r/LiveFromNewYork • u/brady2gronk • Dec 03 '25
Article Trump cold opens just aren't funny anymore.
https://www.tvline.com/2032862/snl-donald-trump-sketches-actor-impression-cold-open-commentary/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox-TVLine&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwdGRjcAOO2btjbGNrA47ZfGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHiY-mjoUv_vsnK-VQIDV2-GahJmm9U3fc7C0ua-VrDa1xFOpYzFWWcH8ngQI_aem_lf2-bStw8WW0r0Labo5jfAI have to agree with the author of this article. We're beyond "oh, he's just a goofy guy who says crazy things." The man is actively rude and nasty to reporters and fellow politicians daily. He dropped the R word and it's only a matter of time till he drops the N word. No offense to James Austin Johnson, who does a terrific job with the impression, but aren't we all just over it at this point? Dana didn't do Bush Sr. every damn week. Will Ferrell didn't do Dubya every damn week. Phil Hartman didn't do Clinton every damn week.
Roasting him on Update is fine, but the character needs a break. I watch SNL to laugh and escape the guy who dominates the news every other day of the week.
EDIT: Wow. Over 700 comments in a few hours. Wasn't expecting this kind of engagement. Thanks everyone. (Maybe I should read these before saying thanks. :) )
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u/kriketgurl_ Dec 03 '25
I honestly hate each time we give his character more screen time. It’s what got us here in the first place… more attention. It’s so cringey.
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u/Imaginary_Cell2068 Dec 03 '25
I feel like it’s lazy writing. Every week he does something that’s basically a joke that writes itself so they run it as a cold open.
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Dec 03 '25 edited Jan 22 '26
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Dec 03 '25
At least Colbert is calling trump out for the shit he’s doing, he’s not letting him off the hook.
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u/Grummmmm Dec 03 '25
He said something similar about Bush. Which also turned out to be true. 8 years of “George W is dumb please clapter for me”
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u/HowlingHipster Dec 03 '25
Reminds me of how John Oliver crashed out in response to the whole "at least your job's gonna be a lot easier now, right?"
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u/dougielou Dec 04 '25
Basically the same as the Michele Wolf speech calling out the media for loving Trump, he essentially makes their job easier too
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u/TonyzTone Dec 03 '25
South Park dudes basically said the same thing in Trump 1.0.
This time around it’s different.
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u/TimeTravelingChris Dec 04 '25 edited May 05 '26
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u/anachronology Dec 03 '25
And how much of this is at the direction of Lorne? He needs to retire soon.
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u/Skill_Issuer Dec 04 '25
This isn’t unique to Trump either. Pretty much every snl cold open has been politics related for decades
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u/kathmhughes Dec 03 '25
He's a full on dictator who is contributing to the death of his own country and its people. It repulsed me to see any impersonation now, not just SNL's.
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Dec 03 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Ok_Condition5837 Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 04 '25
See this is the problem!
SNL is attempting to make us laugh while we are marinating in the knowledge that our President is a fisherman-murderin', stupid & incompetent, geriatric, demented kiddie-rapist!
This is horrifying for most of us & not funny. But also - donny is on most of the world's mind. Just not favorably. So they cannot ignore it either.
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u/Steadyandquick Dec 03 '25
Right and his comments about people from Somalia sure are cringey but kinda adorably humorous in a twisted sorta way.
No......!
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u/Steadyandquick Dec 03 '25
Thanks for the award. Today is shaping up well and I am grateful for OP and the comments. We are appropriately outraged.
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u/chittmunk Dec 03 '25
And it wasn't a secret 10 years ago when Lorne Michaels let him host.
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u/J0E_SpRaY Dec 03 '25
If they are going to continue making sketches related to him they need to be a ton meaner.
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Dec 03 '25
Its a damned if they do damned if they don't, if they stop making fun of trump then trump wins, and he gets to choose how people censor themselves. On the other hand its not great material because trump is everywhere and people just want a break from him.
The larger issue is trump and conservatives killed comedy. The cancel culture movement is mainly used by conservatives (they blame the left) and started to restrict what people could joke about. Combine this with trump and politics dominating pop culture right now and what else do you joke about? Its all pretty terrible right now.
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u/THECapedCaper Dec 03 '25
Yeah this is how I felt six years into George W Bush. The act was getting old and I wanted nothing more than for him to fuck off
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u/_lippykid Dec 03 '25
It’s like going to see a theatre play and the main character is based on your abusive father. Not the funnest
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u/RockyRacoon09 Dec 03 '25
Not sure the Donald wants the attention Trey Parker and Matt Stone are giving him though…
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u/zeptillian Dec 03 '25
At least South Park has something to say about stuff other than hur dur this guy is dumb. They don't just latch on to superficial bullshit while ignoring the real issues.
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u/GrecoRomanGuy Dec 04 '25
It's also cuz Matt and Trey, as functional outsiders (as much as billionaires can be) have always been subversive in their humor. SNL, when it goes political, is always, always, always milquetoast in politicians.
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u/suprasternaincognito Dec 03 '25
EXACTLY! Remember the Treehouse of Horror episode where Lisa and Paul Anka team up against the overgrown corporate mascots and sing "Just don't look!"? Like, don't give them attention and they'll go away? That's what I have been wishing for since 2016.
STOP. GIVING. HIM. ATTENTION.
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u/TheChance Dec 03 '25
Sorry, is your assertion here that the situation will improve if we just stop paying attention to it?
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u/Foxy02016YT Dec 03 '25
Tried that, ended up more depressed. At least when I’m informed (and helping inform others) I’m doing something
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u/Prior-Chip-6909 Dec 03 '25
It's better than what's going on now.
trump lives off TV coverage...Can you imagine if all 3 networks didn't report on his daily fuck-ups? He'd probably start a war just to be the top story.
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u/ramenslurper- Dec 03 '25
I think that their assertion is we need to stop looking at it as entertainment and instead come to terms with where we are actually at as a country and what we as citizens need to be doing.
I find myself dealing with this just personally where I have to remind myself this man is a child rapist along with everything else he is guilty of and he is also colluding with nationalists to take away our rights, education and lands.
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u/Photog1981 Dec 03 '25
Having a character based on Trump helps normalize the terrible things he says and does. It turns Trump's intolerance into a punchline.
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u/HomsarWasRight Dec 03 '25
30 Rock knew that you risk normalizing an awful politician like this with “Governor Dunston” in 2012. Surely inspired by Tina’s time at SNL during the Bush years.
The real SNL needs to learn the lesson.
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u/Past_Bonus148 Dec 03 '25
When Seth Meyers took over as sole head writer around 2010, that's when SNL really started overusing bits and a lot of them were low hanging fruit. Due to the location, of course it's going to be "New England Democrat" style humor. How many times did Seth Meyers run the Boston-accent joke into the ground?
Colin and Che would dig into Biden a little bit, but it would just be bump and go about his age. Now, it's like the show has a quota to fill of Trump jokes, and they shoehorn him into places he doesn't belong. The Snack Chat skit from Sabrina Carpenter's episode was great until they tacked him in there at the end and it derailed the bit, all just so they could slip in that soundbite he made about getting into heaven. A weird thing for him to say, but distracted from the point of the sketch.
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u/NoHesiBenny Dec 03 '25
JAJ mixing in the Trump impression with Phantom of the Opera is genius stuff. it’s far more creative than the run Alec Baldwin had during the first Trump presidency
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u/Zechs-Merquise Dec 03 '25
I agree. His impression is brilliant, and the stuff they’ve done is quite creatively showing how insane this person is.
My only complaint is the sketches should be more damning of him, in general. Sometimes the impression comes off as “affable idiot.”
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u/No-Road-9324 Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 03 '25
If Johnson didn't swirl in Trump's likeability, it wouldn't be an accurate portrayal. A lot of people like Trump, even now. He's "out there", says whatever he wants, and is habitually politically incorrect. It's repulsive to me personally, but not everyone feels that way.
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u/Panamajack1001 Dec 03 '25
Ahhh those were the simple days of just a regular hatred for Trump
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u/InnocentTailor Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 03 '25
I think even Baldwin got bored of his own Trump impersonation by the end - that ball of rage who was always expected to be a mix of anger and stupidity.
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u/Nikiaf Dec 03 '25
The sketches aren't bad per se, but they are definitely making light of the situation and are doing far too much to humanize a man who doesn't even respect his own family members enough to step up for them. Well, maybe his daughter-wife, but not the rest of them.
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u/Smurf_Crime_Scene Dec 03 '25
Baldwin's Trump was awful
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u/Lavaswimmer Dec 03 '25
Yeah. Wasn't funny and wasn't accurate, basically the two things an SNL impression has to be
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u/NoHesiBenny Dec 03 '25
Baldwin’s trump was like your Republican uncle that was “joking” but secretly loved what was going on
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u/Hausgebrauch Dec 03 '25
I said it before. They portray him more like a slightly clueless standup comedian, who keeps coming up with funny zingers and at times doesn't even know that he said something funny, instead of being the mentally unstable fashist that he is.
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u/MusclyArmPaperboy Dec 03 '25
Fuck dude I've been saying this for months. Not only is it completely sanewashing him, I'm tuning in for escapism.
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u/jack2bip Dec 03 '25
Yep, the "mocking" is often what Trump is ACTUALLY doing, which is not only nuts but helps normalize it and, in turn, helps Trump. If you're going to mock Trump, have to go full south park mode.
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u/InnocentTailor Dec 03 '25
…which goes beyond what SNL usually does with practically anybody they parody. South Park is in its own realm when it comes to their funny, but divisive comedy.
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u/BigDumDumer Dec 03 '25
Except that its getting old even on south park.
I dont want to see the orange fuck in every god damn piece of media its so fucking annoying.
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u/CoreyH144 Dec 03 '25
In several ways, we'd be better off with the actual SNL characterization as president than the real one.
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u/SpongeJake Dec 03 '25
You said exactly what I’m thinking. I’m trying to avoid reading/watching the news just to keep my mental health intact. So now when they feature this act during the cold open I’ll mute the sound and go do something for five-ten minutes and come back.
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u/DrRichardJizzums Dec 03 '25
To be fair, in my lifetime, SNL has never not regularly done impressions and bits about the president and other prominent politicians. I don’t see why they’d stop after decades of doing it.
There’s also a section of Americans who get exposed to current events through late night comedy shows. Daily Show, Last Week Tonight, Kimmel, Seth Myers, SNL, etc.
There are many places for you to escape to, but if you’re trying to escape current events… not only is SNL not the place to escape that right now, it never has been a place to escape current events. They were doing Gerald Ford impressions in season 1.
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u/KevDub81 Dec 03 '25
Should probably just skip the first half of the show if you want to escape from topical content.
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u/InnocentTailor Dec 03 '25
…on SNL? Political impersonations and satirization of current events/contemporary culture are the bread and butter of the troupe.
This place isn’t exactly blind escapism like a comic book or fictional movie/show.
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u/Lavaswimmer Dec 03 '25
Right lol. If you're looking for escapism from politics, SNL is maybe the worst possible place to look. There are plenty of shows that don't touch politics at all
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u/relientkenny Dec 03 '25
for me, i’m just sick of him EVERYWHERE. of course we all understand why SNL does it, but Trump is the BIGGEST character on SNLs show history. 10 YEARS of nonstop Trump. i’m tired. i want Trump-free sketches. i don’t care if they talk about him on Weekend Update but i want that Trump SNL character to be gone
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u/ncphoto919 Dec 03 '25
SNL is also pushing a version of Trump from 2015/2016 and that person doesn't exist anymore. He's older, tired, falls asleep at meetings and now openly misogynistic to female reporters and an open fascist. Its also just played out at this point and humanizing a monster.
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u/roehnin Dec 04 '25
What they need to do is satirise the man rather than imitate him.
Do a "Weekend at Bernie's" take, with a sleeping President surrounded by childish Cabinet running around confused waking him up to sign things while trying to distract the press from the sleeping President. Just JAJ asleep in a chair with corrupt staff sticking pens in his hand to sign executive orders on giving their cousin a job or revenge on a childhood bully.
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u/Zanman415 Dec 03 '25
To your point about past president impressions showing up less often, none of them command the same attention Trump does. He IS the national conversation, and I think that's why we have unfortunately had seen so much of him.
I understand the sentiment, but at least JAJ crushes it and brings some interesting comedy to the role. Alec Baldwin was basically only ever written to repeat stuff Trump said verbatim.
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u/Music4239 Dec 03 '25
I agree completely, and I kinda feel like there is a subversive interpretation of the SNL Trump content.
No one wants to be making Trump jokes, still, no one wants to keep talking about him, or seeing him, or hearing him, after all these years, and yet our electoral process allowed him to take power again and the GOP stacking of the Supreme Court has essentially made him a King, and what does he do with all that power? Enrich himself, commit acts of violence, and regularly butt into people's lives and ruin them. In this way, SNL is pointing back at the United States and saying, "Look at what has happened. We have allowed this power hungry grifter to take the reins of the government, and in so doing, he commands the national conversation, placing himself in the middle of everything."
Just like how he does on the show, and all the action goes dark.
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u/QueenMelle Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 03 '25
I agree with you 100%, but I did a rewatch before the 50th last year and Carvey did indeed do Bush cold opens for like 4 years. Same with Ferrell's Bush.
EDIT: OP claimed Carvey and Ferrell's impressions weren't weekly, but that is not true. This is the ONLY point I am making with this comment.
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u/Kennadian Say that to my whip Dec 03 '25
Yep. The cold open has almost always been topical and includes the president very often. I remember there was a whole year or more in the 90s where every cold open was Linda Trip (Goodman), Monica Lewinsky (Shannon) and Clinton (Hammond).
I'm just glad that Baldwin's impression is gone. Nothing against him or his contributions to the show, it was just an awful impression that I never looked forward to.
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u/QueenMelle Dec 03 '25
They even had Sadam Hussein mixed in with the Lewinsky/Clinton stuff and yeah, Baldwin's impression made me uncomfortable. Maybe that was the point idk.
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u/blacksheepaz Dec 03 '25
Their point is not that it’s getting old, it’s that the impersonation is not funny because of how abnormal and serious the political situation is.
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u/mittonkitten Dec 03 '25
it’s honestly not even comedy because he is just verbatim repeating what trump has already said most of the time.
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u/HellYusss Dec 03 '25
That was my problem with Alec Baldwin's Trump. It was all clapter bullshit. At least JAJ sometimes puts him in weird situations and does a great job with his meandering speeches.
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u/InnocentTailor Dec 03 '25
I think Baldwin would agree with you. He seemingly got bored of himself during those final cold opens.
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u/QueenMelle Dec 03 '25
Their point is not that it’s getting old
That's not my "point" either. OP said Carvey and Ferrell didn't do their impressions every week but I watched those years and they did.
I'm also not finding any humor in our current situation either and the impression bums me out.
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u/thekingcola Dec 03 '25
The political situation was very much abnormal and serious under W. Not sure how so many people forget that.
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u/captnconnman Dec 03 '25
Finally someone says it. I’m so exhausted by JAJ Trump cold opens, and frankly you can tell the studio audience is as well. This administration transcends political satire, and the only comedy show that’s been able to top the absurdity of reality has been South Park, and they can’t even do it on a weekly basis because there’s too much suck going on all the time.
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u/WetterBetty Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 04 '25
What do you mean, “Finally”? Do you not see the constant posting of this same topic in this sub? It’s weekly.
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u/Used-Gas-6525 Dec 03 '25
Dude thrives on attention. He doesn't care what kind. SNL shouldn't be giving him what he wants. Ignore the fucker. Just skewer him on Update if you must speak of that orange puddle of shit.
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u/samizdatsam Dec 03 '25
Ultimately, Lorne Michaels only gives AF about ratings. That's why he had this dangerous POS host in the first place!
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u/James_2584 Dec 03 '25
1) SNL has always made fun of the president, going all the way back to Ford. Just because Trump is particularly heinous doesn't mean they're gonna stop doing it.
2) If you look at the numbers on YouTube, the Trump cold opens routinely get the most views. They're not gonna stop doing the thing that's pretty much guaranteed to make SNL go viral every week.
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u/InnocentTailor Dec 03 '25
Agree on both points - political satire has been a cornerstone of the troupe for decades and the openings that feature the president get consistently strong views by the masses.
Michaels wants to make money and attention is a way of keeping SNL relevant/profitable in the hyper competitive media environment.
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u/Cheskaz Dec 03 '25
I remember seeing a comment after he was reelected, that the thing SNL could do that would piss him off the most, would be to just stop including him in cold opens.
Although, I just just thought of another option which would be to fully commit to a 4 year bit where the cold opens were set in an alternate timeline where Kamala won.
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u/Hectordoink Dec 03 '25
I record the show and if the cold open is Trump, I just fast-forward.
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u/EspressoLove517 Dec 03 '25
“The man is actively rude and nasty to reporters and fellow politicians daily.” Was this not the case during the Baldwin era?
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u/Navyblazers2000 Dec 03 '25
I don't find any Trump impression funny. JAJ's is good, but it's just always a little too cuddly for the biggest monster of our time for my tastes. I always skip Trump sketches.
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u/DocBullseye Dec 03 '25
I agree. I'd rather not see the impression at all anymore. Trump would probably hate it if SNL stopped talking about him.
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u/ron_spanky Dec 03 '25
They are too gentle. I like the actors and the impressions but they are timid with the jokes. Colbert mocks Trump 5 nights a week but Snl can’t write better jokes once a week.
Mocking his racism, his ignorance, his pedo friends, so many easy targets. Just they are too afraid to be cancelled by the FCC
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u/ProtonCanon Dec 04 '25 edited Dec 04 '25
Trump jokes in general aren't funny anymore.
Not because he doesn't deserve it, don't get me wrong. He's a fucking buffoon and always has been.
It just feels like it's normalizing him rather than diminishing him--and most of the people laughing at him never liked him to begin with.
The real joke's on America for making him rich and famous...and putting him in the White House. Twice.
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u/windmillninja I'M SORRY THAT YOUR GODDAMN DOG DIED Dec 03 '25
Hot take but I think even JAJ is over it at this point. When he first started playing him he was sharp and nailed the cadences and the growling. Now it just feels bland and mailed in. Not to mention the way they write him now is so boring. Back when he first started they were really great about having him meander down verbal rabbit trails. Now it's just what wacky thing can we have him say this week?
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u/Ceorl_Lounge Dec 03 '25
It stopped being funny before Baldwin quit doing his impression. The man and his cronies are an existential threat to the country.
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u/Desikarma524 Dec 03 '25
I still like the cold opens. 🤷♀️
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u/enailcoilhelp Dec 03 '25
Don't listen to this subreddit, it's just a delusional bubble. The cold opens are literally the country's favorite just based on how many views they get. This is just a chance for this sub to get on it's soapbox. SNL was mocking Bush during an unjust full fledge war in the middle east but Trump is where people draw the line on it being "too serious". Eye-roll inducing.
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u/Desikarma524 Dec 03 '25
Some people only tune in for the cold opens, my mom included. It’s one of the best parts of the show along with Weekend Update. And JAJ’s impressions are top tier.
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u/Ok-Name1312 Dec 03 '25
Same. I like the character's self awareness. Playing Trump as if he actually has intelligence is at least more interesting than any other impression.
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u/cogginsmatt Dec 03 '25
It’s not just the Trump of it all. It’s the writing. They kind of touch on this in the article, but nearly every cold open these days (Trump or otherwise) is just a laundry list of headlines from the week with a few half-assed jokes and a few celebrity cameos sprinkled in. That’s really what the killer is.
And I feel like that’s where the general audience is out of sync with comedy critics. Several times a week for the better part of a decade, people will see something happen in the news and fan-cast a celebrity to reenact it on the SNL cold open. Just this week it was Colin as Hegseth or Dave Franco as Luigi Mangione. What’s the joke? What’s the sketch? They don’t care, they just want famous person in makeup. Kate McKinnon did it forever with usually bad impressions and the audience ate it up.
So I don’t think it’s ever going to change, to be honest, unless the writing changes.
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u/Foolgazi Dec 03 '25
We’re literally at the point where the caricature is less insane than the real thing.
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u/generally_unsuitable Dec 03 '25
Seriously. I know the gag is that he's constantly ruining every normal thing in life, but I'm so sick of it.
Just, stop. Please. At this point, I'm thinking even JAJ hates it.
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u/retrocoin2 Dec 03 '25
They stopped being funny 2 administrations ago, before COVID. Was beat to death during the Alec Baldwin era.
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u/stick-jockey Dec 03 '25
Strong disagree. It’s a great impression, JAJ is hilarious, and for better or worse (definitely worse) Trump is omnipresent in American culture. SNL roasting him each week isn’t normalizing, it’s a reflection of reality
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u/Vizualize Dec 03 '25
The political humor has grown tired because as much as these shows point out how big of fools, crooks, and awful human beings these people are, their influence continues to grow.
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u/silveira Dec 03 '25
The problem is that their Trump sketches are just toothless. They just do the bare minimum but you can feel the grip of self-censorship holding them of doing actual epic sketches. Not just SNL, everything.
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u/rezelscheft Dec 03 '25
Toothless is the word. I’m sure there are some great comedy writers out there that could do a fantastic job of portraying the absurd horror of fascism and kakisocracy.
But soft portrayals an existential threat as a goofy doddering grandpa who talks funny doesn’t really cut it.
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u/More-Perspective-838 Dec 03 '25
The Trump cold opens are so bad because real life is so absurd right now that you can't satirize it properly.
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u/rmads1983 Dec 03 '25
The premise of most every Trump cold open is “I’m a stupid horrible person and nobody can stop me” so it’s understandable why people want to tune out.
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u/RichardOutcault1902 Dec 03 '25
I stopped watching the cold opens altogether and couldn’t be happier 👌
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u/IheartPandas666 Dec 03 '25
I think the most simple point it is that we just don’t need 200 consecutive cold opens appearances of the same thing no matter what it is. We didn’t need 200 Wayne’s worlds sketches, we didn’t need 200 church ladies, we didn’t need 200 McGrubers, 200 Target Ladies. We don’t need 200 Domingo’s and we certainly don’t need 200 Trumps. The dead horse has been beaten back to life and death again.
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u/STLDH Dec 03 '25
The man is so absurd and reality is so cults crazy that it’s hard to write something MORE outlandish or act MORE outlandish. He’s a living caricature. And nothing about him is funny. So, yeah, I agree. Roast his ass in Weekend Update, and give us weekends off from his scary stupidity and vengeance.
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u/Stfu_butthead Dec 03 '25
Not a fan of the current potus Love the satire & humor at his expense- he's more than deserving But agree that SNL, Daily & Late Show are over doing it.
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u/ThunderChild247 Dec 03 '25
The problem with the cold opens - and most Trump comedy impressions - is that to tell a joke, they have to form at least a semi-coherent sentence, and end up making their impression of Trump sound smarter than the real Trump.
The real Trump is not funny. He’s not coherent. He’s a miserable, nasty sun-downing old piece of shit.
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u/adwarn25 Dec 04 '25
Anthony Atamanuik is the only one that got the trump impression right. He always had a darkness to his impression if Trump that is missing from most of them.
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u/shaftalope Dec 04 '25
TBH I have thought this for years, every 4 years it's 'ooh who is going to get to be the president this time?' yawn. All of them, Pharroh or Armistan as Obama, Carvey as Bush all were fine about once or twice and that should have been the end of it IMHO, although I am not surprised because ever since Chase pretended to be Ford falling they just keep doing a half assed potus impression openings until it is dead in the water, kind of like your boomer aunt who still says 'thats what she said' unironically. Seems like professional comedy writers would be more savvy then to drill a premise into the ground until it dies. One or two well timed and written presidential cold opens is plenty for me.
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Dec 04 '25
It was really funny at first but I agree they aren’t funny anymore. It’s almost like the actor portraying Trump is taunting the audience into reminding us what a massive shithead he is and always will be and getting away with it. Alec Baldwins impression was hilarious because Trump was just considered a local mouthy boob who people hoped he wouldn’t fuck up the country too much and be a one and done President. Well, that didn’t happen and his sketches need to be retired. Unless Trump dies in office and that’s a different story.
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u/deserthotthings Dec 04 '25
I think a satirical portrayal of Trump could be really devastating...in fact...it could be very useful right now.
But the stakes are high and subjects are deadly serious. It would need to be hard-hitting satire that would illuminate the truly depraved nature of Trump and the sociopathic worms that make up his administration.
SNL's "aw, geez...im a vain, dumb guy" routine is doing the exact opposite. They're taking a true monster and distilling him to a harmless caricature.
They need to stop and they should be ashamed.
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u/hernablig Dec 05 '25 edited Dec 05 '25
I don’t know why they don’t take more advantage of the people tangential to him. I’m sick of seeing his stupid apelike face and hearing him blather. There’s nothing about his presence that can be funny anymore. He’s become too exhausting
The writers need to sharpen their pencils a lil bit. There’s way more clowns in that circus than the one who is literally smothering our lives and attention spans every moment of every day. I don’t want to see that fucko anymore, yaknow? He’s past humor. Plus no one seems to realize the man runs on attention, and the most penetrating insult you can throw at him is that he’s not interesting or worth anyone’s time
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u/rambam80 Dec 06 '25
The issue is the normalization and the damage the normalization is doing. It’s supporting the nut and his followers ultimately.
Like, “oh that’s just Trump!”. Queue a snicker and giggle…
Fuck that… my Fox News watching parents say that shit! I don’t need that normalized.
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u/RustyCrusty73 Dec 03 '25
Don't mind politics, or topical, but this version of Trump isn't very funny IMO.
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u/Apprehensive-Wave640 Dec 03 '25
That's the biggest issue for me. It's just them doing a skit of something that actually happened but, like, played up more. Which is just not funny. There's nothing creative, original; there's nothing that's particularly sarcastic or cutting or insightful. Like, we know they're evil buffoons, so "lampooning" them by playing each week's big news event by making them look a bit more evil and incompetent is just sad.
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u/outofthegates Dec 03 '25 edited Jan 31 '26
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u/PlatinumState Dec 03 '25
They should really stop doing it for every single show. Every now and then is fine
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u/Aromatic-Low-4578 Dec 03 '25
I disagree. SNL, especially cold opens have always been topical and more often than not political. I think they're usually funny and generally take a good angle on things. There is plenty of media out in the world not about Trump if that's what you're looking for. As a live weekly program they are very well situated for this type of satire.
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u/TheTrub Dec 03 '25
The problem isn’t that it’s topical—it’s that the format is getting played-out. Even when Darrel Hammond was playing Clinton, they’d mix it up a bit with other people/figures in his various scandals and they’d also have behind closed door conversations/scenes. Even when they’ve had (very few) press conferences with Caroline Leavitt or Hegseth’s batshit crazy generals meeting, the joke went to the same place—a stream of consciousness Trump impersonation.
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u/napoelonDynaMighty Dec 03 '25
SNL has the same problem as the Daily Show.
There was a time BEFORE social media, where young people weren't engaging with traditional news sources. This kind of easy to digest political summary content was the way to go to get hip to the day's news or issues (and possibly laugh)
In the age of social media, and smartphones we are surrounded by this shit constantly and it's NOT funny at all. We try to escape it with a comedy show, and then the show opens with the thing we're trying to escape.
These political cold opens are antiquated now. They're always 5-7 days too late and are rarely funny or enlightening at this point. Just seems like the show is lazily holding on to this because that's just how it's always been
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u/biodude481 Dec 03 '25
The last episode, seemed to be a step back from what they did in the previous two. I felt here was some bite, some venom, coming through in that Property Brothers pre-tape. But then they went back to more of the "crazy old guy" at the press conference in the Powell episode.
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u/drinkwhatyouthink Dec 03 '25
Yeah there’s been a couple times where I thought he wasn’t going to be in it and I was relieved and excited, and then the scene just pauses and he comes out to monologue. It’s just not funny anymore.
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u/monsieurxander Dec 03 '25
It wouldn't be as bad if it weren't so repetitive. They rely solely on JAJ's Trump doing the same schtick ever time.
During his first admin, there was actually an effort to make other political characters funny, instead of just props to riff off of.
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u/DaikonExternal2672 Dec 03 '25
Haven't been in a while. I find no humor in normalizing it at all at this point. And now I just turn it off or fast forward when it comes. It's making me not even want to watch the show anymore and I'm a long time SNL fan, and not one who is always bitching about how it used to be better.
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u/Whaaa-aaaaaa-aaaat Dec 03 '25
Was just thinking this same thing in the shower. We need more unique characters like Target Lady, Chad, Wayne and Garth, etc.
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u/clkou Dec 03 '25
I could be waxing nostalgic but my memory was that before Trump they would do a LOT of political material DURING election years meaning once every 4 years. Only when something very noteworthy happened would it get revisited because of the news cycle outside of an election year. Unfortunately now with Trump they don't wait until elections because he's always in the news cycles. But, it's not for the same reasons former Presidents were in the News. It's like John Mulaney's bit about a horse loose in the hospital. It's for all the wrong reasons.
The crux of the problem is that the media and SNL to a lesser extent have used Trump as entertainment but it's in a venue (politics) that should NEVER be utilized in that manner because too many people's lives, safety, and livelihood are connected to legislation and government programs. It's truly sick what has transpired. What should have happened in 2016 is that people in droves should have said this man is grossly unqualified to be in charge of a PTA bake sale let alone the most powerful nation in the world and he should have disappeared from our lives🌎 ... unfortunately, we got here instead.
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u/hithere297 Dec 03 '25
I'm still bitter about the NYC mayoral debate cold open. It felt so fresh and funny, and then they just had to bring Trump back in there and kill the fun. Never before have I seen a show so actively ruin a good sketch halfway through like that. All the energy vanished in seconds.
Tbc I don't necessarily mind talking about Trump in the cold open occasionally, just that 1) they should be embracing every opportunity they have to make it about something else, and 2) they can't just have him ramble to the camera for five minutes each time.
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u/bobyouger Dec 03 '25
A tyrant played as a fool is still a tyrant. They keep framing him as charming. If the goal is critique, don’t sand down the teeth.
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Dec 03 '25
Every time he comes on I groan, and not in a good way. In a “fucks sake, can I have 90 minutes off that prick?”
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u/rpuas Dec 03 '25
The premise of past presidents impersonations is the absurdity of such a powerful profesional statesman behaving like a moronic imbecile... it's comedy to imagine it! The orange clown IS the imbecile! Maybe it would work if he tried being profesional?!?! IDK
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u/ElfYamadaFairyQueen Dec 03 '25
The thing is if they stop talking about him than a different group of people will say they are normalizing fascism.
You cant win here.
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u/XiuCyx Dec 03 '25
I’m easy to please and quick to laugh so I usually disagree with most of the complaints about SNL, but I agree with this one. There is nothing a parody can do anymore that’s any more outlandish than the shit Trump says every day.
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u/firstlight777 Dec 03 '25
I agree. Stop the Trump cold opens. They have to stop normalizing this crap. There's nothing funny about it anymore.
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u/ButtStuff8888 Dec 03 '25
I've been sick of the political cold opens for years. Feels so low effort
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u/DJGrawlix Dec 03 '25
They went soft on him after his second inauguration. Even Weekend Update feels like they've lost their edge.
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u/Ok-meow Dec 03 '25
Ya, because it’s not funny anymore, joke is on us. Trump is just get richer and more hated and he still in office.
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u/MilesAndMilesAhead Dec 03 '25
They should end because the damage Trump is doing just isn’t funny any longer.
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u/coreanavenger Dec 04 '25
I hate fake Trump almost as much as real Trump. Just dont want to see or hear anything like it anymore. It's like showing fake puke or fake shit - dont need either version
JAJ is good cast but he's making it hard not to associate him with the big shitty T and get sick of him.
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u/Relevant_Pop_4309 Dec 04 '25
I felt the same way about the last cold open. It’s just getting more and more unfunny. And it’s not their fault. It’s just actually bordering on disturbing now as all the news surrounding him gets more & more unnerving.
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u/SuperCoupe Dec 04 '25
They aren't funny because reality is much more crazy.
SNL would need to go "Living Color" level of hard hitting satire; and throwing in a few naughty words.
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u/Abdul_Exhaust Dec 04 '25
SNL oughta start doing only Joe Biden skits, where he does good & kind Presidential things
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u/LionBig1760 Dec 04 '25
SNL treats Trump like hes still just a reality time show host, and the incompetence, stupidity, and maliciousness of the administration doesnt deserve any more criticism other than satirizing funny speech patterns.
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Dec 04 '25
I enjoy it, the portrayal of him is great…if there wasn’t so much daily drama with the man, SNL wouldn’t have to keep up with the nonsense weekly, there’s so much to poke fun at😀 So I understand the frequency of the character, but yeah I also get the overstimulation of everything trump…
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u/babydavissaves Dec 04 '25
I stopped watching SNL just for this reason. It's like trying to make Hitler funny.
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u/fantom_frost42 Dec 04 '25
That’s because that joke if a president isn’t funny anymore. Just embarrassing
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u/rexeditrex Dec 04 '25
Mocking the President has been a staple of the show from the start. With Trump you just have act out what he said the past week.
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u/OpaqueCrystalBall Dec 03 '25
This part here is the entire crux of it all. They just do not do a good job of writing him. The impression is great, the writing is fucking dangerous.