For the past 41 years, Saturday Night Live has been one of the most popular and influential shows on television for a number of reasons. It has produced most of the greatest comedians to ever perform, and pioneered a culture of sketch comedy that has seen decades of success. One of the most important things that SNL has done over the years, is put the spotlight on the biggest issues in America through satirical, social commentary. Between political debate cold-opens, to Tina Fey’s trademark Sarah Palin impression, to sarcastically alerting the public that Beyonce is actually black, no one has hit the nail on the head on American social issues like Lorne Michaels and his many casts.
Of course, many SNL stars are known for their impressions of political leaders, which has caused more pleasure than controversy among audiences. A landmark impression on the show was Will Ferrell's take on George W. Bush in a collection of sketches that included many mock debates and press conferences that typically opened the show. Making light of the flaws in the country’s political leaders has been seen, not as disrespectful or inappropriate, but more as simple comic relief for political drama.
(11 of the Best SNL Political Sketches)
Saturday Night Live has been known to flirt with certain boundaries regarding social topics. The writers like to see what they can get away with saying or doing, which has made the show produce more and more controversial sketches each year. This year, has been one of the most effective in this aspect, in that Season 41 has been arguably the most controversial SNL season ever — in a good way. After the Super Bowl this year, many people around the country were outraged by Beyonce’s performance at half-time, calling it “racist” because it incorporated themes associated with the Black Panthers. The SNL team fired back at this with a hilarious movie-trailer-style sketch where the world falls into chaos after finding out that Beyonce has “turned black."
Other sketches this season have included a faux campaign ad for racist Donald Trump supporters called “Voters for Trump,” which features members of the Nazi and KKK groups supporting Trump for president. Also, many reappearances of former members returning as their political counterparts to shed light on the ridiculousness of this year’s presidential race and various social dilemmas, like Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, Will Ferrell as George W. Bush, Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton, and more.
WATCH: 'Voters for Trump' Ad
SNL’s commentary has historically been known to be obviously liberal, so conservative values and interests have been somewhat attacked in these sketches, in a way that promotes progressivism and feminism. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Cecily Strong have been the leaders in this area since the dawn of their careers on the show. However, the first cast of SNL proved that women can do whatever men can do, and sometimes better, with people like Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin. Feminism continues to be a huge part of the SNL arsenal today.
7 Feminist SNL Skits That Tell It Like It Is
The social commentary on SNL has been and will continue to be the best in the business. Although conservatives may find much of the material unsettling, the hilarity of each and every sketch will never fail to win over American audiences. The cast and writers at Saturday Night Live will always be trail blazers in social and political controversy, with every impression, cold-open, and fake ad, whether you agree with them or not.
