Comedy is a wide range of alleys taken to amuse an audience. These include dry humor, slapstick, improvisation, standup, and countless others. Humor is an important step in human interaction. Bonds are strengthened by jokes, and bonds can be broken by a badly timed punchline. The most interesting aspect of comedy is that it is all for play. We as a society often find ourselves making time to get a fix of comedy, whether it be in movies, social interaction, YouTube videos, or television.
One of the most iconic television shows of all time has transcended the title of "comedy" to become the longest running primetime scripted series in its 44th season through actor strikes, serious Hollywood situations, rough spots for sketch ideas, and nine seasons of Bobby Moynihan. "Saturday Night Live" is the most influential show of all time, birthing actors that courted a generation's free time, sketches that never age, and a witty, relatable commentary on the world we live in, doing this all using as many forms of communication as possible.
SNL is valuable to society as a holy grail of human communication because has utilized scripted, ad-lib, live, pre-recorded, musical, sketch, and cold open style comedic acts for over forty years and the source material bends to meet the topics appealing to the viewer's mind.
SNL for the past 44 seasons, has been critically received as a brilliant showing of live sketch comedy, but one of the most important ways that the show has branched out to be taken in as a force of comedy and playful communication stems from the silliest of beginnings.
Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer pioneered a digital revolution of sketches as "The Lonely Island" in the mid-2000s, creating three studio albums, two movies, and multiple viral YouTube successes that were first aired on "Saturday Night Live". These shorts included guest stars such as Michael Bolton, T-Pain, Justin Timberlake, and many more, giving credibility to the dim-witted ideas behind their acts. Being popular over multiple mediums became a trademark of the SNL approach, yet the most viable success of these efforts grew actors that would become the face of comedy.
"Saturday Night Live" has given America some of its most cherished actors, establishing a connection to the mainstream and proving its success as a comedy powerhouse. Simply reading a list of alumni is daunting, with old-school names such as Eddie Murphy, John Belushi, Will Ferrell, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and many others being featured in the first seasons of the show. 2000's cast members have been able to make a name for themselves on the show, and have given this generation a number of comedic cornerstones in Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Kate McKinnon, Kenan Thompson, and so many more. When these characters return to make guest appearances or host the show, chaos ensues.
On the March 17, 2018, episode of SNL, Bill Hader returned to the show as his iconic character, Stefon. Watching the episode either online or live on television, the audience can tell that he has never read the words scripted for him, and this realization of genuine reaction creates a connection that breaks the fourth wall and makes the show real. Though these moments have come to define SNL, another part of the humorous appeal of the show are the reactions from the live audience prompting you to follow suit.
Continually, Saturday Night Live has a perfectly curated formula to engage audience members, whether they are sitting at home, on their computer, or sitting only feet away from the madness ensuing onstage. This ability to be flexible in its mediums gives an advantage to the show, capturing the same energy in any route of entertainment they choose. Another important component of the show is the musical guest.
Often, the host of an episode can make or break its viewership, yet a turning point in the show is when a promotional musical guest is invited to perform, often coming with its own value for communication. Many artists choose to take advantage of the platform and make elaborate creative changes that create buzz and attention towards the show. Often, these risks are even taken in the live sketches, especially cold opens.
The 42nd season of SNL in 2016 and 2017 was punctuated by radical political commentary and a ton of source material around the election of Donald Trump as president. While Trump did not enjoy the portrayal of his actions over the course of the year, 11 million people tuned in every week during the season to see what antics would be next as Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon demanded screen time with their Emmy winning impersonations as Trump and Hillary Clinton, respectively.
Variety magazine stated, "Series mastermind Lorne Michaels also said backstage that Trump's propensity to cause controversies on a day-to-day basis kept the entire staff on their toes". Coming after a long time of SNL ratings decreasing, this boosted the show back into a frenzy of word-of-mouth. This creates another communicative bridge with the show: real-time. From watching sketches, you can tell that many are thought of the week preceding the airing of the show, often tackling issues and stories from the news highlights of that time.
A very hot-button topic that has Hollywood under fire is the #MeToo movement. One figure after another, the movement created a very awkward amount of off-limits conversations that SNL just so happened to tackle perfectly. Bringing together some of the most recognizable faces on the show today including Kenan Thompson, Aidy Bryant, Beck Bennett, Kate McKinnon, and guest host Will Ferrell, a sketch about the awkwardness of dinner conversations addressing the movement was met with a reception of relatability, yet again proving its worth as a way of communicating about these issues.
Vanity Fair's Joanna Robinson wrote, "The result is a brilliant satire of woke self-awareness run amok; even as the characters avoid saying much at all, the sketch speaks volumes." The show masterfully bridges the gap between over dramatization and socially unaware to the point of immersion in the subject manner, and continues to do this through many of their quirky, original ideas.
In summary, "Saturday Night Live" has been a pioneer for human communication for over four decades, establishing itself as a major power player in discovering talent, appealing to nation-wide audiences, and sticking to the basics when creating an all-inclusive comedy show. The path that the show continues to take should keep expanding in the future, and will surely keep reinventing itself to form to the most vital of communication skills.
