‘SNL’ Achieved Pop Culture Dominance During Season 42, But At What Cost?

It’s incredible how, without warning, Bennett and Day were handed the keys to the show this year, especially in the case of Day, who’s a rookie (he was a writer on the show for three years prior to joining the cast last fall). Many episodes this season seemed to have one or both of them in every sketch.

Bennett built on his persona as the perpetually downtrodden man; one great example of this was his hosting a game show called “Why is Benedict Cumberbatch Hot?” which he, on the show, designed to try to understand why women found host Cumberbatch attractive, but not him.

Day, curiously, created a similar sad-sack character at times, played to hilarious effect in two sketches that found him being interviewed by television news reporters. In one, he was an animal photographer mistaken for an animal pornographer; in the other, a witness to a sinkhole, with the reporter more concerned with how a nerd like him got hottie Margot Robbie to marry him. He also showed how far out he can go into general weirdness, playing an old, rich, and very strange man whose medical needs cause massive disruption to a theater company on the Felicity Jones episode.

But do Bennett and Day have what it takes to become comedy superstars? Looking at those on the show who evolve as such, there’s usually a larger-than-life aspect to their personas, as we’ve seen with the likes of Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, or McKinnon. Bennett and Day’s greatest bits play on their base humanity, staring humiliation in the face just because of who they are. This has led to some funny sketches this year. But with the pair being elevated to carry so much of the material, we have to ask: is this a case of two stars in the making? Because if not, then placing so much on their shoulders may come to look misguided.

The other new male cast member also had an unusually strong first year, appearing in lots of sketches and creating a memorable character. While most of the show’s male cast excel at playing downtrodden nerds, Moffat is every prep school villain from ’80s teen films – he doesn’t always smirk openly, but given his close-to-regal bearing, he might as well be. We only saw his douchy yupster “Guy Who Just Bought a Boat” on Weekend Update once, but I would welcome his return.

Granted, considering McKinnon’s previously dominant season, it would be hard for her to have had an even better year. She began the season as Hillary Clinton, and continued it as Kellyanne Conway. Once Clinton retreated to the woods and Conway disappeared from public view, McKinnon was back to being just an excellent cast member, but without the oversized platform she enjoyed during the election. At this point, assuming she returns next year, it will be interesting to see what her place on the show becomes if no dominant in-the-news character emerges for her (or, returns – with Hillary, who knows?).

At the rate he’s going, Thompson will soon become the longest-tenured cast member in the show’s history – he’s currently tied with Darrell Hammond at 14 seasons, and there’s no reason to believe he’s going anywhere anytime soon. Thompson is the show’s old reliable, and this season was no different. Among many other roles, he has comfortably established himself as SNL’s game show host of the moment, and his Steve Harvey in particular is a joy to watch.

NBC has announced that “Weekend Update” will air on Thursdays as a standalone show for four weeks starting in August. Between that and their cemented status as the Update anchors – you never hear talk anymore about whether they’ll be kept in the anchor chairs – you could say this was a good year for the pair. But you know what else you never hear? Their names mentioned in any conversation about comedians who have seized the cultural moment. Truth is, Jost and Che have settled into a mediocre-at-best “Weekend Update.” The segment never generates viral, water-cooler moments, and their names are never mentioned with the likes of Samantha Bee, John Oliver, or, most painfully, their predecessor, Seth Meyers, who has found new ways to tackle our political turmoil on his late night show. Jost and Che altered the traditional “Weekend Update” format slightly, beginning with each going long instead of a one-to-one joke trade, but this hasn’t produced anything greater, smarter, or more memorable than simple jokes used to. Considering that no worthwhile recurring desk characters were introduced this year either, it’s incredible that “Weekend Update” hasn’t generated more buzz for itself this year of all years, when it often felt like the world was on fire.

Jost and Che haven’t found a way to make Update must-see viewing. They altered an existing format in a minor way, and comment on our bizarro world in a manner that is utterly standard. Perhaps Lorne Michaels is happy enough having Meyers, whose show he also produces, be the astute political commentator, leaving Jost and Che to simply hold this franchise together, which they’ve done just fine. But it is a shame that, in the most remarkable political year of most of our lives, SNL doesn’t have a “Weekend Update” team that can shed further light and greater comedy on just how insane it all is.

Davidson spent much of his on-air time this season at the “Weekend Update” desk, although he did seem to appear in as many sketches this season as last, if not maybe a few more. He recently got sober, shedding his stoner image in the process, and that’s led to some funny commentary at the Update desk. Still, Davidson is Davidson, always basically playing himself, and much of his persona to date fed off his young stoner status. Now, a few years in and with a different frame of mind, it’ll be interesting to see how he evolves in the seasons ahead.

Over the past few years, with the help of Ghostbusters hype and the “(Do It On My) Twin Bed” video, most of the public discussion about the show revolved around the female cast. For a time, the Women of SNL were frequently covered in the media together, the context often making it sound like the show was in the grips of a full-on women-led comedy revolution. But this season, with Trump’s presidency sucking up all the attention in the world, the female cast has had less to do – that said, how did none of them create a memorable Ivanka Trump? – and less overall interest from the media and the public, which were otherwise preoccupied. There are several other factors as well to account for the diminished buzz. For one, the newness is gone. It wasn’t that long ago that Jones seemed like a phenom. This season, she was simply funny.

Bayer, Bryant, and especially Strong still did fine work, but given the shift in focus, the rise of Bennett and Day, and the lack of outside projects to build buzz, all were less prominent – and, therefore, seemingly less essential – on the show than in recent years.

It’s hard to know what to say anymore about Zamata. What little she contributes to the show is always solid and never anything more. It does seem she was used a tiny bit more this season than last, but she still never leads a sketch and creates no desk characters. I wrote after last season that it’s hard to understand why she’s still on the show. Nothing has changed.

New cast member Villasenor had ne excellent sketch, which found her imitating Kristen Wiig, Kathy Griffin, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, among others, to hilarious effect. But Villasenor has a touch of Jay Pharoah syndrome. She’s a superb mimic, but rarely takes her impressions far enough to make them distinct or memorable characters. Also, her work outside of imitations was usually stiff. I’d be surprised if she returns next year.

The ascension of Beck Bennett took an axe to his partnership with Mooney, at least in terms of shared air time. The pair, who joined SNL together with the assumption their videos would replace the Lonely Island’s, still does the occasional sketch together. But overall, Bennett is starring in more than half the show, and Mooney has the occasional appearance as Leslie Jones’ fake husband, lamenting his lack of work on the show. With their videos mostly a thing of the past and Bennett heading in a new direction, it’s hard to see where Mooney’s future with SNL takes him creatively.

The flip side of Bennett and Day’s elevation was the demotion of Bobby Moynihan, who seemed to appear in far fewer sketches this year than ever before, and also played fewer lead characters in the sketches he was in. But all this comes with a caveat. Moynihan taped a pilot for a CBS sitcom, and it was announced last week that the show has been picked up to series.

So, this Saturday’s season finale will be Moynihan’s final episode of SNL. Moynihan has a natural sense of comedy about him that was reflected in every sketch he was in. He will be missed.

Larry Getlen is the author of the book Conversations with Carlin. His greatest wish is to see Stefon enjoy a cheeseburger at John Belushi’s diner. Follow him on Twitter at @larrygetlen.