At 50, SNL Is Alive But Barely Breathing

“Live from New York … it’s Democratic Talking Points!”

“Saturday Night Live’s’ 50th season won’t kick off that way, but it might as well admit the obvious.

The once-mighty sketch show, an institution which gave rise to some of Hollywood’s biggest comedy stars, is now little more than MSNBC with musical guests.

Sound harsh? Quick, name the last sketch that skewered a Democratic politician. How many jokes did “SNL” tell about President Joe Biden’s obvious mental decline? The progressive’s retreat on free speech? Vice President Kamala Harris’ word salad speeches?

Squatters gone wild? Big-city crime spikes? Illegal immigration impacting small town USA?

To paraphrase Dean Wormer from “Animal House” … zero point zero.

Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images

When Sen. Ted Cruz caught heat for being away from Texas during a winter storm he caught holy heck from Team “SNL.” Get the drift?

It’s impossible to miss the show’s extreme bias, an echo of late-night television in the post-Johnny Carson world.

The show’s key players, including founder Lorne Michaels, are either kidding themselves about the show’s new normal or think it’s funny to lie about it. Michaels told The Hollywood Reporter that “SNL” still hits both sides of the aisle. Really.

You can’t lecture the audience, which most of politics is now, people lecturing the audience. Ours is like, yeah, there are kind of idiots on both sides. And we’re not going to do anything that didn’t work at dress [rehearsal]. It has to play. It has to be comedy. We’re first and foremost a comedy show.

That’s not a new show writer or a gullible cast member. It’s the comedy genius who introduced “Saturday Night Live” to us all the way back in 1975.

The show’s early days cast a huge shadow on the new cast. Said shadow grows even longer this Fall.

“Saturday Night,” hitting theaters Oct. 11, recalls the frantic 90 minutes prior to the very first “SNL” episode. Chaos! Excitement! Counter-culture comedy! It’s all there, directed by Oscar-nominee Jason Reitman.

‘Saturday Night’ 2024. Columbia Pictures/SPE. Broadway Video. Right of Way Films. SNL Studios. IMDB.

Mostly unfamiliar faces bring Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and the original “Not Ready for Prime-Time Players” back to screens across the country.

The film is earning raves from early festival screenings. It also reminds fans why the show once delivered must-see comedy. Not every joke landed, of course. Others have aged poorly. If the sight of John Belushi in a bee costume makes you howl in 2024, you may need professional help.

That unpredictability was part of the show’s appeal. You didn’t know what might happen next. Yes, it was live, and that element helped. The cast members dug into the show’s free-spirited ways, pushing the comedy envelope early and often.

NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

All it took was one irreverent sketch to fuel water cooler gossip for days.

The show’s finely tuned anarchy spoke to an era grappling with the end of the Vietnam War, the fallout from Watergate and an energy crisis. 

Years later, “SNL” morphed into a comedy incubator: Aykroyd. Belushi. Murray. Chase. Murphy. Carvey. Rock. Sandler. Ferrell. Fey. It may have lost some of its comic edge, but it hit both sides of the political aisle and kept the focus where it belonged.

Is it funny? Then it makes the final cut.

NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

The current “SNL” lacks both laughs and cultural clout. When was the last time “SNL” broke out a major comedy star? Current player Bowen Yang has snagged steady big-screen work, but he’s never the star and his films typically make “indie-film” cash.

The media will prop up the show’s 50th season, giving every anti-Trump sketch wall-to-wall coverage. A shrinking band of progressives will tune in to see how the show hits Trump in the weeks before the election.

They know the show’s comedic targets even if they don’t know every punchline word for word.

Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!

Everyone else has found new comedy faces to speak Truth to Power. Think Tim Dillon, Ryan Long, Andrew Schulz, Tyler Fischer and Shane Gillis. These comedians didn’t need “SNL” to jump-start their careers. Gillis famously got fired from the show before he could step on its historic stage for past “problematic” jokes.

He returned four years later as a show host, his presence proving “SNL” needed him far more than he needed the NBC showcase.

The rest reach out via Patreon, YouTube, stand-up stages, Netflix specials and podcasts, bypassing both Hollywood and the once-might “SNL” incubator.

You never know what they’ll say next or who they’ll target with the next withering punchline. That sense of chaos once lived in “SNL’s” creative DNA. Now, that’s all but gone, replaced by corporate groupthink and an unwillingness to rock the boat.

Remember how guest player Brad Pitt feted Dr. Anthony Fauci during the pandemic? Or how several cast members serenaded outgoing President Barack Obama with the song, “To Sir, With Love?” Later, “SNL” player Jay Pharoah admitted the show “gave up” on mocking Obama during his two terms in office.

NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

What about Kate McKinnon warbling a mourning take on “Hallelujah” after Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election to Donald Trump?

Is this comedy or DNC propaganda? The line isn’t even blurry on most nights.

“SNL” once invited both Trump and Elon Musk to host the show. Would NBC brass allow either to do the same today, even if the ratings would likely be huge? 

That says it all.

* * *

Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.