On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 8:49 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> Is SNL still on the air? > > Sorry, couldn't resist. > > I will say this -- when I taught middle school, most of the kids > watched and enjoyed "Mad TV," and now that I teach college students, > few of them watch SNL (the topic came up again last week). I don't > know who its target audience is, but if they are 22 and younger, they > are missing it. And to me, SNL is supposed to be a counter-culture > series geared towards the youth of America, the opposite of MTV which > is supposed to be a pop-culture series geared toward the youth of > America. Somehow neither seems to hit their respective marks these > days. > > To me, SNL feels more and like the Sunday morning chat shows, which > are geared more toward a select few rather than the masses. And by > select I don't mean special or better educated; there just seems to be > a market for SNL and I'm clearly not in it any more. > I am not an apologist for the current iteration of SNL, but when was the last time it could even pretend to be part of the counter-culture? Maybe (and only maybe) the first couple of seasons, and only then because it was mostly defined by what it did not want to be, and was not real clear what it did want to be. For at least the last 30 years or so the show has been firmly rooted in mass, popular culture, not counter-culture. It can be judged as more or less successful over the decades against the criterion of its appeal to the pop culture ( which is why the guest host last night, and more weeks than not over most of its history, was the star of a recent popular film/current tv show or pop singer). I have been teaching college students for the last 20 years or so, and I agree that during most of that period SNL has not been seen as cool, or must-see (the kids watch the buzz-worthy bits on the internet, sometimes will watch it if one of their favorite musical acts is on). One of my biggest moments of cultural contact with college students was some years ago when U2 had a pretty kick-ass set of I think 3 songs on SNL and many of my students were as into it as I was. I was talking about something related to this a couple of weeks ago with a friend, when we both commented on how Marc Maron repeatedly mentions his audition for Lorne Michaels. The closest SNL could come to being somewhat counter cultural would be if they would have Maron host SNL (though since he was profiled in the NYT a year or so ago, they have probably already missed any counter-culture cred they may have gotten from that). Still, I'm sure Maron's audience is still dwarfed by McCarthy's, and booking him would suggest at least a nod to someone like Buck Henry. -- 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
