SNL's Continued Downward Spiral Thread

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

My cable guide said that it was scheduled to go 3:15.

Same. After the last skit, my wife looked at the clock and said I had to get our daughter's friend home. I said not til the show is over. And I won!

 

[Webster]

I heard an interview with Seth Meyers in which he discussed the 40th anniversary show. He said that he was brought in late to help write for it and that it was incredibly chaotic with minimal rehearsal time and scripts being written and rewritten at the last minute. Guess that's what happened with a few of them last night.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I heard an interview with Seth Meyers in which he discussed the 40th anniversary show. He said that he was brought in late to help write for it and that it was incredibly chaotic with minimal rehearsal time and scripts being written and rewritten at the last minute. Guess that's what happened with a few of them last night.

Probably, given that's how a normal SNL operates and that's what the writers and cast members expect. And I'm guessing Lorne was less apt to cut or edit given the all-star nature of the event. But Debbie Downer needed like three jokes cut from it. The Coffee Talk cameo ran about a minute too long - get in there play the hits and get out quick. The more I think about it, every skit needed to be trimmed except WU and Sandler's song.

 

[sgreenwell]

I still have the last half of the show to check out - Stopped after Sandler's song before bed last night, figured that was a good way to split it for now.

But yeah, echoing some other remarks, I was surprised by how much Sabrina Carpenter there was. I'm a fan, but she's not exactly someone with huge pipes that you absolutely know will stand the test of time. She's not even the best "hey there youngsters" artist they've had on the most or that gave the best performance recently - Olivia Rodrigo has already done the show twice, and "All-American bench" was pretty memorable! Billie Eilish probably would have been better if you still wanted to go young, and she would have paired better with Paul Simon.

Lawrence Welk is completely forked out. Is there some contingent that loves this skit or something? Just doing another "Goulet Sings!" infomercial with guest stars would have been better.

All of the Update bits were pretty good to great for me. Not coincidentally, I bet that's the part of the show that had the best writing.

I haven't seen the Zapruder film breakdown of the audience members, to track who was there and who wasn't, but I'm definitely curious about that. I'm not surprised that Chevy Chase didn't get an on-camera speaking role, because he's a huge brick that everyone hates, whether you're talking about SNL, his movie career or even late roles like Community. Aykroyd has kind of receded from public life except for occasional Ghostbusters work, so I wasn't hugely surprised he didn't make an appearance. His daughter was at some of the events, so I don't think there's bad blood or anything.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Speaking of The Lawrence Welk Show skit ... Kim Kardashian? Really!?!

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Speaking of The Lawrence Welk Show skit ... Kim Kardashian? Really!?!

My daughter recognized her before me! I used to be with it, etc etc.

 

[dixiehack]

• If you cut out the Tom Hanks part from Black Jeopardy not a thing would have been lost. The original was amazing, the callback was straight rehash.
  
• Basically nothing from the TV Funhouse era other than a blink and miss it moment during "Jokes we're super sorry about but not really."
• Surprised Tina Fey and Amy Poehler weren't utilized more than they were.
  
• I don't want to rehash the Trump discussion from above but by tiptoeing around it they couldn't really do any montage of political skits, which have been a bedrock of SNL for all five decades.
  
• Steve Martin acknowledging the monologue being the weak point doesn't excuse it being such a boat anchor on the festivities. Between that and Lawrence Welk it took nearly a half hour for the rocket to get off the launch pad.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Lawrence Welk basically ruined it for me from the start. The Weekend Update stuff was great, but overall I was pretty disappointed in the 3-plus hour investment. Would have much rather seen a "best of the last 50 years" montage.

 

[YMCA B-Baller]

When they went straight to Lawrence Welk after the monologue, I started flipping channels. And I'm someone who understands what they're trying to parody and it's still annoying.

That late 2000s/2010s era of SNL just never did it for me. Armisen, Wiig, McKinnon, their kind of comedy does not appeal to me at all. Way too twee, way too self-referential. Their skits ran way too long in their SNL years and apparently last night was no exception.

 

[dixiehack]

I'm a month younger than the show and I didn't know nearly enough about Welk to get any of the jokes. God help someone in the demographics they actually want watching.

 

[Batman]

Was there a logistical reason they didn't smash the hanging curveball of rolling out a sketch with all the presidents? Like some of them weren't available or they couldn't find suitable replacements for the ones who weren't there?

 

[playthrough]

Lawrence Welk basically ruined it for me from the start. The Weekend Update stuff was great, but overall I was pretty disappointed in the 3-plus hour investment. Would have much rather seen a "best of the last 50 years" montage.

I'd have been all-in for that, and probably why I enjoyed the commercials montage and "in memoriam" more than anything.

But then again, history might look back at the SNL 50th show as the last great flex for network television. Outside of award shows, what else could get that kind of star power in one room?