Modified On September 29, 2009
Does anyone really care? Really? Is this worthy of anyone’s attention?
We’re starting to look funny at anyone over the age of 15 who actually cares about what happens on NBC on Saturday night at 11:30 PM. It’s been a cultural and aesthetic cul de sac for about 30 years now.
The MSEM dutifully reports on the show every spring or fall… or whenever it is that they trot out any new cast members. And they breathlessly report on whichever flavor-of-the-week entertainment ho is hosting the upcoming weekend. (And the musical guests are profiled as well. A cursory examination of the list of musical guests over the years reveals precious few exciting or gutsy choices.)
What gives? Why has this institution that is SNL been given a pass?
The writing is (and has been since the Carter administration) weak. The sketches are skeletal pitches for skin-crawling, 70-minute theatrical releases. The entertainment industry is now pocked with various SNL veterans. (Chevy Chase, however, is excellent in what may be the role of his lifetime on Commmunity.)
It’s a bizarre phenomenon– a show that was hailed as revolutionary for about 20 minutes or so in 1975 is held up as the gold standard for 30 years or more. It’s main achievement is that it hasn’t been canceled three decades. (Meanwhile, MadTV outclassed it week in an week out for 14 years.)
And occasionally, we’re plagued by movies based on the lame sketches. (Blame “Wayne’s World.” It cost 20 million to make and grossed six times that much.) We were subsequently tortured by “Coneheads,” “It’s Pat!” “Stuart Saves His Family,” “A Night at the Roxbury,” “Blues Brothers 2000,” “Superstar,” “The Ladies Man” and “Harold.” None of them fared as well as W’sW (or W’sW II!)– in fact, “It’s Pat!” grossed $60,000. No, that is not a typo. “Harold” grossed less than one-quarter of that!
And now, “MacGruber” will be made into a big-screen theatrical release. The god-awful, wanna-gouge-my-eyes-out, hangover from the Irony Boom of the 90s (“It’s not funny… you see… that’s why it’s funny! Are you going to make me explain it again? It’s not funny! Get it? Are you getting it? It’s not supposed to be funny! That’s what makes it to hysterrrrical!”) will consume a budget of several million dollars only to gross about as much as a documentary about emerald ash borers.
Initially, the show provided a showcase for standup comics… actually doing standup. (George Carlin hosted the first episode on Oct. 11, 1975.) And subsequent episodes featured Andy Kaufman, Sam Kinison, Steve Martin, Joel Hodgson, Harry Anderson, Michael Davis and others… actually doing standup, or something resembling standup.
Not so much any more.