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Twitter'Saturday Night Live' could use a nap
I tuned in to Saturday Night Live on Valentine's Day hoping, of course, that it would be funny. But I was also curious to see if a theory I was forming would gain some support.
After watching a limp Steve Martin-hosted episode a few weeks back, one that was filled with jokes about how many times Steve Martin had hosted and how big a genius he was (though you wouldn't have known it from those 90 minutes), I started to wonder if SNL should put a cap on the number of times someone can host. You figure that by, say, a person's 10th time around, the show's writers will have pretty well exhausted their well of jokes related to said person.
Saturday's show starred Alec Baldwin, who has hosted nearly as many times as Martin has. But aside from a bit with his 30 Rock co-star Jack McBrayer in the monologue and a fake ad in which he pitches a line of instructional DVDs about acting, the jokes weren't especially host-centric (the Jonas Brothers, the night's musical guests, had just as many sketches -- one live with Baldwin as the "oldest Jonas" and the digital short -- devoted to them).
OK. So maybe the overused-host theory isn't workable, at least not based on this very small sample. But Baldwin's underwhelming installment of the show was the third in as many weeks (in between Martin and Baldwin, Bradley Cooper hosted an episode that had its moments but was inconsistent). It's worth wondering why the show, which was so sharp throughout the fall, has hit such a rough patch lately.
I think it might boil down to something as simple as everyone being a little worn out.
The SNL cast and crew create about an hour (the length of the show minus music and ads) of comedy every week the show is on. Saturday's show was the 16th SNL has done this season, not counting the three "Weekend Update Thursday" specials that aired in October. In most years the show doesn't get around to its 16th episode until at least mid-March.
Without an election as fodder and with comics still trying to figure out how to come at the new political balance of power (hint: Saturday's weak cold open about the Republican congressional leadership, who aren't well-known enough to be fodder for parody, isn't it), it's not a huge surprise that the political sketches have faltered some since November. The loss of Amy Poehler, the show's most versatile performer, has hurt too.
But sketches like "Vincent Price's Valentine's Day Special" from Saturday just feel flat. The Vincent Price Halloween sketch was an inspired piece of weirdness (with a fantastic James Mason impression by Jon Hamm), but the Valentine's one was a pale copy of its predecessor. The latest "Cougar Den" sketch felt just as played-out. Seth Meyers has done a nice job as the solo "Update" anchor since Poehler left, but it feels like the only consistent part of the show of late.
The show has also had a tendency to run a little short lately. The end of Saturday's episode was padded out with a couple of commercial parodies that had previously aired; we've also seen extended music breaks from the band and other filler. That's not a good sign.
SNL is off for the next two weeks. Here's hoping the cast and crew can use the time to rest up and come back refreshed for a better run in the spring.
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I thought it was only me. The shows are mostly awful.
They need to get new set pieces. Kathy Lee Gifford on the fourth hour of "Today" only goes so far and I thought that was a funny part of the show.
The Vincent Price sketch is an amusing idea but as I watched I kept thinking, "Is this just the same skit from last time? No, it has Alec Baldwin in it."
There is no energy. The sketches that show up over and over just aren't sustainable. You don't smile just at the thought which can go along way in the good will department. The funniest bits recently were the MacGruber ads. How sad is that? Even the political openings which usually are good seem limp.
Fresh ideas would help.
The show lost it's bite years ago, it's toothless. Please pardon the really bad pun :)
I sooooo agree. Sa****ay's installment was pathetic.
I agree except I'm thrilled the terrible Amy Poehler is gone. The news for example is hugely improved.
to me, kristin wiig is the only thing that makes that show worth saving (and i am a die hard fan of the show). her characters like the woman always one upping everyone, the woman who can't keep a secret, and target lady have been the only fresh things in a while. now that amy and maya are gone, it's not looking good. the angelina jolie impression is the only thing out of the new bunch that has been on.
The best thing about SNL these days are the digital short segments ( ex. D___ in a Box and I'm on a Boat) and Weekend Update. Besides these, most skits fall flat.
I actually thought that Seth Meyers has been horrific on Weekend Update. Specifically last Sa****ay, nothing was working. That blogger segment was one of the least funny skits of all time. Seth Meyers... really??
Eh, it all fell apart in the early 1990s....
I thought last week's show was funnier than the previous ones since Amy Poehler left and Tina Fey ended her brilliant run as Sarah Palin. However, the show itself indeed needs a realization intervention (because Poehler and Fey cannot possibly ever be replaced), a nap, and hopefully, perhaps, another new cast member or two that can develop their talents to the levels of Poehler, Fey, Will Farrell, and even flagship alum Dan Ackroyd, who cameoed on last week's show. So far, newcomers Abby Elliott, Bobby Moynihan, Michaela Watkins, and Casey Wilson have not impressed me. NBC needs to focus more on SNL's talent and content and less on ratings and ad revenues.
It's not that they're tired. It's that THE ELECTION IS OVER. SNL is best when it can focus on political satire.
That said, SNL is NEVER funny the whole time. It should be funny in the first 45 minutes, with the latter half available for some more experimental or racy stuff. (This past show had a hilarious Nintendo Wii spoof.)
Are the best days of SNL behind them? Absolutely. The early years were great, and the late-80s/early-90s were even better. Will Ferrell was an oasis of humor in an otherwise unremarkable era. I've been watching it recently and am extremely glad the awful Amy Poehler is finally gone.
The key is the cast and writers, ultimately. Are they tired? I don't think so. I just think only about half of them have any talent. And without an election on, the others have a harder time faking it. If they could limit Wiig (who does the same character over and over), ditch Keenan, and get a decent musical guest once in a while, SNL would be in much better shape.