Posted on 04/27/2018 11:08:57 AM PDT by Red Badger
“Saturday Night Live,” you can do it — better.
Comedian Rob Schneider burst out on the scene on "Saturday Night Live" in the 1990s, but nearly three decades later, he thinks the hit NBC comedy series is bursting the punchline when it comes to the Trump White House.
The 54-year-old San Francisco native, who was part of the show's now-legendary cast that included Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, David Spade and Adam Sandler, says the show today is no different in some ways — yet when it comes to politics, they are too obviously "showing their hand" by consistently bashing President Trump and Republicans.
"The fun of 'Saturday Night Live' was always you never knew which way they leaned politically," he told the Daily News. "You kind of assumed they would lean more left and liberal, but now the cat's out of the bag they are completely against Trump, which I think makes it less interesting because you know the direction the piece is going."
Schneider — the star of Netflix's "Real Rob," which is streaming now — compares Alec Baldwin's visceral portrayal of Trump to that of Carvey, who impersonated President George H.W. Bush on the show more than 30 times between 1987 and 2000.
"Carvey played it respectfully," Schneider said. "To me, the genius of Dana Carvey was Dana always had empathy for the people he played, and Alec Baldwin has nothing but a fuming, seething anger toward the person he plays."
Schneider said Baldwin is "hard to watch" as Trump because his political slant is obvious by a quick glimpse at his Twitter account.
"Alec Baldwin is a brilliant actor… he's not a comedian," Schneider flatly shared.
"I don't find his impression to be comical," he added. "Because, like I said, I know the way his politics lean and it spoils any surprise. There's no possible surprise. He so clearly hates the man he's playing."
Politics will be front and center at this year's Emmy Awards as "Weekend Update" hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che will serve as hosts of the annual ceremony on NBC, with "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels at the helm as producer.
A Democrat for most of his life, Schneider recently switched to being an Independent. He confronts a shifting political climate as he regularly performs stand-up, including upcoming gigs in Portland, Ore., Jacksonville, Fla., and Nashville, Tenn. He's also been accompanying his dear old friend Sandler on his comedy tour, which was filmed for an upcoming Netflix special at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, N.J., this week.
He enjoys finding humor in making fun of liberals so they can find the "hypocrisy" in their actions — something Schneider says has become increasingly difficult in today's "PC" culture.
Rob Schneider's daughter, singer Elle King, is engaged
"Literally if you don't go the party line — you're out. There's a real ugliness to it," he explained.
Schneider has had some controversial characters that might not fly in today's more sensitive culture.
In the film "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," Schneider portrayed an Asian priest, which received backlash for the stereotypical accent and nearly-shut eyes. Schneider's grandmother was Filipina and married his grandfather, a white Army private.
Among his other politically incorrect acts were as a Middle Eastern delivery man in "Big Daddy," a Latino townie character — who shouts "You can do it!" — in "The Waterboy" and a stereotypical Native Hawaiian character in "50 First Dates," among others.
Schneider did not reveal if he supports Trump, calling himself a centrist. But he thinks the Trump-bashing is counterproductive — and could undermine the President's success.
"Nothing good can come from making Trump nervous," Schneider continued. "It's like asking Bill Cosby to top off your drink."
The now-President was one of Schneider's co-stars in "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," in which Schneider played a smarmy hotel bellman and Trump — whose Plaza Hotel was a key setting for the movie — made a cameo as himself.
Schneider hadn't told "SNL" he was filming the flick and figured he could manage shooting the movie during the day and being on the late-night show hours later. But the filming dragged on.
"I didn't sleep for two weeks," Schneider recalled.
"[Trump] was nice enough to give me a room. He gave me a room for free, so I could sleep between shots," Schneider said. "He was very generous and nice and has been nice every time I saw him. He told me hated me, but he was kind of joking because I made fun of him."
Schneider doesn't agree with Trump particularly about immigrants. The actor's wife hails from Mexico City and the couple shares a daughter, who speaks both Spanish and English.
In June 2015, Schneider tweeted at Trump that his daughter's only "problem" was that she could speak two languages before the age of three.
"I make fun of the Republicans too," he told The News. "I think attacking immigrants is ignorant. Immigrants are what make America great."
The second season of Schneider's Netflix series "Real Rob" stars his real-life wife Patricia Azarcoya and their 5-year-old daughter, Miranda.
Schneider said the future of entertainment is narcissism, so why not do the most "real" thing he could think of by pulling stories from his actual life.
"Everybody posts everything that they do. I think that the future of it is for the audience to figure what's real, what's not real and to differentiate between the two. And I think the closer you can get to the bone I think the more interesting it is," he explained. "I mean, the Kardashian show is a gigantic hit, but there's fabrications there. They are still creating stuff."
Schneider is no Kardashian — and he said his show exhibits the most horrible behavior, because that's what is funny. His wife and assistant Jamie Lissow write most of the episodes and he goes back to rewrite them "and of course make it way better," he joked.
While "Real Rob" is about, well, the real Rob Schneider, the pitfalls of fame — and diminishing fame. The actor can still vividly recall the days before he was famous and later when he was at the height of his game.
He thought back to a time when Chris Farley was a nobody and they were just unknown funny men waiting on a big break from "SNL" honcho Michaels.
Nearly 28 years ago, Schneider was checking into a hotel in Manhattan just steps away from 30 Rock and heard a booming voice that would later become legendary.
He had never seen Farley before — it was before social media after all — and only heard that they would be joining the cast together.
"I just assumed it was going to be dinner. I didn't realize 11 shots of tequila later he was going to be standing on the table with his shirt off," he said. "And he wasn't a famous naked fat guy, he was just a not famous fat naked guy dancing on a table."
"Even though it was ridiculous and embarrassing and I never went back to the restaurant, it was still hilarious," Schneider recalled. "He just had a way of doing things. Most people would be horrified, to me I was dying laughing."
Farley died in 1997 at the young age of 33. His "SNL" co-stars like Schneider, Sandler, Rock and Spade went on to star in a number of blockbusters, including the best friend reunion trip "Grown Ups."
"Real Rob" Season 2, which Schneider called the "most creatively rewarding experience" of his career, is streaming on Netflix, with a Season 3 already in the works.
They’re liberals. By definition, they’re haters.
“Dude”
That’s why I don’t watch.
The last SNL I watched, Eddie Murphy was a member..............
“Kill de white people,
But buy my record first.”
He was onto something then, and it’s even more so now.
That is a funny joke. The crap Alec Baldwin does is nothing but vitriol.
Apparently Rob still doesn’t know the difference between Legal Immigrants and Illegal Invaders.
Can’t be because his Wife is from Mexico City. My M-I-L and a S-I-L were both born in Mexico City. They both think Illegal Immigration is terrible and should be stopped.
Wow...I quit watching it after college. Still remember John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, and Chevy Chase when it was funny.
I used to be a big SNL fan. Now when I want a good laugh I go to Youtube and watch old SNL clips, MadTV’s Stewart and In Living Color’s Wanda.
Didn’t sound like a Joke to me.
It just buys into the Trump is dangerous meme.
Yep, The Golden Era.................
But this --
Schneider doesn't agree with Trump particularly about immigrants. The actor's wife hails from Mexico City and the couple shares a daughter, who speaks both Spanish and English.
"I make fun of the Republicans too," he told The News. "I think attacking immigrants is ignorant. Immigrants are what make America great."
Can no one make the distinction between CRIMINALS and CITIZENS?? I don't care where anyone was born. I don't like criminals. Why is that hard?
I don't agree with that. It was pretty obvious they were left leaning from their first years, Chevy Chase's bumbling Gerald Ford impression was one of the very first the show is remembered for. I will agree that they didn't hit you over the head with their leftist politics in the 80's and 90's when Rob Schneider was on, the leftist bent was still there, it was just more subtle.
SNL is a microcosm of the entire media - the political brainwashing and uniformity is complete. There is no pretense of detachment.
---------
We want LEGAL IMMIGRANTS!!! not ILLEGAL! Stop the ignorance.
snl hasn’t been funny for the last 30 years. Maybe more.
The problem with SNL is obvious and simple “HATE” is not funny.
I love President Trump and I also love a GOOD President Trump joke.
Schneider probly isn’t a Conservative, but at least he seems reasonable.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.