The extreme awfulness of Saturday Night Live

It's not nearly as good as it used to be.

Lorne is at least 100 by now and keeps himself spry by bathing in ice baths for 12 hours intermittently throughout every working day.

the show is controlled by nbc marketing fraus, it'll only ever be the safest corpo shit

Of the current men, I only like Kenan & Mikey.

The OP is exactly right about those news guys -- instead of doing a deadpan delivery of the so-so material, which might make it work, they giggle and laugh and pat each other on the back for their wonderfulness -- it's beyond cringe-worthy.

Even a few years ago, I wouldn't miss an episode. Watching this season (and last) I feel insulted by the low quality of the program. It's embarrassing and feels like a waste of my time.

I haven’t watched a regular episode since 2016. And it was slipping away even before that.

Wonder what it’s like at the table read—do people actually laugh at these relentlessly unfunny sketches?

Does Lorne have someone turn his head for him during these table reads and pitch meetings? He can only communicate through whispers and via tapping these days.

I agree with all of you . I remember the good ol days of Belushi, Radner, Ackroyd and everyone else … talented people, good writing …. So long Rosanna Anna Danna and all the rest … nothing good lasts forever

The opener this weekend was the definition of cringe. It just wasn't funny. I wanted it to be but the audience was silent throughout it. I was stunned that even as bad as the show is, they hadn't tested that opening skit.

Its been atrocious for literally 2 decades at least.

R10, forget those early years.. How about just a return to the Kristin Wigg era, or maybe Tina Fey era? It wasn't that long ago when SNL had something to make everyone laugh. They've let the Gen Z's take over and they're obsessed with the red vs blue politics. It's absolutely bizarre, the death circling of this show. It's only around because it's on late Saturday nights.

True, not so long ago it was still worth watching!

Sinead O'Connor Will Have Her Revenge on SNL.

The political bent of the show has been going on since well before the current cast. The bigger issue is that they used to also have a deep well of recurring characters and sketches, which made the show timeless. Now most of the sketches are dated within a few months.

They keep Lorne plugged in at 30 Rock with round the clock hospice care and still he won't retire.

To me the Dana Carvey/Phil Hartmann years were the best, but SNL had a brief renaissance during the Andy Samberg years. I was a kid when the original (1976) aired and sometimes my mother would let me stay up to watch it. I thought it was hysterically funny, but upon rewatching those early (‘76 -‘78) years it’s clear the much of the humor was 6th grade level( which is probably why I loved it) and written by drug-addled minds.

OP is just mad that they make fun of Trump

Cry harder, conservatives

The people who claim that the show is terrible keep watching it week after week

Twenty years ago you guys were shrieking about how the show was terrible too. But you keep watching it every week

[quote] The show is now a fully political program, no doubt about it

NOW s fully political program? You didn't notice FORTY SIX appearances by murderer Alec Baldwin for no purpose other than to attack republicans? Or the heart rending overwrought scene when Hillary lost as all the NBC interns wept as they listened to the mournful piano?

Let them lean left. They always did anyway, but they were still funny. Now it's just another angry hate show.

The night Paris Hilton hosted was the night I decided I'd have enough of SNL. Since then I've only given in one time ( Oct 9, 2010) for Jane Lynch.

I will catch the occasional sketch on YouTube. But you could never get me to sit down and watch the whole thing. Besides, I rarely stay up that late anymore.

I think the current climate has also made it easier for them to do current events-related sketches than to create original characters. Fox News would freak out over the Church Lady now, non-binary Pat would cause a social media meltdown, and Linda Richman would be accused of perpetuating anti-semitic stereotypes. It's a lot easier to just "punch up" at public figures than it is to create original material that could be deemed "problematic" by today's overly sensitive audience.

The most recent episode neared rock-bottom because Adam Driver can be hilarious when the writing is good, but this time the sketches sucked more than usual and wasted his talent. It was as if the writers were trying to pull off Steve Martin style absurdity but lacked the imagination and cleverness to pull it off. Bizarre premises like airplane baby, tiny handbags, and kicking French bulldogs into the air for fun, but with no biting satire or clever twists. The skits just awkwardly end at whatever minute mark is required.

They lost too many funny cast members at once. It used to be very funny at times.

Mikey Day and Colin Jost could improve things by showing their cocks.

Anytime they have an athlete on, it's good. Otherwise SHIT.

Anytime they have an athlete on, it's SHIT.

Fixed that, R27.

Now a fully political program?

Chevy Chase tripping over anything as Gerald Ford

Dana Carvey - Wouldn't be prudent

The worst episode I ever saw was with Jenny Jones. Or was it Cherry Jones? Whoever it was, she played Grace Kelly in a fart sketch.

[quote]Adam Driver can be hilarious when the writing is good, but this time the sketches sucked more than usual and wasted his talent

Same with Emma Stone last week. She’s been a reliably hilarious guest host but she had nothing funny to work with last week

R21. In case you didn’t notice, Trump was president four years. That might explain why he was impersonated FORTY SIX times, and Baldwin didn’t shoot anyone until Trump had left office I don’t watch the show and didn’t find Baldwin’s impersonation very effective, but it is important to point out that you don’t know what the hell you are talking about, that the mockery they made of Trump was quite mild and similar to what they do to every president, and that no one is really concerned about the feelings of people who support our former thug of a president. It has nothing to do with being left or right. Hopefully, you feel constantly offended and picked on.

In recent seasons, the musical guest has become the punchline. They are generally quite funny, unintentionally.

The show also leans way too heavily on celebrity cameos these days. I have literally no idea what the point of the Save the Last Dance bit from the last episode was and it of course ended with Julia Stiles making an appearance.

The Stefanik sketch this week was peak CRINGE

[quote] The Stefanik sketch this week was peak CRINGE

The actor assigned originally to perform apparently thought the same

What would the point of having Cecily play Elise Stefanik even have been? As I said upthread, the show relies way too heavily on celebrity cameos.

Creative bankruptcy, perhaps

They try WAY too hard to be funny. When you have to TRY, you fail miserably. I think people are looking for an escape from current news. A little in moderation is fine. Some of the news these days is so outrageous that it lends itself to comedy. But less is more and that seems to be lost on SNL.

You all sound so old. John Belushi, Gilda Radner? Move on please.

The last time Rudy was right about, well, anything...

SNL: "Is it ok to be funny again?"

Rudy: "Why start now?"

Only New Yorkers watch and enjoy SNL.

The original SNL, SCTV and MAD TV....they were all so great. What's happened to comedy?

For Weekend Update, it has been horrible this year. One December 9th, at least it was tolerable.

@r43, "What's happened to comedy? "

It's become offensive to everybody. No matter how innocent the joke someone will take offense

SNL was never funny. In Living Color and Mad TV were very funny.

- The Vancome Lady

I agree it's really lost its way. It's too political, and it doesn't dare to make fun of barely anything having to do with entertainment (only politics and news persoanlities) because Lorne Michaels has become such a suck-up to celebrities. And some cast members have been there a ridiculous long time. Kenan Thompson has been on it for a full twenty years now--that's just too long, no matter how much I once upon a time loved his brilliant Florida Evans ("Damn! Damn! Damn!")

Michaels has to retire at some point (he's currently 79), and my guess is that when he retires soon, either NBC will cancel the show or completely revamp it.

[quote]I have literally no idea what the point of the Save the Last Dance bit from the last episode was

Literally!

the presidential impression was always a big part of snl. but only trump had such pussy ass snowflakes for a base.

Their commercial parodies are funny.

SNL was at its peak when it would cheerfully mock politics of all stripes.

"Jim, let me tell you something. There's gonna be a whole bunch of things we don't tell Mrs. Clinton".

Kenan is highly overrated. He has 3 characters: talk/game show host, weird guy, and guy reacting to weird guy. I think he’s contributed a lot to SNL turning into a Nickelodeon sketch comedy show.

DON'T WATCH SNL after 1979/80

It's so distracting how obvious the cue card reading is.

R23 nailed it. something like Pat would never make it on TV today. Look at what happened to Dave Chapelle, comedians can’t even do comedy anymore.

12 year olds on Tik Tok make funnier content than SNL.

An example of how brilliant SNL could be decades ago., This is top-notch writing and acting. Note how you hang onto every line.

SNL has never been funny. Ever.

It's fun to be a contrarian, isn't it R57?

The fact is millions found SNL funny in its early days. The first season made Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and Gilda Radner into major stars.

While I agree with almost everything OP said, I actually kind of liked the “beep beep” sketch. It was at least a creative swing, even if not a classic. But yeah, this season in general has been absolute garbage with arguably the worst cast ever assembled on the show.

The last two episodes have been lackluster but the cold open with Stefanik was not funny at all.

The disappointing thing about the cold open is that you can easily see how it might have been funny. All of the participants (Stefanik, the Ivy League presidents) were ripe for parody, but they couldn’t figure out how to do a political sketch that should have earned a few laughs.

It's unwatchable now. The show is long past its use by date.

The clip at R57 shows cast members who had learned their lines and actually used acting skills to portray characters. Compare recent (past 15-20 years) performers who never even look at each other but stand at an angle so they can see the cue cards, which they read and recite from blatantly. It's so unprofessional. I know that the model is to write and revise up until show time, but that's a model that doesn't work anymore, and if the producers had any integrity, they'd find a new one.

I’m not in the US so it’s not something I’ve ever watched much of but have seen clips over the years and I’ve always found SNL self congratulatory and smug about itself. (I’m talking Tina Fey years and later, not the 80/early 90s.)

This show has fallen off in a big way. I've tried to watch it a few times in the last few years, and yeah, it sucks.

They had a bad misstep of a sketch at the opening - the rest of it was FINE. They are in one of their "rebuilding" years with a lot of their talent recently departing all at once after many successful seasons. The show is still a successful broadcast network show which isn't saying much since broadcast television is seriously sucking more than it ever has. SNL will come back, it always does. Just turn off the television you clowns or skip through it to some of the good parts. It's a television institution AND it's doing well also via internet with clips etc. I hope its always on the air. It's truly a unique program and still can rush on material quickly to respond to whatever happened in the news that week or in some cases hours before air. It attracts top tier talent that drop by and do cameos (I'm not referring to Stiles no disrespect to her). It's fine - don't bag on this entire series guys c'mon. Talk about when they F-up on sketches like on the opening but no need to take the entire thing down. And where we you 6 months ago commenting on this series? Nowhere.

SNL was never meant to please everyone, even from the very beginning. It has its target audience, and we are all meant to grow out of that target audience. Frankly, they don’t want certain demographics to think they are funny.

S L is terrible and has been for the last five or six years. Colin Jost and Michael Che have the most punchable faces in the world.

The Stefanik skit was bad because it didn't seem to have any point of view. Was it making fun of Stefanik? Of the university presidents? Of the response to their testimony? They seemed to think that recreating something current would automatically make it funny, which it did not.

[quote]The clip at [R56] shows cast members who had learned their lines and actually used acting skills to portray characters. Compare recent (past 15-20 years) performers who never even look at each other but stand at an angle so they can see the cue cards, which they read and recite from blatantly. It's so unprofessional.

And notice the timing. The pacing.

Non-talents like Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang just speed through their lines and make faces, thinking that's what makes comedy.

[R68] You guys are so ridiculous. "S L is terrible and has been for the last five or six years." Okay DO YOU KNOW how many times that has been written about regarding SNL? Probably about every 6-7 years. Or more. Then it's "hot" again. Then its not. It's survived all of this. It's like so many of these commenters on here don't understand the history of the program, decade to decade. It's so tired to read, "SNL is over" or 'SNL has been terrible for X many years.' It won't be over until the audience stops watching and they haven't stopped since it started. So these posts always make me chuckle a bit.

Bowen Yang is awful in everything I've seen him in.

R67, I think that was the case for most of its history, but about 10-15 years ago it became an institution in the way it wasn't before, and that changed people’s perceptions of it, probably unfairly. It was no longer a series for people to outgrow, which might be better creativity for the show.

You know who was funny? George Burns and Gracie Allen. Oh how I used to laugh. We had entertainment back in the day.

[R74] hahahhaah, "—THE OLDEST AND CRABBIEST DL ELDERGAY"

[quote]It's unwatchable now. The show is long past its use by date.

I don't disagree, but people have been saying this for decades now.

Sure, the days of Jim Belushi and company offered some of the best satire. But come on, that was decades ago.

I would argue that the seasons featuring, among others, Alex Moffat, Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong were some of the best in recent times. Moffat and Mikey Day spoofing the Trump brothers was very funny as were the sketches featuring Moffat as The Guy Who Bought a Boat.

When all three departed en masse, I knew the show would have to rebuild and that was a dicey proposition. And, IMHO, it hasn't worked. I find myself turning it off midway through, and often just after the latest lame Weekend Update. Colin Jost and Michael Che are insufferable.

For me, SNL is no longer appointment television. I DVR it weekly, but zip through most of it because the sketches are so lame. And don't get me started on the Do Not Destroy trio. Unfunny to the max.

Well, you tell us R74, do you really think 2023's line-up of Michael Che, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Bowen Yang, Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim etc are comparable to 1975's Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner?

Do you think today's lineup will become major stars headlining top grossing comedies? Really? Who?

Originally, SNL was funny and liberal, and provocative. Their Supreme Court Skit the first year was one of the reasons the show was a NIGHT show. But they quickly devolved into making fun of Gerald Ford tripping. This crap is still considered funny nightly on that Seth Meyers crapfest. Now it's a painful regurgitation, disgorgement?, of Lorne throwing people at the wall and seeing if anything sticks. Keenan Thompson mystifies me. And am I old if that writers' room trio does need to be burnt? In the beginning hosts were stars of stage, TV, Screen and comedy club. They were giants. Then SNL went on to MAKING stars of stage, TV, screen and comedy clubs. Now Lorne must be trolling the aisles of Dollar Trees asking people to give him their tightest 5. Just pitiful. Lorne, I repest the same advice given to Leslie Jones, they haven't lived. It shows. Neither entertaining nor funny.

Can't believe I am looking forward to McKinnon and her Abducted By Aliens-Lesbian, this week,

It sure made a lot of movie stars over the years.

SNL has historically had peaks and valleys, but right now they’re in a pretty bleak valley. Colin Jost is a disaster as both head writer and on Update, and this cast is a collection of mediocrities. The show has never truly recovered from the simultaneous departures of Armisen, Hader, Sudeikis, Wiig, & Seth Meyers as head writer, all back in 2014.

I haven't watched the show in this century. It's been 30 years at least since I've watched it or anything more than an isolated clip after the fact.

It's just not something that I've even once considered watching in all those years.

The show once seemed fresh had an element of surprise in seeing how far it would push or how strange it might stray but that didn't last 20 years, and it's now pressing hard against 50.

Saturday Night Live and I are the exact same age. My mom used to let me stay up late to watch it when I was a little kid. The show has ebbed and flowed since the beginning. And there have been FAR worse years, far worse casts than the ones now. I think the mid 90s BEFORE Will Ferrell, Sherry Oteri, Molly Shannon years were absolutely the worst. I think it was like David Spade years. Nothing was funny. Their current cast does seem to be very talented and willing to throw themselves into the most absurd scenarios and make them funny. I have no real problem with them.

Actually when you go back and watch some of the original shows from the late 70s, they maybe iconic, but a lot of the skits just aren't that funny. The Tina Fey years with Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler were much better. And they were able to completely ruin Sarah Palin and had massive impact on the election. The Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, Sheri Oteri, Ana Gesteyer years were much better than the original seasons. Kristin Wiig alone was better than most of the original skits.

The real robots on these threads are the people who say it hasn't been as good as it was 48 years ago.

"You better cook my meat.." has become a staple in my everyday vernacular. If though the cast does crack up, the premise is so absurd I don't care and Ego Nwodim and her commitment to this character just makes the skit.

@r74, "You know who was funny? George Burns and Gracie Allen"

Say good night, Gracie, you're drunk...

8 out of 10 of the skits suck, but every once in a while it's worth it. The chocolate dildo skit they just did was funny.

I'm not familiar w/ the earlier incarnations (that I know are beloved but still seem kinda lame) but the current stuff is god awful. Forget not funny, most of it is unintelligble. The exception is when you latch onto a cast member that is really good, even if the rest of the cast/writers are weak. So, I wouldn't watch live...... but I'd look later on Youtube for anything with Bill Hader- because he's brilliant. Prior to this, there was a time when it was actually funny when Fey, Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen were on. I also liked Horatio Sanz, Will Forte (underused) and Chris Parnell (way underused.)

And then again when Tina became the head writer- she really elevated it and gave it some wit. Mulaney wrote some funny sketches. Jose Torres too. Kate McKinnon was a bright spot but her characters got repetitive. Otherwise, meh.

r85, it was SNL cannibalizing Schweddy Balls. It would have been funny had all the TV assholes not seen the joke and be repulsed.

Molly and Anna were both oblivious to the joke and the skit was funny.

Mikey and what's her name being repulsed hit the punchline before the audience realized.

Bad writing and even worse acting. If Mikey had full throated the Santa...

Every time Kate does a vagina visual, she never recognizes the vagina.

And this passes for comedy on SNL 50.

I hope they human-sacrifice Bowen Yang to the spirits of Robin Williams, George Carlin, Richard Prior and Bill Hicks

and summon the ghost of Sam Kinison who spends an hour screaming, "SO YOU THINK THIS IS FUNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY??"

I laughed... 😛

I'm young(ish) and the cast sucks.

The show's last good year was 2017, with Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Vanessa Bayer and Aidy Bryant keeping it together - you could tell they got high off each other's energy which dragged the audience into it. They could elevate the material.

Once they left (along with Beck Bennett) it really was doomed.

But things that are ripe for a piss take, like that trans(?) Canadian shop teacher with the enormous boobs are avoided now because there are things that are untouchable.

The black cast members are reduced to the wise negro trope, having to deal with tiresome white people. It's not funny, and must be dull as shit to perform week in, week out.

There was a great sketch a few years back about lesbians doing fire island which was hysterical. More of that kind of shit is needed.

None of these infant comics have lived.

It's HS drama class.

It's as bad and lame as every middle-aged gay man I know taking his first improve class forcing all his friends to show and force laughs out of them.

Every period people praise, excluding the original cast, was as hated by people at the time as this period is by you.

TV shows get better the longer they run! What's all this nonsense about being comedically bankrupt?!

r93, go ask Ray Romano.

It does seem SNL casts where the principals are over 25 (with a few exceptions) appear to have more cohesion. There's a sweet spot somewhere between freshness and competence. Still, some SNL rejects have gone on to have wildly successful careers. Julia Louis Dreyfuss and RDJ are two that come to mind.

r56 can't believe i've never seen this classic skit. fucking hilarious. alec baldwin is trying so hard not to burst out laughing.

r92 nonsense, in the 90s snl was treated as a cultural institution and films marketed off of skits were big hits. even when the show transitioned into the andy samberg era it was well received. i was in highschool at that time and there were a ton of viral skits - me and all of my friends (and a lot of teens) were very into the digital shorts and the lonely island stuff. dick in a box, like a boss, easter sunday, etc.

R96, they did a reboot of that skit with Betty White and her Muffins. It's out there somewhere.

It's not the performers and the performances it is the writing. However I have heard the actors do have to help develop and write sketches and come up with their own signature characters.

Not clear why DLers have it in for Yang. He works in every show and seems to contribute a lot. If they are relying on him, it seems to me the weakest cast members are those who never carry their weight and who rarely come up with anything.

r97 i even remember there was a bit of gossip because this girl in our poli sci class kept doing the jizz in my pants joke but passing it off as something she came up with. when someone asked her if she had seen that skit she pretended not to and we were all really embarrassed for her. her name was actually princess, our calc teacher used to tell my class (she was in a different period) that we were reaching the "princess zone" if she got mad, because she hated that particular student so much.

SNL used to plunder Second City and The Groundlings for their talent, and these people could improvise. It seems they just hire SM people now.

r93 = Post of the Thread

^ I went to Second City before SNL even started. A lot of the original cast were there and just loaded with talent. Probably one of the funniest evenings I ever spent

SM, R101?

Why is this the only skit show on TV?

I remember in recent years, they would do these cutaway sketch videos that were hilarious: like the women cast members singing about going home for Thanksgiving. Leslie Jones singing about her mama having BOWLS everywhere in the house for potpourri, keys, soaps, etc. was truly the only time she made me laugh my ass off. Those are hilarious but they take time, production value, and WRITING. I don't know who the three wormy guys are who are the noted writers but I know that when the writers themselves are having their own sketches each week, it's certainly not a mark of show quality. Remember 'Dick In A Box'? "I'm On A Boat"? Back in the day the "commercial" for Homosil, a drug to take when your kid is obviously gay; the little boy coming out of the kitchen with an apron on and announcing to his Lay-Z-Boy sitting dad "Who's ready for creme brulee'!", the dad grabs his bottle of "Homosil" and takes several... LOL! That stuff was hysterical, it was innocently funny. They skirted close to it this past weekend with the skit about the two gay guys "trying" to have a baby and insisting they were actually trying to have one themselves. No surrogate or anything. I winced, knowing the trans crowd would complain, but that was a bit of an edgy skit to have. It wasn't all that funny, but it was a little edgy for today's climate and I loved that they went there. But the show now is just horrible.

While the earlier posters are right that SNL has always been criticized (something Lorne has masterfully exploited in order to deflect criticism), something is different about the current incarnation. I have seen every season since ‘75, including the notorious 1980, 1985, and 1994 years. Even in those years, you could see the talent in many cast members. You saw some glimmers in every episode. There was still a spark. Now, it seems like they have hired really poorly and just don’t have enough raw material to mold into anything strong. Even the supposedly strong cast members, like Bowen and Heidi Garnder and Chloe Fineman, seem like amateurs. At the very least, they seem like they are still first year featured players, despite being there for years. And, as mentioned by others, it’s often lacking in point of view, not in a politically neutral way (which would be good) but in a way that makes it seems like the writers don’t actually read the news or pay attention to life outside of TikTok.

Homocil

^not so funny after Tracey Morgan said he’d kill his son if he were gay.

The gay couple trying to conceive “the natural way” was like something Steven Crowder or the Daily Wire would write. They’re gay guys trying to have a baby, but are not aware of the biological reality that they are BOTH MEN. Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!

I haven't watched a full episode since Will Ferrell left. But I have seen the sketches that get popular. I agree with the negative comments in this post: It's just not funny anymore. It plays it way too safe.

Some things just aren’t funny - Elise Stefaniik sketch -

What about a sketch poking fun at a slave auction, a lynching Don’t get your panties in a knot DL - right - it’s not the same … But a SERIOUS conversation about NOT OBJECTING to calls for genocide of Jews IS NOT FUNNY.

You can’t legislate decency…..

My two favorites from the old days are the Jewess Jeans commercial with Gilda Radner and the Weekend Update Bill Murray interview with Liz Taylor, played by John Belushi…

The humor in the Stefanik interaction would be in seeing people refusing to give a straight answer to a very obvious question. They could have parodied it by grilling them on whether babies on planes are annoying, whether a certain song is catchy, or trying to deny that puppies are cute while being licked by one. Or they could have had Bill Hader come back and had the hearing conducted by Congresswoman Stefon and grilled them on New York's hottest clubs. Literally there are a million things you could do to send it up that would have been better than the completely uninspired skit they haphazardly threw on the air.

Toonces had more talent in one paw than the current cast combined

When I was young (boohoo) it seemed like a show written for adults by adults, which was largely true. I’m talking the Dana Carvey/Phil Hartman/Nora Dunn cast.

It backslid when Sandler and Farley and the others came on and became very juvenile.

Then Tina Fey and others got it back on an adult level again.

It seems to have backslid. But it’s hard to laugh at these idiots in the news now.

R71 is personally affronted! She has stated her boundaries clearly and roars with angry power!

EVERYONE knows SNL has peaks and valleys you dunce. This valley is the lowest it’s been in years. It’s like watching theater kids do improv.

[quote] This valley is the lowest it’s been in years. It’s like watching theater kids do improv.

And they're rubbing it in your face

Gilda Radner as Rhonda Weiss - Jewess Jeans.

I loved Gilda as Rhonda Weiss, if you're from the tri-state area you know exactly the type she was parodying.

[quote]Not clear why DLers have it in for Yang.

He's one dimensional. Every character he plays is himself. Even in a simple comedy, he could not play a straight male if his life depended on it. Plus, he's not really funny. Feels like he's an SNL hire ordered by HR. "we need an Asian on our team". On top of that, very stereotype for gay Asian males, he's not masculine, muscular, attractive or interesting, he's doughy, bitchy, clingy and queeny.

Yang was at his worst when he played the iceberg that sank the Titanic…what a cornball sketch. One of the ones I caught on YouTube.

I've been watching random sketches on Youtube for years now, I haven't sat down and watched the entire show as it was broadcast in a very long time.

It's ALWAYS been hit or miss.

Yang gives the impression that he bulled them into giving him a job because they dont have any gay Asians on their show.

And not, it's not a racist thing, Pete Davidson also not hired for his talent. Sympathy fuck, I mean sympathy higher.

[quote]Sympathy fuck, I mean sympathy higher.

Sympathy higher?

R124 meant "sympathy hire," I assume. But who was hiring him out of sympathy--Lorne Michaels? Why?

American humour.....I'll pass.

Passing on all American "humour," are we, R127? What, is Judi Dench's dreadful sitcom more your cup of tea?

Cut the attitude.

R128 How dare you! She's a national treasure!

Or maybe R127's idea of "humour" is Hyacinth Bucket.

I stopped watching it or recording it. Most hosts and music guests aren’t interesting enough to make me wanna put up with a lousy show full of commercial breaks

It is beyond terrible and has been. Even a few years ago, when it was with people like Hader and Wiig, it was hit and miss. Same with McKinnon and Strong and a few in that era, good as they are. It's back to being abominable.

And yeah, the cue card crap is also beyond ridiculous.

R130 Educate yourself

R133, educate yourself:

R134 Excellent, and DEFINITELY not SNL!

That's because there's more than SNL to Amerian humor. A lot more.

Chloe Fineman was on the today show this morning. Her impressions were fine, but again, lacking a certain something. It’s like you can see the work. Plus young female comedians have got to stop doing the same four or five people (Streep, Kidman, Coolidge, etc).

How many young female comedians imitate Streep or Kidman, R137?

Coincidentally this past weekend, before even hearing or reading about Saturday’s episode’s much criticized cold opener, I just decided the whole lineup seemed not sorting and it ended up being the first time in decades that I was home on a Saturday night but decided to opt out of watching a new live SNL episode. Yup, I’d found myself deciding from about 7-8 years ago to stop finding anything funny enough to attract me to spend time watching any of their shows in rerun again—but I just feel the previous decades’ regulars and writing output (and, maybe the writers?”) seemed and delivered more maturely—maybe it was the era they grew up in and were schooled in comedy and acting during? Anyway the output now has become way too formulaic, silly, vapid, unoriginal and humorless.

I stopped watching about two years ago.

It's vile, toilet humor now and I'm not 5.

A lot, R138. Streep has become a very popular one, with them all doing her the same way (shallow humility, sort of scattered and downplaying). Kidman too, with all doing her AMC movie riff.

Sheesh the Yang haters missed my point entirely. Performers get screen time on SNL as a result of their productivity and perceived creativeness by the producers. Since Yang is on screen so much, from the LARGE cast, why not complain about the cast members who are perceived as LESS THAN Yang a performers. After all, if they were any good, you would be subjected to less Yang. The fact is, he's far from the weak link in that cast.

Is Fineman stealing Bowen's Ozempic? She looked dangerously thin in that Weekend Update piece with Julia Stiles

That’s very untrue, R142. SNL is very political and one of the keys is getting writers who will write for you. Bowen is very close with some writers (Celeste Yim is one of his besties), so they write for him. And then once you are perceived as hot, the other writers want to include you because it betters the chance of their sketch getting on. Bowen got some lucky breaks and is on the show at the right moment in time.

Meh. When given a choice, writers write for performers who are going to further their career as writers. Not for "besties" for friendship sakes. Over and over. The Iceberg on the Sinking of the Titanic got +5 million views so people found it entertaining. I think it's solid.

[quote]But who was hiring him out of sympathy--Lorne Michaels? Why?

Yes, Pete's father died in the 9/11 attack. Connections through his mother somehow led him to Loren. "my son wants to be a comedian". Rest is history. Which is why unlike other cast members, he keeps coming back when he needs more money.

r104, Social Media

^^ No reaction to Jewess Jeans?

This forum has been totally taken over by slimy ass cunts.

Bowen Yang is the face of SNL’s collapse.

Interestingly, Bowen might agree with you, R149. If you listen to his Las Culturistas podcast, you’ll hear he’s very self-deprecating about his abilities. It’s always his cohost or guest who tell him how amazing he is, while he whines and protests.

[quote]The bigger issue is that they used to also have a deep well of recurring characters and sketches, which made the show timeless.

They used to also have a deep well of recurring characters and sketches, which made the show incredibly boring.

I thought Adam Driver had a strong comic presence in all the skits he was in on last week's show and did the best he could with the mediocre material he was given.

Bowen Yang is no longer the most irritating, talentless cast member on the show. It's Sarah Sherman.

I yearn for the return of Alex Moffat...

They should all go back to non-stop cocaine sniffing, like in the 70s. It could really improve their performance.

Isn't that the premise of Don't Burn This?

Or weed?

[quote] and it ended up being the first time in decades that I was home on a Saturday night

What’s wrong with you?

R143 I noticed that, too. Looks like an eating disorder to me.

So is Marcello Hernández gay?

He came off super gay in his segment on Weekend Update, and his gayness seemed way too easy for him to channel during the tiny purse skit.

[quote]^^ No reaction to Jewess Jeans?

It's hilarious and knowing...all in good fun.... and would be impossible to do today.

R158, I thought that too. I am out of the loop with that guy since I don't watch regularly. He's like the gay Puerto Rican from some 50's barrio. He seems to love imitating women.

Adam Driver looked out of place with all the wide-eyed mugging of the cast struggling to act and read cue cards at the same time. Did he memorize his lines?

R109 is the living embodiment of why SNL and other comedy is so filtered bland these days. And it only took a couple of posts to mention past skits for her to show her face. Seriously, R109 is why humor is dead.

If you're going to critique a television show that has been on the air for quite some time, at least do the research. SNL has been POLITICAL since the first show in the 70's. Chevy Chase became famous for portraying a bumbling, stumbling parody of Gerald Ford. Belushi did the same with Henry Kissinger. Dan Ackroyd/Jimmy Carter. I agree with those who point out that those posting that the show hasn't been funny since it turned 'political' are most likely Trumpers/Republicans. Sorry if it's too much for you to handle, but it's utter bullshit to post that it use to be funny, but now....EW, POLITICS???

Has Punky ever been funny? Or Molly? Dead weight I say.

Punky is funny as characters outside of her sassy butch persona, like the matronly church lady. Molly is amateur and boring. I can’t think of one time she’s made me laugh. There must be at least one trans or non-binary person more talented than “they” are.

Overrated Kate McKinnon returns to host this weekend.

Kristen Wiig wore me out early in her tenure on the show. Especially that idiotic Gilly character.

I don’t get the love for Mickey Day. He yells all his lines, and that schtick is tiring.

I never thought Kristen Wiig was all that funny, except for the mutant fourth sister in the Lawrence Welk Show sketches.

R168 Mikey Day is pretty much a one-note performer.

He's giving Sarah Sherman stiff competition in the Decibel Shattering Line Delivery Olympics.

R164 Or how about that black guy? He's so non-descript, I can't even remember his name.

He appeared, I think, in one skit last week, and all he did was nod his head in it.

I'M why humor is dead? God heavens! I had no idea.

classic gay budweiser spoof from the 90s

r172, that is the reason to put the reference post, r109, in the comment, it can be scanned.

Lorne: Give Al Franken a call and beg him to resume his SNL writer's job.

You're welcome.

Brilliant r175.

Sarah Sherman sort of exemplifies the “strong” cast members of today. She had a few funny bits right out of the jump, mostly at the Update desk, and you thought maybe there was something there. But then you learn that this is basically they only persona she can do. There is no flexibility. There is very little attempt to even try to play different characters with differentiated voices and personae. She just sort of does her one shtick in anything she does, even if it doesn’t really fit.

Same thing with Bowen. Every “character” he plays becomes Bowen being queeny. It’s what makes this era different than past eras.

R177 Some of Sarah's worst moments were during Weekend Update. I never thought she was funny - just loud and obnoxious.

She wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, R178, but I sort of saw what she was trying to do. Felt like she has a fresh voice and some life in her. Turns out there is little flexibility. She does weird and loud.

The roots of this sort of cast member actually trace back to Cheri Oteri, who was basically the same kind if person know matter who she was playing. The difference was that Cheri had the theatrical training to pull it off. From there you got Wiig, who was basically the same — talented enough to sell her limited shtick in different ways. Then you got McKinnon, which is when the limitations get a little less convincing. The current cast seems to have studied this “type” as the path to stardom.

[quote]Same thing with Bowen. Every “character” he plays becomes Bowen being queeny.

Yep, it's like he thinks that gay stereotype that is so common in bars and retail environments we all know is somehow original to him. You could literally replace him with any gay queen and no one would notice the difference.

R180 Case in point - Marcello Hernandez's gay retail queen character in the tiny purse sketch.

It used to be so much better

Marcelo did the queeny character better, oddly enough. Bowen comes across as a little bitch no matter who he is playing.

R183 The only reason Bowen probably didn't get that sketch was because he couldn't do a Latino accent.

Calling Martin Short & Billy Crystal, calling Martin Short & Billy Crystal.

R141, I can't tell you any other time I've seen Streep/Kidman impressions.

The Hispanic guy's schtick has grown tiresome. And his constant "papi" and "mahMi" bullshit in every skit he's in needs to go.

I always thought Martin Short was one of the least funny cast members on SNL.

R186, Abby Elliot did Streep on SNL over a decade ago, and it was really inventive. Since then, many have done her, and the same way every time. Same with Kidman (and Coolidge and a few others). Social media is filled with young female comedians doing their takes.

R188, Martin Short & Billy Crystal were brought in to save SNL in the early ‘80s. It needs saving now.

I loved Phil Hartman because he wasn’t trying so hard to be hipper-than-thou like so many other cast members. His humor was based off of his talent. Cheri Oteri was a bit repetitive, but her facial expressions and timing were always on point.

I loved Cheri Oteri as the lady who was addicted to every prescription drug imaginable.

R189, I'm glad I missed most of them, then. But then I stopped watching SNL years ago.

R192 Ya gotta be in top form, Don, when you're drivin' a school bus full o' kindergartners.

[quote]It has its target audience, and we are all meant to grow out of that target audience.

Right, it's for New Yorkers. The rest of the country has better taste.

Faux outrage over Saturday Night Live being terrible is one of Datalounge's least attractive habits.

It's fine. Some episodes are better than others. Some cast members you like, some you don't.

I've watched as long as I can remember. Of course now that I am old, I watch it on Sunday mornings with breakfast.

It's an American institution. Watch it or don't.

Coming on here and bitching about it doesn't make you seem smarter.

The show sucks and I don’t watch it anymore.

“ Coming on here and bitching about it doesn't make you seem smarter.”

Wrong.

We are both extremely stupid people!

Hopefully no one is participating to “seem smarter.”

R150 - Dear God, he sounds more exhausting than Dan Levy.

[quote] Coming on here and bitching about it doesn't make you seem smarter.

Coming on here and being old doesn't make you seem wiser either.

R199 I remember seeing that episode when it originally aired, and I was laughing so hard, I was crying.

That look on Gilda's face at 3:18 when she turns to the camera is priceless.

And tonight it's Kate & Billy time.

The 3 Writer dorks are the worst. Are they the producers’ nephews? Completely unfunny.

R205: Please Don't Destroy is the name of the 3 writers (Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy).

John Higgins is Steve Higgins son. SH is a former SNL writer who is now the announcer/sidekick and writer on the Tonight Show. Martin Herlihy is the son of Tim Herlihy, the longtime comedy partner of Adam Sandler and a writer/producer for SNL in the 1990s. Ben Marshall is the only non-Nepo baby of the group. All 3 started writing together when they were students at NYU.

R199 thank you….just love that sketch even though Candice gives up halfway through and just starts laughing.

[quote] Candice gives up halfway through and just starts laughing.

Candy was right. Gilda was on a roll so get out of her way

Probably the single funniest moment in the history of the show courtesy of Gilda's improv training. Point to a current cast member who could have carried this off.

Kate McKinnon is going to SUCK and SUCK HARD!!! You know she'll do that very stupid and unfunny skit where they interview people who claim to have seen UFOs - which just turns into a litany of vulgar expressions and her scratching her crotch.

But they'll treat her like a returning STAR, which she most definitely is NOT.

I’m betting she’ll do her Giuliani since he’s been in the news this week. I don’t know that they’ll do the alien sketch since they did it for her going away episode but the writers seem unable to come up with new material so it’s very possible.

[quote]I’m betting she’ll do her Giuliani since he’s been in the news this week.

That seems likely. I wonder whether that will be her only unfunny male impersonation tonight or whether she might do a second one. To me, they all seem the same: extremely creepy and humor-free.

I’d forgive a lot if they got Andrew Dismukes in a jockstrap to play the twink getting fucked in the Senate chambers

Gilda was a great comedic talent. The Extreme Stupidity sketch would've only been mildly funny if it had gone according to script, but it became hilarious when Candice flubbed her line and Gilda ran with it.

They need to dump all the current featured players along with Punkie Johnson. None of them adds anything to the show.

R213 The thing about Gilda is that she was so adorable. She looked like so many girls from the era. Like someone you went to school with.

The Kate McKinnon North Pole sketch was dumb rip off of the one from a few years back that featured Eddie Murphy.

If you want an encapsulation of the twee GenZ weirdness of the current cast, listen to this week’s episode of Bowen Yang’s podcast. He went on a whole whine about the “emotional labor” of the job, as if landing a coveted dream job that thousands of people would kill to do should be a therapeutic cuddle session. He seriously makes it sound like the long hours and hard work, known to almost anyone who has ever read a damn thing about SNL, is some sort of torture for him to endure rather than a star-making opportunity of a lifetime.

Kate McKinnon was on Morning Joe once. I think Mika was a fan. Anyway, it was the oddest guest they ever had. It was weirdly awkward and uncomfortable not to mention lack of any comedy. They never asked her back.

[quote]'SNL has been terrible for X many years.' It won't be over until the audience stops watching and they haven't stopped since it started. So these posts always make me chuckle a bit.

Well, there’s really nothing else to fall asleep to at 11:30pm on a Saturday.

I think Kate McKinnon is on the autism spectrum. Something is very off with her.

She doesn’t look like an emotionless mannequin, R220.

She's a comedian. They're a strange breed.

[quote] it’s hard to laugh at these idiots in the news now.

Are you not entertained by unending smug smirking ?

[quote]Probably the single funniest moment in the history of the show courtesy of Gilda's improv training. Point to a current cast member who could have carried this off.

None. They’re too terrified of Lorne’s wrath to go off script.

Hasn't it always been bad, though?

I saw a clip of Timothee Chalamet playing Troye Sivan on there recently and I thought the skit was mildly homophobic in places. It was some dumb shit about a woman seeing a "gay guy" while experiencing sleep paralysis - because Troye Sivan is gay ha ha ha - get it?!!!

Not saying it was offensive, but it seemed like cheap and lazy humour. I doubt if she was seeing a black celebrity in her sleep paralysis, he'd have been referred to as "that black guy".

The worst show they ever did was the one with Trump on it. His stupid cell phone skit. It was so cringe.

[quote]I think Kate McKinnon is on the autism spectrum. Something is very off with her.

Dan Ackroyd is the most autistic SNL alumus, but he’s friendly and gracious during interviews (although he’ll sometimes dominate the conversation and go on and on about one of his interests.) If anything, I think Kate is on the “smug theater kid” spectrum.

According to DL, everyone is on the fucking autism spectrum.

R225 My guess is Bowen Yang wrote that stupid skit just so he could see Timothee in a tank top and make him pull down his pants multiple times.

It's obvious SNL original cast and first seasons were the best. The quality of the cast and shows since then has varied wildly. I used to try to catch most of the shows if I was home, but the need to tune in waned after 2000. I watch it occasionally now, and sometimes it's okay, but mostly it's amateurish or fails to deliver on whatever they were trying to achieve. You can usually fin at least one or two good skits withing a show, but it's painfully to sit through mostly dregs to get the occasional good bit.

I was just catching up on some episodes and watched the episode where Jason Momoa hosted.

Someone needs to get Chloe Fineman into treatment for her anorexia ASAP. She was scary skinny in that nightclub skit. If she doesn't get help soon, she's gonna Karen Carpenter herself.

Chloe Fineman is a Scientologist. If she does go into treatment COS will be involved and it probably won't end well.

The Jason Momoa episode before the last Momoa episode was much better.

R18: I'm guessing that Mika had her on show because Kate played her several times on SNL.