Saturday Night Live (SNL) 2017-2018 Season Thread

Hasnt been funny since Hartman left.

Aside from when Christopher Walken is on.

 

So why take the time to post here?

 

SNL isn’t the same anymore.

 

No show that's been on for 42 years should be the same.

 

Compared to when?

 

The classic era.

 

Depending on whom you ask, that could deescribe at least 3 different eras.

 

I saw Fergie on a talk show and she was the musical guest. They started playing and the first thing I thought of is "This would a great guest act on SNL."

As we all know, the show needs strong characters like Will Ferrell (name your fav SNL member) and great writers that helped bring funny characters and situations to life.

 

My bad, I had it backwards. Cheers is shown on Hallmark and Roseanne is shown on TVLand. Maybe I was Dyslectic and that is why I got so many Cs in College, but my motto was 'Cs Gets Degrees'. Or as I tried to explain to my Parents, 'If I get a 2.0 my first 2 years and a 2.0 my last 2 years in College, I would graduate with a 4.0'.

 

This was the Classic Era to me:

 

Way too much politics on SNL these days. It’s Overkill and it gets boring.

 

Its one maybe two sketches per episode plus the news. Which is the way its always been. Boring to you = their best ratings in years.

 

See, that's the thing: "classic era" of "SNL" tends to depend on your age and the castmembers you like the best.

IMO, "classic era" commonly means 1975-1980, but as noted, "classic" "SNL" tends to depend heavily on your age and personal preferences. There are plenty of different "eras" that could easily be referred to as the show's best...

 

I've seen that complaint occasionally and don't get it. "SNL" has always always always been extremely political - the notion that it's a modern phenomenon doesn't make sense to me...

 

Not only that but last year was a presidential election season. Makes absolutely no sense to complain about that on this show.

 

Let's face it: politics dominates American life more now than possibly ever. It's 100% logical that those elements would seep into "SNL" even more than in the past...

 

If my predictions on the November 18th show are correct, this will probably be the biggest show SNL has had in decades, especially since they are now going live from coast to coast.

One song U2 will probably do is "The Blackout" (from their new album "Songs of Experience"). I did hear this song on YouTube thinking it was by U2, but it was actually by a cover band. It would be interesting to hear it from U2 themselves...that would be awesome. This would be lead singer Bono's finest hour. Remember, folks, U2 has been on the show three times already.

As for the promo, it would probably go like this....Darci Lynne would say "join me this week on SNL with musical guest U2". One of her puppet friends (don't know the name of her rabbit) would say "U2?" Darci would respond "no, the band U2". Her other companion Oscar would say "I love you, Darci". Darci would close, "Me too". Get the joke?

By the way, I think "The Blackout" should be U2's next single.

 

I have watched the show since the beginning. There have been ups and downs but there was always something funny. It could never be the same show that it was 10, 20 or even 30 years ago. That's not possible. But for me all of a sudden about 2 years ago I basically stopped watching. When I did watch I wasn't finding much funny anymore. Maybe now I am too old. lol And yes the political stuff is a chore to sit through. And that may be because of the current state of politics. Most people just don't want to hear about any of it anymore. We are sick of it. We don't even want to see it in our comedy. Just my 2 cents.

 

Precisely. The best Saturday night live skits are the ones that have creative and original concepts behind them, with the writers wildly using their imagination to capture a insightful slice of life (no Coke, Pepsi, or The inspirational speaker who lives in a van by the river) or to create a bizzarre reality (coneheads or little hands on the Lawrence Well show) . The political stuff just lacks that element of originality and brilliance. Even just two political skits show ( Plus the news which I always fast forward through as it’s become the showcase for the least talented member) to me feels like filler.

 

I agree, Ghostworld. In the past couple of decades (if not the past few years), and as I have mentioned many times in this thread, SNL has swayed away from its classic era (1975-1980) roots. The show needs to get back to its glory years with top notch hosts and musical guests, not the same ol-same ol. Yes, putting former cast members as hosts and no name acts (especially in this new season) will only turn viewers away, and yes, I agree we can do without all those skits that deal with politics--as well as the commercial parodies. I mean, this is the longest running variety show in TV history, and as you can tell by my predictions for the next live cycle (especially that of the November 18th show), it is possible for Lorne Michaels to create an episode that will bring viewers back. But he needs the right kind of negotiating and the right kind of stars to make it happen. Creative and original concepts (as well as the right hosts) will make SNL soar to even higher heights.

As for the musical guests...yes, they have gotten more and more involved in the regular skits. In fact, in thinking about the November 18th show predictions, I can picture U2 playing a Salvation Army-type band in a Mayflower voyage skit...or even P!nk (in an upcoming October show) doing an impression on one of the models, say, Heidi Klum. The possibilities are vast indeed.

 

Like you said they need to create characters. From the very beginning there have been characters with catch phrases we still use today. I can't think of one character or phrase in the last few years that people have caught on to. Or am I out of touch now? The last character I can remember, who I really liked was Stefan. And I wish he would have had his own feature film. If done right with the right writing team it could have rocked.

 

I liked Norm McDonald best as the Anchor for Weekend Update, but I have a 'Strange Sense of Humor', so his comic delivery is right up my alley. Although, Seth Meyers was probably just as good as his 'Closer Look' section on his Late Night Talk Show is the very funny. He has some great writers on his show. Somehow, I missed the dude(Andy Samberg), who now has the funny 'Brooklyn 9-9' Show, who I think also did the Weekend Update, but he must have been really funny.

The skits with debates between George W Bush & Al Gore were funny. The guy, who played Obama, just did not measure up to Jordan Peele's imitation of him-IMO, as if I did not see the tv and just heard the audio, I could not tell the difference between Peele & Obama. I mostly just check out SNL, if there is a Music Guest/Performance that I want to see, and with YouTube can just catch the best opening skits a few days later, like the recent Baldwin/Trump Skits.

 

Sure, but I don't recall the show going so softball comedically on particular politicians like it did last season (particularly demonstrated by the "To Sir..." incident, which was funny for all the wrong reasons). That slant is relatively new.

Oh, and my classic era is the Murphy-Piscopo-Kazurinsky epoch.

 

I've not watched "SNL" regularly enough over the last 15 years or so to say much, but weren't they pretty "softball" on Obama?

 

The ratings for SNL last season suggest you are incorrect about this. "Most people" are not sick of political humor. You are, but you apparently speak for a distinct minority of the viewers.