In pivotal election year, 'SNL' should be great. It's only mid.
In 2024 there may not be much to joke about, but we also need humor more than ever.
Which is why it's a bit of bummer that one of our great cultural comedy institutions, "Saturday Night Live," has been so, well, fine this year.
"SNL" isn't bad, per se. There have been many seasons of NBC's sketch comedy series that were worse. Everyone always thinks the current cast of the almost half-century-old show is never as good as the comedians they grew up with.
But things aren't particularly fun and hilarious, either. They are, as the kids (and at least one of this season's sketches) would say: mid. Not great, not bad, just disappointingly mediocre. And it's especially disheartening in an election year, typically the height of the series' power in the cultural zeitgeist.
So what's going wrong, or at least, not very right? The first problem is the hosts, which is not new. The current cast, for which Bowen Yang, Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner carry the majority of sketches, is solidly constructed. But the trend of B-list (or worse) celebrities attempting a monologue from the Studio 8H stage has been a huge handicap for the show over the past few years. The start of the 49th season was hampered by the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike, which substituted lesser-known comedians like Nate Bargatze for striking movie stars.
But that was during a strike. Why was Shane Gillis hosting in February? The comedian is best known for getting fired from "SNL" in 2019, just days after he was cast after his history of using racial slurs surfaced. (He has not stopped this practice, according to the Los Angeles Times). And even then, most people haven't heard of him. Why did he get the huge NBC platform, when plenty of other mid-career comedians have a few Netflix specials and a podcast under their belts? Gillis' hosting stint proved one thing: The show was wise to fire him, not just because of his offensive remarks. He was terrible at sketch comedy.
Even the big names weren't always well utilized or performing at their best. Dakota Fanning, a fine actress in the right movie, was too awkward live (though her pre-recorded Please Don't Destroy video short was funny). Kristen Wiig joined the illustrious "Five-Timers Club" with her hosting gig on Saturday, when stars who have hosted five times get smoking jackets delivered by celebrities who have already crossed that threshold. The bit gets more tired every time it pops up. This time, many of the cameos from half a dozen (not as funny as her) men, from Matt Damon to Will Forte, weren't even five-timers. For Sydney Sweeney, one of the biggest emerging talents in Hollywood, the writers could seemingly only come up with sketch after sketch where the punchline was how beautiful and hot she is. The actress has been exploited plenty for her looks in the industry; why not have "SNL" join in the party?
But all hope is not lost. A great host can make a great episode, like "Poor Things" star and stand-up comedian Ramy Youssef did in his March 30 outing, which felt authentically curated to the comedian's talents and idiosyncracies, from an "Ozempic for Ramadan" sketch to his own hilarious political monologue.
The other problem is that the writers haven't yet figured out how to approach the 2024 presidential election, a repeat match between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Political cold opens have been all over the map this season, from a criticized appearance by Nikki Haley to a spot-on cameo from Scarlett Johannson, who's married to writer and Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost.
But ScarJo can't swoop in to save a flailing sketch every time. Jost and his Update co-anchor Michael Che lack so much confidence in their tired Trump jokes they expect the audience not to laugh and then chastise the silence. The show is overly reliant on James Austin Johnson's Trump impression, which, while very accurate, can be tiresome. Day has been playing Biden with less nuance than an impersonator in a cheap car dealership ad. I am not looking forward to more sketches featuring them as the general election gets under way in the fall.
Overall "SNL" has struggled to be topical. As funny as the "Ozempic for Ramadan" sketch was, the show has really run jokes about the diabetes and weight-loss drug into the ground. Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake took over Fanning's episode for a rehash of their "Barry Gibb Talk Show" sketch that felt like the graduated seniors showing up at a high school prom. Likewise, the return of Wiig's "Aunt Linda" character to Saturday's Update, where she talked about "Barbie," "Oppenheimer" and "The Bear," the biggest movies and shows from ... nine months ago.
Because "SNL" is on the verge of turning 50, there is plenty of speculation about the future of the long-running sketch staple. Will Michaels pass the torch on to someone else? Will the show end for good? Will Kenan Thompson ever leave?
But the show can't remain an institution if it doesn't get better at responding to the current moment. It needs better hosts, better impressions and better jokes.
We live in a brave new world. "SNL" should worry about being left behind.