Sunday, April 24 – The show kicked off with a pair of Obama’s foreign visits – Saudia Arabia (where the king dissed him at the airport) and the UK (where he and Prince George went viral,) followed by a piece on Norway’s less-than-sterling record with migrants, including an apparent belief that Jesus’s call to help the less fortunate doesn’t apply to Norway. The main story was on Puerto Rico’s debt crisis and the many legal loopholes that contributed to its situation. It was appalling to hear how the island has been treated like a tax haven for businessmen instead of a US territory whose people are American citizens. Early in the story, John showed Lin-Manuel Miranda speaking to Congress about the crisis and declared, “We owe Puerto Rico for that man!” Miranda appeared on the show as well, coming out at the end to deliver an amazingrap urging Congress to step in and give Puerto Rico to chance to restructure its debt repayments.
Monday, April 25 – I liked the story on the frenzy of Beyoncé’s latest album drop, especially the remarks on how everyone has latched onto the potential gossip instead of the artistry or social commentary. There was a story on Cruz and Kasich teaming up to keep Trump’s his delegate numbers below 1,237; my favorite part was the montage of Trump whining about how badly he feels the RNC treats him. Terrific field piece by Hasan on Sikhs who’ve dealt with Islamaphobia despite not being Muslim. The piece was informative about Sikhism, displayed the ignorance many have about it, and highlighted some great people who refuse to deflect the Islamaphobia because they’re not going to throw another religion under the bus. The guest was Danielle Brooks, promoting The Color Purple. She was great – no surprise – and I loved her story about seeing the original Broadway cast as a teenager, which spurred her to go in acting herself.
Tuesday, April 26 – Excellent story on Virginia’s move to return voting rights to ex-felons. The show covered it all – racial bias (the sharp increase in laws denying suffrage to ex-cons immediately after abolition was so damning,) a vindictive need to keep punishing people who’ve already served their time, and the unnecessary politicizing of an issue that shouldn’t be about politics. Guests Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peelejoined in on the action playing a pair of ex-cons. Trevor talked with Michelle about New York dropping its tampon tax. The story wasn’t quite as good as I wanted it to be, but I liked the commentary on people euphemizing and talking around menstruation, especially Michelle’s joke about putting menstruation in witness protection. Key and Peele discussed their new movie Keanu, demonstrated their power over the audience, and talked code-switching. Do I have to bother telling you that they rocked?
Wednesday, April 27 – More on the Cruz-Kasich team-up, mainly how they’re not exactly following through and Trump isn’t feeling all that threatened. The show also discussed Trump’s latest classy move, accusing Clinton of “playing the woman's card” and then doubling down on the sexism when Clinton shot back. It’s so weird for him to fixate on her shouting – at a political rally, the horror! – as if it’s some huge offense, and the show’s dubbed version of Clinton’s whisper rally was great. So-so “Back in Black” segment on the teeth-gnashing over Michael Strahan leaving Live with Kelly and Michael. Mainly, it coasted on the inherent absurdity of picturing Lewis as a huge Kelly Ripa fan. I enjoyed the guest, Buzzfeed writer McKay Coppins. He discussed the election (of course!) and dished with Trevor about his firsthand Trump experience.
Thursday, April 28 – Nice coverage of the unholy union between Cruz and Fiorina, including the bizarreness of why Cruz did this now and Fiorina’s super-creepy singing (why?!) I especially liked the crack about Fiorina’s business acumen not knowing where jobs “come from,” only where they “go.” After a quick demonstration of what Trump thinks “being presidential” constitutes, we were treated to an excellent piece riffing on the idea that a lot of Trump’s quotes sound like rap lyrics. Featuring Roy as Trump, we got a hilarious rap video full of actual Trump quotes bragging about his wealth, airing his beefs with other politicians, and being casually misogynistic. It was absolutely perfect. I wasn’t really feeling the interview with Ricky Gervais – too much nonsense comedy that veered too frequently into awkwardness for it to work for me.
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