‘Saturday Night Live’: How Alec Baldwin, Melissa McCarthy helped deliver big ratings
While Donald Trump may be able to say many things at the moment about “Saturday Night Live,” we now know for sure that there is one adjective that he absolutely cannot use to describe it: “Failing.” (Well, technically he cold, given that he also uses that same word for the New York Times despite them having substantially more subscribers than in recent memory.)
NBC announced on Wednesday that, per the official live+7 estimates for their February 11 episode hosted by Alec Baldwin and with musical guest Ed Sheeran, a total of 18 million viewers watched. This is the highest viewer total for the show since October 2008 for an episode featuring Josh Brolin, Adele, and interestingly another appearance by Baldwin alongside Tina Fey and Sarah Palin, who was at that point a nominee for Vice President.
Obviously, Baldwin’s guaranteed presence on this show, which meant in turn higher odds of his Donald Trump impersonation, was one of the reasons why the ratings were so high for the episode both live and after the fact. You can also add to that the glorious cameo from Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer, who killed it in both her first and second appearance on the show.
If you look at the reason for these ratings gains, the big takeaway from this at the moment is rather clear: Politics are killer to the success of the show in many key metrics. While you can certainly argue that the current political climate is not good for this country and its unity, viewers who oppose Trump are looking at the show as a sanctuary, and a chance to get a comedic but like-minded perspective. In an odd way, you can draw an interesting parallel here to Fox News. One of the reasons why this network is highly-rated on basic cable is because its viewers are seeking out a viewpoint that matches their own. In 2017, “SNL” is providing something similar to a very different base, but with more of a humorous spin on it.
The late-night series will return on March 4 with an installment hosted by Octavia Spencer. It’s hard to anticipate higher numbers than with the Baldwin episode, but depending on what happens with the President between now and then, anything is possible.
Want to get some more news and insight on “SNL” and the state of the series? Then we suggest that you do head over to the link here! (Photo: NBC.)