Have we regressed this far? Can’t SNL simply audition new talent and cast the funniest most creative people? Does it matter if they are Black, Asian, Gallifreyan, Vulcan, Klingon, or White?
Come on. This is almost 2014? Can’t we finally move past race or color quotas? Recruit and hire the best people for the job?
I loved Richard Pryor and George Carlin. If they are funny then I could care less how much melanin a comic has.
When I first heard about it, I thought it was some kind of joke. I mean its not like there has never been Black cast members. Wasn’t Garrett Morris part of the original cast?
So is there going to be an Asian and Latino quota, too? If not, why not?
Eddie Murphy, Damon Wayans, Chris Rock, and Tracy Morgan are four of SNL’s most famous cast members. SNL always found great talent. They’ve cast some great women comics too like Jane Curtin, Amy Poehler, and Tina Fey.
Kenan Thompson’s been on the show for like 11 years now. They have also of course had Garret Morris, Yvonne Hudson, Tim Meadows, Tracy Morgan, Jay Pharoah, and some dude called Eddie Murphy.
Only a black female? SNL is being discriminatory and catering to the over-privileged once again. Call me when she’s also genderqueer, physically and mentally disabled, and a lesbian. Also possibly from a third world country like the Grand Duchy of Antarctica.
They are adding a black female. The reason this is news is that SNL does not currently have a black female cast member, and Kenan Thompson recently made a point of saying he would no longer dress in drag to portray black females in skits. They made a joke of this when Kerry Washington hosted.
So it’s news because they’re adding a black female to a group many felt should have already had a black female. FWIW.
ETA: Here’s a YouTube clip of a news report about Washington’s appearance, with clips of the cold open that night.
It is kind of stupid news. They could have done this quietly.
I understand the desire to have a black female outweighing the need to have, say, a Latino female, or a LBGT member, because a black woman can play parts others can’t. A white woman playing a black woman still raises hackles in society: “is that supposed to be funny? Why do you think it’s funny dressing up a white woman as black?” whereas a white woman *can *play a Latino, or any sexual orientation or sexual identity.
A black guy can play a black woman, but then the whole sketch becomes “the drag show,” which gets old fast, and is not usually what you want.
Maya Rudolph was worth her weight in gold, because she could play any race without anyone batting an eye.
But all these news stories about “we’re going to add a black woman!” make me embarrassed for SNL and the news media.
It’s ridiculous that a show that calls itself “funny” would not have but a couple of black female cast members in its entire run. THAT is insulting.
It’s also ridiculous that in a world full of black female celebrities, the show has managed to side-step the issue for this long. I still have nightmares about Tim Meadows as Mariah Carey. It was only funny in a “You have got to be fuckin’ kidding me!” kind of way.
If Keenan could do a decent impersonation, maybe no one would have complained about seeing him dressed up in drag for the trillionth time. But no. The dude seems to think putting on a wig and dress is all he has to do to be someone else. He needs to stick to doing “What’s Up with That?” and quit with the “they’re not ready” commentary.
And isn’t funny. Neither is Tracey Morgan, for that matter. I look forward to the headline one day “SNL Casting Black Comic Who Can Actually Make Somebody Laugh on Purpose.” No, okay, they’ve had those before, but not in a while.
And a black woman would be far preferable to Keenan Thompson in a dress big time. Unless, of course, you believe Thompson’s line about there not being black women anywhere who are funny, which is why they haven’t cast any.
They need an ensemble cast in order to cast (no pun intended) a wide net of comedy that reflects the situation in the US. That means they may have to pass over someone who is talented, but who doesn’t really add to their ability to cover a wide range of personalities. It makes total sense for them to want a racially, ethnically and physically diverse cast. It behooves them to have white and black members and it also behooves them to have tall and short, and, let’s face it, skinny and fat members, too.
Generally, I find women less funny than men. But black women are some of the funniest folk I have ever met. They have a certain humor that just KILLS ME. If SNL doesn’t have any black female cast members, they aren’t looking hard enough. So Kudos to them for looking harder.
Funny isn’t always the most important criteria on SNL. Most standups can’t do it. Those from improv groups tend to do better. It really is a difficult job and most performers don’t do so well in that situation. It’s a meat grinder.
As opposed to Jay, Eddie, Tim, and Garret? :dubious:
Though, I do find it funny **friedo **forgot her because of how decidedly unfunny she was on the show, usually listed among the worst cast members in the show’s history. It’s as if she left a . . . . vortex or lingering cloud of unfunny that has destroyed the chances of every subsequent black female sketch-comic.
Eddie Murphy isn’t black. More of a