SNL Weekend Update Roasts Summer Movies, Paramount+ — SkimNews

Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Jeremy Culhane returned to SNL's Weekend Update as Tucker Carlson, opening the movie-business segment with the line "abandon Christian values" before pivoting to kids' films PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, Toy Story 5, and Minions and Monsters.
- Culhane's Carlson also mocked Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey ("nice to see Greek people do something other than make women feel uncomfortable"), Spider-Man: Brand New Day with a transgender-bathroom punchline ("Spider-they, Spider-them, uses whatever bathroom it feels like"), and Curry Barker's Obsession ("the left's idea of a horror movie is that a woman is forced to love a man").
- Michael Che took aim at David Ellison's Paramount+, asking "what the hell is Paramount+?" after noting the White House had launched "Trump TV" in response to networks canceling coverage of President Trump.
- The Paramount+ shows spotlighted in Che's bit were Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone, prequel 1883, spinoff Dutton Ranch, and Sylvester Stallone-led Tulsa King.
Why it matters: SNL's Weekend Update used the Tucker Carlson impression to land political punchlines disguised as movie reviews — and the Paramount+ gag ties directly to David Ellison's network and Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone franchise. For a merged Paramount+ still defining its identity, being a late-night punchline at the same moment the White House is launching a rival 'Trump TV' stream amplifies the awkward branding optics.
Ask SkimNews




