Wishful thinking: Parody, Politics, and the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time-Players

Here we are, Early October is when the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Tim-Players tend to kick off. Yes, folks, the next season of the long-run, late-night, skit-comedy series Saturday Night Live, will be kicking off a new, shall-we-make-you-laugh-your-ass-off? season shortly.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Administration of Donald J. Trump keeps playing like skit-comedy in its revealed words, choices, actions, and deeds. Sadly, with how politics reach and what they do to society, it’s not a laughing matter to mess up, screw up, or use shady tactics to try to solidify power while gaining personally at great cost to the public.

It’s ripe for parody, though. Alec Baldwin can tell you that. The veteran actor has been inspired (in the worst way possible) to play President Trump on SNL a countless number of times the past two seasons.

This season of Saturday Night Live coincides with the 30th anniversary of a movie that Baldwin co-starred in that mixed action and drama with politics and espionage of the Cold War. The Hunt for Red October is one of my personal favorite films and the only Tom Clancey novel-turned-film that I liked. I never took to Harrison Ford as Dr. John “Jack” Ryan in the two sequels, but that’s just me… I liked Baldwin’s Ryan (“I’m just an analyst!”) better than a typical action/thriller movie star like Ford taking up the role.

I keep having Red October pop into my head as scandals play out in the news. How one notable name in the current political dramatic climate rhymes so well with the name of the “phantom Russian submarine” that the film involves and its name is based on.

Red October. Robert Mueller.

Now put the two together and think of where I’m going with this: Wouldn’t it be fitting if the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players cooked up a parody skit named “The Hunt for Robert Mueller”? It’s not like the political news that’s coming to light at the moment doesn’t further push the concept that there truly was a Hunt tied to the Mueller probe (Trump seeking aid to discredit it).

Thar’s not my true wishful-thinking tied to things, though. The basic concept is the easy part. My true wishful thinking tied to this goes beyond Baldwin as Trump, Robert DeNiro as Mueller (which has also been done on SNL) and other parodies that’d play out in the comedic piece would be a cameo by one other member from the Red October cast. One cameo/on-screen appearance that’d earn SNL extra attention for the moment that the entertainment industry can’t pull off (and, in honesty, the show likely wouldn’t either)..

 Could you imagine if Sir Sean Connery stood with Lorne Michaels and made a remark to mock what was going on?

Connery is retired from cinema. He’s retired from the entertainment field (unless you count the annual Wimbeldon telecasts that catch a shot of him in the stands). The original James Bond is in his 80’s (as is James Earl Jones, who played Jim Greer in the Clancey pictures). That’s all part of what snuffs out my wishful thought of him showing up. But how fitting would it be for something like this to happen – for the movie to be parodied and the legendary actor who played Captain Marko Ramius, at be a part of the skit? I’m not suggesting he show up to play Ramius as-so-much show up to just be in the skit.

None of this even hashes out what would happen in the skit and how it’d fit the collusion corruption that’s coming to light in the news (and which will go further as more facts come out). It just seems like a fitting concept mixed with ample fantasy. Too fitting; if it (“The Hunt for Robert Mueller”) hasn’t been done already by a comedy troupe other than SNL, it sure-as-shit could be part of their season-premiere performance in New York. Who knows?