I made that same face through this entire sketch.
Let's start this out with some very necessary disclaimers: I believe the writers of Saturday Night Live are very, very talented. Writing and producing a live sketch show every week from scratch is a superhuman effort, the likes of which I cannot conceive. I want to enjoy SNL very much, and I don't enjoy using it as a punching bag. I like laughing more than I like criticizing.
We clear on that? Okay, great. Now it's time to state the obvious: Saturday Night Live is not funny anymore. I'm not breaking any ground on that one, of course. That's a widely held opinion. I'll take it one step further, though: I don't believe being funny is even SNL's primary goal anymore.
The current state of SNL is rather bleak; gone is the unholy comedic talent from the mid-to-late '80s or the absurdist, experimental streak of the mid-'90s. The turn-of-the-century slapstick has ceded time and territory to an incessant parade of celebrity send-ups, and the resultant effect is a comedy show ripped straight from the headlines of US Weekly.
I don't know what the show's overriding philosophy actually is, but the only way I can make sense of it is this: it's as if the writers don't consider a skit a success unless it gets written up on the Huffington Post. Like it's done more for the resultant headline than the quality of the skit itself.
This phenomenon is encapsulated perfectly in last week's "Waking Up With Kimye" spoof talk show1, and if the simple incantation of "Kimye" wasn't groan-inducing enough, there's the exercise in banality that actually ensued.
As comedy sins go, Nasim Pedrad's Kardashian impression is about a 5 on a scale of 10. The empty-headedness is fine—we're not exactly talking about Neil deGrasse Tyson here—but Kim Kardashian is the walking, talking embodiment of passive self-promotion and capitalizing on the male gaze. So how on earth does Kim draw herself in a wedding dress without it being, like, 90% ass? Or, like, I'd be willing to believe a character would draw herself without boobs if they didn't give said character giant prosthetic cleavage (that was fake, right?). I mean... this is basic stuff.
If the Kardashian impression was a 5 on the comedy sin scale, Jay Pharaoh's Kanye West is about a 73. Yes, it sounds great. It also rings less true than basically any impression I've ever seen on professionally-produced television. It's beyond disappointing. Kanye West is a hyper-talented, hyper-sensitive manbaby who conjures slights from thin air and carries a sense of entitlement that you'd normally only expect from, like, a sophomore at Northwestern. Andy Samberg's character throws shade at the whole wedding and Pharaoh's Kanye basically responds with "yes all those facts are correct." He should be throwing furniture at the first sign of disrespect! You should be able to get 30 seconds of pure comedy out of Kanye explaining why he needs a leather Batman groom suit without even breaking a sweat! And instead Pharaoh uses the opportunity to show off his Kanye "HEAAHHHH." Has Jay Pharaoh ever actually heard Kanye West speak? That is a dead serious question.
Here's the deal. If you're going to spoof celebrities, pick a good reason to make fun of them, and it should be crystal clear what that is. Otherwise, don't do it.2 Simply sounding like them is not comedy, no matter how good you are at it. Impressions are only funny if you make the character say funny things. Again: truly basic stuff.
I'm not even saying this from a "think of the poor celebrities" mindset. It's "think of the poor viewers." Like, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are two of the most ripe-for-parody celebrities in modern history. This is not an exaggeration. And with that golden opportunity, SNL goes with a Kanye West who can't stop saying his own lyrics and a Kim Kardashian who is essentially a blow-up doll with a pulse. That is a situational deafness of staggering proportions.
This is not an aberration; it's the norm on that show anymore. Even on the Weekend Update segment, where all they have to do is say a joke about a person without putting someone in makeup to act and sound like that person, when presented with an opportunity to make a Donald Sterling joke—you know, the vile 80-year-old megaracist—here is the entirety of SNL's zinger on him.
"In an interview this week, Donald Sterling said that he was set up, saying 'I was baited.' And baited is the right word, because Sterling himself is a catfish."3That absolutely cannot be the best you can do. Donald Sterling is an old guy who looks like an old guy. That's basically the only normal thing about him! That's a joke Donald Sterling would write about Donald Sterling to try to prove he's self-deprecating as part of some awful PR reclamation project. It's a joke someone who has never heard Donald Sterling talk would write about Donald Sterling. It is a joke about Donald Sterling strictly for the purposes of being a joke about Donald Sterling. It is a checked box and nothing more.
And you know what? If you care more about who it is you're spoofing than how, then job well done! That (sigh) Kimye thing was most certainly a sketch centered around famous people! You did it! And as a result, SNL—with a level of resources at its disposal that most comedians would kill to have—has become borderline unwatchable. It is substance-free fetishization of celebrity. For crying out loud, write like you're funny again. Please. I'm begging you.
1. I have no idea where SNL's fascination with the "how about a talk show where..." premise came from, but it's not just a crutch, it's the pavement on which the show treads.
2. Note that even Will Ferrell's insane Neil Diamond absolutely qualifies here; Diamond's pristine reputation and popcorn musical catalog are the perfect setup for the psychosis that ensues. Oh, and Ferrell's impression is pure garbage from a technical standpoint and it matters not one iota. Because it's funny.
3. This, mind you, is hot on the heels of a goof on Karl Rove being a fat tub of goo. That's how they opened Weekend Update this week. What's next, "Hitler's moustache was stupid"?
