'Saturday Night Live' Returns ... For More Progressive Propaganda
Saturday Night Live's summer vacation is almost over.
The comedy institution returns Oct. 1 with the first new episode of its 48th season. That’s a remarkable run for any show, let alone one attempting to grab the zeitgeist year after year.
The show will be missing some familiar faces this season. Kate McKinnon -- arguably its most versatile star of the modern era -- is off to make movies and TV shows, but definitely not “Ghostbuster” sequels.
Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney and Pete Davidson are also moving on, with only the latter carving out a pop culture niche for himself in the grand “SNL” tradition. Other departures include Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor and Aristotle Athari, names likely unknown to most TV audiences.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 12: Lorne Michaels (3rd L) and writers/producers of "Saturday Night Live," winners of Outstanding Variety Sketch Series, pose in the press room during the 74th Primetime Emmys at Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
The show’s fall return once left fans giddy with anticipation. Who would the show target next? What wacky skits did the team toil on all summer long?
Those days are likely gone for good, at least for anyone who likes a side order of surprise with his or her comedy entree.
“SNL” joined late night TV in turning hopelessly to the Left in recent years. The show now targets GOP figures relentlessly, while giving a pass to most Democratic politicians. They’ve yet to lay a satirical glove on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Vice President Kamala Harris, for example.
The show also waited, and waited, to target New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, even though his serial transgressions happened on their door step.
Few expect that to change come October.
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The most recent Saturday Night Live season saw the Not Ready for Prime-Time players look the other way as President Joe Biden bumbled his way through his first full year in office. They downplayed his gargantuan gaffes, ability to dodge the press and collapsing poll numbers.
Social media and YouTube flooded the zone with funny Biden bits while the professionals at “SNL” stood down.
The show’s “Weekend Update” segment mentioned Biden a time or two, but the show’s hard-Left writers kept him out of most sketches.
One bold exception?
A sketch featuring two Bidens (one played by “SNL” alum Jason Sudeikis) suggesting the Commander in Chief wasn’t all there, mentally-speaking.
Compare that to “SNL” in the Trump era, which comedically assaulted every element of Team Trump.
It wasn't always this way.
"SNL" once hit Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan with equal fervor. Now? Even Hunter Biden, the most mockable First Son in history, couldn’t muster a cast member to bring him to life.
President Biden’s recent screed against 70+ million Americans, made before a blood-red backdrop reminiscent of your average tinpot dictator, would have been perfect fodder for “SNL” in its prime.
The current show can be excused for ignoring it come Oct. 1 since it’ll be a few weeks old by then. Had “SNL” been fully operational at the time of the ill-received speech, it likely would rate a “Weekend Update” mention, at best.
What will we see this season?
No matter how many weeks old the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid may be, expect it to get a ripe “SNL” close-up sooner than later. The show will likely target Dr. Oz, the Pennsylvania Republican running for the Senate against an opponent who can barely deliver a speech following a debilitating stroke.
Show founder Lorne Michaels has no problem destroying the show’s legacy in service to his fellow Democrats. He’s stayed silent about the show’s bias in recent years, letting the sketches speak on his behalf.
Imagine if Michaels and co. decided to take the show back to its roots? What if NBC hired Ryan Long, the fiercely apolitical comic who shreds woke culture via his viral videos, to be a new contributor?
Maybe Tim Dillon, a take-no-prisoners comedian who thrives outside the Hollywood eco-system, could be the season’s first host?
What if “SNL” brought back Maya Rudolph to play Vice President Harris delivering one of her trademark word-salad speeches?
None of the above will happen. That we can say that with any sense of certainty shows just how far Saturday Night Live has fallen. And it has little plans to get up moving forward.