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Dear SNL:
It’s been suggested lately that when I write these blogs about you, that I go out of my way to point out the negative things about you and never, ever write about your good points. I don’t think that’s true, but since I just watched your most recent episode, featuring the delightful Taylor Swift (see, I said she was delightful!), I figured I would clearly mark my kudos and concerns with some helpful suggestions in the form of Dos and Don’ts.
DO: keep finding hosts with mulitple talents, like Miss Swift, who’s likeable, personable and seems so enthusiastic about being there. Her opening monologue song, a clever tune about how she wasn’t going to mention ex-boyfriends or Kayne West that ended with security scanning the crowd for the Kanye West she wasn’t going to mention, was adorable. And…most importantly, it was over before it started to get stale.
DO: be topical about things that aren’t political. The Frankenstein’s Monster parody of “Twilight” was a little expected, but funny, and that “Swine Fever” commercial was clever. That’s been one of my major complaints after such a fantastic 2008 election season of episodes, so good on ya.
DON’T: do any more sketches featuring black women characters unless you hire some black women. Seriously. I don’t know why I have to keep saying this. Keenan Thompson in a dress is old. And it’s insulting. Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer Hudson don’t look like men. If women of color are prominent enough to be parodied, they’re prominent enough to be employed. On a related note – I noticed that in “The View” sketch, Sherri Sheppard was supposedly away. Is that because you ran out of black men to put in dresses?
DO: Let Abby Elliott do more. I was wondering when she was going to break out beyond her fantastic Angelina Jolie imitation last season, and her Sarah McLachlan bit on the news, about the creepy ASPCA commercials she does about the sad dogs, was hysterical. If you use her and the other women more, you don’t get Kristin Wiig overload.
DO: judiciously use Penelope, Wiig’s one-upsman-like character. She’s maddening, familiar, and very funny – when she’s not seen so much that the joke gets old.
DON’T: bother trotting out Amy Pohler for that “Really? With Seth and Amy” sketch if it’s lame. Use your vets only for quality stuff.
DO: Have more funny/instructive sketches like the bad parental driving commercial with Taylor Swift in the headgear. Not only is that a funny sight gag, but driving while texting, arguing with the GPS and looking for your cell phone are absolutely dangerous. You laugh and then go…”Oh, yeah. I do that too.”
So there are my suggestions and praises. See, there are both! I have watched this show since I was little, even those years when I really wasn’t supposed to and was sneaking glimpses at it when my parents weren’t looking. And I want you to do well, and be funny. Let’s work together, shall we?
Your pal, Leslie
P.S. There’s no real reason in 2009 to have more Andy Samberg doing Adam Duritz of Counting Crows. But it was awesome.
To take two black top rated super star artist, and degrade them in such a manner is offer. The sad thing about it is white people thank its ok and nothing is wrong with that. They say it is a joke. I say that is a dam lie. Joke about your on kind in those manners and laugh. Jennifer Hudson is as sweat and humble as they come in the industry. Oh!!!! I forgot she is a dark skinned sister and she is not a size 2. People don’t care that she is very beautiful and very talented. Being a size 10 or 12 is not a good look. Our race has a lot to offer other then Beyonce and Janet. There are so much more we have to offer then those two. Jennifer Hudson is much more talented in flim and on song.
Norma, I’m white and I found the skit offensive it was bad enough they had to use Tracy Morgan for Star Jones in the past, but three males in drag – Fred Armisan as Joy Behar along with the other two actors-so please do not make assumptions of white people.
Regarding SNL’s history with both women and people of color, it has always been dismal. Lorne Michael’s has always dismissed any criticism, almost denying the reality. I’m old enough to have seen the first SNL show, live and within a few shows realized that that Garrett Morris was the least utilized person in the cast. And yes they did put him in a dress occasionally.
As far as I can remember there was only one African American woman cast member – Ellen something. I can’t even remember her name let alone any thing she did in the show.
And don’t get me started on the musical guests. The first few seasons offered Miles Davis, Billy Preston, among others. Very eclectic, not now.
All and all a very sad state of affairs that has been SNL for at least 20 years.
Ellen Cleghorne was her name and there was a woman named Denetria Vance who was there. She died, I believe, from some ailment but she had left the show by then. . And then there was Mya Rudolph, daughter to the late Minnie Ripperton, who was used quite extensively when she was there. It is puzzling as to why hiring an American black female for these roles is so difficult but then again, there are more better stories about what goes on behind the scenes. Maybe the auditioning process is hard? Did you happen to see the 30 Rock episode where they broached that subject about auditioning new talent?
SNL will never find a black lady as funny as former Mad tv comedienne Debra Wilson.
Ahh! Debra Wilson! They should beg her to work for them. She is hilarious.
Quite frankly, I am NOT a fan of Saturday Night Live for very similar reasons as mentioned within your article. The program is nothing more than silly, low brow, high school level humor, at best. More concerning, SNL has always exhibited questionable and generally ill conceived “comedic” sketches involving persons of color – many of which clearly exude sarcastic and divisive malevolence. This blatant lack of sensitivity has been an on-going point of disdain for the program.
If black people continue to watch and review, instead of flipping the channel to MadTV or some other alternative, why should SNL change the format?
If it’s crap tv, turn it off. If they know you will watch it regardless, because they have the whole SNL history reputation thing going, you’re going to continue to eat whatever they serve up.
Maybe review another show instead next week?
Elise:
As a reviewer, the completely wrong thing to do is to ignore a show when there is something blatantly wrong with the portrayal of any group. And there is a huge problem when the only people that perceived racism is supposed to bother are black people, or when men aren’t supposed to be bothered by sexism, or so forth. It’s a problem. And, in SNL’s case, it’s lazy, because the same dude in a dress isn’t funny, anyway. If no black people watch SNL, the white people who do should still say “Is it fair to portray every black woman as a man, because they won’t hire any? No!” That should be obvious, no matter what color you are.
I’m never going to stop reviewing a show that I have issues with, because it’s my job to comment on these things. There are shows I have issues with that I don’t watch, as a private person, like “Family Guy,” because they offend me and because I don’t think they’re funny. And I’m unlikely to ever review them because I don’t have to. If my job were to write about “Family Guy” every week, I would. Thankfully it isn’t.
I don’t hate SNL. I wrote about lots and lots of things that are right with it, as you can see. But reviews aren’t just fan clubs newsletter. They’re critical. And as I mentioned, there’s a lot to love about SNL, especially Andy Samberg’s Digital Shorts. That guy’s brilliant – “I Threw It On The Ground” may be the funniest one yet. I’m pulling for the show. But there’s some tough love due it, and I’m gonna keep giving it.
As always, thanks for writing!