Live from New York, It’s Still Funny after 35 Years!

This is an article I wrote for my journalism class. Enjoy!

Betty White and Jay-Z during the most recent episode of SNL.

This Saturday night, Alec Baldwin will be hosting Saturday Night Live with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performing as the musical guest. In its 35^th season, SNL is still staying fresh and relevant while setting new records for itself.

This season has been one of many milestones on SNL. Celebrating 35 years on the air, the show has changed a lot since the days of Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Dan Aykroyd, and Al Franken has successfully made the transition from political satirist to U.S. Senator, but the current cast has kept up the tradition of edginess, political satire, absurd characters in zanier situations, and lack of readiness for primetime.

In recent years, the internet has become a medium that he people at SNL have really used to their advantage. Digital shorts like “I’m on a Boat” and “Lazy Sunday” became instant viral hits on the web, and Hulu.com has become a way for fans of the show to still catch up even if they go out on Saturday night or get tired and fall asleep. After a humorous Snicker commercial during the Super Bowl, a campaign on Facebook began to try and get former Golden Girls star Betty White to host the show. Knowing their fan base and understanding how to boost ratings, SNL listened to the internet and booked White to host.

In October, Drew Barrymore set the record for most hosting appearances by a woman with 6 (she still holds the record for youngest host for when she hosted at the age of 7 to promote E.T.). In January, Charles Barkley became the first NBA player to host more than once. The week after that, Sigourney Weaver set the record for the longest gap between hosting appearances when she hosted for the first time since 1986. Just last week, in her first-ever hosting appearance, Betty White became the oldest host in the history of the show at the age of 88. White, paired up with musical guest Jay-Z, hosted a very entertaining, very complete show that featured former SNL cast members Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, and Molly Shannon appearing in nearly every sketch to make it feel like it was 2001 again. They reprised several sketches from earlier in the decade, and the writers wrote so many good ones that several more sketches that were cut after the dress rehearsal were still posted on Hulu the next day, including Rachel Dratch’s famous “Debbie Downer” character.

With Alec Baldwin this week, the show is reaching yet another milestone this season. Baldwin will have hosted 15 times, tying Steve Martin for most hosting appearances by anyone in the history of the show. The 30 Rock star is just as much associated with the show as any famous cast member especially since 30 Rock is loosely based on Tina Fey’s experience as head writer for the show and he plays her NBC executive boss.

In the past, when Baldwin has come close to Martin’s hosting record, they have incorporated sketches involving Martin and Baldwin plotting against each other so one cannot surpass the other. More of the same should be expected. Just because they shared Oscar hosting duties in March, does not mean they will be as willing to share the same page in the SNL history books.

The impact of Saturday Night Live on America is profound. From Chevy Chase’s Gerald Ford impersonations in the 70s to Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impression, the show has always been at the forefront of political humor. Numerous cast members have gone on to successful gigs in movies or their own TV shows. In the past decade alone, SNL created a bona fide movie star in Will Ferrell, a late night talk show host in Jimmy Fallon, an internet video superstar in Andy Samberg, and Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Amy Poehler, and Molly Shannon all went on to star in primetime sitcoms on NBC after leaving the show. Every couple years, when important cast members leave the show, people wonder how it can possibly go on, but executive producer Lorne Michaels and Co. always manage to keep it going.

Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 PM ET on NBC.

30 Rock Addresses the NBC Late Night Issue

Months ago, NBC was in the news as a result of a controversy involving their 11:30 time slot on week nights. The story of Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien attracted a lot of attention and the network faced bad publicity when O'Brien walked away from the Tonight Show (and Jay took it back). Since then, I have been waiting to see how the sitcom 30 Rock would respond to this situation, and this week I found out.

30 Rock has been parodying the goings on at NBC since the show first aired three years ago and often features actual NBC personalities who work at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York. News anchor Brian Williams, talk show host Jimmy Fallon, SNL announcer Don Pardo, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, and even Conan O'Brien have appeared on the show before as themselves. A few episodes ago, 30 Rock addressed the sale of NBC by General Electric to Comcast by having NBC sold to the fictional Philadelphia based company "Kabletown".

I was not sure how they would handle the NBC late night issue, with Leno and O'Brien both being referenced as real people on the show in the past, but they nailed it. In the 30 Rock version, NBC Vice President for East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) is told by his assistant that they have a "janitor emergency" on their hands. Into Jack's office enters a Kashmiri immigrant janitor named Khonani. Khonani reminds Jack of the promise he made to him five years ago to promote him to 11:30 custodial shift. He had threatened to quit unless he could leave the late night shift for an earlier one. Khonani wants to move up to 11:30 because it is more prestigious and he convinces Jack that the current 11:30 janitor, Subbas, will be willing to step aside because he wants to retire and spend more time on his hobby of "collecting classic car- *cough* *cough* -dboard".

When Jack sat Subbas down, it was clear that Subbas did not want to leave the 11:30 shift. Jack quickly came up with an idea that would keep both janitors happy. He could have Subbas work at 10, as a way of reinventing late night custodial work or "innoventing" as he called it. They shook hands and it seemed as though things would work out and Jack Donaghy would be lauded as a managerial genius.

It was not too long before Khonani realized the problem with the new plan: since Subbas was working at 10 PM, there was no trash to clean up at 11:30. He realizes that his lifelong dream of "hosing the tonight shift" is not worth it if there is no trash to take out. Jack suggests the possibility of letting Khonani and Subbas share the 11:30 shift becuase he does not want anyone to get upset over this janitor emergency. Khonani explains that one of them has to leave and he is willing to do it to protect the integrity of the 11:30 shift. Besides, he will easily be able to get a job "at Fox- *cough* *cough* -woods casino" where his cousin is the head janitor. Khonani quits and Subbas is free to take back 11:30.

This episode made me laugh so hard. It was brilliant the way they made two janitors in the NBC studios a microcosm for the problems that the network has had with its late night talk show hosts recently. Although Conan did not go to Fox (he signed with TBS last week), it is still a brilliant use of referencing the actual situation's people and places without acknowledging that it was anything bigger than a custodial shift.