Comedic actressMelissa McCarthyput in a surprise appearance on NBC’sSaturday Night Liveover the weekend, starring in one of the most talked-about sketches, an epic eight-minute spoof where she impersonated White House press secretarySean Spicer. The sketch comes just days afterSean Spicerspoke out against the media for calling one of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump’s executive actions a “Muslim travel ban,” with the sketch showing howSpicertries to twist the journalists' words against them. As it turns out,Sean Spicerhimself has actually seen the sketch, and has some advice forMelissa McCarthyin regards to her impersonation.
Extracaught up withSean Spicer, who revealed that he first heard about the sketch on Sunday morning after leaving church, stating that he was getting so many texts that he thought there might be a “national emergency”. TheWhite Housepress secretary said that he thought the sketch was “funny,” but said thatMelissa McCarthy, “could dial it back.” One of his big criticisms was that she, “needs to slow down on the gum chewing; way too many pieces in there.”
At one point during the sketch,Melissa McCarthypoured several pieces of gum into her mouth at once, which drew huge laughs from the studio audience. Last night’s episode also featured the return ofAlec BaldwinasDonald Trump, an impersonation the U.S. President has vocally spoken out against on social media. When asked aboutAlec Baldwin’s portrayal,Sean Spicersaid he felt the same way as his boss, calling the portrayal “mean.”
“Alechas gone from funny to mean, and that’s unfortunate.SNLused to be really funny. There’s a streak of meanness now that they’ve crossed over to mean.”
It’s only been two weeks since theinaugurationofDonald Trumpas America’s 45th President, and it has been previously confirmed thatAlec Baldwinwill continue to portrayDonald TrumponSNLthroughout this season. It remains to be seen ifMelissa McCarthywill come back to playSean Spicerin more episodes this season. The show previously caught a lot of heat for actually bringing inDonald Trumpto host the late night sketch comedy series in November 2015, almost exactly one year before Election Day 2016. Now it’s the President himself, andSean Spicer, who have continued to criticizeAlec Baldwin’s portrayal on the show, but the controversy certainly hasn’t affected the ratings.
The Feb. 4 episode, which was hosted byKristen Stewartwith musical guestAlessia Cara, scored a 5.0 rating, 13 share in “live plus same day” household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 2.5/13 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters. Those numbers mark the highest ratings for the show since the November 12 episode that was hosted byDave Chappellewith musical guestA Tribe Called Quest, which was the first episode of the show after the November 8 election. In case you missed it this weekend, take a look at the full eight-minuteSaturday Night Livesketch withMelissa McCarthyas White House press secretarySean Spicer.
