Saturday Night Live Tosses Witty Comedy for Weak Biden-Harris Sketches

As season 50 of Saturday Night Live kicked off, anticipation was high with promises of a landmark golden jubilee season filled with glitz, glam, and humor. However, it quickly became clear that SNL has lost the sharp witted satire that once made it a must-watch. Rather than clever comedy and respectful wit, the show’s content centered on recycled premises and an excessive reliance on star power, turning the once magnetic platform into a shadow of its heyday.

A stark example of the show’s downfall was their sketch, ‘The White Potus,’ a supposed parody of the popular ‘The White Lotus’, featuring the sparkling, yet misused star power of Scarlett Johansson and Jon Hamm. But rather than a compelling commentary on the Trump family, the sketch felt reduced to a series of visual gimmicks with minimal comedic value. Indeed, even Aimee Lou Wood, a star of The White Lotus, referred to it as ‘mean and unfunny’, demonstrating the hole where the show’s heart used to reside.

The inherent, cutting-edge humor SNL was known for appears to be slowing down, eroding the impact and fun of their sketches. The breadth of their comic range seemed to become narrower as the season went on, raising concerns about whether the show’s writers had lost the capability to offer a comedic sting. ‘The White Potus’ is a striking case in point, serving as a physical testament to the fact that the show has lost its edge.

The sketch was touted to have all the ingredients of an SNL classic – a celebrity roster, a topical reference to ‘The White Lotus,’ and a political angle. However, its plentiful potential depreciated due to an evident unoriginality and heavy leaning on megastar guests over sharp, funny writing. The result? A sketch that managed to feel both overcrowded and empty.

What gnawed at the hope for this sketch was the lack of a tangible comedic viewpoint. A limp parody made up of scattered bits and pieces of humor, it failed to offer the audience the sharp and insightful political comedy that SNL was once revered for. The punch it attempted to land seemed weightless, further propagating the dwindling quality of the show’s political comedies.

SNL’s political sketches have always been a highly anticipated element of the show, offering an opportunity for the writers to showcase their ability to critique and satirize the current political landscape. This season, however, the sketches severely lacked the freshness and impact they used to possess. Rather than propelling forward, they rested on the laurels of recognizable impersonations and nostalgia, resulting in a disappointing drop in quality.

The season premiere provided a cold open, the ‘Harris and Trump Rallies,’ which reeked of stale mockery instead of timely satire. Although it attempted to deliver an incisive sketch, utilizing Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris, Dana Carvey’s Joe Biden, and James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump, it was evident that the sketch lacked direction and authentic commentary.

The sketch fell back on trite characterizations of these political figures, recycling the old trope of a desperate-for-approval Harris, a confused Biden, and a hyperbolic Trump. The comedy felt dated, failing to add anything new to the conversation or offer the biting edge of smart, current satire.

In a similar vein, the ‘VP Debate 2024 Cold Open’ mockingly showcased J.D. Vance and Tim Walz, as played by Bowen Yang and Jim Gaffigan, respectively. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff, as portrayed by Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg, reacted from the sidelines, with Dana Carvey’s Biden making a brief, disoriented cameo.

While the sketch appeared promising, once again, it succumbed to the trap of over-relying on known characters rather than delivering any sharp or impactful satire. The characters seemed to exist solely for a bland, predictable back and forth, devoid of any authentic commentary.

Throughout this season, the democratized voices of SNL’s comedic sketches simply echoed familiar cliches, the bulk of them either aimlessly mocking or treading on timid ground. This resulted in a disappointing decline in the quality and significance of their political satire, a cornerstone of the show’s identity.

It’s essential for Saturday Night Live to rejuvenate its political satire if it hopes to retain its relevance. Currently, it’s stuck in a cycle of repeated impressions and recycled plots. While nostalgia has its time and place, it should be a vehicle for storytelling, not a crutch for lackluster content.

While leaning into the nostalgia and familiarity of the past can offer a sense of camaraderie and shared history, it shouldn’t entice a show like SNL into complacency. With this 50th season, SNL revealed its cracked foundation, replacing substantial satire with washed-out impressions of Biden and Harris, thus highlighting a disappointing performance.

The reliance on these worn-out depictions only reinforces the sense that SNL is struggling to build any sort of compelling and contemporary narrative. In the tightrope walk between relevance and reverence, it seems the show has staggered, grappling to retain the balancing act that once kept it in prime position in the comedy world.

In conclusion, SNL’s golden jubilee season seemed to have all the makings for a triumphant return to glory. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a clear sign of the times- revealing a timeworn show that has lost its luster. By relying too heavily on stale characterizations and failing to inject fresh perspectives into its political satire, SNL proved that it’s high time they considered a major shakeup.