Of course, a white woman played Manny Pacquiao on 'SNL'

'Saturday Night Live' spoofs Maywather/Pacquiao fight... with Aidy Brant as Manny.



By now, if you're like me, you're probably pretty damn tired of Saturday Night Live and its broke-ass track record of diversity. The television sketch comedy institution hasn't had an identifiably Asian American cast member in its entire forty-year history, and every time a sketch calls for an Asian character, it usually devolves into an awkward situation involving a white actor rocking a bad accent. The latest example...

In this past Saturday's show, SNL opened with a spoof on the night's real main attraction, offering a "bootleg" feed of the much-hyped fight between Floyd Mayweather, played by Jay Pharoah, and Manny Pacquiao, played by.... Aidy Bryant? Damn. They're not even trying. Need someone to play a Filipino professional boxer? Eh, might as well just go with a white woman with a fake goatee and a t-shirt. As a matter of fact...

According to the scrolling disclaimer, "Because this is a pirated broadcast of the fight, some of the visuals may appear distorted. For example... Manny Pacquiao may appear to be a white woman with a fake goatee and a t-shirt." Like I said, not even trying.

SNL's Asian American Doll: The Doll That's Asian American

"We made her from a place of fear."



Over the weekend, Saturday Night Live aired one bit that might be a little too clever for its good. The perennial TV sketch comedy show's final episode of 2014 included a fake commercial for "Asian American Doll," The Doll That's Asian American -- and that's it. The joke: the marketing purposely excludes all other possible details about the doll, in quivering, paralyzed fear of being accused of racial or cultural insensitivity.

I've seen a lot of divergent reactions to the sketch. Some are hailing it as clever commentary on well-meaning-but-clueless white people who have no idea what they're doing when it comes to dealing with race. Others are calling it a jab at hypersensitive consumers and activists. It's either a quiet middle finger or an embarrassed "sorrrreeeeeee" shrug to Asian Americans. I don't know, I'm thinking it's actually both.

Take a look:

Yet another 'SNL' sketch about Asians... with no actual Asians

NBC's sketch comedy show skewers North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un



Really, Saturday Night Live? Yellowface again? Mm, nobody was rocking grotesque skin makeup or had their eyes pulled back, but over the weekend, NBC's perennial sketch comedy show kicked off its latest episode with a sketch about North Korea. So, of course, it included a bunch of white actors playing Asians.

The sketch features Bobby Moynihan as North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, who has been out of the public eye for more than a month, setting off international speculation about his health and/or the state of the North Korea leadership. SNL saw it as a good opportunity for some comedy. Sure, why not?

But as you can see, as usual, not an actual Asian face in sight:

Still no Asian Americans on Saturday Night Live

38 years of SNL's diversity problem, all in one chart



After a recent revival of criticism over a lack of diversity on Saturday Night Live, this weekend marked the much-hyped debut of Sasheer Zamata, the show's first black female cast member in seven years.

In honor of the occasion, here's an interesting and informative Huffington Post infographic outlining the sketch comedy institution's legendary lack of racial diversity in its 38-year run. It specifically points out, as I am reminded every time we inevitably revisit these discussions of SNL's notorious race problem, still no Asians.

Check it out:

Casting Call: SNL seeks diaper-wearing chubby Asian male

Got this awful-looking casting call passed along to me...

Saturday Night Live is apparently looking for someone to play a character named "DJ Baby Bok Choy," described as a mid 20s-30s chubby Asian male, conversational/fluent in Mandarin... and comfortable wearing a giant diaper. They're also looking for male and female dwarves. Do I even want to know what kind of sketch SNL is planning? Here's the breakdown:

Saturday Night Live Fail: Bobby Moynihan as Kim Jong-un

I understand. Making fun of North Korea is pretty easy. From threats of missile strikes to bad Photoshop jobs boasting false military might, to ridiculously outrageous claims about Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has made itself the easy target of copious lampooning. And that's where Saturday Night Live went this weekend: 'SNL': Kim Jong-un Endorses Gay Marriage in Cold Open.

With all the crazy-ass stuff that's been in the news lately, SNL couldn't not do something on North Korea. But the problem that always arises when the show attempts sketches about China or North Korea, is how they depict Asian characters -- there are no identifiably Asian cast members on Saturday Night Live to fit those roles, so it usually ends up being some kind of mild yellowface. On Saturday, it was Kim Jong-un.

This time around, the best they could do was put Bobby Moynihan in a funny haircut and had him mumble a really uncomfortable "wallawallawalla" gibberish approximation of the Korean language (kicked off with a "watashi-wa" -- Japanese, by the way) that lasted through the whole skit. See for yourself: