With Saturday Night Live parading into Season 50 and toting some incredible hosts and musical guests, it’s sure to be a year for the books. The historically late night sketch comedy show has always made a name for itself — good, bad, or ugly — as a comedy career incubator for young performers and writers. Learning about how network TV made a historic shift that changed things for the show, and not for the better, is in fact, dumb.
In a recent episode of the SNL-centric podcast, Fly on the Wall, hosts Dana Carvey and David Spade interviewed current Weekend Updaters Michael Che and Colin Jost, and the quartet talked about a variety of topics related to the long-running sketch series, including Che’s threshold for jokes. It was later in the episode when the duo reminded Carvey and Spade, and shocked unbeknownst listeners like myself, why the show currently airs in real-time for all timezones.
Previously, those in the Pacific time zone watched taped versions of SNL episodes during their late-night time blocks. The change was made relatively recently, in the past five years or so, the decision to air SNL live across the country has been part of an effort to give audiences on the West Coast the same "live" experience that East Coasters get. The catch though, as Che highlights, is about content guidelines, explaining:
It hurts what we're allowed to get away with, too, a lot of times. Because you know, we'll have dirty stuff, and they'll be like, 'Well, we can't do it because we're on at 8:30,' and you're like, 'Ahhh.' . . . Our standards is way worse now.
Jost chimed in to point out the material has to meet the standards for what can air during the primetime hours on NBC, as opposed to the slightly looser reins for late night, and the general lack of censorship for Peacock. So the shift, which was made maybe five years ago, has altered the cast’s writing and style, and I hate that for all of us. Especially since primetime on NBC has historically emphasized keeping content generally safe, family-friendly, and advertiser-friendly, albeit with all of the criminal horrors of Law & Order: SVU.
Though the live experience is now available to people across the country, we live with this newer version. It feels a little sanitized in some regards but the current cast has a lot of promise, including the two anchors. All the same, it is just incredibly dumb that all of this boils down to a corporate decision where audience agreement likely can't be measured to prove it right or wrong. A variety of successful, long-running primetime shows technically have more of a mature edge than modern day SNL.
Moving past the disdain for network TV standards and air times, the cast and crew have made it work regardless of restrictive creative standards. Ariana Grande and Stevie Nicks, the latest duo to grace Studio 8H, really showed up–and people loved the fun game show cold open.
All that said, I guess it is nice to get an authentically live sketch like this where Andy Samberg tried to make Kenan Thompson crack.
As an SNL fan year in and year out, here’s hoping that as the 50th Season continues, and the restrictive standards in place, it continues to find its way. The show has always found different ways to be creative, make waves, and reflect the times, no matter how cringy. You can watch the show, live on Saturday night, on NBC, or if you have a Peacock subscription.