Saturday night, Joseph Gordon-Levitt hosted SNL. As usual, he was charming and entertaining, but there was one issue: he wasn’t funny. No, JGL isn’t a comedian, but his appearance on SNL confirmed something I’d long suspected. With each passing season, SNL becomes less and less funny.
From the cold opening to the odd sketch with Keenan Thompson as a hip-hop star turned fashion expert, I quickly found myself questioning the direction of the show. There are new cast members this season and to some degree, I expected them to revitalize the series, but that was clearly a wasted dream. Seth Meyer’s “Weekend Update” still remains the best part of SNL, but no matter how great that segment is, it’s not enough to keep the show afloat.
I don’t want to say that there’s no hope for this show, but when JGL’s appearance failed to amuse the audience and there was nothing to redeem the episode, I don’t know if anything else can be said. I know why I originally tuned in, but when that wasn’t enough, the cast of SNL should have been enough to keep me laughing and engaged. Unfortunately for all of us, they weren’t. If this trend continues, SNL will soon fall by the wayside like so many comedy shows of the not-so-distant past.
-Tenaysia Fox
