Back in my junior year of high school I got really into Saturday Night Live. I watched almost every episode that season, caught up on older ones on Hulu, and even ended up getting a “Greatest Of” DVD collection for Christmas (by watching this, I finally learned what that whole “more cowbell” joke was about).
Well, I guess I stopped watching last year for some reason or another, but while I was home this weekend I decided to tune in, since Emma Stone (she’s the best) was hosting.
And then I remembered. Wow, this show is great!
And here’s why:
1) Current events are made more widely known–and made funnier. Take the opening skit from this weekend: the target was Rick Perry and his debate blunder from earlier in the week in which he could not name the three departments he would get rid of if he became president. Bill Hader played the forgetful Perry and made the situation completely hilarious. I had only heard briefly about the Perry incident, so seeing the skit clued me in a bit more to what actually happened, even though it was certainly exaggerated. As long as you have some knowledge of what’s going on in the world, the skits are bound to be even funnier.
2) They know what you’re thinking. One skit from this week dealt with Adele’s heartbreaking song, “Someone Like You.” Everyone in the sketch ended up crying and singing along with the song by the end. And how right SNL is. I don’t think anyone can listen to that song without getting really, really sad. Gosh, it’s just got to be one of the most depressing songs. It was the perfect sketch because they addressed something that everyone thinks about. That was probably the only time I’ve heard that song and NOT focused on how sad it is, but rather on the way SNL presented it.
3) They make fun of game shows. Even starting with old school SNL where Will Ferrell played Alex Trebek on a mock Celebrity Jeopardy, these sketches never fail. Game shows are inherently silly in the first place, and SNL rachets up the funny. I mean, come on, the Sean Connery impersonations on the old Celebrity Jeopardy sketches? I felt like I discovered a gold mine of comedy after I saw that. But now SNL has recurring game show sketches like “Secret Word” or “Reel Quotes” that are just as good. If there’s an episode without a game show skit, it feels like it’s incomplete. Too good to pass up!
4) Digital Shorts. Andy Samberg is a comic genius and I think I will laugh at almost anything he says. The song he did with The Lonley Island about Jack Sparrow is probably my favorite. But then again, “I’m on a Boat” is so classic. “I’ve got my swim trunks, and my flippy-floppies, you at home at Kinko’s, straight flippin’ copies.” Yes.
5) As demonstrated above, SNL is so quoteable. “More cowbell.” ‘Nuff said.
Pic from http://www.deadline.com/2011/04/nbc-confirms-tina-fey-justin-timberlake-as-snl-hosts-for-may/
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