Am I the only one who doesn't get SNL? To me, it's just an exercise in being obnoxious.

[Doodley]

Obnoxious people trying to out-obnoxious each other. Not as funny as they think they are. Nothing smart or edgy about the humor. Predictable. Lacks inventiveness. Gives MAGA a pass. Format hasn't been updated in half a century. I can't stand it and don't find it even mildly amusing. My wife loves it! By the way, I lived most my life in UK. She's pure American. That may have something to do with it.

[True Dough]

1. So

Benny Hill is not your thing either?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

3. Bennie Hill was great for it's totally nonsensical comedy. nt

[Doodley]

5. Benny Hill! No way!

[Ocelot II]

10. You know you're drunk when you think Benny Hill is funny.

[Enter stage left]

22. I'll drink to that, hic!

[Crunchy Frog]

26. I've never actually managed to get that drunk.

[blm]

48. Same

[Crunchy Frog]

25. Never could stand Benny Hill,

and that's speaking as a huge fan of British comedy.

My dad loved him though.

[Johonny]

33. Benny Hill was great

But like a SNL episode from 50 years ago, pretty dated.

Dick Van Dyke was thrilled to work with him in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang because he was a huge fan. Comedy, doesn't date well.

[Celerity]

43. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

C'est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog)

Duck Soup

Blazing Saddles

The Blues Brothers

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Les visiteurs (The Visitors)

Modern Times

Animal House

The Big Lebowski

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Etc etc...

So I disagree with:

Comedy, doesn't date well.

[Johonny]

54. And yet some people didnt even find them funny back then

The thing is comedy is general of the moment. For instance, a lot of the Marx Brothers comedy didn't even work in Europe during their lifetime. They changed their act when they toured England. Because so much of it is lampooning what was then American society. Their later films also pace the jokes based on the timing of the movie audience. If you watch a Night at the Opera alone at home you might find it "slow". Because it is meant to be seen with a lot of people.

In general slapstick is more translatable across culture. Which is why Chaplan or Keaton physical gags still work even if people dislike watching a full length black and white movie these days. If you don't understand 50s American college culture, you probably find Animal House extremely offensive and unfunny. Guy sleeps with underage girl, hahaha ha hilarious. I listen to young people the other day that found Monty Python completely unfunny.

Looping back to Benny Hill, Mike Myers clearly liked him and modernized his jokes and put them in Austin Powers to great success.

[SocialDemocrat61]

61. This Benny Hill

[MarineCombatEngineer]

2. You don't like SNL,

but there are millions and millions of people, like me, who do enjoy it, I've been watching SNL since it's inception and have always enjoyed it.

[Doodley]

18. Glad you enjoy it.

[Ocelot II]

4. It was hilarious in the '70s - there was nothing else like it.

I haven't watched it except on a few rare occasions in a very long time, though.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

9. Ah yes,

the days of Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, Jane Curtain, John Belushi, etc.

[La Coliniere]

32. If you haven't already

check out the movie “Saturday Night” on Netflix. It’s about the chaotic couple of hours backstage leading up to the very first SNL show in 1975. I thought it was pretty good. There was actually a chance the first show would not be broadcast, right up until the very last last second. Johnny Carson doesn’t come off well.

[blm]

34. There was some stuff added for the film and some stuff left out.

But, it was better than I expected. Michael O’Donoghue was my significant other for 4 years, so, I definitely heard the stories, especially about the overall panic mode.

[Tickle]

46. Don't forget Rosanne

Rosanadana. Gilda Radner, she was the best. Died at 42 ovarian cancer 😟😟

[Crunchy Frog]

27. Agree with you there. It's held up really well too.

I still find it hilarious.

[thebigidea]

39. yeah there was SCTV which was better written, better performed, and not on coke

"'I get paid with the green stuff, not the white stuff…”

[Ocelot II]

40. Loved them! The Kids in the Hall was another funny show.

"I'm crushing your head!"

[CoopersDad]

6. It has lost the charm I feel it once had.

I will watch clips but not the entire show.

[Takket]

7. "Am I the only one who doesn't get SNL?"

sort of. the trick with SNL is to record it. watch the opening and weekend update. As for the rest of the skits you should be able to tell after about a minute if it is a dud or not. 80% of the skits are flat out bad.

[Doodley]

19. Thanks. You would have thought they would try a little harder.

[Tbear]

8. UK/American may be it or male/female

I respect our friends in the UK but I often do not get /care for the humor and my wife loves it.
I am not at all excited about the SNL reunion stuff.
You are not alone.

[Doodley]

16. Yes we had Monty Python, but that was half a century ago. Our typical comedy has more eccentric characters you feel

sorry for. It is quite different. My wife doesn't get a lot of the British comedy.

[JanMichael]

38. Mitchell and Webb are hilarious.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar...

[allegorical oracle]

50. My taste favors sardonic humor. Adored Cleese as Basil Fawlty and his snide asides. A favorite was

when, during an argument with his wife, Sybil, she quietly threatened him. He snapped back, "Well, you'd have to sew 'em back on, first."

[Intractable]

11. I find most of SNL, including the musical acts, to be generally lackluster.

There have been many exceptions throughout the years.

It's a form of comedy that generally relies on the performance and personalities of the actors, because the scripts are poor. (Good sketch comedy is notoriously hard to write.)

Note how the audience applauds, cheers, and whistles when an actor first appears on stage. It can be annoying as the show stops to let the audience pay their tribute.

(The Daily Show is like this, as well. But, The Daily Show is much funnier and more relevant than SNL.)

I haven't been a regular viewer of SNL since I was a teenager. I am now 60.

[blm]

12. The first 4 years were really great. Very few misses back then.

Last edited Sat Feb 15, 2025, 10:54 PM - Edit history (1)

The original cast had real talent, and some of the writers were exceptionally fierce.

[Emile]

47. John Belushi doing Joe Cocker

?si=Q6PsOcp4NxoLeytc

[walkingman]

13. I don't get some of the humor these days but I do like the "cold open" and "weekend update"

and some of my favorites from the past are - The Church Lady, Rosanna Rosanna Dana, Blues Brothers, Stefon, Chris Farley, Debbie Downer, Father Guido Sarducci, Pat, Martin Short, Stuart Smalley, Buckwheat (Eddie Murphy). and I still think Kenan Thompson and Leslie Jones are funny.

Maybe I have lost my sense of humor but I think some of the skits these days are just lame.....

[Doodley]

17. The cold open. Yes, I like to see a celeb deliver the patter. When you have folk that you relate to, as those you

mention, it makes a big difference.

[CTyankee]

45. Stefon was my favorite! My hairdresser was also a big Stefon fan. He was great!

[Renew Deal]

14. Overall, I like it.

Especially Weekend Update

[brush]

15. Yes.

[John1956PA]

20. The May 7, 2022, episode with host Benjamin Cumberbatch had a few good sketches.

The cold opening presented a glimpse into the formation of twelfth century logic which was cited in the opinion which overturned Roe v. Wade.

The Blue Bunny ice cream sketch presented a focus group which offered their opinions as to certain ice cream flavors. The sultry responses of the two Western states participants (deftly played by Benjamin Cumberbatch and Heidi Gardner) sparked a romantic flame between them.

[leftieNanner]

29. Benedict Cumberbatch

[Ocelot II]

35. I'd happily watch him read a phone book.

[leftieNanner]

36. Me too!

[SunImp]

37. Sorry, more than just Trumpers enjoy SNL

People who still have a sense of humor, young people, college educated people & everyone else who isn't obnoxiously hypercritical of every little thing enjoy SNL. Many of the cast are diehard Democrats & they are fine with poking fun at themselves. I'm glad we still have SNL & late night hosts during these shitty times.

[yaesu]

23. I quit watching decades ago, I quit watching any TV years ago. nt

[walkingman]

30. What is your entertainment? Just curious. I used to like to read but until I get cataract surgery

that is no longer possible...

[Celerity]

42. Audiobooks

I used to like to read but until I get cataract surgery

that is no longer possible...

[Crunchy Frog]

24. Frankly I only really ever liked it in the 1970s.

People like John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, and many others. Just extraordinarily funny and in really creative and unexpected ways.

I've never found it remotely the same since the original cast left.

I think it probably would have been best if it had been canceled in 1980.

Just my probably unwelcome opinion.

[Ferryboat]

57. You are so right

Early years were great.
The Garret Morris as Sammy Davis Seltizer skit is a classic never included in retrospective shows.

[Morbius]

28. I have nothing against SNL, but...

I don't think it's funny. I should mention that I find most comedies - whether film or TV - unfunny. I think it's me. I'm just old.

The last thing I thought was funny was the writing of Terry Pratchett, may he rest in peace. I laughed out loud at some bits of Sherlock.

[chowder66]

31. I love British humor but I lost it when

They introduced Dooneese on SNL.

[mwmisses4289]

41. No, you aren't the only one.

I stopped watching it a few years after Gilda Radner died. Tried watching it off and on over the years, but it just didn't seem funny to me. I generally don't like most of what passes for American humor- it seems to have a core of meanness and seems to be stuck at elementary/middle school boys level of bathroom and sex jokes.

[IcyPeas]

44. I record it too.

I'll watch the cold open

Skip the cast introductions..... there are way too many.

May or may not watch the host depending who it is.

Watch the musical guests and weekend update (even weekend update has gone downhill over the years)

Skip til the second music performance. End

[malaise]

49. I haven't watched since Niv 5

Nothing to laugh about

[snowybirdie]

51. I agree

Tried to watch when everyone was talking about it in late 70s, but it never reached me. Thought it was silly and folks who loved it were all drug users. I was mom who couldn't stay up that late anyway. So one vote for SNL is overrated.

[msfiddlestix]

52. I stopped watching since the mid -late 70's, I never knew who Al Franken was.,a smart guy but a stupid show

[Orrex]

53. If you boil down its entire run, you'd get about one and a half great seasons.

[Happy Hoosier]

55. And I don't get watching pro sports...

Folks like different stuff.

[marble falls]

56. Two words: Benny Hill. Of course you don't like SNL.

[NoMoreRepugs]

58. You are right - can't be funny or entertaining and last half a century.

[cilla4progress]

59. Same

Husband and I saying the same thing.

We don't find it funny...

[Buckeyeblue]

60. It's social satire. So being able to see the world ironically

Not everyone does. And that's OK. Fortunately we have an endless number of options to meet everyone's whims and tastes.

[MineralMan]

62. Then You Shouldn't Watch It. Is It OK if I Do, Though?