The 2010-2011 Season of Saturday Night Live Did Not Live Up To My Expectations
When the 2009-2010 season of Saturday Night Live came to a close, I was greatly displeased with a majority of the episodes that have aired. Lots of the sketches I didn't find to be very humorous; due to a lot of crude humor and uninspired premises. I also thought that a majority of the hosts that had been on weren't funny at all; and thus affected the overall execution of the comedy pieces. Hosts like Megan Fox, Taylor Lautner, January Jones and Ryan Phillipe weren't great choices to host the program as they weren't funny whatsoever. Despite these setbacks, I remained optimistic that maybe the 2010-2011 season would be a vast improvement. And, in August, ,my hope was bolstered when it was announced that Jane Lynch was going to host SNL on October 9; As I loved her hilarious performances in comedies like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Role Models." And, in September, my faith was restored even more as it was announced that Former Castmember Amy Poehler had been selected to host the season premier on September 25. And, as I had always been a fan of her work on SNL, I was looking forward to seeing her return to the show. Furthermore, as more and more talented performers, such as Bryan Cranston, Emma Stone, Jon Hamm, and Paul Rudd, were announced to host, I felt that this would be a much better season than the previous one. Unfortunately, as I watched every episode, I realized that even though the great hosts and the talented cast were giving their best performance possible, the show was still suffering due to immensely bad writing. Thus, I just felt so bad for everyone on the stage.
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One such area that the writing suffered this season would be the fact that all the political humor has been deeply uninspiring. In the years gone by, we have seen the long-running sketch comedy show deal showcase many impersonations that had left a great legacy. Who could forget Dana Carvey’s great impression of Former President George Bush in the late 80’s-to-early-90’s. I always remember laughing hysterically as he had the voice and mannerisms down perfectly. I also remember longtime castmember Darrell Hammond portraying Former President Bill Clinton, especially during the time of the infamous Monica Lewinsky scandal; as a womanizer with a huge ego. Furthermore, I also remember Will Ferrell’s classic impression of Former President George W. Bush; who did a fine job mimicking the vocal patterns of the two-term leader as well as poking fun of some of the world’s policies at the time. Unhappily, throughout the season, we had veteran castmember Fred Armisen impersonate President Barack Obama within many sketches that contained barely any funny moments. More0ver, when a noteworthy event occured that could have treated audiences to something very special, any sketch that came to lightwas very uninspired. For instance, two weeks ago, Former Castmember Tina Fey participated in a parody of “The Little Mermaid,” which featured the mummified body of Osama Bin Laden floating amongst the castmembers dressed as fish. The jokes that followed were more-than-tasteless and it made me feel that the writers just wanted to display shock humor in a desperate attempt to be edgy; thus making everyone on stage look foolish. In addition, there were many opening sketches this season that spoofed programs airing on Fox News and CNN; which could have been very funny and creative. Although the pieces featured some funny impressions, such as Kristen Wiig’s amusing turn as Greta Van Sustren as well as Jason Sudeikis’ humorously incoherent portrayal of Wolf Blitzer, most of the jokes fell flat and I found myself just wanting to hear someone open the show.
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In addition to poorly-executed political vignettes, I have also been greatly dissatisfied by the abundance of reoccurring sketches that have only one joke that stretched out to fill out the allotted time before commercials. One such piece stars cast member Kenan Thompson as the overzealous host of a talkshow called “What Up with That,” in which his character, Diondre Cole spends the whole time singing the theme song rather than interviewing his guests—which often times are surprise cameos, such as Academy Award Winners Morgan Freeman and Robin Williams. The sketch also stars Bill Hader as musician Lindsey Buckingham; who is always never given the chance to say anything; but always ends up being cool with the situation. Every installment of the sketch basically had the same jokes as the guest were never given the chance to talk. In addition, the episode's given host often plays a musical performer within the segment. But, unfortunately, they are only given a moment to shine; and is then relegated to the background afterwards. The whole sketch is stretched out for too long; as there are several attractions featured in every edition; such as choirs, dancers and even life-size California Raisins. The audience in the studio seems to enjoy every minute of it; but I am simply staring at the television in a state of total confusion as to why people are applauding. Other cast members' reoccurring sketches that I gre tired of include Bill Hader's disoriented and elderly news reporter Herb Welch, Kristen Wiig's over-excited prize-give-away presenter, and Fred Armisen's rude producer-turned-relationship-adivser Roger Brush. Every sketch featuring by these characters followed the same format and did not depict the true comedic talents of the respected cast member.
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I am also fed up with seeing sketches featured on the show centralizing on sophomoric premises designed to get a cheap laugh from viewers. While there have been pieces this season that focus on bad sex jokes as well as cross-dressing-as-the-only-joke, these concepts tend to land deeply on the program’s biggest go-to-joke: two men kissing each other. Throughout the season, I have groaned in frustration as numerous pieces in which the sketch’s respective punch line is based around two men kissing. In fact, sometimes, as we have seen in sketches that featured hosts like Hamm and Sir Elton John, there are four minutes of no clever gags whatsoever. And then, at the end, there is an extended kiss between the two that is basically intended to be the big laugh-getter. I don’t find this to be funny at all as it seems that the writers had no idea of where to take the sketch, so they just draw out the whole thing until the final moment. The whole concept grows tired and it is an overall waste of the talents of the evening’s master of ceremonies.
And that brings me to my biggest gripe concerning this once great weekly sketch-comedy program: the show’s writers simply can’t write great material for their guest stars anymore. Throughout the show’s history, the host has always been giving starring roles in every sketch; no matter the premise. Comedic performers would always be given the opportunity to be hilarious in front of audiences every week. Furthermore, multiple-time hosts, such as Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken, were even given their own reoccurring characters so fans would have something to look forward to every time they were on. I always remember laughing when Hanks would play Mr. Short-Term-Memory; who always forgot everything at the drop of a hat. I also remember Christopher Walken making me laugh hysterically as he would portray “The Continental;” a gentleman-of-the-night who would always try to keep his female visitors from leaving his apartment—despite his inappropriate behavior. Now, during this lackluster season, we’ve had great and talented hosts casted in supporting roles that weren’t funny at all. For instance, I was very excited to see Ed Helms on SNL this past Saturday; as I love his uproarious performances on “The Office” and in “The Hangover.” But, I was greatly disappointed to see Helms not given a lot of major parts throughout the evening; with the exception of the monologue and a political advertisement-spoof that aired at the end of the show. I was also saddened by the fact that Former Castmember Dana Carvey did not get a lot to do when he hosted; as he did not get to do anything completely memorable following the resurrection of his well-known “Church Chat” sketch. It just pains me to see how my favorite comedy show has devolved into a ninety minute block of mediocrity and disappointment.
However, to be fair, this season of Saturday Night Live has given me some laughter throughout the later part of 2010 right into the first half of 2011. For instance, I greatly enjoyed Zach Galifianakis’ episode from start to finish when he appeared on the show this past March; especially as his performances in every sketch made everything much better.. I also enjoyed Jim Carrey’s long-awaited second hosting stint on January 8; as his involvement in a spoof of “Black Swan” had me squirming with amusement. And I could even say that Russell Brand's comic performances made his episode's sketches funnier than the writing made it appear. In fact, I could go as far as to say that a lot of the hosts this season performed as well as ther could in order to preserve the show. The only people who I felt did not do the best they could during the season were the suprisingly-listless Robert DeNiro and the one-dimensional Scarlett Johansson. Furthermore, I also feel that the cast did the best they could with the material as well and they still managed to get a laugh out of me a few times during the night.
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But, nevertheless, I am still displeased as to how this season has been a major let down for me; seeing as a lot of the hosting choices were great and that the cast is still funny. But, in all honesty, I still believe in the show, despite its shortcoming, and I know that it will still be around to make people laugh in the coming years. And by Monday, I plan on posting a review of tonight’s Season Finale; headlined by Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga. I just hope that the 2010-2011 ends on a high note rather than a low one.
e-mail me at thatsnatertainment@hotmail.com
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