Just read this - and listening to The Rest is Entertainment podcast (which I enjoy despite their smugness) turns out that Lorne is coming over here and there is a UK SNL in the works for Sky. Richard Osman was very encouraging about it... I can't watch SNL for all the reasons you outline above and it often makes me feel thick - like, why do I not get this joke? Or ANY of them?
Somehow most of their front line players, even some of the 2nd tier make it big in some form or fashion whether acting or as a stand up…both sometimes! Even when a whole new cast of players is brought forth, leaving multi-generational fans nonplussed (or not yet laughing), most all long time fans eventually come around. Culture changes and so punchlines do too. Since it premiered I’ve never missed it even if I wasn’t yet sure a Will Ferrell or Bill Hader or Kristin Whig was funny (they are). Great talent is always revealed, sometimes it just takes a decade or 2. When as a fan, you literally cut your teeth on the greats starting with Lucille Ball and Milton Berle in the 50’s & 60’s, Newhart, White, Foxx, Prinze, Gilda, Tomlin, Pryor and more thru the 60’s and 70’s we can be slow to “get” newer comedy as it generally targets the 18-34 demographic. Now that some of us are well beyond that (or any target demo for that matter) know that we’re still watching, still laughing (but now also peeing sometimes). PS For my money SNL’s current edition of Weekend Update (Jost, Che) is its funniest ever.
Remember, SNL's very first sketch ended with Belushi and O'Donoghue keeling over from heart attacks. A harbinger of a half century of SNL sketches to come? Although it's long been fashionable to hate on the show I've always loved it for the risks the performers and writers have taken. That's comedy!
Yeah, I always find myself watching SNL, if only for the brief moments of brilliance, though now that you point it out, the talented and winning cast helps me watch even when the sketches aren't there.
Am I the only one who kind of likes the political cold opens? Yeah, not the best, but always a good line or two, and solid impressions.
and what is up with the Vulture recaps? I suspect they rate the episode opposite the actual quality as outrage bait.
I'm also a diehard SNL fan and my husband and I have watched it every week without fail since we were teenagers. I agree that on an average night at least half of the skits aren't funny, but I disagree that the whole thing isn't. There's always one or two an episode that really kill and we wind up quoting them for the rest of our lives. And the really good hosts can have a solid gold episode (I was dying during Ryan Gosling's episode.)
Personally, we think the cold open is always good, we love Weekend Update without fail (though not the side guests), and we can't get enough of the digital shorts. There can be no doubt that the skits we wind up loving are obscure and not for everyone, but that's the kind of humor the show is. People who think the show isn't funny at all just aren't into that kind of humor, I think. And people who say it hasn't been funny since the 90s usually haven't watched it recently. We love the current cast, particularly Sarah and Bowen, and I think it's one of their funniest seasons yet. You're right, you have to get into the cast and root for them, it's part of the fun.
I love Weekend Update too – and even most of the side guests. Ryan Gosling episode was excellent and John Mulaney's too. It really does hinge on the guest host and their chemistry with the cast, but even awkward weeks are fun to watch as everything unravels.
SNL is a non-event, parodying a parody of a well-adjusted world. A machine like that could be eviscerating entrenched power. The world we actually live in doesn't need hahas for haha's sake. The only art the people need going forward should be forged as a weapon.
I feel like it lost its way for a (long) while but this year, thanks to younger writers + performers, it's beginning to claw its way back into the culture
I think SNL's biggest problem is it's not allowed to be funny anymore. Wokeness has ruined art and culture with its relenteless humourlessness. I watch the occasional SNL skit, some recent, some from several years ago and it does seem pretty lame. I hope with the drubbing the Democratic Party just got - an anti-wokeness election - that maybe content will get better. SNL used to be funny when it was edgy and political and took the piss out of everyone. When it became preachy and teachy is when art began to die.
Maybe you need to enlist the help of a Canadian to get your show the kick it needs! After all having a Canadian producer and originator has done the trick for SNL….🤗❤️🇨🇦
I’m so delighted this essay came upon my substack algorithm!! I got into SNL as a teenager and was surprised when I moved to the UK that none of my British friends knew anything about it. (Then I realized in real time that the show would air at 4:30am AND it was obviously very US-centric. I fell into the horrible stereotype of “American who thinks the world revolves around them” in that moment 😭😭😭)
Regrettably, I fell out of SNL when I went to uni and didn’t have a TV. Now I catch certain sketches on YouTube. But the cast I ADORED was that 2009-2012 era. Wiig, Hader, Samberg/The Lonely Island… I can still very easy get sucked down the rabbit hole with their old sketches! What got you into SNL and who is your “golden era” cast??
I only really saw the odd clip online for years and started watching regularly about three years ago when I discovered Sky shows it. Bill Hader is a favourite, and Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig – so same era as you probably. Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernàndez, and Kenan Thompson my current faves.
Just read this - and listening to The Rest is Entertainment podcast (which I enjoy despite their smugness) turns out that Lorne is coming over here and there is a UK SNL in the works for Sky. Richard Osman was very encouraging about it... I can't watch SNL for all the reasons you outline above and it often makes me feel thick - like, why do I not get this joke? Or ANY of them?
Yes I really have no idea how the UK version is going to go down
Somehow most of their front line players, even some of the 2nd tier make it big in some form or fashion whether acting or as a stand up…both sometimes! Even when a whole new cast of players is brought forth, leaving multi-generational fans nonplussed (or not yet laughing), most all long time fans eventually come around. Culture changes and so punchlines do too. Since it premiered I’ve never missed it even if I wasn’t yet sure a Will Ferrell or Bill Hader or Kristin Whig was funny (they are). Great talent is always revealed, sometimes it just takes a decade or 2. When as a fan, you literally cut your teeth on the greats starting with Lucille Ball and Milton Berle in the 50’s & 60’s, Newhart, White, Foxx, Prinze, Gilda, Tomlin, Pryor and more thru the 60’s and 70’s we can be slow to “get” newer comedy as it generally targets the 18-34 demographic. Now that some of us are well beyond that (or any target demo for that matter) know that we’re still watching, still laughing (but now also peeing sometimes). PS For my money SNL’s current edition of Weekend Update (Jost, Che) is its funniest ever.
Yikes. I think SNL has been very funny the past several years. Very good cast for a while. Cold opens slam. Musical guests hit or miss.
Lorne is not retiring.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/lorne-michaels-snl-retirement-rumors-1235926492/amp/
Remember, SNL's very first sketch ended with Belushi and O'Donoghue keeling over from heart attacks. A harbinger of a half century of SNL sketches to come? Although it's long been fashionable to hate on the show I've always loved it for the risks the performers and writers have taken. That's comedy!
Nobody could ever accuse it of being safe!
Yeah, I always find myself watching SNL, if only for the brief moments of brilliance, though now that you point it out, the talented and winning cast helps me watch even when the sketches aren't there.
Am I the only one who kind of likes the political cold opens? Yeah, not the best, but always a good line or two, and solid impressions.
and what is up with the Vulture recaps? I suspect they rate the episode opposite the actual quality as outrage bait.
The Vulture recaps sometimes read like they’ve been translated from cat meows – I am literally never on the same page
I’ve been a fan for 49 years, always watch.
I'm also a diehard SNL fan and my husband and I have watched it every week without fail since we were teenagers. I agree that on an average night at least half of the skits aren't funny, but I disagree that the whole thing isn't. There's always one or two an episode that really kill and we wind up quoting them for the rest of our lives. And the really good hosts can have a solid gold episode (I was dying during Ryan Gosling's episode.)
Personally, we think the cold open is always good, we love Weekend Update without fail (though not the side guests), and we can't get enough of the digital shorts. There can be no doubt that the skits we wind up loving are obscure and not for everyone, but that's the kind of humor the show is. People who think the show isn't funny at all just aren't into that kind of humor, I think. And people who say it hasn't been funny since the 90s usually haven't watched it recently. We love the current cast, particularly Sarah and Bowen, and I think it's one of their funniest seasons yet. You're right, you have to get into the cast and root for them, it's part of the fun.
I love Weekend Update too – and even most of the side guests. Ryan Gosling episode was excellent and John Mulaney's too. It really does hinge on the guest host and their chemistry with the cast, but even awkward weeks are fun to watch as everything unravels.
Yes!! So true!
SNL is a non-event, parodying a parody of a well-adjusted world. A machine like that could be eviscerating entrenched power. The world we actually live in doesn't need hahas for haha's sake. The only art the people need going forward should be forged as a weapon.
I’m kind of the same way. I know the show isn’t funny but can’t stop watching it
If it suddenly became riotously funny every week I would book a CAT scan
I also like SNL but am rarely brave enough to admit it.
This is a safe space.
SNL used to be actually funny. The 90’s.
I feel like it lost its way for a (long) while but this year, thanks to younger writers + performers, it's beginning to claw its way back into the culture
I think SNL's biggest problem is it's not allowed to be funny anymore. Wokeness has ruined art and culture with its relenteless humourlessness. I watch the occasional SNL skit, some recent, some from several years ago and it does seem pretty lame. I hope with the drubbing the Democratic Party just got - an anti-wokeness election - that maybe content will get better. SNL used to be funny when it was edgy and political and took the piss out of everyone. When it became preachy and teachy is when art began to die.
Maybe you need to enlist the help of a Canadian to get your show the kick it needs! After all having a Canadian producer and originator has done the trick for SNL….🤗❤️🇨🇦
I’m so delighted this essay came upon my substack algorithm!! I got into SNL as a teenager and was surprised when I moved to the UK that none of my British friends knew anything about it. (Then I realized in real time that the show would air at 4:30am AND it was obviously very US-centric. I fell into the horrible stereotype of “American who thinks the world revolves around them” in that moment 😭😭😭)
Regrettably, I fell out of SNL when I went to uni and didn’t have a TV. Now I catch certain sketches on YouTube. But the cast I ADORED was that 2009-2012 era. Wiig, Hader, Samberg/The Lonely Island… I can still very easy get sucked down the rabbit hole with their old sketches! What got you into SNL and who is your “golden era” cast??
I only really saw the odd clip online for years and started watching regularly about three years ago when I discovered Sky shows it. Bill Hader is a favourite, and Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig – so same era as you probably. Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernàndez, and Kenan Thompson my current faves.