SNL. What’s Up With Dat?

This is actually a heart breaking piece to write, because I grew up on SNL and it’s been a massive part of my life. I taped the show every week, and memorized every sketch hopeing one day I could make it there.

With that said, I can no longer defend SNL’s mediocrity from the stand point of a dedicated fan because –  it’s terrible. Hell, I can’t even call myself a fan anymore that’s how much I don’t watch the show anymore, and trust me – I never it would come to this.

So why do I hate it so much now? Because I’m older, and I don’t find the same things funny? Nope. I still find funny things funny.

Because I don’t like the cast members, and I’m still clinging on to the past? No, no matter who leaves SNL there’s always been someone you could love, and to be honest I don’t know enough about the current cast to make a decision on loving or hating them.

I don’t like it anymore, because it’s passed it. Over. Not even close to being funny. But the big question is why isn’t it funny? And more importantly who do we blame for it not being funny?

Lorne Michaels? Maybe. He is in charge. BUT he’s also been there when it was amazingly great – so he must know something about picking the right people, and putting together a good show.

The writers? Yeah, that’s a good target since they do write the material. BUT the cast have a hand writing the sketches too. AND said sketches do have to pass by the head writer (currently there’s three of them – Colin Jost, Rob Klein, and Bryan Tucker ), AND Lorne Michaels.

The cast and/or the host? Too easy. They’re the ones on the front line so they get the heat. Yes, not all of them are fantastic, but some of them – especially the new recruits, just need a bit of time to settle in. Hopefully.

Sooooooooooo…. where does that leave us? My theory is I don’t  think one person, or group of people are to blame, I think it’s just a bad combination all around.

In my life I have seen a few full cast rotations on SNL, the biggest and most noticeable was the one during the mid nineties when we saw Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, and The Groundlings take over – and boy they were good times!

The next time would be in the early 2000s when Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and the UCB/Second City crowd took the stage, and again – they were great times.

Are we seeing a pattern here though? Any time there’s been a massive SNL tectonic plate shift there’s been a mass majority. And there, I feel, lays to the key to SNL’s success.

Anyone who’s ever taken an improv class will tell you – you can put fifteen hilariously, funny people in a room together but it doesn’t mean that they’re going to be hilariously, funny as a group. Much like in anything you gravitate and work with the people who ‘get you’, and no where is this more obvious than in comedy – which is an extremely subjective thing. What I find funny, isn’t necessarily what you find funny, and vice-versa.

When Ferrell and company took over, most of them knew each other. They had paid their dues together and they “got” each other. Same with Fey and the gang. They knew what each other’s strength were, and they played to them. Now this isn’t to say that outsiders weren’t welcome. Tracy Morgan was a stand up, Darrell Hammond didn’t study improv – and Jimmy Fallon was a relative unknown when he auditioned. They all brought something to the table though, they weren’t just the generic black guy, the guy with a million voices, or the baby-faced kid. There was something there, something to work with and you could tell just by watching how seamlessly they fit into the already established casts.

I’m not trying to say that the current cast and writers are untalented, or leave a void in the SNL talent pool because they must have some talent that made them stand out to the casting directors. There is something there, but perhaps it doesn’t work in the current circumstances.

With this being such a momentous year for SNL, the start of this season marks it’s 40th year on the air, I do hope that the show can take a much-needed upswing – but after watching the season premiere, I don’t think that’s going to happen.

There’s a lot of talent to be had on, and off-screen, at SNL I just don’t think a lot of it will be seen until those talents have long left the show, or branched out into new ventures.