Comments on: Can't Kate McKinnon just be the one and only Kate McKinnon?

By: knoxblox

knoxblox — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 02:39:00 +0000

Agreed. Couldn’t keep my food in my mouth watching that skit.

Too bad it seemed like the only exposure she got all season.

By: Halloween_Jack

Halloween_Jack — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 18:27:00 +0000

*sigh* Everyone’s a comedian.

By: Halloween_Jack

Halloween_Jack — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Yeah, when Chris Rock (along with Chris Farley) joined the SNL cast, someone at the press conference announcing them asked if he was going to be the new Eddie Murphy, and Rock asked sarcastically, “What, did Eddie die?” (Unfortunately, Farley did try to be as much like John Belushi as possible, and succeeded rather too well in the manner of his death.)

By: Franco J. Torres

Franco J. Torres — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:46:00 +0000

The very first skit I saw Kate McKinnon do was the one where she played Penelope Cruz filming a commercial with Sofia Vergara. She got all the hard lines while Vergara got the easy ones. It was hilarious. I liked her from the start. She’ll do great.

By: IanM_66

IanM_66 — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 14:27:00 +0000

I certainly get the complaint. The whole “X is the new Y” thing is a tired cliche. But asking why it’s necessary to use comparisons to describe a person is more than a little silly. It’s pretty damn hard to write a useful article introducing an actress/comedian/businessperson/athlete to the world without using some comparisons to their peers. You could say “this lady’s from Baltimore and she’s really funny,” or “she has this one joke where…” and “she has brown hair,” but that’s all next to useless without any context.

She doesn’t exist in a vacuum. She works in show business – she likely took inspiration from some people, gave inspiration to others, shares comedic styles with some people. That provides more useful information. And comparisons to more accomplished peers are compliments.

Writing an article about Eli Manning that simply says “What a great quarterback and a nice guy!” but doesn’t compare him to a single other quarterback might make you feel fuzzy, but it would be pretty silly and uninformative. Context is key to journalism.

By: Pedantic Douchebag

Pedantic Douchebag — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 10:26:00 +0000

I suppose that’s more subtle than “obviously straight” and “loves sailor cock”.

By: Pedantic Douchebag

Pedantic Douchebag — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 10:25:00 +0000

Agreed. Wiig was like powerful garlic, good in small doses, and not good when featured in every sketch of the night.

By: jeligula

jeligula — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 02:22:00 +0000

Jamie is the next Ebert.

By: AndrewMilner

AndrewMilner — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Page Six describes “openly lesbian” McKinnon as having ”lickety-split timing”.

By: BarBarSeven

BarBarSeven — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:50:00 +0000

Bingo!

By: BarBarSeven

BarBarSeven — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:49:00 +0000

Still trying to parse the purpose of this posting, but this comment is as close to nailing it as one can. Notroversial fluff piece.

By: plyx

plyx — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:47:00 +0000

I know who she is. Then again, I’m not a grumpy old fart.

By: grs

grs — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:02:00 +0000

I’m still waiting for the next Gilda Radner.

By: Petzl

Petzl — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 23:37:00 +0000

This really is a senseless thread. No one knows who Kate McKinnon is. That’s why she’s being compared to a known quantity. In two to five years, if she is worthy, she’ll be the measurement against which others are compared. (Or, she’ll just be a Siobhan Fallon.)

By: Chuck

Chuck — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 22:51:00 +0000

I’m still waiting for the next blonde Tina Fey.

By: blueelm

blueelm — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 22:42:00 +0000

As long as she’s not the next Victoria Jackson I’m good.

By: plyx

plyx — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 22:03:00 +0000

Kristen Wiig has her moments of hilarity, but they are far outweighed by unfunny, obnoxious and repetitive gags. (The ‘Just Kidding’ character from hell for instance.) Although it’s early to tell, I think I’m going to enjoy Ms. McKinnon much more. She seems to have a bit of wild-eyed comedy insanity reminiscent of Andy Kaufman and Jack Black. And, to top it off, she’s quite breathtaking. She’s going to do just fine at SNL.

By: Thad Boyd

Thad Boyd — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 21:44:00 +0000

I forget, was Kristen Wiig the next Molly Shannon?

I haven’t watched SNL in years, but over the decades I think unfortunately they’ve ESPECIALLY treated their female and minority cast members as interchangeable cogs. I remember reading an interview with Jon Lovitz a couple of years back about how they gave his spot to Adam Sandler and he took him aside one night and gave him some advice about what he was about to deal with as the only Jew in the cast. Chris Rock, similarly, has talked about how the show didn’t seem to know what to do with three different black guys in the cast, except to start cutting their sketches any time Mike Myers came up with something last-minute.

By: Evan G.

Evan G. — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 21:26:00 +0000

Congrats new Kristen Wiig on joining the same old SNL.

By: Jun-Kai Teoh

Jun-Kai Teoh — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 21:18:00 +0000

I get it, but I think it’s more of a context kind of thing.

When I got my job, I was often “the new Adam” instead of just Kai. It lets people connect dots quicker.

I don’t think it’s really anything with an ulterior motive or even to downplay a person, but simply an easier way to integrate a person to an already-built idea/environment/system before said person establishes an even stronger ground.

By: The Rizz

The Rizz — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:35:00 +0000

Kristen Wiig is the old Kate McKinnon?

By: Jon Winchester

Jon Winchester — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:33:00 +0000

Jamie Frevele, you might be the next boingboing.

By: Sherm

Sherm — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:19:00 +0000

I feel like this article was written by the next Andy Rooney.

By: royaltrux

royaltrux — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:02:00 +0000

She was tossed off an airplane.

(I kid! Much love, Kristen!)

By: clifford

clifford — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:02:00 +0000

I was just watching the opening scenes from the horrific 1980 Jean Doumanian season of SNL, and they were doing the exact same thing!

By: Jose

Jose — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:00:00 +0000

“Kate McKinnon is the new Kristen Wiig”
That’s so sad. I didn’t realize that Kristen Wiig had died. How did it happen?

By: WhyBother

WhyBother — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 19:53:00 +0000

It’s also context. You could just say “there’s this person coming up and she’s great” but it doesn’t really give you any idea what that means. “Great” is vague. What spot do the fill? What’s their style? If I like __, will I like her?

Even Woody Allen was once introduced as “the young Larry Gelbart” (to which Gelbart responded, “the young Larry Gelbart” is right here).

By: royaltrux

royaltrux — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 19:36:00 +0000

Probably because Kristen Wiig is leaving.

That’s not a great reason, but you know, marketing and buzz. The need to get a point across that fits on a bumper sticker. I agree with you, though.