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.
I love SNL unapologetically. It's like treasure hunting, you need to keep on digging and and find nothing for a long time and one of those times you hit the gold. I'm the designated treasure finder in my friend group. I watch all the sketched to comb through the best ones that everyone will laugh. That's a life skill let me tell you 😂
My American pals are always sending and citing SNL sketches and I have never been able to understand it! Feeling vindicated by most of the above point, though still not completely sure why it’s so popular when it’s clearly so, so bad.
It's surprising the UK doesn't have an equivalent. I was the general manager of the laugh factory in Los Angeles and I remember when Jay Mohr was on the show and either quit or was fired and he said it was just so intense and so difficult that it was all too much. We have no idea the amount of pressure these people are under. But yes, it certainly leaves much to be desired sometimes. It's a hit or miss.Sabrinalabow.substack.com
It’s easy to forget that they don’t have very long to put a show together and the testing isn’t particularly rigorous. It’s like a turbo-charged version of something sounding very funny in your head but bombing once you say it and realise it’s actually a funeral and everyone is crying
Thank you for perfectly articulating this. I always have to apologize and caveat when I cautiously admit I like SNL. That yes - I DO know it's unfunny most of the time. But I can't help it, I love it. And knowing full well that it goes through peaks and valleys, I'm clinging on for when it gets good again. (I'm feeling cautious optimism surrounding the rumors that Tina Fey is poised to take over for Lorne.) Glad to read this and know I'm not alone!
Oh wow that would either be the best or the worst thing to happen to the show and we have no way of knowing which until three seconds after the first show is over and the cast and crew are all on stage either doing a perfectly synchronised can-can or hitting each other with IKEA foldaway chairs.
I never thought SNL was very funny, and I began watching when it first came on. It was "must see" TV, but I never understood why...wasting 90 minutes to get one, maybe two, laughs. I always thought that people thought it was funny or brilliant, because they kept hearing how brilliant and funny it was.
I saw a couple of comments on here about the Liza Minelli sketch, and how it was one of the best. I watched it; how anyone thought that was funny mystifies me.
What always bothered me was how they could not come up with consistently funny material, week after week. Others have done it; they failed miserably.
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.
—The “Meet Your Second Wife” skit was a great idea, but it relied pretty much solely on its premise, which was worth only a few chuckles.’
—When did SNL start using laugh tracks?
The recent skits by SNL with Nate Bargatze are hilarious. 😂
I love SNL unapologetically. It's like treasure hunting, you need to keep on digging and and find nothing for a long time and one of those times you hit the gold. I'm the designated treasure finder in my friend group. I watch all the sketched to comb through the best ones that everyone will laugh. That's a life skill let me tell you 😂
When they’re good, they’re good!
My American pals are always sending and citing SNL sketches and I have never been able to understand it! Feeling vindicated by most of the above point, though still not completely sure why it’s so popular when it’s clearly so, so bad.
Maybe its popularity rewards the effort, not the execution.
Must see TV? We were getting stoned while we were waiting for "In Concert that followed SNL. Joined the Army and never watched SNL again.
I've watched it since its first airing in the 1970s.
It's surprising the UK doesn't have an equivalent. I was the general manager of the laugh factory in Los Angeles and I remember when Jay Mohr was on the show and either quit or was fired and he said it was just so intense and so difficult that it was all too much. We have no idea the amount of pressure these people are under. But yes, it certainly leaves much to be desired sometimes. It's a hit or miss.Sabrinalabow.substack.com
It’s easy to forget that they don’t have very long to put a show together and the testing isn’t particularly rigorous. It’s like a turbo-charged version of something sounding very funny in your head but bombing once you say it and realise it’s actually a funeral and everyone is crying
It's tremendous pressure. For an entire week and then to go live must be terrifying!
Thank you for perfectly articulating this. I always have to apologize and caveat when I cautiously admit I like SNL. That yes - I DO know it's unfunny most of the time. But I can't help it, I love it. And knowing full well that it goes through peaks and valleys, I'm clinging on for when it gets good again. (I'm feeling cautious optimism surrounding the rumors that Tina Fey is poised to take over for Lorne.) Glad to read this and know I'm not alone!
Oh wow that would either be the best or the worst thing to happen to the show and we have no way of knowing which until three seconds after the first show is over and the cast and crew are all on stage either doing a perfectly synchronised can-can or hitting each other with IKEA foldaway chairs.
Or perhaps doing both?!
LOL I will be sure to check back here for your full review!
Even when it’s bad - it’s great!
Yes! I still enjoy its badness. The good time they’re (mostly) having is infectious.
I never thought SNL was very funny, and I began watching when it first came on. It was "must see" TV, but I never understood why...wasting 90 minutes to get one, maybe two, laughs. I always thought that people thought it was funny or brilliant, because they kept hearing how brilliant and funny it was.
I saw a couple of comments on here about the Liza Minelli sketch, and how it was one of the best. I watched it; how anyone thought that was funny mystifies me.
What always bothered me was how they could not come up with consistently funny material, week after week. Others have done it; they failed miserably.