Do you remember last year’s season of “Saturday Night Live”?
Exactly. It wasn’t very memorable or good.
Don’t get us wrong, we still fully admire the amount of work that goes into writing and creating a live sketch comedy show each week, but last year was just not full of a lot of superb episodes.
Maybe the cast was too busy worrying about the departures of Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg, some lovable comedic actors. Or maybe the mid-season, uh, retirement of Paul Brittain also served as a distraction.
However, so far, this year’s season has been spot-on and awesome.
For some reason, the jokes have landed better with the audiences and the social commentary is pretty accurate.
Saturday’s episode was no different.
When we first heard that Bruno Mars would be both the host and the musical guest, we weren’t sure how well that would go over. He didn’t have any acting or comedy experience before that episode. But he did amazingly well.
The Huffington Post’s entertainment writer Mike Ryan postulated that many “SNL” cast members might be thinking, “You know, Bruno Mars could be our new Justin Timberlake.”
Timberlake’s episodes are always crowd-pleasers, and Mars lived up to the singer-turned-host name.
“SNL” has a weird dynamic. It simultaneously depends on a strong host, but there is a full cast of actors who should be showcased each week. You can tell if an episode is being carried by the cast, but a bad host shouldn’t bring the show down.
For example, some weird episodes include ones hosted by Paris Hilton, Michael Phelps and Lindsay Lohan.
Sometimes there’s nothing the cast can do to save the show, and the audience won’t know until the show begins.
In the case of Bruno Mars, our trepidation was totally unnecessary.
Perhaps we were all worried that he would ruin the awesome streak of this season, but he totally didn’t.
What does this mean for the audience of “SNL”?
A good season means more people will pay attention; that’s especially important in an election year.
Because people like watching news in an entertaining format, popular TV shows will probably become more political. Why else do you think President Obama showed up at “The Daily Show” last week?
“SNL” has done spoofs of each of the presidential debates so far, and they have nailed them entirely. The cast captured the feeling and hilarity of both candidates.
It’s important to be as informed as possible, should you choose to vote in this election. The wording on your ballot may not be very clear, so feel free to do all kinds of research before making a decision.
If that means you have to watch “SNL” to get a quippy version of events, then so be it, because it’s actually worth it this year. It won’t lead you down the wrong road.
