“Saturday Night Live” is one of America’s preeminent comedy programs, preserving the tradition of live broadcasting and sketch comedy for audiences that are increasingly becoming accustomed to streaming. However, the show may no longer be in its comedic heyday in its 49th season, rarely delivering iconic sketches to the caliber of “Matt Foley: Van Down by the River,” or — editor’s favorite — “Haunted Elevator (Ft. David S. Pumpkins).” But a separate question altogether rises: Does SNL still offer relevant commentary on our political and cultural moment? In other words, in this roundtable, we ask The Daily Campus Opinion Section: Does SNL still work?
Nell Srinath, Opinion Editor: Yes, but only in a specific sense. SNL has long served as an uncontroversial political mouthpiece for the ruling class, drowning any potential they have for scathing critiques of powerful people in unfunny (with the exception of James Austin Johnson), flailing impressions. Their ridiculous depictions of the average MAGA Republican only served to reify the dominant view that elite, condescending liberals are at odds with hard working, salt-of-the-earth conservatives — a silly and fictitious view of class in the United States. Yet having hosts like Elon Musk and Donald Trump shows that executive producer Lorne Michaels is willing to flirt with far-right politics when it suits him. Most recently, the “College Presidents” cold open pokes harmless fun at far-right congresswoman Elise Stefanik while, similar to the congressional hearing it depicts, continues to falsely frame pro-Palestine activism as antisemitism.
As an aside, all their funniest sketches were cut for time. Justice for Kyle Mooney.
Dan Stark, Associate Opinion Editor: Absolutely not. The quality of their political content fell off a cliff since Biden was inaugurated. SNL feasted on the comedy goldmine that was the Trump era with political sketches basically every episode for four years. But with Biden in office, they pulled back significantly on their political content. For every five sketches they did involving Trump, there’s one that involves Biden. They’ve simply refused to go after him like they did Trump despite having great opportunities to do so. The show has the ability to offer meaningful political commentary, especially with the great James Austin Johnson in their cast, but has failed to utilize this during the Biden administration. Until they take advantage of their potential, SNL will continue to fall out of cultural relevance.
Luke Feeney, Weekly Columnist: I think from a political commentary standpoint, especially post-Biden inauguration, it’s a dumpster fire. However, the overall cultural appeal of SNL is alive and well. I wish the show went after Biden the way they did Trump because I do think it would be much funnier. Despite this, I think it has its moments from a comedic standpoint (every few weeks I usually find a sketch to be pretty funny).
Another problem SNL faces is that over the past decades so many sketch comedy shows have just been funnier. “I Think You Should Leave,” “Key & Peele” and even YouTube sketch comedy like the guys at Almost Friday TV routinely deliver funnier content. But SNL is too culturally entrenched to ever really go away.
Tomas Hinckley, Weekly Columnist: It’s around times like these when I wish I watched more SNL to be able to give a more informed and nuanced take on the show as a whole, but then I remember that it’s boring and I go on with my life.
Hot take: the best part of SNL is the musical performances (See Bruno Mars and the legendary RATM performance). Also, if it wasn’t for its reputation of being funny from past years, people would not be laughing as much nowadays. Just being real…
Evelyn Pazan, Contributor: It is not often that I sit down and watch SNL, but sometimes I will find myself in a YouTube spiral watching the SNL “Celebrity Jeopardy!” sketches with my dad. “Celebrity Jeopardy!” is by far the best thing to come out of SNL and it hasn’t even aired in the past 4 years. In the past few years, SNL has definitely lost its appeal. The humor has been underwhelming and the political sketches have been repetitive and one-sided. It is truly a shame, because I believe that SNL is a valuable program that encourages political involvement and brings people together. I wish SNL would more evenly balance their political commentary and find some funnier writers. Maybe then more people (e.g. me) would pay attention.