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Phil Hartman was a true artist. The Ronald Reagan SNL skit where he's planning with his White House staff and generals and he's on top of every detail while eve

Phil Hartman was a true artist. The Ronald Reagan SNL skit where he's planning with his White House staff and generals and he's on top of every detail while everyone else can't keep up with him, that skit is superb. It is the most flattering portrayal of a US president that SNL has ever done, even though he's talking about doing shady stuff like funding the Contras. It's flattering because when I saw it as a kid I really buy Hartman's performance that Reagan crushes his tasks.

jprd 2y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wfPlgKFh8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wfPlgKFh8
sdwr 2y ago
Funny that it was commenting on the exact opposite, that Reagan was senile and had lost control of the CIA. Without the context it does look like he's a superhero though.
- racl101 2y ago
  I thought it was being ironic. That on SNL he's competent and gets stuff done. Even if those things are shady and questionnable. And as a teen who didn't know shit about anything that's the impression it made on me. And frankly that's the point I was making. Not that Reagan was competent, but rather that Phil Hartman did a good job at portraying him as competent. If you just see the skit for what it is, Phil Hartman had a lot of dialogue to deliver with precision and skill. Especially when you compare with other performers. Fast forward to a decade later and you got Jimmy Fallon who can't utter one line without cracking up
  - JojoFatsani 2y ago
    It was satire. The joke of the sketch was that the if the WH and their damage control campaign were being genuinely transparent, the response would have had to have been an act of sheer genius, and not the clear debacle everyone knew it was. I mean, the sketch was written by Al Franken: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_12#:~:text=In%20a%20sketch%20written%20by,Guest%20appearance%20by%20Eric%20Idle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_12#....

jprd 2y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wfPlgKFh8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wfPlgKFh8

sdwr 2y ago

Funny that it was commenting on the exact opposite, that Reagan was senile and had lost control of the CIA. Without the context it does look like he's a superhero though.

racl101 2y ago
I thought it was being ironic. That on SNL he's competent and gets stuff done. Even if those things are shady and questionnable. And as a teen who didn't know shit about anything that's the impression it made on me. And frankly that's the point I was making. Not that Reagan was competent, but rather that Phil Hartman did a good job at portraying him as competent. If you just see the skit for what it is, Phil Hartman had a lot of dialogue to deliver with precision and skill. Especially when you compare with other performers. Fast forward to a decade later and you got Jimmy Fallon who can't utter one line without cracking up
- JojoFatsani 2y ago
  It was satire. The joke of the sketch was that the if the WH and their damage control campaign were being genuinely transparent, the response would have had to have been an act of sheer genius, and not the clear debacle everyone knew it was. I mean, the sketch was written by Al Franken: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_12#:~:text=In%20a%20sketch%20written%20by,Guest%20appearance%20by%20Eric%20Idle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_12#....