SNL has writers, sets, cameramen, lighting, makeup, wigs—and really good actors.So says Al Franken about Saturday Night Live, and the man certainly has a point about the wigs. Rachel Sklar from HuffPo's Eat the Press does a cover job on the state of Saturday Night Live for the Village Voice, not to mention an accompanying plea for positive nostalgia and leftover trivia. It seems entirely appropriate that an article on a TV show last relevant in the 1970s should appear in a publication last relevant in the 1970s, but beyond that, how's the story do on the merits?
Well, there's unfortunately no easy way to explain why SNL can suck so hard, especially when passing over obvious comedy gold. Other than a rundown of how the show operationally works these days — much the same as ever — the best nuggets are occasional, defensive quotes from the cast and associated professionals. Perhaps the saddest encomium for how things used to be versus how they are proves that you really do need lots of sex and drugs to keep a comedy troupe properly stoked. "There's way less, you know, crazy everyone's-boning-each-other kind of awesome gossip," says cast member Andy Samberg, "but at the same time everyone's much more relaxed and friendly." Adds Amy Poehler, "We all really love each other a lot around here." Hey, if we want relaxed and friendly and love, we'll tune back in to Gilmore Girls. Make with the drugs and the wife-swapping and the backstage fistfights. Or at least do a sketch about 'em. It's certainly not the time for a Darrell Hammond clip show.
That '70s Show [VV]
