111 thoughts on “the idiot kings”

1. Huh.
   The show’s as funny as it’s ever been since Tina Fey took over as head writer. Naturally, someone who “stopped watching SNL years ago” wouldn’t know that, but you do seem to know all about the current state of the show anyway… how it’s “now predictable, corporate, and unimaginative.”
   It’s not fair to slam this group of writers and this acting troupe when you admit in the very first line that you’ve only seen the work of their predecessors and not their own. I would think an artist who works in sketch comedy would have more empathy.

2. I find it interesting that so many of the posts are “SNL hasn’t been funny since…” and everyone has a different cast that they fondly remember. Some people think it died after Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Martin Short, Mike Myers and even Jimmy Fallon who just left the show in May.
   I imagine that each group of people idealizes the cast from when they were in their teens or early twenties and once that cast dissolved they felt that show had left them, so they didn’t bother watching anymore. Also, everytime they change casts it takes a season or two to find its feet. During that time a lot of people give up.
   There are a lot of posts that start with “I haven’t watched SNL in years”. If you haven’t watched it in years, how do you know if it is any good with the current cast.
   I’m not a big fan of SNL. They have about 10 minutes of funny in a 90 minute show. I just think it is silly to criticize a show you haven’t watched in 2, 5, 10, 20 years.

3. I hate to say this because I’m a fan of your’s, Wil, but I think I need to point this out. It isn’t necessarily that SNL is no longer counter-culture but instead that what you and I called counter-culture in the 80s and 90s is now mainstream. The new counter-culture is something we are a bit out of touch on. As much as I hate to admit it we’re getting older.
   It happens all the time, those people in high school, like us, who were called geeks are the ones defining culture when they hit their stride in their early thirties. I mean, the fact that G4TechTV even exists is an affirmation of my point. Back in high school the people playing video games were geeks, in the late 80s at least, now look at how popular games are.
   I hate to say this next part, but dammit I feel strongly about it. Someone intimated earlier that Ashlee Simpson doesn’t work hard at what she does. Bullshit. I’m sure Wil can tell you that just trying to get a job in the entertainment business is a full time job. Yes, some musical groups have a very hard time getting work and yes, Ashlee Simpson was handed her musical career with a lot of help from her sister, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t working hard. If you watched her show on MTV you saw that she stresses out about performing live like any other musician.
   If you had been following her career you’d know that she has had a few appearances with sub-par performances. She is just starting out and hasn’t quite gotten the live performances down yet, and she may never, who knows. The point is that I’d be willing to bet that the record studio or SNL’s producers forced her to lip sync to get a cd quality performance out of her. She isn’t the Stones, who is after all, she’s only like 19 years old and she’s only recorded 1 album.
   Before I go I’d like to add this little piece of wisdom I’ve come upon in my 33 years of existence. As a corollary to what I said earlier about culture and counter-culture being a derivative of age, most of those really cool bands out there that hit big and have staying power don’t hit big right away because they are ahead of their time. They are counter-culture but there aren’t enough counter-culture people to sustain a music career. Then when the band members are around 30 give or take a few years, booom, they blow up huge because the counter-culture has finally become the mainstream. Great isn’t it. Someone earlier actually said something very similar so I should give them credit, but I don’t remember who it was. Sorry about the long post but sometimes I get urked that people would rather bash something then take the time to understand the reasons behind why it is in the first place. It has to do with the whole, “It can’t be me, so it must be them.” complex. I happen to agree that SNL isn’t for me anymore and it hasn’t been since Mike Meyers, but I realize that its because SNL has moved on and I have not. I guess when it comes down to it, we’re just too punk rock for this, eh, Wil.

4. you actually did ruin jurassic park for me! but only because i’ve never seen it, and it has to be said; don’t particularly care to.
   but really: fake dinosaurs. now i’m intrigued as to how the sequels work.

5. You’re both spot-on with the SNL comments. So good for you.
   But I really love it when you mention somethign from a song in the post title and I know what you’re talking about.
   I could slip on the East River I’m so happy.

6. You’re not funny idiot. Trying to make itsounds like you’re young or something? Well you’re not. Your book sucks and your life sin’t interesting, so give it up.

7. Don’t Censor our post Wil!!!!! I couldn’t post what I wanted because what I said was blacklisted. There was no cursing, no links, no ads, etc. Just a mild criticism of Our host. I guess he doesn’t want his ego bruised.

8. I’d have to agree 100% with Uncle Chuckles, it us that have not moved on, whereas Saturday Night has not. This same rhetoric about SNL not being what it used to be is not new, I’m sure everyone that watched when Belushi, Akroyd and crew were telling the jokes, hated it when it went to Murphy, Rock and Farley. Likewise, those of us who grew up with those comedians hated it when Farrell, Fallon and Fey took over. SNL has always and will always stay ahead of the game. It’s why I still watch it..
   Heck, the greatest sketch in the last 10 years was when Janet Jackson was and did the “Cork Soakers”. I still laugh my ass off everytime I see that one.

9. One more thing, I agree with Shadoe Knight. I think Ashlee Simpson is talent-less but, I’m sure she works her buns off. She’ll probably end up in the bottom of a bottle from the stress in this business we call show. That is, if she doesn’t

10. Old: “SNL Weekend Update”. New: “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”. Old: any skit on SNL. New: almost any show on Comedy Central.
    SNL should just wander off into the night and leave before it gets to be merely a source of skits that get turned into stupid movies. Wait, that already happened. Oh well.

11. Every once and a while SNL still gets it, especially during an election year. The skits of the political shows kill me. Heck, for the ’84 primary they had someone to play every single candidate at a time when every other Democrat in the country was running (at least it seemed that way). It never got any funnier than then.
    Wil, I don’t understand why the blame on SNL for Ashlee Simpson screwing up. Maybe it was actually Ashlee Simpson that screwed up.
    D

12. Darin.. the fact that she was even the musical guest to begin with was a disappointment.

13. SNL started sucking when they lost John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Gilda Ratner, Eddie Murphy, and Bill Murray.
    The best show I’ve ever seen in my life was Gilda Ratner live on Broadway. Without people like her & the others, SNL went downhill fast.

14. Yes each generation seems to hate the next one on SNL.
    My main problem with the show as of late has been the fact it looks totally unrehearsed. You can see them all reading off of the teleprompter in the wings. No one looks anyone in the eye, they are all looking offstage. I know this is an old television trick (cheating) but c’mon guys. Read the scripts once or twice before you go out there. Horatio Sanz is the biggest offender of this practice.
    I don’t want to watch comedians read, they aren’t great orators.
    I’m waiting for the day when tehy just walk out with scripts in their hands.

15. I completely agree with you Wil. I used to love SNL. For the last decade at least, I’ll watch about 10 minutes and can’t even make myself laugh. I caught Ashlee’s first song but not the second, I so wish I’d seen that! It’s time for SNL to move on, but we need something to fill their shoes (that have been empty for several years). Even MadTV, that was ok for a while, is not enough of a counterculture voice. Of course, lately, during the Bush administration, when have we had a strong voice speaking out against the establishment?

16. neph:
    –the fact that she was even the musical guest to begin with was a disappointment.—
    I heartily agree. You know you’re getting old when you barely recognize the name of the musical guest.
    Can’t say I ever watched SNL just for the music.

17. I do think the responsiblity is on SNL alone. They knew what they were getting into by signing an act like Ashley Simpson for that night.
    In terms of making any overall statement on SNL its just a reflection of the times where as the SNL of the mid-late 70’s was a reflection of those times.
    Given that the direction of the series is generally ratings driven (what TV show isn’t) I wouldn’t be too hard on them. They are just delivering what the bulk of their audience wants. So in those terms, who really bears the blame?

18. Wil. (admonishing tone) that’s *not* how the Bingo song goes…
    C’mon, sing with me now,
    B – I – N – G – O…
    LOL

19. Wil,
    I love your journal. Love it. But if you haven’t watched SNL in decades, you really don’t know what you’re talking about. For the past three years, SNL’s political commentary has been more biting than anything The Daily Show is doing. Certainly they have popular stars on nowadays. They always have. For every Ashlee Simpson, there’s a appearance of The Donnas (yes, before they hit it big.)
    I get very tired of people complaining that something is bad just because it’s different than what it was. Wil, you were a child actor. Now, you’re an insightful, witty, intelligent writer/blogger. Do you want someone to discount everything you’ve done recently just because you’re not still being Gordie LaChance?
    Basically, the litmus test is this: is SNL funny? Yes. Sometime, like this last week (Ashlee notwithstanding), it’s VERY funny. It goes in cycles, and now it’s back on the funny cycle. We can thank fellow geek Tina Fey – now the head writer – for that.
    Give it a try, won’t you? At least Weekend Update, which remains fresh and funny every single week. It might surprise you.

20. I’d also like to respond to those who mention Ashlee Simpson as “the type of pop SNL used to avoid.”
    The very first year, when SNL was supposed to be “counterculture,” they features such musical guests as Phoebe Snow (twice!), Esther Phillips, Abba, Toni Basil, Gordon Lightfoot, and Anne Murray. As for all the “counter-culture” of the hosts, yes, I must agree. Racquel Welch and Desi Arnaz, Jr. WERE about as counter-culture as you get in 1975.
    The point is this: SNL has always balanced things, has always featured popular people, and has always had popularity swings. Thumper, above, was right: SNL’s early episodes only got “classic” status much later, when the show tanked a bit in the early 80s. Everything changes, everything stays the same.

21. Nice HHGttG reference, boyo!
    “The human race is currently ’round that rock over there making documentaries of themselves.”
    SNL has become Lorne Michaels ego-trip vehicle, and as such has lost direction and any sense of itself. It’s now almost a self-parody.
    Oh, and those that didn’t get the lip-syching thing are also the same sorts of people for whom digital watches are still a pretty neat idea.
    Peace,
    Michael.

22. For Hannah: The movie is in fact about cloning dinosaurs from old DNA, and they DO accomplish this. But since we haven’t, we had to settle for fake dinosaurs to play the roles. That’s all he meant.
    But you should watch it, it’s pretty good 🙂

23. Argh! How does everyone JUST KNOW that SNL sucks when they admit they HAVEN”T WATCHED IT FOR YEARS? Psychic powers? It’s the trendy thing to say? AHHHHH!
    Sorry to shout, but I expected better from you, WW.

24. “Okay. Now go watch Kids In The Hall. Seriously.”
    I love you.

25. In the last decade or so SNL has had some great cast members, some really good sketches and some really good writing but it hasn’t been a great SHOW in years. The “really good” sketches and writing seem rare.
    I was watching bit and pieces of this week’s episode, which was the first episode of the season that I watched. I don’t like Weekend Update with two female co-hosts. Chevy Chase and Jane Curtain, Kevin Nealon, Dennis Miller. Those were good hosts. Even last year’s Weekend Update was good.
    The show is totally mass culture now. It feels so diluted. Predictable and unimaginative is right. They don’t seem to remember what sketch comedy IS. I wish the show was a little more experimental.
    Mad TV gave me hope for awhile but it’s not as funny since Nicole Sullivan and a few of the other original cast members left.
    Funny that Kids in the Hall is much funnier and yet they’re shared actors and writers. Both are Lorne Michaels productions- because of course, Lorne is responsible for exporting sketch comedy shows from Canada to the US. Then there’s SCTV, the early days of sketch comedy.

26. SNL used to be 60 minutes of good comedy, 15 minutes of live music, and 15 minutes of filler. Now it’s 10 minutes of good comedy (usually Weekend Update), 10 minutes of lip-synching, and 70 minutes of filler.
    Think about it this way, once Weekend Update is over, how many of you actually keep watching?

27. {What I meant was, there used to be a time when something big would happen in the news, and I’d turn to my friend Dave and say, “Man, I can’t wait to see what SNL does with this!”}
    To quoth back:B-I-N-G-fucking-O.
    Especially during the first five years, I turned on SNL ‘as background for homework’ (and find out, when DOn Kirshner started, that I did little if any) and expected somthing, at the least memorable. I was annoyed that, the week of the Three Mile Island Accident, SNL was prempted for a special with the incomprable Bob & Ray (and Jane, Gilda, and Laraine) and I thought they would miss a golden opportunity (though there was a quip about ‘the new capital of Pennsylvania’).
    My faith was restored with the “The Pepsi Syndrome/Amazing Collosal President”. Freaking classic, and that’s not even including the Ackroyd/Morris kiss at the end.
    These days, I have to wait until the puppets finish making crank calls before I get a rush of anticipation like that.
    On the nose, Mister Wil. One the nose.

28. Hey Wil-
    Pierce wrote a response to this, in which he says
    “…because of that, not because of the link, but because of the class and the respect, i hereby bury the hatch between the busblog and wwdc.”
    http://www.tonypierce.com/blog/2004/10/very-interesting-thing-happened-last.htm
    Why does he write in all lowercase with typos? That scares me.

29. Dude-
    tony pierce is my hero.
    KC

30. The Ashlee Simpson episode seems to show that somebody learned their lesson from the Elvis Costello “Radio Radio” incident and doesn’t mean to let that sort of thing happen again…
    Somebody (torrez.org) has an mpeg of that segment available online, but has taken it down temporarily due to bandwidth issues. He says he plans to put it back up in a week or two. If you’re interested in seeing it: http://notes.torrez.org/2004/06/elvis_costello_.html

31. I used to watch SNL every Saturday. I was born in ’82, and I do miss the fact I couldn’t see the greats when they were new. I’ve tried watching it over the past few years, and every time I realize why I stopped watching it in the first place. It’s awesome to see you like Kids in the Hall, by the way. I always prefer that show to the new SNL.

32. You know what would make SNL much better?
    More cowbell.

33. I do watch SNL on occassion but mainly if I don’t have anything else to do. I do like to see who is going to be hosting. I’ve been watching it since my family moved here in 1979. It definitely doesn’t have the same flavor it once had but there are some parts of the show that I do look forward to. Sometimes it does suck and at times it’s good. I do hope that it’s on top whenever it ends.

34. Danielle… Are you a fellow TWoP’r?? Hello there if ya are!
    Will…what can I say, I don’t agree with you, but you write so well that I wanted to.

35. A while back I was flipping through the channels and there was SNL – The Best of Jimmy Fallon. I immediately felt old, and I’m only 33. I gave it a chance though, and parts of the show were quite funny and even clever. I guess we all have a tendency to look back fondly on what we grew up with. I remember the Aykroyd/Belushi years as being some of the best, but who can say that “If it’s not Scottish it’s CRAP!!!” wasn’t just as funny too?
    I find myself thinking the same way about other long running shows too, for example no new Doctor could ever replace Tom Baker.

36. ack, too many comments to read right now.
    I’ll say this. I’ve watched SNL from the beginning. It’s always been a quirky mix of good and bad comedy, good and bad performers. I think some people are only remembering the good stuff (a natural tendency). The only time it was *really* bad was during tim kazurinski (sp?) days, with a couple of talent exceptions, those were bad years.
    It’s true that it’s not counter culture now, but it never was that anyway. What it used to be was more ‘raw’. More unpolished. It’s got to big a budget now in my opinion.
    Now, I watched the Ashlee Simpson episode. As is typical, I was doing something else towards the end of show, and was only half paying attention. I didn’t notice any lipsyncing. I thought she just started singing a different song from the band, stopped singing, danced around a bit, then ran off the stage in a panic. At the close, she apologised for freaking out, and that the band playing the wrong song unexpectedly. (words to that effect). I didn’t take it as a big deal.
    I still find a lot good stuff on the show, and reasons to watch for at least until the news. There’s nothing much better on if you ask me. I can certainly see plenty of ways it could be improved, but I don’t expect anything like that from a network show.

37. I never saw it’s earlier years, but when the hot guy (jimmy Fallon) left, so did I. It sucks nowadays. and blows forty seven different ways.

38. Tony was right — Your saying kind things about him and recommending his blog after he’d said unkind things about you was extremely classy. And that’s what I came here to say, even before I discovered that Tony himself had beaten me to the punch. WTG WW.

39. I’m surprised nobody else has mentioned this yet, but everything you need to know about SNL is summarized nicely by John Cusack in the Tim Robbins movie Bob Roberts.
    Seriously. If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, it was the most prescient movie of the early ’90s and predicted Bush in a lot of rrrrrreally scary ways more than eight years before the fact.
    And the SNL bit is dead-on and priceless.

40. IMHO, SNL starting down the track to corporate whoredom when they told Elvis Costello that he couldn’t play “Radio Radio.” (Fortunately for them, he did anyway.)
    The best SNL skit I’ve ever seen harks back to the days of Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest, when they both played aging black baseball stars. Not funny per se, but a very poignant memorial by a couple of phenomenal character actors.
    /just my $.02, adjusted for inflation

41. *hearkens*, not *harks*
    /self-depricating grammar nazi

42. Right on, Wil…
    Staying up too late and watching some of the
    funniest and *smartest* lampooning around
    used to be a guilty pleasure for me. And hey,
    if they made an obscure reference it was a reason to
    go learn something new.
    Ashlee Simpson taught America something about
    cynicism last Saturday night, but corporate
    rock, and lip synching were the subject matter
    instead of some erudite remark slipped in by
    a Harvard man.
    Best *LIVE* performance for me: Devo singing
    “Satisfaction”.

43. Used to watch SNL in the ’80s and the early 90s.

44. I haven’t been here in a while, but I though that I put in my 5 (Canadian) cents into the pile – Kids in the Hall (as most of you know) is a Canadian show. I remember watching it in highschool and THAT used to be our SNL and the counter-culture outlet. I loved that show – now all the guys went their seperate ways, and some of them are just part of the machine… too bad.

45. Amen…
    Interesting to note that Kids in the Hall was also a Lorne Michaels project.
    And why can’t SNL movies turn out as well as Brain Candy did?
    I could rant on this for far too long.

46. Amen to your post, and that of Tony Peirce. I especially liked the order(demand?) to go watch Kids in The Hall, I can’t wait till I can buy up the DVDs, and have one of the ebst skit shows ever in my own hands.

47. More cowbell! Yes!
    The show is hit and miss. It’s hard to gauge what an audience will respond to.
    But occasionally it hits – Janet Jackson – cork soakers skit was mentioned above, Weekend Update, etc.
    I find myself watching it for the talent of a few of the performers. You have to take their whole bodies of work into consideration. It is sad when your favorite player’s contract runs out and they run off to do films and other projects. With a weekly show – there’s always a chance they’ll shine the next week. With movies the waits are so long that they sometimes never live up to the expectations.
    Anyway – give it more than the 5 minute cursory glance. And…
    – “Ged Out!”

48. I imagine you’ve had a look at Tony’s blog since this post and seen his hatchet-burying confession of jealousy. Definitely one of the more moving entries I’ve seen in the blogosphere. *sob*
    Was going to say something real kumbaya, like “It only goes to show that with a little understanding, everything could turn out OK in this world,” but unfortunately that isn’t true. For instance, if some U.S. government spokesperson expressed sympathy for the pain of the Iraqis, I don’t suppose Zarqawi would suddenly bury the hatchet. Or vice-versa.
    Nevertheless, it’s nice that you and Tony between you added a little something to the total mass of peace on Earth. And not such a little something, at that.

49. Dude, don’t backtrack on SNL sucking big nasty ones… It hasn’t been worth a damn for a LONG time! The last guys worth a damn were Phil and Chris Farley. The last time I sat in front of the tube to watch the whole thing was back when Eddie Murphy was still part of the scene! (Yeah, that ages me!)

50. The last time I watched SNL had to be when Mike Myers was a regular and Adam Shandler. The best shows are the first three seasons with Steve Martin, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner. (god rest her soul)It went downhill much later and I really haven’t had the chance to catch it now. Oh those were the days, reminds me of when MTV had just started.
    Morgan

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