I've been trying to think of what, specifically, disappointed me about Betty White's SNL. Over the years, I've likened SNL's sketch stylings to Jay Leno's monologue stylings: The same jokes rehashed with a few names and pop culture references changed to give the illusion of relevancy. I'm used to that and expect it, though I didn't expect exactly how much the series would steal from itself.
The Spanish talk show was basically "Sprockets" (right down to the odd dancing between "guests"), which wasn't that funny a premise to begin with. The NPR sketch was a total recycle of the one they did (could it be 15 years ago?) with Baldwin; they just changed the specific innuendo. The MacGruber sketches are exactly the same EVERY time. That leaves us with a few sketches where the "comedy" came in the form of an old woman saying inappropriate things. But the recycled material wasn't even what most disappointed me. My primary disappointment was this: None of the sketches I saw Betty White in had anything to do with Betty White. It could have been Julia Louis-Dreyfus or William Shatner reading from the cue cards. They made seemingly no attempt to utilize the range of Betty White's comedic talent. She played the village bicycle on "Mary Tyler Moore," the ditz on "Golden Girls," and the quick-witted comeback queen on "Match Game" and "Password," but the SNL writers didn't tap any of that experience. Yes, she's an old woman, but she's more than that, and they didn't take advantage of what they had. Genuinely funny women are rare and more precious than gold. SNL had one and they didn't know what to do with her. And that is disappointing. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
