Over the course of Saturday Night Live’s 46-year span, politics and social matters have become a recurring theme scattered throughout the sketches and monologues. Famous actors like Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph, and Chris Rock have all managed to interject major social matters such as elections, climate change, and racial injustice into the 90-minute television block. Season 46 of SNL, the newest season which debuted on October 3, comes amidst a global pandemic, an election, and social injustice all across the country.
While these issues have caused many controversies, the often-times satirical banter on Saturday Night Live is very good for the show and allows people to laugh at regularly very serious topics. “I don’t think they take it too far. It’s designed to be satire,” said Mr. Rinda, AP U.S. Government Teacher and lifelong SNL watcher. This satire is what led over 7 million people to tune into the first episode of the new SNL season.
Saturday Night Live is far from unbiased “…SNL is not shy about being slightly biased one way or the other, so most of their viewers know what they are getting,” said Freddy Gruber, a 9th grade regular Saturday Night Live watcher, and political enthusiast. The cast and writers of the late-night program try to take shots at both sides of the political spectrum and try to dig at both sides of an argument, with the goal that everyone will chuckle at a joke here and there.
Some people, however, do not particularly admire the comedy that is displayed on the show. Some viewers think that the show is too political, but other viewers do not see this as an issue At the end of the day, it is a comedy and it should be taken with a grain of salt. “People need to not take themselves too seriously,” Mr. Rinda said.
When all is said and done, Season 46 of Saturday Night Live is sure to bring laughs, questions, change, and a whole lot of cowbell.
photo source: “Shanda Saturday Night Live Photobumper Pic” by Louish Pixel is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0