Is SNL Okay?
For years people have posed the question: Is Saturday Night Live still funny? Well, comedy is subjective so there isn’t truly one right answer. So, instead, I will try to answer: Is SNL okay?
SNL used to be a direct pipeline to Hollywood stardom, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Chris Rock, Mike Myers and more all found movie success following their SNL careers. SNL alums, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, have gone on to be household names with their late-night talk shows. Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Andy Samberg and Tina Fey have had sitcom success with The Office, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn 99 and 30 Rock. And of course, Tina Fey created Mean Girls the movie, the Broadway musical, and the reboot.
But modern SNL stars are not having the same kind of success. Why is that exactly? Unfortunately, comedy is much less lucrative than it used to be. Comedies and romcoms don’t do well at the box office. SNL alums used to leave the show with a comfortable path laid out for them leading to movie stardom. Not anymore. Cast members are a lot less willing to leave now that there’s less job security in the outside world. This has led to one of SNL’s many problems. The current cast is the biggest cast SNL has ever seen. This means 20 cast members are competing for screen time and attention. The cast members with more tenure get more screen time, leaving the 2023-2024 class to desperately try to get a footing on the show. It’s become harder to make a name for yourself on your TV show.
Was SNL Ever Okay?
SNL has had many controversies over the years like any long-running show will, but it is not regarded as a controversial show. In 2004, Ashley Simpson had a very public lip-syncing failure as a musical guest. Dana Carvey had a recurring character, “Ching Chang” for which she would wear yellowface. In 1992, Sinead O’Connor ripped a photo of the pope during her performance. In 2000, Jimmy Kimmel did blackface as Chris Rock. Fred Armisen had multiple sketches making fun of Governor David Peterson’s blindness. In 2015, Donald Trump hosted SNL as a presidential candidate. Most recently, Elon Musk hosted the show in 2021. Both Trump and Musk were extremely unpopular appearances.
SNL’s History of Being Problematic
Lately, it seems like SNL is welcoming controversy. Last year, SNL was caught plagiarizing a YouTuber for their Charmin Bears sketch. Quickly after, SNL was in trouble again for misrepresenting the Try Guys’ scandal in one of their sketches. The sketch was panned for seemingly justifying adultery. This year, SNL has repeatedly gotten in trouble for engaging with
controversial figures. Dave Chapelle not only hosted the show in 2023 but was brought on stage in 2024. When he is brought on stage, you can visibly see cast member, Bowen Yang, getting as far away from him as possible. If you’re wondering what makes Dave Chapelle so bad, it’s his long history of transphobic jokes. Dave began receiving heat in 2021 when his Netflix special came out containing offensive jokes. Last, Woody Harrelson hosted and took his monologue as an opportunity to go on an anti-vax rant, although this was unplanned and not the fault of SNL.
This year has continued the pattern of unpopular appearances. Alec Baldwin appeared after being indicted for involuntary manslaughter. SNL garnered backlash for bringing politician, Nikki Haley, into their cold open. SNL received backlash for seemingly giving Haley a platform and trying to frame her in a positive light after her recent flubs.
Ugh, Why Him?
This brings us to the most recent controversy: Shane Gillis hosting SNL on 24 February 2024. If you’re wondering who Shane Gillis is, so was I.
Let’s be honest—in the sea of comedians, there are so many exactly like him: White, straight and male. There’s just nothing special about him. So why SNL? Why is he worth all the trouble? And yes, he was trouble, right from the start.
Shane Gillis was supposed to be an SNL cast member for season 45 in 2019. A week after Shane was announced as a cast member he was fired after a clip of him using an anti-Asian slur surfaced. Shane later said he would continue to push boundaries and make jokes about taboo topics. Has Shane changed since 2019? Has he redeemed himself and suddenly become worthy of SNL? Well according to SNL, yes. But he hasn’t seemed to change. In September 2023, he said to The New York Times that he was, “Dumb and smart, cocky and self-mocking, homophobic but relentlessly self-aware.” He also said he used sexism in his comedy to attract attention. Shane also has brought people onto his podcast that are Holocaust deniers and 9/11 truthers.
So how was his highly anticipated performance? Did he prove all the haters wrong? No. He failed gloriously. Joke after joke, Shane was met with deafening silence. He had a whole homophobic bit followed by jokes at the expense of Down Syndrome family members. His “joke” included the r slur.
So why SNL? Why this guy? Why are we giving this man a platform? Is he worth all the trouble, all the backlashes? No, he’s not. But to the SNL machine, he is.
The question remains: Why? Maybe SNL invites controversy to attract more viewers and spark conversations. One could argue that this is a smart business decision, but I disagree. Shane’s epic bomb of a monologue will garner buzz for about a week, and the media will forget and move on to something to something else, but their loyal viewers will remain upset and the public will use this as one more piece of evidence in the SNL isn’t funny argument. Overall, it just makes the show a little bit tackier, taking it another step away from the certified Hollywood Star factory it used to be.
So I ask you once again…is SNL okay?
Sources Rust Shooting Information- https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/19/arts/alec-baldwin- charged-involuntary- manslaughter.html#:~:text=A%20grand%20jury%20in%20New%20Mexico%20indicted %20Alec%20Baldwin%20on,was%20rehearsing%20with%20went%20off.
SNL Controversies- https://ultimateclassicrock.com/controversial-saturday-night-live- moments/
Dave Chapelle Transphobic Netflix Special- https://time.com/6105951/dave-chappelle- netflix-controversy/
Nikki Haley Controversies- https://www.vanityfair.com/news/nikki-haley-civil-war-slavery- black-friends-growing- up#:~:text=Haley%20came%20under%20fire%20last,to%20mention%20the%20word%2 0slavery. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/28/politics/nikki-haley-civil-war-slavery/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/16/politics/nikki-haley-says-us-not-racist-country/index.html
Shane Gillis- https://www.thedailybeast.com/shane-gillis-bombs-with-snl-monologue-down- syndrome-and-gay-jokes https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/16/arts/television/shane-gillis-beautiful-dogs-netflix- comedy.html https://www.nbcnews.com/news/shane-gillis-saturday-night-live-fired-now-hosting- rcna137161