Oh I’m sorry - that makes sense as you mentioned the sax player. I don’t mind the longer opens as long as they are done well but I  can see where they might make newer viewers tune out.

Lorne tried the idea with “The New Show” (with just three or  so regulars). The show’s failure likely spooked him from trying the idea again.

I think it’s also a byproduct of the changes in the industry. There are much more generic “attractive” faces all around.

The thing with the reviewers is that while I don’t envy their jobs, there’s still more to talk about per episode than those types of reviews suggest. There’s usually something interesting to focus on, good or bad. It’s just easier to stick to a macro.

Yes - just about every single recurring character (not counting impressions and Update pieces) has been phased out, aside from Chad. Seeing Gemma appear for the first time since two and a half seasons earlier is what made people speculate more about Cecily leaving. I prefer the lack of recurring characters, but one…

I’d say the cynicism of the mid ‘90s helped birth South Park in the first place. Other CC staples at that time like the OG Daily Show were along the same lines. People tend to look back at that era as a lost paradise when really it was choking from cynicism (which is one of the reasons we got the 2000 election). 

I do feel like the show has separated them over the last 3-4 years, but I’m not sure how much may have been their own choice (they’re still close friends but may just not want to work together as much). The “cut for time” pieces have a huge body of work for them, probably as much as you would have gotten from a season…

I agree, it’s just so much of the reaction feels out of proportion to me. I feel like people get settled into their narratives and struggle to separate them from what tends to happen in real life.

At this point he probably does, but the show ending wasn’t his choice and I think he did try to bring it back at one point. If people really are interested in seeing a major show for LeVar I think that would be a better avenue.

On the one hand, I agree, but I’d also say many SNL people in recent years have gone on to more success than quite a few cast members from the ‘80s to the ‘00s. There are people from those years who just never got anywhere near the roles they could have or should have had and some of them just seemed to vanish - today…

The endless cold opens are a major drain on the show - not that they are entirely new (the ‘00s are full of soul-sucking, endless cold opens), but I tend to blame them on wanting Youtube views. At least they did manage to get a few more in this season that were 5-6 minutes. 

“Is SNL where we find new talent these days though?”

That Scarjo monologue a few years ago where Beck bellowed, “Who’s going to play the idiot???” before he was dusted sums up a lot of the commentary on his work, but I do think he has managed to get a lot of mileage out of those roles. Sometimes his overly aware performances take me out of the sketch a bit, but he’s…

I like Kyle a lot, he’s managed to produce some very great material even within the show’s confines, but after 8 seasons I’m not sure what’s left. I don’t need to see another Baby Yoda. 

It depends on the cast member and the writer. Some still manage to do good work even with the blander approach of the last 25 years.

This is a byproduct of the SNL cast becoming more like friends or family to many of the show’s remaining viewers. It’s not just unique to this era - certainly the likes of Gilda Radner were beloved from very early on as much because of sheer personal appeal as because of comic talent - but I think that the insanity of…

Siobhan did have a fair amount to do - she was in a frequently seen recurring sketch (one I was always fond of, although I know many would not agree), Delta Delta Delta. Her main issue with the show was that she felt a number of sketches clashed with her religious beliefs (for instance, reportedly she was originally…

They would have been better off just announcing him as the host from the start, instead of all this dragging out.

After the Weinstein comments and the Project Greenlight mess, this is about what I expect from him - he is one of the best examples of why actors have PR people. I’m sure some would say, and are saying, that he shouldn’t be judged, but he’s the one who said all this ridiculous word salad in the first place.

There’s plenty to find offputting about Jost, admittedly, but I think he’s managed to establish his own career pretty well without leaning on Scarjo.