The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts & News
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 — 5A

NBC

The bird-man is maybe more attractive than Benedict Cumberbatch.

In the 41 years that “Saturday 

Night Live” has been on the air, 
the long-standing live sketch 
comedy series has thrived on 
the special material that ensues 
during electoral years. This 

year has been no exception to 
that rule, with Kate McKinnon 
(“Ghostbusters”) 
and 
Alec 

Baldwin’s (“30 Rock”) respective 
portrayals of Hillary Clinton 
and Donald Trump taking the 
stage for one last laugh. With no 
debates left as comedic fodder, 
this week’s “SNL” focused on 

political commentary of Trump 
and the media’s coverage of 
the candidate’s transgressions 
versus Clinton’s email scandal 
with 
the 
FBI. 
This 
past 

Saturday’s episode of “SNL” is 
the last before the polls open, 
and McKinnon and Baldwin 
broke character during the cold 

SNL contemplates Trump, 
Clinton and Cumberfolk

MEGAN MITCHELL

Daily Arts Writer

Benedict Cumberbatch hosts final episode before the election

open for an appeal for voters to 
get to the polls.

The sketch pushed Cecily 

Strong’s 
(“The 
Boss”) 
Erin 

Burnett 
together 
with 

McKinnon 
and 
Baldwin 

on 
her 
CNN 

news 
show, 

“OutFront.” 
Starting 
off 

strong, 
the 

sketch mocked 
Trump’s 
suspicious 
affiliations 
while Clinton was questioned 
over the ongoing investigation 
of her email scandal. After a 
brief interlude in which Trump 
pursed his lips for kisses coming 
from the likes of the FBI, 
KKK and Vladimir Putin and 
Clinton pleaded for America 
to reconsider our options, the 
camera panned out to Baldwin 
and McKinnon, alone on the 
stage. “I just hate yelling all this 
stuff at you like this,” Baldwin 
confessed, “Don’t you guys (the 
audience) feel gross all the time 
about 
this?” 
he 
questioned, 

turning to an audience that 
roared with laughter. The two 
held hands and dashed outside 
the Rainbow Room to join 
hands with Trump and Clinton 
supporters 
alike, 
returning 

not too long afterward to urge 
viewers to vote on Tuesday, 
regardless 
of 
the 
candidate 

they’re supporting.

One of the more noticeable 

and planned breaks in character 
for the series, the cold open 
succeeds in focusing on the 
exhausting 
controversies 

brought on by both candidates 
during the presidential race. 
McKinnon portrays Clinton as 
deeply exasperated, with her 

concerns 
over 

the 
election 

closing in and 
the 
closeness 

of 
the 
race 

showing 
through in the 
sketch.

Benedict 

Cumberbatch 
(“Sherlock”) 
hosted 
— 
a 

first 
for 
the 

40-year-old British actor, who 
is fresh off of the Marvel film 
“Dr. 
Strange” 
— 
alongside 

musical guest Solange. In an 
excellent counterpoint to his 
stereotyped intellectual roles, 
Cumberbatch showed the silly 
side that he is known for during 
personal interviews and off-the-
record taping sessions. Playing 
characters such as an emo British 
magician (obviously a play on 
Criss Angel) and a construction 
worker-turned-male stripper à 
la “Weekend at Bernie’s” style, 
Cumberbatch pulled his comedic 
side out for the camera. From 
an Apple iToilet advertisement 
modeled after the 1984 Mac 
commercial to another hilarious 
sketch, a game show titled “Why 
is Benedict Cumberbatch Hot?,” 
Cumberbatch 
explored 
his 

sexuality within his fan base, 
the self-titled “Cumberbitches” 
— a fact that Cumberbatch 
makes sure to clarify in his 
opening monologue. “Can’t they 
be 
Cumberfolk?” 
The 
game 

show in particular showed off 
Cumberbatch’s 
modesty, 
as 

Aidy Bryant (“Brother Nature”), 
Vanessa Bayer (“Trainwreck”) 
and 
Cumberbatch 
played 

contestants left to ponder the 
long-questioned mystery — why 
exactly is Benedict Cumberbatch 
hot? The answer — nobody 
really knows. Maybe it’s the 
hammerhead shark look.

Emmy 
winning 
comedian 

and “SNL” alum Dana Carvey 
returned as the “Church Lady” 
for Weekend Update, coming 
after Donald Trump in this 
sketch. Belligerently pushing Jost 
to accept his homosexuality and 
to spend his nights away from 
the criticism of social media, the 
church lady played on the material 
that has been surging around 

Trump’s Twitter account since his 
presidential run announcement. 
On a more lighthearted note, 
“SNL” alum Bill Murray also 
returned to the screen to root on 
the Chicago Cubs, following their 
recent World Series win against 
the Cleveland Indians. Overall, 
balancing the comedy standard 
of “SNL” during an election year 
with the cast’s more serious notes 
regarding the fast-approaching 
decision day was a daring move 
by “SNL” — but it certainly paid 
off in the end with McKinnon and 
Baldwin in the lead.

“Why is Benedict 

Cumberbatch 

hot?” a game show 

asks.

B+

“Saturday Night Live”

Season 42, Episode 5

Saturdays at 11:30 p.m.

NBC

TV REVIEW

GRANT HARDY/Daily

A young boy, Connor, protests the Democratic National Convention with his father outside the Wells Fargo Center in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 25, 2016.

The Best Photos from the 
Presidential CampaignTrail

CAROLYN GEARIG/Daily

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the Republican vice presidential candidate, and his wife Karen Pence wave from the top of the 
stairs of a campaign jet as they arrive at a rally in Lansing, Michigan, on November 4, 2016.

CAROLYN GEARIG/Daily

Students look on and take photos as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at a campaign rally for Democratic presidential 
candidate Hillary Clinton at Western Michigan University on November 2, 2016.

DAVID SONG/Daily

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), an early Republican presidential candidate, signs a book at a town hall meeting at the GOP 
Field Office in Livonia, Michigan, on February 2, 2016.

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks in support of his own campaign for Democratic presidential nominee in the Crisler 
Center in Ann Arbor on March 3, 2016. 

The Michigan Daily photostaff presents their best photos of the presidential campaigns, 
from the early stages when candidates were vying for the Democratic or Republican 
party nomination to Election Day. To see more photos from the campaign trail, visit 
michigandaily.com.

