Goodnight, and Have a Pleasant Tomorrow.

Good God was Saturday Night Live a letdown.  A letdown of epic proportion.  And I was SO looking forward to it!  I love Paul Rudd and Paul McCartney.  But my gosh, SNL has just about hit rock bottom. 

SNL hasn’t been funny for me or the critics in a long time.  I guess part of it is a generational issue.  Most likely, the fans of the original Not Ready for Primetime Players don’t think the Sandler era was funny, and certainly not the Ferrell era.  Probably a lot of the Aykroyd era doesn’t translate well to the fans of the Sandler era.  Personally, I’m a fan of the majority of SNL’s long history, even though I first came to appreciate the show during the epic runs of Ferrell, MacDonald, Oteri, etc.  Sure there have been dips, low points – but overall, I can appreciate and enjoy any of the illustrious SNL eras.  I can drop quotes like “Delta Delta Delta, can I helpya helpya helpya?” and call somebody a honky with Richard Pryor’s excellent disdain, and a lot in between.

I have to blame the writing, really.  I’ll fault Tina Fey for that – for leaving the head writer’s job, only for it to be filled by Seth Meyers.  It’s just not funny anymore.  Most of the running characters are just tedious.  And for heaven’s sake – they need to realize their cast consists of more than just Fred Armisen, Kristen Wiig, and Bill Hader!  Hader has been named the new Ferrell, and Wiig the new Shannon – but it’s not working out.  At.  All.  The beauty of Shannon and Ferrell were that they would do anything, and could pull it off.  Sure, I’ll credit Hader and Wiig for being willing to do anything.  The difference being, though, Shannon and Ferrell were funny.  Hader and Wiig are just played out.  Again, though, I have to blame the writing.  I’ve enjoyed them both in the work they’ve done outside of SNL.  I wish they’d give more screen time to some of the other players.  Kenan Thompson has come a lonnnnng way since All That and Good Burger – he is legitimately funny!  And Jay Pharoah is being completely wasted.  His Jay Z/Drake/Biggie Smalls impression on the Thanksgiving episode was phenomenal.  He was an outstanding guest on Letterman not long after that, throwing out some more exceptional impressions.  His Obama, especially, was outstanding – Armisen may have the seniority, but the job of resident Obama should be handed over to Pharoah on the grounds of pure talent.

(FF to about 3:05 for Eddie Murphy, 5:20 for Denzel Washington, 6:10 for Will Smith, 6:45 for Obama)

I haven’t kept up with the seasons in recent years, it’s just too bad to watch religiously.  But I’ve caught a few episodes recently, some better than others.  Surprisingly, I think the best episode of the season was Anne Hathaway’s Thanksgiving episode.  Jane Lynch and Bryan Cranston, two actors fully capable of being devastatingly funny, were totally wasted.   Rudd, who has the comedy chops to handle it and at least seems to be clever and witty when going off script, wasn’t given any good material, and McCartney’s sketch appearances were total throwaways.   Remember a couple seasons ago when Mick Jagger demanded to be included in a sketch, and he was put in one where Jimmy Fallon played his mirror image?  That was funny.  Dressing Paul McCartney up in Austin Powers-like garb and making him play a tiny harmonica is not.

I’ll try to care again when Meyers, Wiig, and Hader are gone.  Until then, I’ll cling desperately to my Best of Phil Hartman DVD.  "Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer" is quite apropos.

Sarcasmo

Currently Excited About: the Logitech commercial with Kevin Bacon playing Kevin Bacon’s biggest fan.  Genius.  The only thing that could possibly have been more genius would be to have had Jack McFarland play Kevin Bacon’s biggest fan – since he was.