For decades, Saturday Night Live has been dominating the live comedy television show market with its legendary, ever-changing cast and writers. However, the “golden years” have passed and the show’s current comedic position has come into question. Is SNL still funny?
The show has always had its ups and downs, but finding a balance is key to holding onto an audience. According to Bri Reino, webmaster of the Kristen Wiig fan website, it’s all a matter of opinion.
”Every time Ken Tucker writes on EW.com about SNL,” Reino said, “the post is full of comments claiming ‘SNL is not funny anymore.’ But SNL has been deemed ‘unfunny’ for years by critics and fans. It all goes back to your perspective.”
Reino added that one of the great things about SNL is that it changes from year to year.
”I have to say I view SNL as a dynamic and changing entity,” Reino said. “It’s never static—it’s a long running institution. There have certainly been low parts and high parts. It’s constantly reinventing itself and breaking new ground.”
SNLstill has many loyal followers. Kevin Ford, director of WNBC stationed in New York City, said he thinks SNL is widely popular and culturally relevant.
“I walk in to work around 3 a.m. and there are people still camped outside Friday morning,” Ford said. “And that’s not even for show tickets, that’s just for rehearsal.”
Radio commentator, writer and comedian Bob Harris has a different take on SNL quality over the years.
“I don’t think that SNL has ‘sucked’ the way it did in the late 90s since Tina Fey became head writer in 1999,” Harris said. “You want suck? Try watching anything from 1981 or 1982. Those seasons were truly unwatchable—so bad that SNL had to fight to get its reputation back for a generation.”
According to Reino, SNL needs to stopplaying to a younger audience with guests such as Taylor Lautner, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.
Reino also suggested that SNL should stop focusing on any actor who is hot right now.
“Gabourey Sidibe hosted fresh off the buzz from Precious and it was abysmal,” Reino said. “Big box office doesn’t necessarily equal big laughs.”
Reino saidSNL‘s presently reoccurring characters such as Gilly, Laser Cats and Blizzard Man have been “grating.” But according to Harris, the focus on characters may not be the problem.
“The original SNL had plenty of recurring characters,” Harris said, ”and sketches that were only mildly amusing–the Killer Bees, the ‘Cheeseburger Cheeseburger’ cooks, etc.–but also had many that became fairly huge–the Land Shark, Roseanne Roseannadanna, etc. Hit-or-miss is inevitable in a live show, and recurring characters are actually necessary to the process.”
Harris, who studied improvisational comedy with Second City and Del Close’s ImprovOlympic, has performed live stand-up at over 400 clubs and colleges. He has written episodes for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation andBones, and is quite familiar with SNL‘s writing process.
“I have friends who’ve written for the show,” Harris said, “and the time pressure is brutal. It would be impossible to create wholly new stuff every single week, without at least some leaning on recurring characters.”
“Maybe it’s more a question of overdoing a middling character more than anything,” Harris said. “Virtually all sketch characters are essentially one joke played out in various ways – and if the one joke wasn’t all that funny, you’re screwed.”
According to Reino, this season of SNL is a mixed bag.
“For this current season, I’m glad to see some diversity finally, and more women,” Reino said. “I’m impressed with Vanessa Bayer and another newcomer, Taran Killam. SNL was relying on Kristen too much for female roles, and it made for either overkill on her part, or male-centric sketches.”
Reino had some specific advice for the show as well.
”[SNL should] utilize the women of the cast more, add more female writers, and add a black female performer,” Reino said. “And please scale back Kristen’s zany characters. I never want to see Gilly again.”
Gilly’s latest skit was with host Jane Lynch from the hit television show Glee. According to Alyssa Van Kollem, a freshman in psychology, the skit was awful.
“It was so out of character and Gilly completely ruined it,” Van Kollem said. “When SNL can’t even do a parody, something is wrong.”
In 1996, Harris wrote an article called Why Saturday Night Live Sucks. The article dealt with SNL’s portrayal of the working and lower classes.
Reflecting on his work, Harris said, “I stand by my conclusions but only as they were in 1996. Tina Fey as head writer seems to have changed such issues.”
“After that, the show was rarely, if ever, as condescending on a class level as it had been,” Harris said. “Meanwhile, the digital shorts, etc., are often inspired, and it’s hard to argue that the show ever had more cultural and political influence than when Tina Fey portrayed Sarah Palin in 2008.”
Van Kollem disagrees.
”[The show] sucks ever since Tina Fey took over,” Van Kollem said. “It used to be good. It’s just like, you’re watching a scene and you’re waiting for it to get funny, and it just ends.”
Ashley Conte, a freshman in psychology, is a big fan of the show in its current form.
“Tina Fey is a gifted comedian and writer. I think she keeps it fresh,” Conte said.
