A common complaint about "Saturday Night Live" is that the show will take a funny idea and beat it to death in skits that quickly wear out their welcome.
You could say the same about "SNL" alum Rob Schneider's campaign ad-in-disguise for Andy Biggs, the Republican nominee for governor in Arizona. It's set up as a debate between Biggs and Gov. Katie Hobbs, who is running for reelection. But Hobbs famously, or infamously, doesn't debate, and has won statewide office twice by not doing so. If it ain't broke, as they say, don't fix it.
She should do it anyway. But I digress.
'Roberto Schneidecky' is an apt example of Rob Schneider's 'humor'
Biggs' campaign sent out an alert on Thursday, Oct. 1, that he would be taking the stage for the "first gubernatorial debate" that night. When you tune in, on social media, you find
"Roberto Schneidecky," a character portrayed by Schneider, announcing the debate and himself as the moderator. (Naming a character "Roberto Schneidecky" is a perfect example of Schneider's level of humor. Or lack thereof.)
There's an audience of Grand Canyon University students, Schneidecky explains. He introduces Biggs, standing behind a lectern, and then Hobbs. The camera cuts to an empty lectern, and the chirp of crickets is heard. It's kind of funny. The chyron below reads "Katie Hobbs/Afraid To Debate."
Indeed, the Hobbs campaign announced on July 30 that the governor wouldn't debate Biggs. Her campaign manager said, "Face-to-face engagement with Arizonans is more effective than a stage designed for short soundbites and political theater."
The problem with that strategy is that you leave the political theater to your opponent, and Biggs took advantage of it. The problem with that strategy is that he used the notoriously unfunny Schneider to do it.
Schneider's debate parody was cringy
Schneidecky/Schneider continued to ask both candidates questions, giving Biggs an uninterrupted opportunity to espouse his policies, things like his take on the Make America Healthy Again initiative. "If you want ivermectin, it should be available over the counter," Biggs said of the drug that has never been approved for use in the treatment or prevention of COVID-19, despite MAGA claims of its effectiveness to the contrary. "There's no reason not to. If you want to not get a vaccine, you shouldn't have to. No vaccine mandates. ... If you want raw milk, you make that choice. That's what the MAHA movement is all about."
It sure is. In a related story, measles outbreaks are at a 35-year high. Interesting.
One question Schneidecky doesn't ask would have been more valuable than all the ones he does: Hey Andy (he calls him Andy), who won the 2020 presidential election?
Eventually Schneidecky ventures out into the audience and interviews a couple of students, both of whom assail Hobbs and praise Biggs, sounding like delegates at a political convention. Remember what they say, kids, the internet is forever.
It ends with Schneider's referencing his line in the 1998 movie "The Waterboy" — "Andy Biggs, you can do it!" Considering that they weren't born when the movie came out, the students around him smiled politely.
Three things prevent the skit, or more accurately the campaign ad, from being as funny or as effective as it might be. One is Biggs himself, who is clearly reading from a script a lot of the time and appears wooden. Another is the sheer repetition of it all, the continuous cutting back to the empty lectern representing Hobbs and the chirping of crickets. However funny it was once, by the third time it's just dumb.
Then there is the third reason: Schneider. He's just not funny. And this is the star power Biggs' campaign recruits? It's reminiscent of when Fox News trots out Scott Baio as its stock Big Hollywood Star to complain about movies going woke or whatever. Who cares what he thinks?
Hobbs should debate Biggs, if only to spare us more of this
Look, Hobbs has only herself (or her campaign advisers) to blame for this. It's true that debates often yield little more than avoidance and grandstanding. But it's important to get candidates on the record about their policies and positions. It's also useful to see how they react when challenged. Neither Hobbs nor Biggs come off like champion members of the high-school debate club, but that isn't the point. Answering tough questions in front of the cameras is.
Plus, it'll spare us more of this.
As for Schneider, if work like this prevents him from making more movies like "Daddy Day Trip," well, every cloud has a silver lining.
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Media commentary with a side of snark? Sign up for The Watchlist newsletter with Bill Goodykoontz.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rob Schneider fake AZ governor debate was unfunny, on-brand | Opinion
