Since Phil Hartman’s tenure, there’s been a lot of speculation about who is now fulfilling his “glue” role on “Saturday Night Live.” Chris Parnell, a cast member from 1998 to 2006, had a similar reputation as someone who never broke into the sketch and almost always played the straight man. After Parnell, people often refer to Bill Hader or Kenan Thompson; but while they’re undoubtedly great and fun to have in a sketch, Hader and Thompson often bring a sort of quirky charm to the character that keeps them from being a regular, grounded presence. And while we can’t really blame Hader for breaking as much as he did, that disqualifies him from being Hartman’s successor.
Probably the closest thing to a glue character in modern “SNL” is Mikey Day, a cast member who’s been on the show for seven seasons now but still hasn’t really become a household name. Although he is a constant presence on the show, performing in what seems like a solid 4 or 5 sketches a night, he hasn’t become as well known as other cast members like Chloe Fineman or Bowen Yang, whose characters tend to be the skit. primary objective. Most of the time, Day plays the guy whose reactions are meant to mirror what a regular person would say if thrown into the exact same situation. And just like Hartman, Mikey Day rarely breaks.
Day occasionally plays quirky characters, like Donald Trump Jr. or one of David S. Pumpkins’ skeletons – but like Phil Hartman 20 years before him, some of his most important work on the show is in this thankless . , the seemingly mundane glue role that holds everything together.
www.slashfilm.com
Add comment