I’ve watched SNL for as long as I can remember. It was one of my earliest comedy influences growing up. It was one of the few times my mom would let me stay up and she’d watch it with me. My friends and I would crack ourselves up doing our Church Lady or Hans and Franz impressions to each other.
You see a lot of comments like “SNL used to be good back in the <inset decade>.” or “SNL was better when <insert list of performers> were on the show.”
Saturday Night Live is a wonderful phenomenon. On a Tuesday, a team of spectacularly talented people get together with someone who’s famous but probably not funny. On Saturday, they put on a 90-minute variety-comedy show. That show showcases their talent, even when the sketches run on a bit long or are unfocused. It runs live on television, the only fictional program that does so in the United States. The stakes are high, and even when something falls flat, as it often does, it’s a great ride, buoyed by the best performers of their kind.
