One of my favorite things about summer is that we rarely talk about “Saturday Night Live,” which means that I don’t have to read the two most tiresome and insipid comments this blog generates: “SNL is still on the air?” and “SNL hasn’t been funny since [famous actor] [died/left the show].” Boring and cynical comments like that are worse than a 6-minute Gilly sketch.
Nevertheless, we’ve got a little “SNL” news this week: Lorne Michaels confirmed to the New York Times that Alec Baldwin will host the season premiere of “SNL” in September (Baldwin’s 16th time as host), and Roger Catlin tweeted the news that no “SNL” cast member is leaving the show this summer. So keep those torches lit, Kenan Thompson haters.
But don’t worry, the show will audition for new cast members later this month, so there’s a chance there will at least be some new bright-eyed young comedian to hate. That’s something special, you know? We never really appreciated how much we disliked Jenny Slate until she was gone.
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Kenan Thompson gets a life pass for his brilliant work on “All That.” That is all.
/zips mouth
//locks zippers together
///throws away key
At what point does Lorne give up and just recycle through Baldwin, Timberlake, Hamm, and Galifinakis for an entire season?
SNL is still on the air?
It’s hard not to be cynical when Lorne has developed an odd amount of loyalty to a cast that consistently fails and only occasionally succeeds. A little change has been historically good for SNL, and we haven’t had an overhaul since, what, 2001? I blame 9/11. And myself, because I’ll still watch.
SNL hasn’t been funny since Alec Baldwin hosted.
Asking if SNL is still on is even more annoying than asking, “Am I the only one who doesn’t watch [popular show]?”
Ooh, Mr. Elitist, why don’t you go back to reading books and having deep conversations about existentialism?
I quite liked Jenny Slate and in fact largely enjoy Saturday Night Live. But then I am British so I’m mainly laughing at the funny way they all talk.
Remember when SNL was funny?
/classic boring and cynical comment
I still like SNL, it’s hit or miss to the max but when they have on Alec Baldwin, it’s gold Jerry, GOLD!
SNL hasn’t been funny since Chris Kattan died/left the show.
SNL hasn’t been listenable since GE Smith left.
Maybe the source of SNL’s problems isn’t that some of its most talented comedians have died so much as it is that some of its most infuriatingly unfunny comedians have NOT died. I suggest we sacrifice Chris Kattan to the comedy gods immediately and see what happens.
/even if nothing happens, we will still have made the world a little bit better.
SNL hasn’t been funny since season 8 of The Simpsons.
Baldwin’s 3 greatest achievements are as an SNL Host, The Departed and Team America World Police.
SNL hasn’t been funny since Willy Wonka’s wife got the cancer and died. What was her name? I think she did King of Queens. Julia Louis-Dreyfus I believe. She was funny in Jaws and Krippendorf’s Tribe.
/lives in a cave.
banditbanjo: “SNL hasn’t been funny since Chris Kattan died/left the show.”
Rebecca: “SNL hasn’t been funny since season 8 of The Simpsons.”
If only this site had Comments of the Week.
One of my favorite things about summer is that we rarely talk about “Saturday Night Live,”
And yet one of our main tags is still “SNL Nerds”?
@Tim,
That list needs to include Christopher Walken.
I think deep down you really enjoy those comments. I mean why else would you be writing about it when you have awesome shows like NCIS and CSI and Law and Order to write about
SNL hasn’t been funny since Jenny Slate got fired.
SNL hasn’t been funny since I stopped doing ten or so bong hits before the show….. waaaait.
@burnsy – don’t you work here? Make it so.