To cleanse the palate. We asked them to make an effort, to break free from the standard stern, repetitive hectoring set against blank backdrops that defines this genre. So they went for funny. The result feels like one of those 12:56 a.m. SNL throwaway skits written to fill out the last few minutes of the show, during rare weeks where that block hasn’t already been filled by a cloying musical tribute to a Democratic politician.

But still, they tried. They’re making progress. They’ve assessed that the genre has failed and they’ve taken a small step to correct the problem. At the rate they’re going, we may see a truly entertaining, self-deprecating celebrity Trump takedown by the end of his fourth term.

By the way, we’re averaging about one a week of these things lately, huh? Lots of scrambling in Hollywood during these heady early days of the Trump Revolution among exalted members of Team Blue to show their colors. The Oscars are shaping up to be one of the most sustainedly insufferable spectacles in the history of American popular culture. Can’t wait. Exit question: Who wants to break the news to them that most, if not all, of Trump’s travel ban order is assuredly constitutional?