for the show. In the sketch, Kate McKinnon portrayed Hillary Clinton performing “Hallelujah” to address the presidential hopeful’s loss to Donald Trump. Schneider was disappointed that the skit was presented as dark and somber with no punchline at the end, suggesting that this was “indoctrinating” people politically.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
It’s not the biggest surprise in the world to see that Schneider was not a fan of that “Hallelujah” sketch. He has also been critical of Alec Baldwin’s run on the show with his Emmy-winning portrayal of Trump.As Schneider previously told the New York Daily News, it has more to do with making their political side known when he feels the show is better when it skewers politicians on both sides of the political aisle just as much as the other.
Rob Schneider Says the Same Thing Has Happened to Late-Night TV
Rob Schneider also feels that political humor has destroyed late-night comedy. With the late-night landscape dominated by left-leaning comedians like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, Schneider laments how there isn’t an “independent voice” included. He suggests that it would be more entertaining if the different talk show hosts had different opinions.
Let’s not count on seeing Schneider returning as a host for the next season of SNL.
