I watched Saturday Night Live this past week, and it was incredibly mediocre. It's always that way anymore. I laughed at various parts throughout different skits, and I laughed extra hard as Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake sang about doing each other's moms as a gift on Mother's Day, but in retrospect I only remember half of the skits, and only a few of the jokes. Considering that J. Timberlake is the show's best host these days, I was pretty disappointed. When I talk to my friends (mostly falling in the age range of 25-32), everybody seems to say that SNL isn't as funny as it used to be and the show has been going downhill ever since Will Ferrell left the cast. Or since Chris Farley passed away. Or since Mike Myers and Dana Carvey left the show. And so on.
What I'm really wondering is, are the skits now any less funny, or is the humor targeted at a different generation? Is the show aimed at teenagers and college students? Do they think we're in a golden age of SNL right now? I really don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case. All I know is that I liked SNL the best when I was in middle school and high school, and that cast will always be my favorite. Everybody in their late 20's remembers Wayne's World, Matt Foley the motivational speaker, da Bears, and Lunch Lady Land. We remember the best hosts of that time, Alec Baldwin, Christopher Walken, John Goodman, etc. But there's a part of me that thinks that kids now will remember this era of SNL the same way.
Personally, I think the writing has gone to crap. The skits are completely ridiculous anymore, and they're entirely unimaginative. The jokes require the bleeping out of cuss words to be funny. What ever happened to the commercials like "Bad Idea Jeans" and "The Paradox". Those commercials were about normal products (pants, automobiles) presented in a humorous way. The commercials now are about feminine napkins and enemas and a slough of other things that are included for shock value.
"Oh my gosh, can you believe that last commercial for the sex jelly!? I can't believe they went there!"
Yeah, nobody is saying that. We're all just kind of grimacing. That's lazy writing and besides that, it makes me queasy. But hey, maybe I'm an old man now and the show has passed me by. I'll tell you what though, I definitely intend to get to the bottom of this. I want to know if middle school and high school students think the show is funny as it is, and whether or not they think the old skits that I love are funny. That's the true test of whether SNL has really declined.
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4 comments:
I'll weigh in here. I don't think we'd be having this conversation last year pre-election time. SNL was on the money every week, as long as their sketches were about the upcoming Presidential election. Even their other skits and digital shorts were up to par. However, I think that post-election SNLs have been lacking. Its like they used all their energies to make those shows da bomb and have slacked off the past few months.
I was kind of sad you didn't mention the Schmitt's Gay commercial, then I clicked on the link...yes!! As I watched the credits last week, I felt like the current cast members are all individually funny in movies like Hot Rod and shows like 30 Rock. That makes me think the writing is to blame. I think you're right that they've shot for low brow humor, I would almost prefer they recycle the same ideas from the early 90s than try this "cutting edge" comedy. But I have to say that I don't like the older SNLs, maybe the 90s was the golden age and we're just watching the typical right now.
In case you didn't watch this past weekend...they had to pull out ALL the stops to make the show remotely funny for the season finale. Bringing back EVERY funny host/cast member in an attempt to approach the hilarity of old is unsustainable. I was sad on Sunday morning. sigh.
I'm not sure about SNL, but I know my 14 year old sister-in-law loves the new family guy and all her friends think it's hilarious. I pretty much view the new family guys (season 4 and after) the way I view the current SNL: different show, same name. I can't make it all the way through an episode. Understand, I have most of the 1st three seasons of family guy memorized. When it came back it was just lame. More sex jokes, more violence, less word play and good timing. I mean, you don't see things like this anymore:
Peter- "since when did they change the meaning of for to from?"
Brian-"well they sent out a memo, but it said for peter on it so you must have thought it said from pet...you know, sometimes it's just easier to call you stupid."
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