The One Impression That SNL Fans Are Sick Of Seeing

Since its inception in the fall of 1975, Lorne Michaels' long-running late-night sketch comedy bar-setter, "Saturday Night Live," has relied upon a bevy of its cast members' talents for the art of impersonation. From Eddie Murphy's James Brown and Dana Carvey's George H.W. Bush to Tina Fey's Sarah Palin and Chloe Fineman's unnervingly spot-in Drew Barrymore, the series has a history of punctuating each episode with a celebrity impression or two. In more recent years, as the internet and social media have amplified the 24-hour news cycle, the series has frequently called for even more impersonations of political figures. 

While audiences are more than happy to applaud the uncanny accuracy the series' cast members bring to their subjects, it seems there's a limit to how much of that accuracy can be tolerated, especially with regard to one particular politician. As a recent post on Reddit reveals, while many are happy to see the show engage in relevant political commentary, audience members are more inclined to appreciate that commentary when it's actually relevant to today's politics. 

"Am I the only one who wishes they would stop doing Trump?" asked Reddit user u/coachFox. "I know [James Austin Johnson] does a good impression, but I'd really rather not hear about him anymore... He's barely in the news cycle and it seems like they are trying to milk an old cow." Johnson, who joined the cast of "SNL" in Season 47, has frequently been lauded for his spot-on impression of the reality TV star and former president of the United States (via The Guardian). 

For many fans, however, it seems that Johnson's impression, while inarguably accurate, has come just a little too late. After being inundated with a litany of Trump impressions during the 45th president's 2016 campaign and 4-year term in office (most memorably performed by Taran Killam, Darrell Hammond, and Alec Baldwin), fans feel it is simply time for the series to focus on fresh material. "He's just a character on the show now," wrote u/LP_24, who explained that the recurring role is too much. This user further elaborated that they believe the series should wait for Trump to actually make news before incorporating him into a skit. 

While a few fans were quick to point out that the former president is still lurking around behind the political scenes, u/MemeLovingLoser noted that the weekly relevancy of the "SNL" cold open has begun to wane, writing that the series "[overlooks] so many news concepts to do the same re-heated Fox News spoof that was stale years ago." Another Reddit user agreed with many of the "over it" comments but had sympathy for Johnson. "I feel bad for [him] because he came on the show with a kickass impression but everyone is sick of the guy he's impersonating," u/roxtoby said.