‘Saturday Night Live’ concludes its 50th season, plus this weekend’s streaming picks
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Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who is feeling better about their perpetual identity crisis after watching streamer Max flip-flop its name back to HBO Max.
This week delivered some fun roasting after Warner Bros. Discovery announced the company’s streaming platform Max was undergoing yet another rebranding and reverting to one of its previous names to restore the HBO television branding to its name. The internet — including the company itself — quickly mocked the backpedaling with memes expressing relief of order being restored. What’s old is new again, right? There’s another classic media entity making headlines this week: “Saturday Night Live” will close out its 50th season. TV editor Maira Garcia reflects on the milestone season of the iconic sketch comedy show in this week’s Break Down.
Also in Screen Gab No. 181, our experts recommend a celebrity podcast worth watching on YouTube — hold the eye-roll, this one will make you feel like your hanging with friends — and a documentary that looks back on the campaign to appoint the first deaf president at Gallaudet University, which is specifically geared to deaf and hard-of-hearing students. And for viewers who like to plan ahead, our guides on the 15 TV shows and 18 films to watch this summer are linked and ready to be added to your bookmarks. Plus, Melissa Fumero stops by Guest Spot to discuss the Season 1 finale of “Grosse Pointe Garden Society” and her hopes for a second season.
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Turn on
Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times
“Deaf President Now!” (Apple TV+)
This newly released documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year follows a history-making protest led by students at Gallaudet University in 1988, when the school’s board of trustees voted to install a hearing president over two deaf candidates. The university, located in the nation’s capital, has the distinction of being the first school of higher learning designed for deaf students. And after decades of hearing leadership, the students had had enough. The documentary features footage of the protests and interviews with the student leaders, who passionately explain why it was important to have a president that understood what it was like to exist in a world that regularly discriminated against them. Their protest would go on to help pave the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act, a pivotal civil rights law. — Maira Garcia
“Good Hang With Amy Poehler” (YouTube and various audio platforms)
In this land of a thousand podcasts, where every other celebrity is a host, you choose your shows like you choose your friends. The wonderful Amy Poehler debuted hers this March (“I like to be five or six years late to any trend,” as she puts it). And its title, “Good Hang With Amy Poehler,” is nothing but accurate; it has the air not of an interview show but of a conversation between pals you’ve been privileged to join — silently, of course, because what could you add to Poehler’s talks with Paul Rudd, Martin Short, Jack Black, Kathryn Hahn, Michelle Obama, Ike Barinholtz or Rashida Jones? At the beginning of each episode, the host quizzes the guest’s friends on what questions she should ask, so, if you tune into her episode with Tina Fey — unmissable, obviously — you get a bonus of Seth Meyers, Zarna Garg, Rachel Dratch and Fred Armisen making each other laugh. “I’m not here to change your life,” said Poehler, kicking off her series. “I don’t care if you get any better. I don’t have any advice for you. I just want us to have fun.” Includes many ’90s cultural references. Watch the video version of the podcast for the visual sunshine, but it’s great either way. — Robert Lloyd
Guest spot
A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching
In “Grosse Pointe Garden Society,” the soapy drama that follows four members of a gardening club in a wealthy Detroit suburb who are scrambling to cover up a shocking murder, Melissa Fumero is able to mine humor in the dark corners of the stressful situation her character is navigating. The “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” alum plays Birdie, a loud and brash socialite and romance novelist who is carrying her own secrets in the middle of this murder mystery. The dark comedy reaches its Season 1 conclusion Friday on NBC and it’s poised to bring a new set of twists and cliffhangers as the group tries to evade law enforcement and a private eye plotting blackmail. But the series faces its own uncertain future. It’s the last of NBC’s scripted programs without a renewal or cancellation; there are reports that a potential second season could land on Peacock. Fumero stopped by Guest Spot to discuss her hopes for a second season and the classic rom-com she hopes never gets Hollywood remake treatment. — Yvonne Villarreal
Ahead of the Season 1 finale, what can you tease about where things end with Birdie that makes you eager to continue her story?
The stakes are really high for Birdie when Season 1 ends. She has everything she’s ever wanted, but the really dark cloud of her choices and circumstances hangs over her. I think she’s probably terrified of losing it all, which maybe makes her make more bad choices? I hope we get renewed because I really want to know what happens next!
What have you found intriguing about exploring a character like Birdie, who has such a layered backstory, against the backdrop of friends unexpectedly committing a crime?
What intrigued me the most about Birdie was definitely the “what you see is not what you get” aspect of her character. On the surface, she’s powerful, self-assured, glamorous, wild and free-spirited; and while most of that is true, she is also really lost, vulnerable, and maybe having a bit of an identity crisis. Then she’s plopped into this garden club with three people who become friends — maybe the first real friends she’s ever had — and they all get roped into this crazy, mostly accidental murder. That’s A LOT of fun stuff to explore and play, and a dream for any actor, honestly.
What have you watched recently that you’re recommending to everyone you know?
I am VERY into “The Last of Us” [HBO Max] right now. This season is insane, and I look forward to it every week. It’s such an exciting and heart-wrenching show. Isabela Merced (who I am a fan of and love seeing a Latina play a leading role on such an epic show) and Bella Ramsey are doing such extraordinary work. It’s also very dark, but I find myself drawn to darker things these days — there’s something cathartic about it.
I think that’s why even “Grosse Pointe Garden Society” is such a fun watch.We don’t go too dark. But there are days where the world really feels like it’s on fire and I find myself wanting to watch people survive things, big or small. It’s weirdly comforting.
What’s your go-to comfort watch, the film or TV show you return to again and again?
“When Harry Met Sally” [VOD]. It’s a perfect movie. A perfect rom-com. If it’s on a streamer or playing live, I will watch. It’s on a lot of airlines, and I’d say my last five viewings were on flights. I should just buy it, but I’m afraid I’ll put it on every night and never watch anything else ever again. It’s so good. I hope they never, ever try to remake it. Don’t touch it. It’s too perfect.
Break down
Times staffers chew on the pop culture of the moment — love it, hate it or somewhere in between
“Saturday Night Live’s” historic Season 50 is coming to a close this weekend, with Scarlett Johansson as host, and it’s been nothing short of memorable. There were many cameos, whether political figures (Kamala Harris, Tim Kaine) or celebrities in the zeitgeist (Julia Fox, Sam Rockwell), multihyphenate hosts (Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande) and regular appearances from former cast members, including Maya Rudolph, Mike Myers, Andy Samberg and Dana Carvey. But what also made this season special was the programming that happened outside of it: “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert,” which featured a phenomenal lineup of musicians and comedy skits; a live prime-time special; and a pair of docuseries that shed light on the show’s history, “Beyond Saturday Night” and “Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music.”
The series’ effect on television and comedy over the decades cannot be overstated, having churned out dozens of film and TV stars, now mainstays and creators in their own right (Tina Fey, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy, to name a few); memorable sketches that have become a part of pop culture lingo and a visual language through costumes that have elevated jokes into comedic art. As television critic Robert Lloyd wrote in an essay reflecting on the show’s 50th, the show survives through constant churn, whether through hosts, cast members or the comedy it produces. And even as culture and technology evolves, it remains a stalwart of television: “Counted out more than once, it has risen from the mat to fight again, new wins erasing old losses — a once and future champ.” — Maira Garcia
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