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SNL50: The Anniversary Special

Saturday Night Live

March 1 - Shane Gillis

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It was good, then it was great, then it was good again and now it stinks.

As of 2018 The edginess is gone. There are no risks in the jokes. They all consist of two things, 1. Trump is bad. and 2. This was a thing, remember it?

Neither of those really work for me. Make fun of Trump all you want, but do it with a punch line. Most of the time they forget the punchline. Simply not liking him is NOT a punchline. You have to exaggerate something, make it satire, mock it in some way. I don't even care if it's a cruel mockery...so long as it doesn't seem like they are just stating an opinion.

Opinions are NOT jokes.

The same thing goes with their "remember this, this was a thing" jokes...

They leave you sitting there waiting for them to say something funny about it. You're with them for a little while, "Yeah I remember it, go on..." then you realize that, no, that was the joke.

That's not a joke, that's just asking me to remember something.

Again, if they had a punch line, if they said something about what they were asking me to remember, then it might be funny...but they don't. The jokes are literally "this was a thing, laugh at it." and that's not funny. It has to be followed up with something.

Like with Trump, an opinion is NOT a joke unless it is followed by something. The same thing with a memory, a memory is NOT a joke in and of itself. They both have to be followed by something

Saturday Night Live will always be my comfort show. The longevity and influence SNL has had on the comedy scene is unmatched. It has been the catalyst for so many careers, e.g. Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell  etc... The show has definitely had its ups and downs but, in taking a step back it is evident that the show has remained consistently mixed in it entire run. 

Not every season has had great writers or talent, some actors have been much more successful than others, and yet it has always found an audience. My favourite era of the show was the mid 2000s with Bill Hader and Andy Samberg, but most people have a a preference for whatever season they had as a teenager. The consistency of structure and crew unites all the different casts, creating a familiar image and sensibility, found in every season.

There will always be a host monologue, musical guest, Weekend Update and most importantly, it will always be LIVE! The production process of a pitch meeting with the host, staying up all night on Tuesdays to write, read-through and dress rehearsal. Whether it's 1975 or 2023, everyone endures the same experience (although whether they have the aid of cocaine is certainly a difference!). 

The argument SNL hasnt been funny since the "insert previous ten years" is redundant. Every season of the show has been criticised for not being funny but every season of the show has produced hilarious sketches and shone a light on the new faces of comedy. In the 70s they had Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, the 80s they had Julia Louis Dreyfus and Conan O'Brien, the 90s they had Will Ferrell and Eddy Murphy, the 2000s Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the 2010s Kate McKinnon and Vanessa Bayer and finally in the 2020s we have Bowen Yang and Marcello Hernandez. 

The show continues to inspire and entertain the next generation of aspiring creatives with it's ground approach to sketch comedy. It is an American institution that will always hold a very dear place in my heart.

Maya Rudolph Transforms into Kamala Harris - SNL

Jim Carrey and Maya Rudolph Transform into Joe Biden and Kamala Harris - SNL

Saturday Night Live( 1975)

Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!

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Season 50

2024 | 20 Episodes

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A review by GenerationofSwine

Written by GenerationofSwine on Fri Jan 13 2023

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