Rob Schneider: Kate McKinnon’s ‘Hallelujah’ Cover as Hillary Was the Moment ‘SNL’ Was ‘Over’
Rob Schneider is spilling on all things “Saturday Night Live.”
The former “SNL” cast member and frequent Adam Sandler collaborator claimed the sketch series went downhill after the 2016 presidential election and during Donald Trump’s presidency. The turning point for Schneider? Kate McKinnon singing “Hallelujah” dressed as Hillary Clinton for a cold open after Trump was elected president.
“I hate to crap on my old show,” Schneider said during an interview with The Blaze’s Glenn Beck (via Mediaite). “I literally prayed, ‘Please have a joke at the end. Don’t do this. Please don’t go down there.'”
The “Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo” actor added, “And there was no joke at the end, and I went, ‘It’s over. It’s over. It’s not going to come back.'”
Schneider said he feels like “SNL” and late-night talk shows are “indoctrinating” viewers, saying, “You can take the comedic indoctrination process happening with each of the late-night hosts, and you could exchange them with each other. That’s how you know it’s not interesting anymore.”
“Saturday Night Live” has a shake-up ahead of Season 48, with longtime cast members McKinnon, Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, and Kyle Mooney parting ways with the show. Creator Lorne Michaels previously hinted that this year would be a “year of change” for the live sketch comedy series, as reported by Deadline.
“SNL” staple and 2022 Emmys host Kenan Thompson addressed a rumor that “SNL” would make a drastic pivot for its 50th season (or even go off the air) in 2025.
“There could be a lot of validity to that rumor because 50 is a good number to stop at,” Thompson said. “[Lorne Michaels] will be close to 80 years old at that point. He’s the one that’s had his touch on the whole thing so, if somebody tries to come into his shoes, it’s a good opportunity for NBC to save money as well. Maybe they might slash the budget, and at that point, you can’t really do the same kind of show, so that’s really unfair to just really watch it really go down in flames or whatever because of those restrictions. It’d just be a different thing.”
Thompson added, “Capping it at 50 might not be a bad idea. I don’t know.”