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In his first Saturday Night Live opening monologue nearly five years after being fired from the show for racist and homophobic comments on his podcast, stand-up comedian Shane Gillis opened up the old jar of misfires. “Actually I was fired from the show some time ago. but you know. Please don’t look up this. If you don’t know who I am, please don’t Google it,” the comic began.
Taking a dig at the controversy, he commented how fitting it would have been for him to be a high school football coach, given the verbally violent stereotypes about the character. After the initial joke, Gillis said, “Thought it was going to be a big hit here.” And ironically, it set the stage for the return of Shane Gillis to SNL.
Soon after the controversial reaction that led to him being kicked off the show, he quickly changed lanes to pursue a comic tone. At moments, you find him stammering, almost out of fear of another intervention, and then continuing in his self-conscious, self-deprecating way: “Look, I don’t have any material that can be shown on TV. Can, okay?”
He played on the familiar note that people with Down syndrome are some of the happiest people he knows (some are his relatives), similar to the reference to the case in his 2023 Netflix special, Beautiful Dogs.
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Netizens react to Shane Gillis’ SNL return after 5 years
The content has been frankly toned down from what its fan base might be accustomed to. On the other hand, those meeting him for the first time may wonder why SNL headlines were filled with his name in the last few weeks before his eventual reintroduction to the show. The Internet’s Shane Gillis SNL reviews are apparently a mixed bag of confusion.
While his fans are celebrating that he is finally back and has made ‘America great again’, the other side is still shocked about this fiasco.
Positive Reviews:
Some netizens acknowledged how his humorous content was taken for granted. Yet the other party just had fun with him on stage.
“That was the best monologue on SNL in 20 years. This isn’t even a debate,” said a comment under the SNL tweet.
One Twitter user said: “Solid, although you could tell it was super toned down.” Another person, who noticed her nervousness, said, “Uncomfortably funny but funny.”
More appreciation started to come with comments like: “Man, he didn’t sacrifice his material at all. Good for him that he’s not shy and is just letting it explode. I can’t remember the last time I watched SNL until last night.” and “It’s about time that guy got his seat at the top table.”
Negative Reviews:
One commenter reflected on the past, writing: “This guy is trash! Someone else could have been found in its place. There’s a very good reason why he was fired. That sucks!”
Another ex’s (formerly Twitter) comment agreed: “That was pretty bad”.
More users said, “Shame on SNL for having such a weird and frankly disturbing guy. This is 2024. Do better @snl.” and “Now I understand why he was kicked off the show”. While another repeated from distant memory: “Isn’t he a racist man?” And others commented on his “Re**** Couldn’t resist mentioning abuses like “*d” and “cra***r”.
In addition to introducing the show, he starred in several SNL skits of the day, including a parody crossover of the film White Men Can’t Jump involving Trump’s ‘magical’ golden sneakers and others.
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