I went through about five years of “Well, maybe this time…” The trouble was, every once in a great while, a legitimately funny skit would erase my memory of the bulk, which was complete shite. I often liken this to the phenomenon of the abused spouse. “But honey, I love you! Come back! I’ll change!” You see these glimmers of redemption, but before you can get comfortable, it’s a steel toe to the forehead once again. After a time, even the saddest codepended wakes up. And once you walk out that door, you can’t understand what on Earth it was that made you stay in the first place. Maybe you just didn’t believe life could truly be better. You now know you were wrong.
And for me, a better life is as simple as getting back the sleep wasted by slogging through yet another humorless episode, hoping against hope that even one skit could reward the effort of elevating my eyelids. Unconsciousness is far superior to Horatio-fucking-Sanz snickering at me whilst surrounded by a collection of coat racks.
A massive SNL purge is a good first start, but the inescapable truth is that SNL is a relic that deserves to pass quietly into the night. Lorne Michaels should be ashamed of himself.
I just hope this means a lot more air-time for Bill Hader. My crystal ball (which is actually just an old tennis ball a dog chewed on, but, eh) is predicting a lot of success for that guy.
God, I hope so, how did Andy Samberg get so much love instead of Hader? Lazy Sunday wasn’t all that. Did you see Hader as Vincent Price? Was 10x better than anything Samberg has done. Hader rules.
Againk, I hate that freak Hammond, has never been funny in anything.
I sure did; Hader’s awesome. His Al Pacino impression was a jaw-dropper.
If you’re interested, some Googling turns up www.billhader.org, a fan site with some videos including the Vincent Price skit (the url redirects to the real site). Click on “media.”
The cast SHOULD be much smaller. Not just for the money, but because it gives the best people space to build characters and try material and hone their ability. The original Not Ready for Primetime Players were Chevy Chase, Dan Ayckroyd, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, John Belushi, Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman. 7 people. That seems about right. Enough that you can put 3 or 4 in a skit while the other ones prepare for the next one. Last year’s cast had 13 players in it. Dropping four? They could drop seven.
I’d like to see this cast:
Amy Poehler
Jason Sudeikis
Bill Hader
Andy Samberg
Kristin Wiig
Seth Meyers
Then pick one or two from:
Darrell Hammond (although I think Bill Hader’s impersonations may have ended the need for Hammond)
Will Forte
Fred Armisen
Finesse Mitchell
Oh, and pay Conan O’Brien a million bucks to write a dozen skits or so.
I know I’m the only one here who thinks so, but SNL is as funny as it’s been in a long time. In fact, it’s easily as funny now as any of the reruns I sometimes catch late at night from supposedly better years; I think some people only remember the good sketches and forget just how many jaw-droppingly bad ones there were in the old days. I think their current cast is as genuinely talented as any they’ve had since I’ve been old enough to understand what was going on on the show. Granted, the years with Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri had to be some sort of particular nadir for the show, but reruns of entire shows (as opposed to retrospectives of particularly good work) from years before that are perhaps occasionally on par with current episodes but very rarely any better.
Though I can’t say that I’m devastated by these reports. Having a smaller cast, period, seems like a good idea. It’s a bad sign for a sketch show when they have so many cast members that it’s even possible to have an actor like Sanz who only appears once or twice per show. And most of the cast members they’re reporting as leaving are not particularly vital to the show, although it’s hard to imagine how they’ll possibly do any political sketches without Hammond or Forte.
I just wish they were getting rid of Fred Armisen. I actually sort of like those Nuni/Nüni sketches in spite of myself, but I swear to God the next time I hear him say “I’m just keeding!” I’m going to kill someone.
You are the only one who thinks so. It hasn’t sucked this bad since… well, I can’t think of a time it sucked this bad. It’s nigh unwatchable. I only tune in if there’s a guest or band on that I really like, and even then, it’s tough to make it to 1am. It’s mock-worthy beginning to end, most of the time, with a few exception (Natalie Portman’s rap video being the first to come to mind)
I actually loved the Cheri Oteri/Molly Shannon/Will Ferrell/Tim Meadows/ Ana Gasteyer days. LOVED them. It hasn’t been as good since Ferrell left, despite Tina Fey and Amy Poehler doing the news now (usually the only good part of the show these days).
I think the strongest parts of SNL have always been the direct parodies of current events (remember Dana Carvey’s best stuff as Ross Perot or Bush Sr.?), and that requires great impressionists. I agree that Hader is really, really good, but I’ll miss Hammond. He is capable of doing almost anyone a script requires. The two of them together are better than Hader alone.
Seth Meyers is another good impressionist (not as good as Hader or Hammond, and a long way from Carvey, but he can carry a skit almost single-handed if need be).
I was really hoping Meyer would get put into the Weekend Update anchor spot. I’d love to see him do it in a character, like Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, and Jane Curtin used to. Meyers’ version of Anderson Cooper shows how good he’d be at this. They could keep Amy Poeler in the second seat, and maybe resurrect the classic Ackroyd-Curtin Point-Counterpoint (which was absolutely hillarious).
I watch at least part of SNL most weeks. Most often I last to the second musical number of the night, unless it’s an act I don’t like. Then I watch till Update and go to bed. I like Sanz. Billy Joel, Elton John? Hilarious! He was better with Jimmy Fallon, though. Chris Parnell is very good, I look for the rerun where he does the rap song for Kirsten Dunst. And she storms out and tells everyone they haven’t been having sex in a pool or engaging in gun battles.
There are plenty of stoopid sketches. There always has been. I don’t mind a shake-up in the cast. Thin it out, whatever. I need something to do on Saturday night, and SNL fits the bill quite nicely.
See, I almost buy that, but get a load of his mouth. I expect one day to be watching live and see his mouth open wide and swallow the cast members nearest him, one by one.