Though Saturday Night Live fans initially seemed to be loving Jim Carrey in his new role of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, the tables are now turning as his appearances on the late night sketch comedy series become increasingly over-the-top. As a matter of fact, Carrey has been trending on Twitter since showing up this past weekend, and it hasn’t been pleasant.
Saturday’s cold open satirized Biden’s town hall event from earlier in the week, but the sketch left many viewers feeling that the writers are playing too much into the actor’s tendency for loud, outrageous antics and discomforting facial manipulations that don’t feel particularly well-suited for the role of a politician known to be calm and – for all intents and purposes – normal.
Of course, this is coming only a week after Carrey turned up in a sketch as the fly that landed on Vice President Mike Pence’s head during the recent vice presidential debate. This appearance, too, led to criticism of the awkward writing and Carrey’s extreme over-acting, so it seems that viewers are largely wishing for the star to tone things down a notch and for the sketches to just stick to parodying the real events instead of going so off the rails.
Here’s some of what Twitter had to say about Saturday’s episode and Carrey’s performance:
I think Jim Carrey is hilarious but he's totally wrong to do Biden. He's just doing a version of Fire Marshall Bill. LOL #SaturdayNightLive
— Jennifer Watts (@JenniferEWatts) October 18, 2020
Jim Carrey is doing Ace Ventura as Joe Biden. Bring back Jason Sudeikis, he did the best Biden #SNL https://t.co/OosVnqSMM3
— (((Tara Dublin))) Wrote An Awesome Book! (@taradublinrocks) October 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/SFShinigami/status/1317681751230238720
Jim Carrey’s Fire Marshall Bill on SNL is ok if he’s playing (FL Sen.) Rick Scott, not Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/XaybifxJgx
— ЖƒӨ爪爪Ө 🆇 (@femme_phememe) October 18, 2020
I was so EXCITED about Jim Carrey playing Biden, but it REALLY ISN'T WORKING. #SNL They need to bring back @jasonsudeikis
— Crystal (@CrystalTweets19) October 18, 2020
I will take Woody Harrelson over Jim Carrey any day #SNL #JoeBiden
— Chris Reardon (@theoldcj) October 18, 2020
Carry HAS to go. Is he blackmailing someone on the show to get on????
— Salle Hunter (@SalleHunter3) October 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/AbysmalDepths/status/1317679416995172352
SNL opening just garbage.Jim Carrey should go back to being Ace Ventura.Jason Sudeikus or Woody Harrelson as Biden and Baldwin as Trump he sucks at that just tiring https://t.co/wCQt7AQEJC thing about SNL is Weekend Update.Period !
— Rocky Top T💙 (@Volzman711) October 18, 2020
It pains me to say this, because I truly love Jim Carrey—but I'm not a fan of his Joe Biden. Jason Sudeikis and Woody Harrelson were much better imo
— taylor (she/her) (@artbytmb) October 18, 2020
Carrey is obviously best known for his extraordinarily animated acting and slapstick humor, but many still feel that previous stars, such as Woody Harrelson and Jason Sudeikis, have nailed Biden’s charisma and collected demeanor better in their impersonations of the politician. That being said, it’s unlikely that this outcry from a vocal group of viewers will have any noticeable effect on the writers or the Ace Ventura actor’s performance in future episodes of SNL.
