Over the years, Saturday Night Live has delivered a ton of memorable celebrity impersonations. One of them came during last week’s episode, as a faux Democratic debate allowed Larry David to amaze audiences with an anger-driven portrayal of candidate Bernie Sanders. But there was someone who didn’t care for the way he was spoofed in the sketch: CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper.
Cooper appeared on Watch What Happens with Andy Cohen, who also knows a thing or two about being mocked on Saturday Night Live, and after Cohen offered up that he was offended that cast member Jon Rudnitsky “queened it up” as the debate host, Cooper shared his own thoughts on that aspect of the sketch. Here’s what he said, according to DailyMail.
I didn’t think it was very good. I did think it was a little oddly, like, the only thing he knew about me is I’m gay, so that’s sort of what he went with.
That’s totally understood. For every great and inspired Saturday Night Live moment, there are even more bits where it feels like the writers and performers just phoned it in to reach the lowest common denominator. And while some may have found the Cooper impression amusing, it’s hard to argue with the fact that Cooper’s homosexuality (and moving his head around while he talks) was the guiding light informing the performance. I mean, he might as well have been wearing a purple tie. Oh. Wait.
You can check out the full sketch below.
Cooper went on to say that Rudnitsky went with “a Truman Capote vibe” with a side of snideness. And while I’m certainly sorry to hear that Cooper wasn’t impressed with it all, I’m now unable to think about anything but Truman Capote hosting a political debate. That idea seems like it would be much more at home on a sketch series than having Cooper front and center. Yeah, I know that he hosted the actual debate earlier this month, but not everything has to be tied to reality. Hopefully we’ll see something like that on David Cross and Bob Odenkirk’s new Netflix show.
But maybe we should all give Rudnitsky the benefit of the doubt here, as he’s the newest featured player and was just added to the Saturday Night Live cast at the end of August. Perhaps he just needs to work out the kinks. (Oooh, kinky!) What did you guys think of it?
