SNL Is…Actually Good Now?


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The old saying about SNL is it’s a mediocre restaurant at a great location and if there’s one thing about the show that is consistent — it’s how inconsistent it is. It usually inhabits the same comedic space as Bob Hope and Garfield: funny, but not THAT funny.

And the show has been around long enough that it goes through an ebb and flow. Sometimes it seems to simply exist because it always has existed and sometime it has something of a renaissance. The season, it seems, Lorne Michaels has decided to go back to the show’s Not Ready For Primetime Players roots.

SNL.

Several times over the last two seasons, I’ve noticed the show has done far more edgy material. Usually, it’s really funny in the way SNL used to be funny way back in the 1970s when its type of humor was new and fresh. There is, of course, a danger to doing this.

There’s a reason why Bob Hope had a 50 year career — he was like warm milk and just kind of drifted through comedy, never being very provocative. The more provocative your humor, the less timeless it is. The addition of edgier performers like Sarah Sherman, Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang has really spiced things up of late.

If you really wanted to be optimistic, you might say this is all part of a broader “vibe shift” whereby we are entering a decade with some cultural grit and personality like, say, the 1980s

Or not. Only time will tell.

How SNL Should Open This Weekend


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Given that The Tonight Show choked on Monday night when it came to addressing The Slap, I have every reason to believe that SNL will be similarly subdued on the subject.

And, yet, this is a great opportunity for some historic TV on the part of SNL. Here’s what I would do for the snow’s cold open:

We open with Lorne Michaels standing next to Chris Rock. The entire cast of SNL stands behind them. The two crack some jokes and Michaels gives Rock some words of advice and maybe a hug.

Then they all say “Live, From New York, It’s Saturday Night!”

The other option is the same open, but they give Rock a five minute set to address what happened.

I would be pretty amazed if anything like this happened, however.

I Wonder What Lorne Michaels Thinks About ‘The Slap’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I don’t think we talk about how powerful Lorne Michaels is in the world of comedy. He has built SNL up from the ground up to the point that he can make or break careers simply by hiring or not hiring you.

Michaels knows everyone worth knowing in showbiz and Chris Rock is firmly a part of the SNL extended family, so I’m sure he’s spoken to Rock extensively since The Slap took place.

Now, logically, since SNL would go all-in on The Slap this coming Saturday since they have a new show this weekend. But I’m sure there are a lot of showbiz politics reasons why this might not happen. This weekend is an eternity in media terms.

And I will note that The Tonight Show — which Michaels produces — barely mentioned the incident. If that’s not a sign that Rock might want to just put this all behind him — and Smith — then I don’t know what is.

So, it’s possible that while there might be some reference to The Slap on this weekend’s SNL — probably during Weekend Update — overall it will be considered distant enough in the past that nothing is really said about it directly in terms of sketches.

Kenan Thompson Could Save CNN’s 9 p.m. Primetime Slot


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I get why CNN is so obsessed with hard news interviews at 9 p.m. on weekdays. I get it. The soft interviews at that time slot that were the backbone of CNN from its inception, just isn’t how CNN views itself these days.

But given how shitty Chris Cuomo was at that hour, for this old fart at least, it would be nice to sit down and watch someone like SNL’s Kenan Thompson just be himself and have a laid back, friendly chat about the days news.

Thompson has been with SNL for about 20 years now and it’s unlikely he would leave the Peacock Network for any reason, but, ideally, this would be his show’s format five nights a week:

It would open with a cold open that Thompson produced with some SNL-like players about the day’s news. It would open the show and set its tone. Then the rest of the show would be three or so very casual, soft interviews that were very Larry King in nature.

Thompson is, in real life, a very soft spoken guy and I think audiences would love watching him learn about the days news with them. It would be a relaxing change of pace from the We’re All Going To Die tempo of most primetime cable nets primetime line ups.

But, lulz, what do I know.

Parasocial Cat People: Of The John Mulaney & Olivia Munn Discourse


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Not since the “Cat Person” discourse have we seen everyone have a hot take on a pop news event. It’s just about the right time of year for it, so here we are. First, let me say I wish the couple the best and I expect them to have a very hot, very funny child.

The way things are going, there should be a “SNL Babies” cartoon on the show about the hilarious hijinks of SNL cast members high-profile babies. Rug Rats meets Ambiguously Gay Duo, if you will.

But back to today’s baby daddy discourse.

Baby Daddy and his girl.

From what I’ve read, Olivia Munn is not some sort of crazed stalker woman who got pregnant to keep Mulvaney locked into her life for 18 years. Something about that particular Barstool Sports hot take is kind of…uh…racist? Seems to me, Munn sort of had love at first sight and when the opportunity came, it happend. Mulvaney seems very happy and so what’s the problem? Munn dates A-list Hollywood men and Mulvaney is, maybe, a solid B-. So it seems like a win-win for everyone.

A guy she really digs is now her baby daddy and Mulvaney has a preemo ladyfriend in his life for the foreseeable future. They’re both really funny and everyone’s happy so…what’s the big deal? And in passing, I would note that Mulvaney’s interview on Late Night was dark, funny and cathartic. Made for great TV, if nothing else.

Some of the intensity of this discourse, of course, comes from how a lot of people have become invested in Mulvaney’s public persona. “Parasocial” is a term I’ve seen a lot for this particular situation. I can’t think of a single living celebrity I have a parasocial relationship with. I’m the main character in my story, or at least try to be, for better or worse.

Though, to be fair, as I’ve grown older, I have come to believe that the reason why parasocial relationships exists with some celebrities is it’s kind of how our reality is constructed. It’s no different than the Greeks looking up the stars and thinking up stories about the goings-on on Mount Olympus. All those stories likely said more about real life sexual shenanigan than what was going on in the heavens.

But I will again note that all this Mulvaney drama happened just after he swooped in to give SNL bad boy Pete Davidson some avuncular guidance. It seems as though maybe instead looking into the abyss of Davidson’s life and seeing it as a warning, Mulvaney said, “I’d like to try that out!”

I find myself liking Munn more because of all of this. She seems like a lot of fun. It’s a great story to tell, in the sense that Mulvaney gives nerds like me hope that one day they can snag a beautiful, funny woman who one got nailed by Christ Pine!

I guess this was the fun little story I was looking forward to this year. Now back to my hysterical “doom shit” about the prospect of a civil war in January 2025.

Why Seth Meyers Is My Top Pick To Replace Lorne Michaels At SNL


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So, it appears as though 2025 is going to be the end of an era — and the beginning of a new one — for SNL. It will be the show’s 50th anniversary, and, if Lorene Michaels is to be believed, he’s retiring from the show that year as well.

I have long thought that Tina Fey would be the perfect person to take the show into its second 50 years. Of course, Kenan Thompson is probably the best pick to get the gig but for one thing — he just comes across as way too nice. Even though he’s been at the show about 20 years, does he have it in him to herd the cats of SNL? I could see him being given a largely ceremonial role as “Executive Producer” at the show — he would do the “Lorne Michaels”-type gags the show has had since the beginning, while someone else would actually knock heads behind the scenes to get the show done every week.

While Tina Fey would be ideal, maybe the allure of Hollywood would remain too strong for her to spend all her time running SNL? As such, the one person who could do the job for the next 20 or 30 years is Seth Meyers.

Seth Meyers, the future of SNL?

He’s doing a great job at Late Night, but he’s sort of languishing there. Why not give him the job he was born to do — run SNL? That would open up the Late Night gig and you could put a woman or minority or minority woman in the slot to placate “woke” Twitter. I think he already has some producing experience with Documentary Now! Or not. Not sure about that.

Anyway, we’ll see I guess.

I’m On ‘Team Oulaney:’ All *My* Heroes Are *Dead*


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

What the fuck happened between Pete Davidson and John Mulaney? Is it possible that there was some sort of drug Freaky-Friday curse put on Mulvaney when he decided to slow Davidson down? It definitely seem as though it’s at least possible that Davidson didn’t exactly have the greatest influence on “square” Mulvaney.

The happy couple.

I say this in the context of how some people on Twitter are freaking out about Mulvaney being…human? I don’t do drugs, but I do know what it’s like to be “pickled” from drinking too much. It’s not a fun experience. It’s like being the funniest guy in the room all the time — to yourself. I don’t know about you, but all my heroes — celebrity or otherwise — are dead. I typically don’t worship someone still alive. You do you, Mulvaney.

Anyway, SNL has become a regular celebrity romance mash pit of late. It boggles my mind the number of high-profile celebrity couples have been flung off from the show. It definitely makes you think about not-so-downlow power that Lorne Michaels has within the showbiz community.

It’s just a TV show, people.

I wish Mulvaney all the best, however in his new role as celebrity baby daddy. Olivia Munn is a smoking hot babe. (Who, incidentally, is among several Asian American Hollywood stars who would be great to play in a Hollywood adaptation one of protagonists of one of the four novels I’m currently developing and writing simultaneously.)

John Mulvaney, Olivia Munn & SNL As Celebrity Dating Service


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The news that John Mulaney is Oliva Munn’s new baby daddy has got me thinking about how old this whole imbroglio has me feeling. Though, given Munn is 41, I think it’s safe to say what happened was she wanted a baby and she “accidently on purpose” get pregnant while she still could. (You go, girl.)

Anyway. I feel old because when I was growing up, SNL was just a TV show. Yes, I remember in the late 70s staying up way, way, way past my bedtime to watch the original Not Ready For Primetime Players, but otherwise, this business of Lorne Michaels becoming a celebrity matchmaker leaves me scratching my head.

What the what?

What about my old cultural friend would lead it to be some sort of celebrity dating service? All I can think of is a LOT of celebrities like having a direct link to the show given how culturally important it is now and how pretty much every celebrity alive passes through its doors at some point in their career.

And, for some reason, SNL’s behind the scenes office politics is legitimately interesting. I have no idea why, but I think some of it has to do with it’s interesting to hear the wild behavior of the show’s larger-than-life cast members.

Though, in passing, it’s so interesting that Great Britain doesn’t have an SNL-like show. Or, put another way, there’s no live show in the UK that is so good that it has become a cultural touchstone for global English speakers.

That’s A Pretty Big Ask, Lorne



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Apparently, Lorne Michaels is asking his current group of Not Ready For Primetime Players to sign three year contracts so they will all be there for the big 50th Anniversary season — when, presumably, Michaels with retire.

That’s a pretty big ask, in my opinion.

A sizable chunk of the SNL players have been on the show for a long, long time. I understand that Michaels wants to end his time with the show on a high note, but…really? I dunno. The last show of the season last year definitely seemed to indicate that almost everyone on the show was about to leave.

But, who knows.

All I do know is once Michaels leaves, the entire show is going to be throw into a severe crisis for no other reason than TV execs usually screw up a good thing because they’re metrics are all out of whack compared to the audiences.

‘Unfrozen Caveman Govenor’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have no idea how to write a skit, but I do know how to tell a story. So, here you go, SNL — do something with this idea. One of the most beloved SNL skits is Phil Hartman’s “Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.” I think Ron DeSantis looks just like that character, so I would get one of the Not Ready For Primetime Players to be “Unfrozen Caveman Governor.”

Ron DeSantis

The conceit is that he’s VERY conservative, like Stone Age conservative. The humor would be the wink and a nod to the bonkers things that MAGA New Right Republicans actually believe.

In a sense, it would be sort of Chauncy Gardner of Being There, only if he was a caveman pol.