The Problem with Saturday Night and Saturday Night Live

When I asked my 26 year-old daughter yesterday if she’d heard anything about what her generation calls “Oscar movies,” I already knew the answer. I was almost embarrassed to say the titles out loud, like “Conclave.” I said, “Have you heard anything about Saturday Night?” No, she had not. I explained to her that it was about Saturday Night Live’s first episode. But Saturday Night doesn’t matter to her because Saturday Night Live doesn’t matter to her. Like Saturday Night, Saturday Night Live now mostly targets the Xers and the Boomers. I’m sorry to have to be the one to say it, but it’s mostly the truth.

For those who grew up with smartphones and social media, old-school TV and movies aren’t the center of our lives anymore, if they ever were. On the one hand, there is no bringing that back. On the other hand, I believe that if you build it, they will come. If your content is thrilling and must-watch, they would still tune in. As it is, SNL like Saturday Night plays it too safe.

Jason Reitman’s film, Saturday Night, opened in limited release (good strategy) and hopes to gain some traction in the awards race. So far, it has the highest per-theater average of the year, though in just five theaters.

I liked the movie. It was a good time at the Telluride Film Festival. But I think it suffers from the same problem SNL suffers from now. They play it too safe out of fear.

The seasoner opener for SNL brought out some mildly funny bits. Maya Rudolph is always great but her Kamala Harris this time around isn’t as funny as the previous versions. Why? We know why. Her job is to help the Democrats win in November. All of their anger and rage is always pointed in one direction: at Trump. Rinse, repeat.

Compare that version of Kamala Harris to the older version by Maya Rudolph where Harris is always nursing a cocktail:

There is a meme on the Right that Kamala Harris has a drinking problem, so making fun of her that way, they know, is verboten.  Meanwhile, they have no problem pushing the lie that people leave Trump’s rallies in droves. I’m not sure who spreads the talking points on the Left but it is always terrifying how uniform it is. I’ve been watching Trump rallies for four years now, and I can promise you people don’t leave. They are as excited to be there as anything I’ve ever seen in politics.

And by the way, lest you wonder, I’ve been watching the rallies to find out what was really true and what wasn’t true. Almost nothing people on the Left believe about the Right is true. It’s shocking to me how many lies are pushed about them that are so readily lapped up by the Left.

Both sides have completely separate perceptions of reality, and that’s true. But you can’t know that — I mean REALLY know that — unless you do what I did. Cut off your own side long enough to see things from the other point of view. Then, and only then, can you assess where we are now as a country.

SNL, like all comedy on the Left and in the mainstream, isn’t funny because it directs its humor only to one side.  The same is true of John Oliver and Stephen Colbert. Then the awards industry turns around, nominates them, and gives them statues as though any of it makes any difference. It’s like looking into the magic mirror and asking, “who is the fairest of them all?” And the mirror answers back, “You are, my Queen.”

This is not sustainable for the industry for a lot of reasons but the top of the list would be the counterculture rising in every direction around the teeny tiny isolated oasis that is Hollywood now. You see, it is if you can break free from groupthink, but that can be dangerous. Look at what is happening to Chappell Roan. Or look at what happened to me. Rebecca Keegan decided to make what I think and what I tweet a story, as they do with those they’ve targeted to be exiled out of utopia.

No one wants to be “it” and have their entire livelihoods wiped out by skittish employers and advertisers so they keep their heads down, say nothing, obey. But how boring is that? REALLY BORING.

The problem for both SNL and Saturday Night is that they are aimed at such a small audience they don’t have the same kind of cultural impact they had 50 years ago. So the film Saturday Night, in its own way, embarasses the show now in its 50th season. Where is their courage? Why aren’t they subversive anymore? Why are they so afraid?

Well, you know why. Big Brother is watching.

But then again, the way advertising works now doesn’t motivate shows like SNL or the Oscars to broaden their appeal. It doesn’t have to. We know that advertisers don’t care about eyeballs. They care about perception. As long as SNL and Saturday Night have a “clean” reputation, they can still command the biggest and most important clients. They keep their reputation by coloring within the lines.

To Jason Reitman’s credit, there are quite a few dirty jokes and somewhat shocking moments in Saturday Night — but again, all that does is remind us that they poured too much chlorine in the pool, especially recently.

SNL would only be motivated to break free from the confines of totalitarianism if they had pressure from advertisers. They don’t. Hollywood would only be motivated to make better movies if it cared about the box office. They don’t.  That’s why the free market is so important to Hollywood. It can’t just be pure art. It has to also be competitive.

That’s why TikTok and Youtube are such fun and why they are increasingly becoming places where people of every age and every political persuasion get their news, entertainment, and comedy—the free market rules because the algorithm rules.