This weekend, when “Saturday Night Live” kicks off its 50th season, the momentous event will surely spark nostalgia for generations of fans.
Since 1975, Lorne Michaels' weekly show It's given us Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radnor, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Conan O'Brien, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, and countless other comedic powerhouses.
And its decades of sketches—Wayne's World, Roseanne Rosendanna, The Love-Ahhs, James Brown, The Coneheads, Jeopardy!, The Lawrence Welk Show (“And I'm Dooney's!”)—are seared into our cultural consciousness, whether you're a fan of them or not. Whether he was alive or not.
However, along with the joy of nostalgia also comes the pain of sadness.
“SNL” isn't what it used to be. And I doubt this famous show will ever regain its unbeatable position on the comedy mountain.
The NBC sketch series that once set the curve for boundary-breaking humor (as the incredible alumni list attests) is now well behind it, as the program turns to TikTok, social media memes, and resurrection stands as a provider of -Up is struggling to keep up with the specials. The American laughed.
In 2024, a topical joke barely lasts a few hours, let alone a week.
Once or twice a season the show manages to cut through the noise with extraordinary creativity. For example, everyone saw Bowen Yang's hilarious “Weekend Update” titular iceberg interview, and you can't ignore Ryan Gosling and Mickey Day's awesome transformation into Beavis and Butt-head.
But these are rare exceptions.
Far from edgy, “SNL” is now mostly pleasant and typical.
What happened to strong, recurring characters? Think Dana Carvey's church lady, Ferrell and Anna Gasteyer's music teachers, Rachel Dratch's Debbie Downer, Tracy Morgan's Brian Fellows, Chris Farley's Matt Foley, the motivational speaker, and Wiig's Gilly.
It is difficult to name any other current head other than perhaps Dionne Warwick of Ego Nwodim.
The era of iconic “SNL” acts getting laughs upon immediate entry is almost over. Maybe it's because Americans move too fast. But I suspect it's not just that, considering I've seen 34 Marvel movies so far and “Grey's Anatomy” is entering its 21st season.
Another burning issue is politics.
“SNL” has gone through periods of irrelevance before, and criticism of our idiotic leaders has, generally speaking, taken them out. Tina Fey's Sarah Palin was, I believe, the last must-see feature on “SNL.” From 2008 to 2017, NBC also occasionally aired “Weekend Update: Summer Edition” on Thursdays in primetime to capitalize on election fever or other newsworthy stories.
The problem is no longer so much the perennial complaint that “SNL” is kinder to Democrats than Republicans — that's been true for a very long time — but that it's lost sight of how to make any of them funny.
Lately, the sketches have been hung up on so-and-so impersonations instead of showing how stupid and self-absorbed all these elected officials are. The Donald Trump impression is old (everyone in the world does this at parties).
Michaels said this year the show will “recast” the 45th president, played by James Austin Johnson. I'll believe it when I see it.
Maya Rudolph has taken aim at Kamala Harris, and she's bringing it back this season. But his performance is based on endearing quirks and kindness, the exact opposite of sarcasm. A bitter showdown won't hurt any presidential candidate.
Who can forget Jon Lovitz's diminutive Michael Dukakis, who responded with “I can't believe I'm losing to this guy” to Dana Carvey's George H.W. Bush (“Stay the course!”) Was.
But my all-time favorite election debate on “SNL” was in 2000 with Ferrell's George W. Bush and Daryl Hammond's Al Gore. Please, please check it out.
Hammond, a genius, had only to say, “Well, Jim, Governor Bush and I have two very different plans” to get a wave of laughter. That's all it took. His cadence and voice were perfect, yes, but more importantly Hammond took a dig at how Americans viewed Gore – as the Eeyore of the Donkey Party.
Comedians often say that it is difficult to outwit the Democrats. How lazy is he? Gore wasn't hulking or overtly cartoonish, but Hammond seized on his NPR-ness and turned it into a frenzy.
You'll hear the great Hammond on Saturdays when, as the announcer, he reads the names of current artists.
Many of them will be unfamiliar. A long list of “SNL” vets have left the show over the past few seasons, and there's an optimistic atmosphere, as Michaels said, of reinvention.
And, also the terror of the unknown.
I'm a big fan of some of the “SNL” players who are gaining momentum: Bowen Yang, Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day and Marcelo Hernandez. And, for all its freshness, there's an opportunity to dust off the old show and rediscover its tart essence.
In New movie “Saturday Night” Actor Gabriel LaBelle plays 30-year-old Michaels in a madcap comedy about the 1975 premiere episode.
When a skeptical studio executive questioned him about what “SNL” was really about, he responded with a passionate speech.
“It's everything you think is going to happen when you go downtown,” he says. “That's 'Saturday Night.'”
And that's the energy that “SNL” will have to rediscover to survive — being young, being reckless and taking risks with nothing to lose (including the election).
Haven't lived in the same rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side for 50 years.
