We’re seven episodes in, and Saturday Night time Reside has a fiftieth anniversary drawback. The season so far has ranged from “Okay, fairly good” (John Mulaney, Ariana Grande, Nate Bargatze) to “hit or miss” (Invoice Burr and Michael Keaton) to “yeesh” (Jean Sensible and final night time’s episode with in-over-her-head Charli XCX.) That’s par for the course for the previous decade of SNL, however months of drumroll main into the anniversary 12 months promised extra.
Final night time’s present was emblematic of the season’s mediocrity. Total, SNL continues to undergo from the identical self-inflicted wounds. These are the present’s three largest missteps thus far this season…
Recycling Outdated Solid Members and Friends
This bug might have been a function. For the present’s fiftieth 12 months, why not a rotating group of former SNL all-stars? It really works as each fan service and a method to carry again performers who, frankly, are surer bets than present forged members.
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As a substitute, Lorne Michaels has assembled a shadow forged — Dana Carvey, Andy Samberg, and, till lately, Maya Rudolph — to not solely play political figures but additionally seem in sketches all through the night time. All three are SNL Corridor of Famers, however the bang the present will get from an surprising Samberg look diminishes when he turns up for his sixth or seventh present of the season.
Final night time, Alec Baldwin — who complained about having to do Trump week after week — confirmed up once more to play Robert Kennedy Jr. Does Michaels owe him cash? As a substitute, what if Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri cameoed one week? Tina Fey and Mike Myers the subsequent? Kristen Wiig and Invoice Hader popping in for just a few laughs?
There was a means to do that however turning each week right into a Dana Carvey showcase wasn’t it.
Recycling Outdated Sketches
Nothing new right here, however regurgitating previous premises nonetheless feels lame. Final night time noticed the return of considered one of Season 50’s solely breakout sketches — the bridesmaids’ music about Domingo, the man the bride connected with at her bachelorette social gathering. The unique wasn’t that impressed, but it surely did catch on as a TikTok meme, that means the present was obligated to hurry it again.
The issue, as all the time: The primary time, the Domingo reveal was an surprising punchline. Now we’re ready for it. Ho hum.
Final night time’s episode was filled with recycled concepts: Depraved auditions had been a star impression showcase that the present has performed a dozen instances. “Thanksgiving Baking Championship” was a rehash of a sketch from the Eddie Murphy present just a few years again. “Shrek: The Musical” referred to as again to a so-so bit from the Dangerous Bunny episode.
Typically, watching a brand new episode of SNL can really feel like a rerun stitched collectively from previous exhibits. In Season 47, you shrug. However with so many eyes watching in Season 50, it’s extra disappointing.
The Trump Drawback
Seems like we’re doing this once more, huh? The present started with a Trump chilly open, a staple of the present throughout his first administration. In actual time, viewers complained concerning the repetitive sketches week after week. “The President behaves erratically” — yeah, we all know.
It’s a entice of Michaels’ personal making. Pull up just a few episodes from a long time previous, and also you could be stunned to see that the present didn’t all the time start with a commentary on the week’s present occasions. As a substitute, it went with its funniest materials to start out the present with a bang. (What an idea.) However across the time that Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush and Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin had been making headlines, somebody determined that America regarded to SNL to decipher its politics. What if Fey and Ferrell had been simply humorous and that’s the rationale the fabric landed?
Trump famously complains about SNL and the unfair remedy the present offers him. You recognize what would make the President-elect even angrier? Ignoring him fully. Possibly it’s time to provide {that a} strive.
