NBC’s weekly comedy show “Saturday Night Live” returned to 30 Rockefeller Plaza for its 46th season on Oct. 3. A staple of primetime entertainment, “SNL” provokes opinions from all personal and sociopolitical stances due to it taking on current events, no matter how recent. Currently, the show comments on the ongoing presidential campaigns and debates, effects of quarantine and the Black Lives Matter movement, including silly and random sketches in between.
Owing to incumbent President Donald Trump, the last election season in 2016 graced “SNL” with an abundance of content to parody. These past few years, multiple political impressions have stolen the show, specifically Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump, Kate McKinnon’s Kellyanne Conway and Larry King’s Bernie Sanders. Delivering good comedy throughout the years, the show has its reputation to live up to this season, especially with the upcoming presidential election.
In comparison to past season’s iconic political sketches, this year’s take on the presidential debates have been lackluster, especially when Jim Carrey’s Joe Biden turned into a fly and sat on the head of Beck Bennett’s Mike Pence. Considering that the fly was the most memorable part of both the real and parody Harris-Pence debates, the sketch devolved into a cringeworthy segment.
Fortunately, last week’s “Dueling Town Halls Cold Open” showed that “SNL” could still deliver some funny takes on this year’s presidential candidates. The sketch’s absurdity made it humorous and reflected a truth about the current state of political comedy — concepts and executions have to be totally out-of-the-box due to the preposterousness of American politics. In this case, art has to exceed life in order to be noteworthy.
Though for the wrong reason, Bill Burr’s appearance as a host for the second episode of the season can be considered noteworthy for its insensitivity. Many have commented that Burr’s stand-up monologue was observably tame yet raised some red flags. His blunt mockery of white women who complained about their perfectly heated SUVs, comments on “woke culture” and insensitive call-outs of anti-maskers were already off-putting. However, it was his comments on Pride Month that were truly alarming. Partially citing his old age of 52 years for his ignorance, Burr stated that gays were never enslaved and questioned the essentiality of Pride Month. He asked why the Black community received February’s “28 days of overcast weather” when the LGBTQ+ community received June, a month with accommodating weather. Burr mockingly seemed to remain ignorant of the deadly harassment directed towards the LGBTQ+ community, which definitely stood out as the most offensive joke of his segment.
When his humor was stripped of its deadpan snarkiness, much of Burr’s criticism remained fair and could feel like a wake-up call to some — especially with his comments on anti-maskers. COVID-19’s deadliness should not be treated lightly, and his laughs at the deaths of family members at risk felt like a deserved though insensitive hard slap. Burr, however, had an acceptable point on cancel culture, questioning the productivity of cancelling people who are long dead and gone. Admittedly, we should focus on our culture today, but Burr himself should also acknowledge that tough, meaningful conversations should be held across all generations. Mistakes committed by past generations can only be recognized and corrected when somebody points them out — even if it’s a child questioning their grandparent.
Burr has also been somewhat justified in criticizing white women for “hijacking” the Black Lives Matter movement, as white people would pitch in their two cents on civil rights, often overriding or silencing Black opinions. Referring to white women as “b*****s,” on the other hand, was shocking, uncalled for, and very much representative of his offensive and blunt style of humor.
Comparatively, Michael Che and Colin Jost have been delivering their “Weekend Update” bits with stronger punches, showing why the classic weekly sketch has remained integral to “SNL.” Truly, the segment grants more opportunities to laugh and break character on both anchors’ parts when compared to the show’s regular acting skits, allowing for jokes to be more enjoyed by both the cast and the audience. Both Che and Jost have grown snarkier and closer throughout the years, and their constant evolution on “Weekend Update” has been a blessing to witness on the show.
The skits themselves have been a regular stream of hit-or-miss, with the cold open sketches as the show’s bread and butter. Not many have been strikingly funny with an exception to the “Canadian News Show,” which displayed cast member Bowen Yang’s top-notch acting and comedic talents. Compared to past seasons, this year’s “SNL” cast and crew are trying to find their footing once more after their long break from the studio.
No matter the quality of the show, “Saturday Night Live” will always remain integral to American entertainment as it constantly expands its repertoire to include all forms of humor coming from a growing diversity of cast and crew. For its next episodes, the show may further revitalize and return to its former constant stream of comedy. However, considering the subjective nature of humor, this season’s shaky start may foreshadow additional insensitive sketches to come for the remainder of the season.
Beatrice Malvar is an Entertainment Intern for the fall 2020 quarter. She can be reached at bmalvar@uci.edu.
