But it turns out that almost the opposite is true. You would think that in an era where everyone knows everything thanks to the Internet, fights on set at Saturday Night Live wouldn’t be a thing. Some of the fights backstage at SNL were started with a joke that turned into a two decade long feud, and others spilled out onto other talk shows and exploded from there. Not all of the behind the scenes SNL fights ended with someone getting punched in their face. Stories of fights at SNL almost outnumber the stories of how great bits were written, or even wild drug stories – maybe that’s just a symptom of a bunch of people in the 20s and 30s staying up for days at a time with the intense pressure to produce hanging over their heads. Even the best SNL members have their bad moments. The Huffington Post’s Mike Ryan was also pleasantly surprised, saying in a review that Drake reminded him of Bruno Mars from last season: “An energetic host that’s been given so-so material that he’s able to elevate – to a point.”Īnd the fact that “SNL” fully integrated Zamata into the episode (versus trying to break her out as a more prominent star) also meant there was more time for Drake, Entertainment Weekly noted, “and Drake was really, really great,” particularly in the “Before They Were Stars” sketch.For more than 40 years, Saturday Night Live has been a breeding ground of some of America’s greatest comedy minds. But when you put that much talent in an enclosed space, you’re asking for trouble. “Drake showed he had a deft comedic hand on Saturday.” “(G)ive credit to host and musical guest Drake for shifting through characters as if he’d always belonged on the late-night sketch show,” the Los Angeles Times said in a review. In fact, the one person who won the episode more than Drake was Kate McKinnon and her impersonation of Justin Bieber in the cold open: … to his impersonation of comedian Katt Williams, and his spoof of colleagues Jay Z and Lil Wayne in “Before They Were Stars.” In addition to performing, the 27-year-old artist participated in nearly every sketch and nailed them, from his opening monologue that recalled his bar mitzvah … In the end, “SNL” went with a third option: It used Zamata liberally throughout the show as a supporting player, but her debut was virtually overshadowed by the night’s host, Drake. On Saturday, viewers were trying to figure out how “SNL” would address its highly publicized hire – would the show again poke fun at itself by making her take on everyone from the first lady to Beyoncé to Oprah in one sketch, as Kerry Washington did when she hosted last fall, or would it slowly introduce her with just one or two scenes? Behind the scenes, “SNL” has also added two new African-American women writers, LaKendra Tookes and Leslie Jones. Zamata was recently hired after the NBC sketch comedy show was criticized for its noticeable lack of African-American women, and made her debut on January 18. On the January 18 episode, the rapper dusted off his acting skills – honed on “Degrassi: The Next Generation” – and seamlessly brought “SNL” back from its hiatus with its newest cast member, Sasheer Zamata. It took Drake only one try to become one of “Saturday Night Live’s” best hosts.
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