With Amy Poehler (left) going on maternity leave, Tina Fey (center) already gone to 30 Rock, and other cast members starting to camp out for too long, SNL could be in need of a change.
Reviewed by Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco
There was a bit on Saturday Night Live last season..actually it was the first monologue after the writer's strike...with Tina Fey hosting and Steve Martin doing a cameo that was kind of symbolic. In the sketch, Martin literally tries slapping some sense into Fey with a faux slap to her face not once, not twice but three times. By the third time Tina is wondering what the third slap is for. Martin deadpans, "The Comedy Rule of Three".
After watching the first two shows of season 34 of SNL the past two weekends, I have concluded that producer Lorne Michaels needs to follow Martin's advice. As in three seasons for cast members on the show and then it's time to move on.
That's because most of the SNL cast has been on the show for five years or more. Darrell Hammonds is now starting his 13th season.
I don't want to take away anything from the wonderful cast members. There is a lot of talent there. But one of the things that has always been good about SNL, that when it's good it's edgy, when it's not so good...not so edgy. And unfortunately now, familiarity equals boring. I, and I am sure many viewers of the show are not laughing at most of the skits right now.
So my recommendation is to keep Kristen Whig, Andy Samberg and Bill Hader (three people who have been there less than three years), bring on board some new fresh faces and let the rest go.
There are a lot of talented improvisational comediens performing in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. It's time to give them the spot light and at the same time keep the show fresh.
And one other thing...why does the show always have to be done in New York? Why not rotate it between the other comedy hot spots...Chicago and Los Angeles. In other words, break the mold...try something different.
Saturday Night Live is on every Saturday night on NBC starting at 11:30 PM
Photo Credit: Associated Pres/NBC
1 comment:
'Saturday Night Live' try something else? Do you know who the original producer of 'SNL' is? (Hint, you suggested he fallow Steve Martin's advice.) Isn't that spe---- well, you know.
People have always suggested they stop doing the same thing over and over, but NOOOOOOO, they won't stop doing the same thing over and--- well, it gets hard to cover new ground.
Oh, you'll be seeing more and more of Tina Fey for at least the next few weeks, and after the election if she becomes Vice President, I'm sure you'll see her splitting her time between 'SNL' and the White House. (Within hours of Palin announced as VP nominee, did I not post the resemblance to this very blog?) Because that's what they ALWAYS do, and I HATE when that hap---. Dang.
I mean, you would think that show INVENTED catch phrases, the way they beat them to death when they hit one. It's like they're crying as they ask, "I just want to be LOVED, is that so bad?" Actually, it WAS, I never saw the humor it hat one. Wasn't funny even in the hands of such a brilliant performer as Joh Lovitz, whose 'Master Thespian' could get a laugh just by looking at the audience and mumbling pretensiously "Acting."
But even the gags that didn't work, of those that had long worn out their welcome, like the Coneheads, were still fed to the audience that was expected to consume Mass Quantit---.
So if you get my point, why would you break the mold if you've already worn it out? 'SNL' is in New York because Johnny Carson was in LA at the time the show started. But also, for the time zone, so they can do it late at night and broadcast out of prime time on the east coast. I remember they did it live from the Mardi Gras one year.
I've known a few of the minor, short term former cast members. You don't believe I knew the cast mmembers? I have a picture right here in--- well, they say they didn't catch on there because they DIDN'T quite capture the spirit of 'Same place, same thing.' (Funny, that's NOT an 'SNL' bit, but it sums the show up so well.)
Hell, Ben Stiller and Janeanne Garafalo were canned in less than a season, because they were too different. And who made those two be fresh and different? Could it have been Sa--- (Dang, even repeating the same CHARACTER's catch phrases.)
The show is what it is, and if only because it's been on for 34 years, with guests like Steve Martin who've been around from the start, it's not like you can just throw any pair of comics up there and have them be Two Wild and Crazy Gu---. Instead it's going to be meet the new rehash, same as the old rehash. (Recycling my OWN gag this time.)
So, until next time, I'm Doug Vehle, and you're NOT.
Post a Comment