# The news Excitedly reporting SNL is adding a "Black" Cast member. Isn't that a bit insulting? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293 "2013-12-14T05:00:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293/41 "2013-12-17T03:54:26Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > I question why Dana Carvey is in your list of “greats” > … > Since I’m scratching my head wondering why Carvey would be considered a “great” Dana Carvey managed to make George H. W. Bush funny; that alone qualifies him for greatness. Throw in The Church Lady, Garth Algar, H. Ross Perot, Hans & Franz, Johnny Carson, John McLaughlin, and his other stuff, and I think he qualifies as a “great,” as long as you’re talking about his work on SNL. Maybe it’s the fact that he didn’t have the post-SNL success that many other alumni had that’s throwing you off. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293/42 "2013-12-17T06:13:03Z")
How is Dana Carvey NOT an SNL great? Heck, the guy even has 6 Emmy nominations with one win. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293/43 "2013-12-17T06:29:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Can’t SNL simply audition new talent and cast the funniest most creative people? Do you think casting is an objective process? They cast the people they want based on who they think is good and what they think the show needs. Historically they haven’t felt they have needed or found a lot of good black women, and to a lot of people that feels more and more inappropriate. > [@](#): > > I loved Richard Pryor and George Carlin. If they are funny then I could care less how much melanin a comic has. Exactly! Richard Pryor proves comedy has nothing to do with race. Wait… what the fuck? > [@friedo](#): > > It actually sounds like they’re trying to do it quietly, and everyone else is making noise about it. No. What happened is that a couple of months ago Thompson refused to do drag anymore and Pharaoh said the show needed to cast a black woman immediately, and SNL got a lot of bad press related to its lack of black woman. The show is responding to that now, and we’ll see if they really follow through. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293/44 "2013-12-17T14:34:42Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Dana Carvey managed to make George H. W. Bush funny; that alone qualifies him for greatness. Throw in The Church Lady, Garth Algar, H. Ross Perot, Hans & Franz, Johnny Carson, John McLaughlin, and his other stuff, and I think he qualifies as a “great,” as long as you’re talking about his work on SNL. Maybe it’s the fact that he didn’t have the post-SNL success that many other alumni had that’s throwing you off. He was popular, sure, but I never found many of his routines to be laugh-at-loud hilarious. I’m not surprised that others disagree, though. Some people hate Will Ferrell, while I laugh involuntarily every time I look at him. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293/45 "2013-12-17T22:27:25Z")
I just want to say, in my opinion, Cecily Strong is the hottest woman they’ve had on in a long time, if not ever. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293/46 "2013-12-17T23:57:05Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What happened is that a couple of months ago Thompson refused to do drag anymore Damn shame. They can’t do “The View” anymore without their Whoopi. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293/47 "2013-12-18T04:12:02Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > This is a counterintuitive idea, so I’m not sure why anyone else is supposed to believe it. SNL actors generally come from relative obscurity, with a few bit roles here and there, to performing on TV every week in front of a national audience. Why wouldn’t they become better with practice? More confident and creative? Comedy and writing are skills just like any other, and they can be improved through experience. You think Tina Fey started out with the same confidence and comedic timing that she has now? There’s nothing counter intuitive about it. As has already been pointed out, while they may be unknown, they are very often seasoned live improve sketch comics from well regarded troupes such as [The Groundlings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundlings#Notable_Main_Company_alumni), [Second City](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alumni_of_the_Second_City) and [Upright Citizens Brigade/ImprovOlympic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImprovOlympic#Notable_alumni). Of the current main cast only Jay Pharoah appears to have no previous improv/sketch comedy experience (I only see stand up listed on his Wiki page). And, while it’s certainly a skill that can be improved upon, it’s also a talent for which each person will have an upper limit. I don’t see what’s counter intuitive about stating that those who have made it to the premier Improv group going have by and large reached the upper limit of their talent and don’t have room for substantial improvement. > [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > ## You are probably looking back at these people with too much nostalgia. Those that you classify as “good but not great” is probably where the greatest range of growth occurs, and since your categorization scheme is totally subjective, I have no idea who you’re talking about anyway. Would Jimmy Fallon be in this camp? Amy Poehler? I question why Dana Carvey is in your list of “greats” and some people would kill you for putting Ferrell in the same sentence as Eddie Murphy. > > Since I’m scratching my head wondering why Carvey would be considered a “great”, one must conclude these pronouncements mean very little. The examples given to illustrate the above point were drawn from personal experience as well as looking at online polls/lists of favorite cast members. I don’t get what you think you’re proving by being facetious. You disagree with general consensus and so therefore that proves black cast members aren’t given a fair chance? > [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > SNL caters to the 18-35 white male demographic (just like most major networks at that time of night). And I think it’s delusional to think that this is anything but by design. Since SNL producers know whose eyeballs they want glued to the show, they’ve perceived nothing wrong with recruiting actors taken heavily from that demographic, even if that means black women and others end up underrepresented in their portrayals. Since this decision apparently hasn’t kept them from getting advertising dollars (Lord only knows why), they haven’t had an incentive to change their ways. > > So let us be clear here. This has nothing to do with who is funny and who is not. This has nothing to do with talent being hard to come by. It has to do with assumptions and advertising dollars. Publicizing their hunt for a black woman buys them some media attention, which gets them a few extra viewers, which keeps them semi-relevant as their reputation for humor continues to slip away. But this move is unlikely to change the diversity of their cast permanently as long as they are the only Saturday night sketch show on the block. But maybe I’m a cynic. I take it that you’ve taken the argument this far afield because you can’t rebut the substance of my post that there are more than enough black people/characters in main stream pop culture/current events for the black cast members to parody and find success with and audience appreciation of. That was the argument I was engaged in. I haven’t posted a word in defense of the show’s lack of diversity, so if you want to vent about how racist you perceive it to be do it in response to someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293/48 "2013-12-18T12:23:55Z")
I don’t think it matters what the colour of the cast member’s skin is. SNL hasn’t been funny for some time now. Especially now that Bill Hader has left. I still watch it hoping for comedic brilliance most of the time, but nothing yet. The last show with Goodman I don’t think I even cracked a smirk. MadTV on the other hand was funny. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293/49 "2013-12-18T12:30:35Z")
I just watched the SNL with Kerry Washington. She stole the show, IMHO. I loved the sketch where she and Jay Pharoah were playing talking heads discussing Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293/50 "2013-12-18T12:48:47Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > 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? Wasn’t Garrett primarily a writer that they put in front of the camera because they needed a black guy? Not a great example (although I thought he was pretty funny). The _in Living Color_ cast member I thought got shafted was Kelly Coffield, who I always found hilarious in pretty much all her sketches. But when you’re standing next to Jim Carrey and the Wayanseses, it’s hard to get much of the spotlight. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293/51 "2013-12-18T20:49:14Z")
> [@Ibanez](#): > > The last show with Goodman I don’t think I even cracked a smirk. That show was just _bad_. Made me sad for Goodman, who is hugely talented (and who I’m happy to see is looking slimmer these days). Even the musical guest was horrible: I like Kings of Leon’s music, but someone needs to teach those guys what the word “performance” means. Boooo-ring. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-excitedly-reporting-snl-is-adding-a-black-cast-member-isnt-that-a-bit-insulting/676293.md?page=2)