Standing in front of a roaring helicopter, Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin, of course) again affirms his innocence. He even has big scrawled black-marker notes that show he asked Gordon Sondland for nothing except “two large pies, extra cheese.” After proclaiming that he doesn’t really know the European Union ambassador and million-dollar donor, he’s about to flee when Sondland (SNL alum Will Ferrell) saunters up.
“It’s so great to finally meet you for the first time,” says Trump, to whichSondland replies with a smirk, “Oh, oh, oh, right, right, right..Keep the quidpro quo on the low-low!” He demands that the media stop persecuting the president,because “everybody loves his ass,” especially Ukraine – and Russia. He can’tquite keep that quid pro quo on the downlow.
You know things are out-of-control awful and weird in Washington when you think wistfully of the Bush years from time to time. You can shake it off and recall the horrors of life with George W. Bush and his twisted vice president Dick Cheney, but there is something still more ominous about Trump and Pence.
Which is why Will Ferrell, the ultimate Dubya impersonator, returned to his old haunt on Saturday Night Live for this cold open reminder: Bush was bad; very very bad. “Like, historically not good,” as he puts it.
Not that “Bush” admires Trump.
“Back in the day, we didn’t use Russians to rig our elections,” he notes tartly. “We used the Supreme Court, like Americans.”
Plus a Leslie Jones cameo, appearing as his faithful sidekick Condi Rice.
When Samantha Bee threatened to stage an alternative to the White House Correspondents Dinner, who knew that she would pull off her celebration of the First Amendment with such style? At Constitutional Hall last night, the Full Frontal host put on a remarkable live show for 2500 guests — and sitting at the front table, appropriately enough, were the directors and staff of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the sterling organization that received a $200,000 donation from the dinner’s proceeds.
The Full Frontal Not The White House Correspondents Dinner is indeed a comedic feast: The roaring cold open brings back The West Wing’s beloved C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney), who takes over the White House press podium to blast the motley online corps of misogynists, racists, wackos, and Kremlin stooges that now deface American media.
There’s an amusing interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper, an even more amusing roast of CNN boss Jeff Zucker — and a surprise guest appearance by “George W. Bush,” with Will Ferrell reprising the impression that was so good he took it to Broadway.
Ferrell killed with the first line: “How do you like me now?” Looking back, the 43rd president complains about his press coverage, musing, “I just wish somebody had told me all you had to say was fake news, over and over again.”
Perhaps the show’s highlight is Bee’s own segment, a counter-historical fantasy styled after Man In The High Castle that imagines what might have happened if last year’s election had gone the other way. It concludes with the speech Bee imagines delivering at the real correspondents dinner, 100 days into the Clinton presidency (when Hillary is already facing her impeachment trial).
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