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      ‘Saturday Night Live’: 11 Defining Political Sketches

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      Since the 1970s, the late-night institution has offered up definitive impersonations of American presidents and other politicians. Here are its most memorable political sketches.Much like game-show parodies, fake commercials and the Weekend Update segment, comedic sendups of presidential politics have become a staple of “Saturday Night Live.”Look no further than the sketch that opened the 50th anniversary season last weekend, for which “S.N.L.” tapped its celebrated alumni Maya Rudolph to play Vice President Kamala Harris; Andy Samberg to play her husband, Douglas Emhoff; and Dana Carvey to play President Biden. Jim Gaffigan, the standup comic and actor, was also on hand as Tim Walz and — oh yes — the “S.N.L.” cast members James Austin Johnson and Bowen Yang as Donald Trump and JD Vance.Over nearly half a century, “Saturday Night Live” has had an evolving relationship with the presidency and how to present it on the show. As “S.N.L.” has moved from counterculture to the mainstream, it has been pretty open, as an institution, about which commanders in chief it likes and which ones it doesn’t. Yet in every era of its history, “S.N.L.” has had talented cast members to embody presidents and the people fearless (and foolish) enough to want to seek the White House. (And even then, it still sometimes called on celebrities to play those parts.)Here’s a look back at 11 of the show’s most memorable political sketches.1975‘Christmas at the White House’Chevy Chase’s impersonation of Gerald Ford on “S.N.L.” was by no means definitive, or even all that accurate; he did not so much affect Ford’s mannerisms or voice as simply put on formal clothes. But it demonstrated the show’s immediate power to insinuate itself into the political discourse. Try to think of a distinct moment from Ford’s time in office: Do you hear him saying, “Our long national nightmare is over”? Or do you see Chase tumbling off a ladder onto a Christmas tree?1977‘Ask President Carter’We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      7 Books Like ‘Heartstopper’ to Read After You Binge Season 3 on Netflix

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      Earnest love stories by Rainbow Rowell, TJ Klune and Talia Hibbert will tug at your heartstrings while grappling with real, often dark, issues.Break out the heart eyes and rugby kits: The much-anticipated third season of the gushingly earnest teen romantic dramedy “Heartstopper” arrives on Netflix on Oct. 3.The show, based on the best-selling graphic novel series by Alice Oseman, follows Nick Nelson, a golden retriever of a rugby player, and Charlie Spring, a sensitive drummer, who meet-cute one day in homeroom. They and their friends cover every stripe of the L.G.B.T.Q. rainbow. They’re also goofy and anxious and smart and exuberant, all of the things teenagers are as they discover love and attraction for the first time. The show deals frequently with difficult issues — bullying, eating disorders, gender dysphoria, housing insecurity — while also painting an effervescent picture of adolescence that, in a homage to the comics, is sprinkled with hearts and fireworks.There are five volumes of “Heartstopper” — plus two spinoff novellas and a stand-alone novel, “Solitaire,” about Charlie’s prickly, fan-favorite older sister — available to read while you wait for a sixth book (and a potential fourth season). But if you’ve already blown through Oseman’s oeuvre and are craving more young adult love stories that grapple with darker themes, these books are for you.I’d like a grounded, heartfelt love storyAristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the UniverseBy Benjamin Alire SáenzWhen we first meet Aristotle Mendoza, he is 15, bored and miserable, staring down another summer in El Paso. Then he meets Dante Quintana, who teaches Ari how to swim at the community pool. Their friendship blooms from there, growing out of comic books, bus rides and heated debates about the literary merits of Joseph Conrad.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Late Night Sums Up a Strangely Chill VP Debate

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      Jimmy Fallon said viewers “were expecting a horror movie, but instead, they got a Hallmark movie.”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Debate and SwitchLate-night hosts continued to recap the vice-presidential debate on Wednesday.Jimmy Fallon called it “the craziest debate yet — they actually talked about policy.”“Yeah, this debate turned out to be polite, friendly and intimate — it was jarring. Basically, people were expecting a horror movie, but instead, they got a Hallmark movie.” — JIMMY FALLON“Most people felt that JD Vance had a solid debate. Republicans saw that and were, like, ‘Hey, could we pull a Biden and just go with this guy?’” — JIMMY FALLON“That’s right. Most polls found that JD Vance won the debate. However, all those polls were taken at a Sephora.” — JIMMY FALLON“Great, the entire debate was pointless and irrelevant. So, in a way, it really did prepare them to be vice president.” — MICHAEL KOSTA“In his closing statement at last night’s debate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz thanked viewers for missing ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ For those who are unfamiliar, it’s a reality competition show that will hopefully feature JD Vance next season.” — SETH MEYERSThe Punchiest Punchlines (Trump Backs Out Edition)“Former President Trump broke a 50-year tradition for presidential candidates after he backed out of his scheduled interview with ‘60 Minutes’ because he was worried they’d fact-check him. So if you’re keeping track, Trump said that he’ll stand up to the president of China, but Lesley Stahl is a little too scary.” — JIMMY FALLON“You’d think these guys would be embarrassed to be so against fact-checking. You know, if you include some facts in your sentences when you speak, there’ll be nothing to check.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“He won’t do ‘60 Minutes,’ but if there is a group of doofuses in flat-brimmed hats with a podcast where they call him ‘Bro,’ he will be happy to plug your energy drink on that.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Bits Worth WatchingIna Garten discussed her new memoir over cosmopolitans with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday’s “Late Show.”What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightPaul Reiser will pop by “Late Night” on Thursday to promote his new buddy comedy, “The Problem With People.”Also, Check This OutSarah Snook won an Olivier Award for “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” which ran in London this year.Marc BrennerThe “Succession” standout Sarah Snook will play all 26 characters in a one-woman stage production of “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” More

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      Vance and Walz’s Battle of the Network Co-Stars

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      In what could be the last prime-time showdown of the 2024 campaign, the supporting players performed against type.If a presidential election is a TV series — and partly it is, like it or not — then the vice-presidential debate is usually a departure episode: an installment that briefly shifts focus to a couple of side characters. It might be memorable or forgettable, but it is generally skippable.Tuesday’s debate between Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota was a bit different. With only Kamala Harris having committed to an Oct. 23 debate proffered by CNN and Donald J. Trump having thus far declined, it may well have been the last big prime-time moment until election night.It was not, however, a bombshell-packed season-ender. The change in cast produced a change in style, in a spirited but often surprisingly collegial debate whose attacks were largely aimed offstage, at the leaders of the ticket.This was not the debate one might have expected from these candidates, each chosen in part for his media presence. Mr. Vance has been combative in TV interviews, embodying the trolling spirit of Mr. Trump’s most extremely online surrogates. Mr. Walz shot to fame on the strength of his cable news appearances and quirky viral videos, playing the down-to-earth happy warrior who mocked opponents as “weird.”Neither performed to type on the CBS stage. Mr. Vance, who can be cutting and snide in TV interviews (and has been notorious for insults like “childless cat ladies”), answered smoothly and kept mainly cordial to his opponent. Mr. Walz, while peppering his answers with folksy touches — “My pro tip of the day is this” — spoke in a nervous rush, with fewer flashes of “Coach Walz” pep.A decade of Trump has conditioned us to think of debates as rounds of Mortal Kombat, with dire rhetoric and imagery to match. Here, there was a lot of “I agree” and “I think this is a healthy conversation” amid the factual disputes and prepared critiques of the top of the ticket. You might briefly have forgotten this was America in the year 2024.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Love Is Blind’: Body Language Expert Offers Clues for Season 7

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      As Season 7 begins, an expert says figuring out a participant’s motivation is both an art and a science.Grab a golden goblet. The Netflix series “Love Is Blind” is back, with the first episode of its seventh season having been released on Wednesday, with the host Nick Lachey learning what a situationship is. The series that inspired drinking games (take a sip every time someone says the phrase “genuine connection”) — and is both a reality show and a social experiment — set up shop in Washington, D.C., this time to help 29 singles find love.The premise, of course, is that the singles can’t see whom they are dating because of a glowing blue wall between them intended to eliminate all of the superficial things that might get in the way of love. Once a couple decides to get engaged, they see each other for the first time and attempt to make their relationship work, with all of the complications that phones, work and physical attraction bring.Over the past few seasons, the nagging question concerning the show’s participants was: Are they here for love or for clout? (The recent season, “Love Is Blind: U.K.,” was hailed by many as a return to the show’s original vibe, for its generally emotionally healthy and low-drama cast.)CC Rice, a voice teacher, associate professor and energy reader who posts body language breakdowns of the show under the social media handle @guidedinspiration, says that figuring out a participant’s motivation is both an art and a science.“‘Love is Blind’ is this incredible opportunity to see people in private,” she said. “I’m listening for all of the cues: What do they bring up? Where do they look while they’re speaking? Are they avoidant? Are they trying to connect?”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A 400-Acre Movie Ranch Outside Los Angeles Is Listed for $35 Million

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      Sable Ranch, about 30 miles north of Hollywood, includes an Old West movie set. It has been used for productions like “American Horror Story” and “Oppenheimer.”When Frank Vacek arrived at Sable Ranch in the 1970s, with its chaparral-covered hills bounded by the mountains of the Angeles National Forest, he instantly saw a California dream.Mr. Vacek, who with his wife had fled the Nazis in Czechoslovakia three decades earlier, rewrote his fortunes by opening a successful camera shop in downtown Los Angeles in the 1950s. But 30 miles north at Sable Ranch, where cattle grazed amid oak trees, he pictured an even grander second act for his life. He bought the ranch and the property next to it and built an Old West movie set on its land, bringing Hollywood — with its gun shows, cowboys and insatiable appetite for entertainment — to his doorstep.The Sand Fire ripped through the ranch in 2016, but its Old West film set has been rebuilt.Cristian CruzioHalf a century later, Sable Ranch, in Santa Clarita, has served as movie set for productions including “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” “American Horror Story” and “Oppenheimer.” Its 400 acres have stood in for so many cinematic backdrops that they have morphed into Hollywood iconography. And now, for $35 million, the ranch is hitting the market.“The amount of history that is here, and the amount of movies and TV shows and commercials that have been made here, really is phenomenal,” said Derek Hunt, the owner of Sable Ranch. Mr. Hunt is Mr. Vacek’s grandson; he grew up on the property and formally inherited it in 2020. In 2008, Mr. Hunt began rallying the City of Santa Clarita to create the Movie Ranch Overlay Zone, a special designation for feature-film and television production that streamlines permitting and lowers costs.The Movie Ranch Overlay Zone was set up in 2011. Sable Ranch sits within it as well as within the Thirty Mile Zone, also known as the TMZ, a sector within 30 miles of downtown Los Angeles where the labor costs for film crews are lower.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Late Night Goes Live After a ‘Dull’ Vice-Presidential Debate

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      Stephen Colbert was unenthused by Tuesday’s discourse between Tim Walz and JD Vance.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Two ‘Different Flavors of Dull’“The Late Show” went live Tuesday night after the vice-presidential debate.Stephen Colbert found the debate boring, saying that JD Vance and Tim Walz “were both different flavors of dull.”“JD Vance looked like a business lemur on beta-blockers, and Tim Walz was, you know, the old likable coach but appeared to be way overcaffeinated. I think the governor done overdid doing the Dew.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“It was the ultimate showdown tonight between two very different Midwestern vibes. Hillbilly vs. Minnesota nice; attack dog vs. folk hero; America’s dad vs. America’s ‘Dad, could you come pick me up? JD Vance just walked in here.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“These two men were both a heartbeat away from being interesting this evening.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“In the end, it was 90 minutes of constant talk that made one thing clear: Tonight was like having Thanksgiving with your most nervous uncle and your smuggest nephew. It was unpleasant, awkward and, thankfully, you only have to do it once every four years.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Almost Famous Edition)“Yep, people you’ve barely heard of on a national stage. Usually we call that ‘Dancing With the Stars.’” — JIMMY FALLON“One of these men will lose, and we’ll never hear from him again, and the other one will become V.P. and we’ll never hear from him again.” — MICHAEL KOSTA“The only other V.P. debate anyone remembers is the time that fly got stuck on Mike Pence’s head. The bar is low.” — MICHAEL KOSTA“They showed each other a lot of respect. It was — it was very boring. I’ll be honest: I like these better with Trump.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“I don’t know that anyone’s vote was changed tonight. Watching a vice-presidential debate — it’s like taking your kids apple picking: About halfway through, you’re like, ‘OK, you know what? This sounded like it was going to be fun, but what’s the point?’” — JIMMY KIMMEL“I read that ahead of the debate, Tim Walz has been nervous that he was going to let Kamala Harris down. Yeah, Harris was like, ‘Don’t worry — if Joe Biden can be replaced, so can you.’” — JIMMY FALLONThe Bits Worth WatchingThe “Hold Your Breath” star Sarah Paulson faced off against Jimmy Fallon in a new game called “Mute!” on Tuesday’s “Tonight Show.”What We’re Excited About on Wednesday NightBen Platt and Brandy Clark will perform their new song “Treehouse” on Wednesday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”Also, Check This OutRobert Downey Jr. goes dark in “McNeal,” a thought experiment about art and A.I., at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Manhattan.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesRobert Downey Jr. made his Broadway debut in Ayad Akhtar’s new play, “McNeal.” More

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      John Amos, a Star of ‘Good Times’ and ‘Roots,’ Is Dead at 84

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      He was the patriarch in one of the first sitcoms with an all-Black cast and an enslaved African as a grown man in the blockbuster TV mini-series.John Amos, who played a stern patriarch on “Good Times,” America’s first sitcom featuring a two-parent Black family, and who had a starring role in “Roots,” the slavery narrative that became America’s most watched show in the late 1970s, has died in Los Angeles. He was 84.His publicist, Belinda Foster, confirmed the death on Tuesday, saying he had died on Aug. 21. She did not specify the cause or say why the announcement of his death was delayed.Mr. Amos’s acting career spanned more than five decades, with his breakthrough coming in 1970 on the CBS comedy “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” playing Gordy, the weatherman on a local television news program working alongside Ms. Moore’s Mary Richards, an associate producer. After three seasons, Mr. Amos left for “Good Times,” a Norman Lear production and a spinoff of the producer’s sitcom “Maude.” Chronicling the trials and tribulations of a Black working-class family living in the Chicago projects, “Good Times,” which ran from 1974-79, also on CBS, never shied away from the gritty realities of life in public housing, touching on topics like racial bigotry, drug abuse and poverty — but all with a sense of humor.Mr. Amos played James Evans Sr., a fierce disciplinarian with a tender heart who took on odd jobs to support his wife, Florida Evans (Esther Rolle), his sons Michael (Ralph Carter) and J.J. (Jimmie Walker), and his daughter, Thelma (Bern Nadette Stanis).Mr. Amos and Esther Rolle in a scene from “Good Times.” The show accrued high ratings and was notable for its all-Black cast.CBS Photo Archive/Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More