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when did SNL stop being good (if it ever was)?

I watched the very first SNL live in my Ohio town, and stuck with those first few seasons, even the horribly bad one that followed the departure of the original cast. (Yes, I remember Charlene Tilton as host, in the "Who Shot J.R.) era, with the cast gathered at the end, filling for time, Charles Rocket, dropping an F bomb. I liked the time period Eddie Murphy was on, but kind of drifted away after that. It wasn't even so much the show, just media work schedules that kept me busy during that time, a new marriage with a woman whose sense of humor couldn't have been further than mine. I missed a lot of years (but hey all 50 are on Peacock. I've tuned in over the last several years. They've done something right.
Staying tuned after SNL at 1am in the late 70s introduced me to this quirky Canadian sketch comedy, SCTV (Second City Television). It was cool to really like a show that not that many people knew about. Eventually, SCTV joined the NBC lineup on Friday nights. SCTV, unfortunately could not be topical, but could send up Old Las Vegas...the guests who were on Carson, Mike and Merv.
At 1:30 was Norm Crosby's Comedy Shop in my market.
 
b-turner said:
I think SNL has always had an issue of being too 'New York City' in their sketches. There's just some stuff the rest of the country just doesn't 'get'.
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like what? surge pricing jokes? NYC politicians become national figures, and NYC has bigger population than North Dakota (but it shares its 2 senators with the rest of NY state)
 
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Mark Roberts said:
It's also important to recall that, when SNL first started, New York City had what might politely be called an edgy reputation.
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it still had that reputation in the Giuliani era until Disney and Olive Garden took over Times Square and turned it into a tourist trap when they kicked out the sex shops, remember Norm's "bushel of delicious New York crack." joke?
 
KeithE4 said:
I was 20 when SNL premiered in 1975, no longer in high school. Its peaks were 1975-79 and 1986-93. It hasn't been watchable since, but when I have tuned in, it comes across to me like they only care about being a NYC local show, with the rest of the country being along for the ride.
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isn't most entertainment NYC or LA centric? nothing North Dakota centric
 
if SNL was a person, it would be irrelevant to advertisers as is anyone who remembers watching it 50 years ago, and in the market for robot insurance
 
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Dan Aykroyd was absolutely brilliant on SNL. Nobody could touch his versatility. I tend to favour the first 4 seasons of the show. They paved the way. Every era had highs and lows, but the early seasons were extremely creative.

It's also been noted that the musical guests were a major bonus for the show. The time Lorne Michaels tried to talk George Harrison into getting the Beatles to reunite was extremely funny...
 
nomadcowatbk said:
like what? surge pricing jokes? NYC politicians become national figures, and NYC has bigger population than North Dakota
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New York City has more population than Arizona or Tennessee. If you add in the whole NYC metro area, it's got as much population as the 14 smallest states combined. The city itself (no suburbs) has as many residents as the 9 smallest states combined.
Your comparison to North Dakota dramatically undersells NYC's importance as both a population center and cultural center.

I do think people tend to think about SNL by recalling of the best sketches from 30 years ago and comparing those highlights to a complete show from the present season. That's always going to be a disappointing comparison, because every SNL episode has clunkers.
 
secondchoice said:
I forget the guy's name but one of the people responsible for the music acts interviewed said they are aiming for at least a few of the "new hip" artists for "young night club crowd". * So I guess occasionally if you are 30 or older there will be some musical act you have never heard of and don't care to hear again. One of the signs of growing up.

*Kind of like Alternative music: you will hear something you don't recognize sooner or later.
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The music choices of the early years were often very adventurous: jazz legend Betty Carter, avant garde rocker Captain Beefheart, the hardcore punk of Fear, and even classical composer Phillip Glass. And who could forget the multiple appearances of Leon Redbone?
 
installLSC said:
The music choices of the early years were often very adventurous: jazz legend Betty Carter, avant garde rocker Captain Beefheart, the hardcore punk of Fear, and even classical composer Phillip Glass. And who could forget the multiple appearances of Leon Redbone?
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On that note, not many viewers outside of New York had yet been exposed to hip-hop when the Funky Four + 1 appeared on SNL during Season 6. And they were introduced by none other than Deborah Harry of Blondie.
 
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landtuna said:
SNL is a production put on by high schoolers who think fart jokes are the epitome of comedy.
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And get off his lawn.

They’re actually brilliant and weaving satire and sarcasm, physical and intellectual comedy across 90 minutes week in and week out. The stick-in-the-mud contingent has whined about the success for half a century now.

There’s a lot I don’t get anymore. That’s fine; the show is now for the generations that have followed me. That doesn’t make it bad, worse or whatever. It means they’ve stayed topical and accessible to changing audiences while I’ve mostly moved on. I thoroughly enjoy the opening parts of Weekend Update; it’s when the characters join the skit it loses me. Not so for my kids. And that’s wonderful—they’re finding humor that resonates. How is that possibly bad?
 
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