I’m pretty surprised at how many of you seem to think Gabourey Sidibe did a poor job hosting SNL this week. Sure, she flubbed a few lines here and there, as at the start of this sketch:
But as I said in my SNL recap, many of the sketches this week were dense with wordplay. I thought it was pretty obvious that Sidibe’s minor line-reading mistakes lessened quickly as the evening proceeded. Her acting and timing were excellent throughout. And as for the complaint many readers lodged that she was sometimes noticeably reading off cue cards — well, I refer you to the entire history of SNL for examples of hosts and cast members who, given the pressure of rewrites and live TV, rely on the cards.
This gives rise to a slightly larger question, though. Does messing up a little bit spoil an entire performance when it’s live? I don’t think so.
The history of TV is filled with moments when goofed lines on live television — or during the live-audience taping of a show — only added to the excitement, to the feeling that we are watching performers doing the best they can and then barreling on to the next joke. Examples are legion, and range from Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show
to The Carol Burnett Show to The Golden Girls:
I’m not sure I understand what’s behind the complaints about Sidibe, but I hope no one piles on Betty White if she glances at the cue cards or flubs a line when she hosts on May 8.
What’s your take on the Gabourey Sidibe criticism?
For more: ‘Saturday Night Live’ recap: Gabourey Sidibe is funny, not precious
I liked this skit.
I think Gabourey did a fine job.
i disagree, hosting SNL used to be a very prestigious job for accomplished actors. Gabourey has no experience, she did one movie. If she flustered her lines once or twice that’s one thing, but it was in pretty much every skit. I can understand Ken saying she did a great job, it seems if anyone bashes Gabourey the whole world rises against them. Fact is, everyone is acting supportive and encouraging because she is so obese. Had she been a skinny white or black girl she would have been thrown under the bus a long time ago…
Joe, luckily your cynical outlook on this is incorrect.
gabourey was a naturally funny and fresh presence, with unique timing. loved her.
Joe.. apparently you didn’t see Christopher Walken host SNL.
I agree but I did have some trouble understanding her.
I’m kind of with Joe on this one. Imagine if Ryan Phillipe, who just hosted a week ago, had repeatedly flubbed his lines (even if he did get better as the show went on), or become visibly out of breath during his monologue. Ken would have mentioned these things. I think that Sidibe is talented, and there is a place for her in this industry. But walking on eggshells around her name, all because she is obese, also comes with the territory, and I have a problem with that.
I think she did OK overall, but there were some moments which were uncomfortable for me to watch.
She seemed so nervous it made me nervous for her. Little things like her slight panic at saying DMV rather than Department of Motor Vehicles made me cringe a bit. I thought that was the most blatant “card-reading” incident. I have no problem with hosts reading the cards- I would have too as well- but misreading the cards and then showing panic makes me start to worry for the hosts performance and makes it harder for me to look at a sketch for the funny parts. Instead I found myself kind of crossing my fingers that she wouldn’t make any bigger flubs.
Still, I thought she has a few bright moments- like the Mrs. Johnson sketch. I would much rather see her come back regularly for that skit then ever see clock/ringtone girl again. That sketch is already tired and wasn’t even funny the first time!
I think the bigger issue with this episode is how Ken can not like almost half the episode and seem rather half-hearted about the rest, but still call the episode a good one! I thought it was better than the worst episodes this season, but that this season continues a trend of being one of the worst I have seen SNL produce yet.
This cast needs some new members, perhaps with more experience and skill than the jobbers they have been adding the last two or three years.
I thought she did alright. Sure, she messed up a couple of lines, but for everything else she was great. I am surprised there was no mention of her messing up in Ken’s original article, but still, she was just fine, much better then some of the other hosts this year (Taylor Swift, January Jones, Taylor Lautner).
“Prestigious job for accomplished actors”? Good one. There have been accomplished actors but also plenty of hacks and non-actors–politicians, musicians and athletes –that have hosted and made the most of cue cards.
This was another hit and miss SNL episode. Not really much worse or better than several others. Ken is beating a dead horse.
I am sick and tired of Ken Tucker’s PC ramblings. He is officially the most gutless writer this magazine has ever had. He should’ve been put out of his misery years ago.
dudes i dont know what you are all babbling about. “Joe” is 100% right, and Tucker prepared his reaction before the f’n thing even aired. Remember Nikki Blonski from Hair Spray? How did her follow-up go?? Howard Stern = 100% right as usual.
Joe, I take it you’ve never seen Robert DeNiro host. Horrrrrrendous.
I agree. She was great, particularly considering it was her first time, and she is not (yet) a standup comedienne.
Ugh, she was junk. Not just for flubbing lines, but she was obviously out of her depth by miles. She should be on a celebrity fat losing show.
She’s just getting a pass by Ken Tucker for politically correct reasons!
It’s like everyone in the media is afraid to criticize her (except Howard Stern). Every review I’ve read seemed to only comment on what she did well, or would sandwich criticism between two dubious positives (“she had a lot of energy!”).
Well, I said on the talkback before this aired, that Tucker would praise her no matter how she did. She was nothing great, she read her lines, not that well, but about how I expected. Didn’t think Tucker would slam her and he didn’t. But has political correctness gotten so bad that when he offers his opinion and others disagree, he has to post a SECOND time to say how marvelously she did? I didn’t expect that. Ignoring her amateurish readings were one thing, but to now claim she was excellent?
I agree with Terry – Tucker already made his opinion of the show pretty clear on his recap, why does he need to go back AGAIN to defend GS’s performance? People are going to bash or praise no matter what, so why does T have to defend GS in particular?
Get a life, Ken. So the majority disagreed w/ you. Boo-hoo. You’re so insecure in your opinion that u have to waste our time w/ ANOTHER post about this wretched episode? Pathetic…
You have got to be kidding, Tucker. You NEED to STOP writing the SNL recaps, they are simply off-base week after week.
This wasn’t just about flubbing lines. Yaayy (sarcastic), she did a few easy accents. The bottom line is that she just didn’t add anything comedic to the show. You could have put any other 1-movie actress into that spot, and you could have gotten the same output (remember January Jones?).
There was nothing special about Sidibe’s performance, and your assessment of the quality of the show (and the writing) was far too kind.
Perhaps Sidibe would have seemed better with outstanding sketches. Or perhaps her comic ability could have elevated bad sketches. But this week, you had poor writing paired with an unspecial host.
One of the worst shows of the season.
I don’t think Gaby looked at the cue cards any more than any other host. I didn’t enjoy the show but that has more to do with the writing than the host.
i’m with Linda, my concerns weren’t about Gabriel… she did what she could with the material. but the writing has been terrible the past 2-3 years, some brilliant sketches/shorts aside.
why does she always have a look on her face like she just bit into a lemon?
because she’s not perfect like you DEEDEE
oh please! christpher walken is one of the great guest hosts–go back and watch his shows and he is *literally* reading every single line.
GS won me over with her monologue opening number and she did great. Anyone would have had issues with those giant blocks of technical prose they had her saying in the Orman & Mrs Johnson bits.
YES! Christopher Walken NEVER makes eye contact with his counterparts in skits because he is ALWAYS looking at the tele-prompter. He looks way off in the distance in every single sketch and yet he’s incredibly funny. I thought Gabby did a fine job.
same with alec baldwin – literally always obviously reading the cue cards..but he’s great. they change the dialouge and add in new lines literally minutes before – give them a break people! gabby did a very good job
your bar for mediocrity is pretty low Oh Please!
I agree with Linda. I have stopped watching the show this season, but tuned in Saturday night to watch GS and couldn’t get into it. It’s the writing that is just not good.
doesnt matter who hosts or is musical guest, SNL is unwatchable.
^^ This. ^^
The Mrs. Johnson skit wasn’t bad, but the rest was not funny. They need some new writers. I’m surprised that they would ask her to host after her limited screen experience.
i don’t think it’s a big deal she has limited screen experience – look at all the athletes who have hosted in the past…obviously not actors…and she did better than a lot of actors with longer resumes.
I think just the opposite: people will lavish Betty White with love, whether she does a good job or not. Betty, who’s been in the industry for decades, should be able to handle it with no problem, though. Gabby, who’s been in one movie thus far, was judged a little too harshly. The whole concept of SNL allows for flubbed lines. And have any of you seen movie outtakes? EVERYONE flubs their lines from time to time. And even though people will refuse to admit it, she is judged because she’s a big girl. I read the comments coming in over the weekend. More than half of them were about her weight. People want their Hollywood starlets to be thin (with fair skin) and come up with reasons not to like people who don’t fall into that category. And that is very sad.
She’s actually been in another movie, i can’t think of the name off the top of my head, i think it was an indie film. i’m sure google has it somewhere. I think she did a good job, but agree that the actual skits themselves weren’t that funny. Not her fault, the writers need to dig a little deeper.
Agreed.
jose, that is just nonsense. If Betty White does well and is praised, it will be because of her comic acting abilities that she has honed for decades. Betty White has consistently elevated the humor level of nearly every project with which she has been associated. Tremendous comedic talent.
Hosts almost always look at cue cards! I’ve noticed that with almost every host they’ve had. I don’t think she did all that poorly. I am just glad for her that she got this opportunity since I don’t know if she’ll have a huge career ahead of her. Yes, she was well received for her acting debut in Precious but does anyone really see her fitting into the mainstream mold for actresses starring in big budget films? Maybe she’ll have a great indie film career. Who knows. I’m just glad she seemed to have a good time on SNL and she certainly wasn’t as bad as some of the other hosts they’ve had this season. Good luck Gaby!
Actually, you’re supposed to look at the cue cards on SNL. The writers change the script up until the last minute before the show airs. If you memorize the wrong lines and cues, you might ruin the sketch. Janeane Garofalo tried to memorize everything during her hellish tenure at SNL, and it actually was a handicap.
And if you want to talk egregious, obvious glances at cue cards, let’s talk about Robert DeNiro episode…
That is what T thought of! That episode was the worst. It was like he did not even bother trying to learn his lines.
I didn’t have a problem with her as the host. She seems genuinely likable, down-to-earth, and game for anything they threw at her. And the couple times she did flub a line, I thought she did a pretty admirable job of getting right back on track rather than letting it bother her or make her laugh. I just don’t think the material she had to work with was all that funny.
I didn’t think Gaby did a bad job. The writing was awful, per usual, and the hosts do what they can with the material. Yeah, you could occasionally see her reading off of cue cards, but I see every host do that.
It was necessary for Gaby to do the show, to prove she is not Precious. I loved the Mrs. Johnson skit, and thought “Cherry Battle” was funny. She was definitely better than um, what’s-his-name? Reese Witherspoon’s ex-husband. Gosh, he was on the show just last week and I have forgotten his name already. Oh yeah, Ryan Reynolds. He was kinda funny in “The Proposal.”
That would be Ryan Phillippe not Ryan Reynolds.
Methinks Jeff was alluding to how forgettable Phillippe is.
That was my take on it, Brenda
She wasn’t funny, the show wasn’t funny…it was one of the worst episodes ever (& I thought last week was bad till this episode).
I thought she was absolutely HORRIBLE, and the writing wasn’t good, either. There have been a few really strong eps recently (Taylor Swift’s hosting gig, the Tina Fey/Justin Bieber ep), but generally, the show often is not funny. And, the bad writing is even more noticeable when you have a host like Sidibe, who can’t sing on key and isn’t inherently funny. I think Sidibe’s fifteen minutes will be up soon.
Gabourey showed a great versatility during her stint at SNL that will help her overcome all the haters out there. And all these complaints about her hosting because she did one movie is people just choosing to ignore the fact that they’ve done the same thing with other people. Oh and Christina Aguilera HOSTED before she had ever acted on anything (except the Mickey Mouse Club). Basically, if she were a skinny white girl, no one would have a problem with her hosting after her first movie (or had a problem with cue cards or flubbed lines)…that’s all I’m saying.
It was a joy watching her host. She loved what she was doing and you could feel it (I wish I could say that for January Jones).
It is proof however they they need to add some racial diversity to the cast, and I don’t mean Kenan and Nasim Pedrad.
But skinny white girls are hot and they’re good to look at. Tabourey Fattiebe is gross, ugly and an eyesore. Don’t want that on my screen. Besides, if you’re in the entertainment business, you’ve got to be self-conscious enough to have a physique to go with it. She must spend a fortune on deodorant.
I was only able to catch SNL through “Weekend Update” but I was enjoying Gabby quite a bit. It was great seeing someone genuinely thrilled to be there, and having the time of her life. She is so d@mn likable! And no, she DID NOT read the cue cards more than anyone else. It was even noticeable with a pro such as Tiny Fey when she recently hosted. Geeeez. Anyway, good job, Gabby!
I love this girl, but please – her acting in that Hamilton skit was just wooden and false and horrible. I thought the Mrs. Johnson one, where she flubbed a line, was her best, though.
I actually thought that entire last “Hamilton” skit was dreadfully unfunny (almost as bad as the really long sketch about government workers). Again, I think it’s really hard to judge hosts when they aren’t given strong material to work with.
I didnt like her because i dont like her, shes an obese person famous for playing an obese abused person, the lady went full retard for her roll and now shes on SNL getting tongue twisted on “can’t sustain”? really? thats not even a difficult combo. But the big reason i dislike her is shes so hard to look at, it might be superficial of me but anytime someone with such a health problem is given praise is sad time.
And there you have it. Exactly what I was saying.
Don’t worry, the way she’s going Gabby is going to drop dead of a heart attack within 5 years guaranteed.
We don’t knowwhomay drop dead next. You’r not god!!!
love how you’re picking apart her perfomance but you can’t even get a paragraph completed on here without massive grammatical and spelling errors. stay classy, chase. bet you’re easy on the eyes too.
If you are going to attack someones grammar, please make sure your attack is grammatically correct! comma after grammatical. Capital S for “Stay classy” Capital B for bet.
There should be no comma after “grammatical.”
Actually, there is no comma necessary after “grammatical.” Sorry, chase.
Then Chase, do us all a favor…if you can’t stand looking at her, don’t look at her…”might be superficial of me”? How’s things up there in “I Am The Embodiment of Perfection Land”? Down here on Earth, we are all real and human…and dealing with shallow jerks like you.
chase,
I’m glad you admit you’re prejudice against Gabby due to the way she looks. It’s nice when bigots are self-aware.
Oh Chase your nasty. Gabby has talent and a great deal of self confidence. Would it be good for her to lose some weight? absolutely! I wonder what you look like…..
To everyone that is bashing me because of what I said in regards to her size, please go read a study, Gabby is EASILY over 200lbs, she is well above the limit for a health weight for her height, and as such has a higher risk of heart failure, diabetes, among other diseases. Every single one of you people that is living in dream land, needs to open your eyes and see there is a difference between a skinny starlet, a healthy human being, and an obese person that should not be a role model for people. Don’t hate me because I can honestly say was needs to be said.
Except it doesn’t need to be said. Do you dislike any stars that smoke? Do you hate any famous person that is skinnier than is healthy? Do you just hate halfpipe snowboarders at the olympics because they’re doing something that is a high risk for injury? It is true that being overweight can result in health problems, but last I checked, having health problems or leading a less than perfectly healthy life isn’t grounds for ridicule, hate, or outright ignorance. It’s her life and her body. Whatever she does with it has nothing to do with you. Enough with the fatphobia.
Though I’ve found her to be a very funny and genuinely sweet girl in interviews and was pulling for her big SNL gig, she totally flopped. Maybe her nerves just got the best of her, I don’t know – but I was surprised that she’s better with drama than comedy.
Oh, and that Andy/Gabourey cherry spitting short that everyone loved…WHY??? That was too gross to appreciate.
I agree, it’s impossible to judge any host of the past few years as the skits are just not that funny. I think she did well for what she had to work with.