'SNL' Isn't Dumping Donald Trump, No Matter How Much We Protest

by Julian Spivey
Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump is hosting “Saturday Night Live” this weekend and there’s nothing any of us can do about that – so it’s time to stop bitching about it, internet.

I wasn’t pleased when I found out Trump would be hosting ‘SNL’ for many reasons: 1) he’s a buffoon 2) he doesn’t deserve the airtime because of the racist stuff he’s spouted (which actually led to him being fired from NBC in the first place) 3) the exposure could help his chances at becoming President 4) him hosting the show will more than likely mean a lackluster episode.

But, I’m absolutely in no way surprised by the fact that Trump, who previously hosted an episode in 2004, has been brought on to host ‘SNL’ this week. Trump is the most famous person in America right now – for better or more likely worse – and thus will bring in massive ratings for the show and network, potentially the biggest audience in many years. Television is an entertainment business, for sure, but it’s also a business still driven by ratings and this is a terrific ratings move.

People will be tuning in to ‘SNL’ this weekend whether they love or loathe Trump just to see what he does and says. ‘SNL’ and NBC honestly can’t go wrong there and the controversy the decision to allow Trump to host will just make people want to watch the episode even more.

Again, I’m not thrilled that Trump is hosting this week – I expect it to be a terrible episode humor-wise, but there’s absolutely nothing that can or will be done about the decision at this point in the week. Hispanic activists are demanding ‘SNL’ dump Trump from the episode, which is set to air in less than 48 hours. I can’t blame them for the reasons they want Trump off the show, but it’s a fool’s errand at this point to demand such a thing. ‘SNL’ begins preparing a show on Monday of the week it’s set to air and dumping Trump would either mean cancelling this week’s show altogether or trying to find a last second replacement host (for material that’s already been written specifically for Trump). It’s not going to happen – plain and simple.

​Boycotting the episode is probably the only true way activists can get to ‘SNL’ at this point and even that’s likely not going to have any impact on the episode’s predicted mass ratings. Although, there is one form of protest that could be interesting come Saturday night. The group DeportRacism.com has announced that they will pay $5,000 to any studio audience member who shouts either “Trump is racist” or “Deport racism” during the live telecast. I actually hope this happens, but sincerely doubt it will.

Saturday night’s episode of ‘SNL’ is likely going to be a train-wreck, but it’s a train-wreck that’s pretty much already in progress. The best we can do as viewers at this point is sit back, watch and hope for the best or simply not watch at all. I’ll watch, as I always do, and hope for a few laughs and that one audience member (or even cast member) has the guts to collect that $5,000.

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