Saturday Night Live

[nelsonmuntz]

There are a greater than normal number of firings of SNL cast members this offseason. Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Devon Walker were fired, and Heidi Gardner departed. I like Longfellow a lot, and Wakim and Walker are solid. Gardner was ready to move on. The show is inexplicably keeping Jane Wickline, who is lame, laughs at her own jokes, and hams it up for the camera, which I find annoying. I didn't like it when Fallon did it, and I don't like it when anyone does it. The who goes and who stays from the cast is not the important story though. It has been reported that Lorne Michaels feels that the show had stopped being funny. I strongly disagree with that characterization. I thought the past two seasons were the freshest this show has had in a long time. It is a different kind of humor, which made it interesting.

Tina Fey dominated the SNL writing and style for two decades, and even though she was not the Head Writer for most of that time, her imprint was on everything the show did. I think Tina Fey is hilarious, but the show started to feel recycled by the late 2010's. These last two seasons were the first time where the show didn't feel like a bunch of GenX writers trying to get the voice of GenZ.

I was re-watching Saturday Night on Netflix yesterday, and it really brings home the problem with this show. In 1975, Saturday Night was a cosmic break from what TV comedy had been before, reflecting changes in our culture that were not yet reflected on TV, and setting the stage for hundreds of talented comedians and comic actors that would come after. Saturday Night (later Saturday Night Live) was a big middle finger to the prior generation's misogynist and racist humor, which was filled will silly puns, sight gags, and objectification of women. The leap from Johnny Carson, Ed Sullivan and Milton Berle to Chevy Chase and John Belushi was like the leap from no electricity to electricity. Lorne Michaels was able to lead this change, after stealing heavily from Doug Kenney at National Lampoon and Second City, because he was young and fresh and could articulate just how lame the prior generation's comedy was. He had a fresh take on comedy, and brought in people (mostly from National Lampoon and Second City) that could put that fresh take onto the small screen.

Lorne Michaels is 80 now. He doesn't have any fresh takes left. I don't think an 80 year old, even one that has had as huge an impact on our culture as Lorne Michaels, should be deciding the future of a major comedy institution like SNL. It is time for a fresh take.

 

[Deepster]

I'll try to keep this as un-political as I can. SNL has just gotten too deep down a rabbit hole and forgotten their roots. A show that once had iconic skits now has become a shell of it's former self painting itself into a corner that just isn't working today.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I'll try to keep this as un-political as I can. SNL has just gotten too deep down a rabbit hole and forgotten their roots. A show that once had iconic skits now has become a shell of it's former self painting itself into a corner that just isn't working today.

I don’t think you are the target audience.

 

[Deepster]

When SNL started in 1975, i was 8 yrs old and my best friend's older brother would tape the audio on a boombox and we'd wake up Sunday and listen to the skits. I've watched religiously my whole life.

 

[HuskyHawk]

When SNL started in 1975, i was 8 yrs old and my best friend's older brother would tape the audio on a boombox and we'd wake up Sunday and listen to the skits. I've watched religiously my whole life.

I haven't watched it in years. About the same age as you. My daughter, Gen Z, loves it and was unhappy with the recent firings.

I don't know what the fix is, because the original talent level was so high, as were some subsequent stars like Eddie Murphy, Dana Carvey, Martin Short, Farrell, Nealon and Billy Crystal. Feels like a little of it what you said and what Seinfeld and others have said about modern comedy, instead of offending the hell out of everyone they are on eggshells. "Jane you ignorant nope" doesn't really play in the 2020s. Eddie Murphy in white face doesn't play in this era.

 

[ZooCougar]

The thing about SNL is that they have to make a bunch of funny skits in a short amount of time. 90% might be crap but the 10% that is good makes it worth it.

 

[Deepster]

I haven't watched it in years. About the same age as you. My daughter, Gen Z, loves it and was unhappy with the recent firings.

I don't know what the fix is, because the original talent level was so high, as were some subsequent stars like Eddie Murphy, Dana Carvey, Martin Short, Farrell, Nealon and Billy Crystal. Feels like a little of it what you said and what Seinfeld and others have said about modern comedy, instead of offending the hell out of everyone they are on eggshells. "Jane you ignorant nope" doesn't really play in the 2020s. Eddie Murphy in white face doesn't play in this era.

Another little item is the amount of times actors crack during a sketch. That used to be very few and far between and when it happened, it was hilarious. Now? They fake crack up and break character at least once a week.

 

[Husky25]

SNL is the same as it ever was for most people. Not as funny as when you were 15, but can still reach back on occasion for some extra mph to get the out. Of course, SNL was entering their 2nd golden age as I was entering high school in the early 90s (Carvey, Meyers, Hartman, Franken, Nealon, Farley, Lovitz, Sandler & posse', etc.), so my generalization might be off for others.

I'm not a regular watcher anymore, but will catch the high rated skits on Sunday morning. I think it largely depends on the host. For example, the Nate Bargazte George Washington skits are really solid, but he is not a regular contributor.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Eddie Murphy in white face doesn't play in this era.

I'm not sure why the movie "White Chicks" hasn't gone away, but that's constantly cycling back and forth among different streaming services and sometimes broadcast on cable tv. You can still do white face, but black face will lead to death by firing squad.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The thing about SNL is that they have to make a bunch of funny skits in a short amount of time. 90% might be crap but the 10% that is good makes it worth it.

It has always been that way. A lot of the skits in the early seasons sucked. A lot of the early cast and writers, like O’Donoghue, were more crazy than funny, and Belushi being obviously high on camera isn’t as funny as I get older. Much of the love those early seasons get is nostalgia. Then Eddie Murphy kept the show on the air by himself in the early 80’s

I think they got their hit rate up over time, although the seasons that were more consistent usually had had someone exceptional like Phil Hartman, Bill Heder or Kate McKinnon who could carry a weak sketch.

 

[Fishy]

I don’t think you are the target audience.

He’s not. He was. But now, he’s not.

It’s written for middle aged white women from the upper east side.