Without a doubt, SNL fans have been shrinking in number for a long time now and it is largely because it just isnt funny anymore. The theory of taking fresh young actors and putting them together works well still, but the lack of good writing has been taking the show downhill for years-and dragging many cast members down with it.

The formula for success at SNL has always been to create memorable characters and situations from what would almost seem to be nowhere-The Coneheads, Mr Bill, "Gumby", and Wayne's World were all able to be funny without mentioning a single swear word or body part. Many of these concepts translated well into movies too.

But as the creative minds have departed and left only the hacks in the writers dept, SNL has been more like the place writers go when Mad TV fires them. The jokes are largely dependent on elementary school body fluid humour, poor sexual innuendo, and disgust. Creativity seems to be limited to how sex or body fluids can be inserted into a situation it hasnt been before.

And the SNL actors themselves arent exactly helping. From the truly unfunny Jim Carey "Pet detective" and pathetic movies like the arm pit smelling catholic school girl movie, gone are the days of Animal House, The Blues Brothers, and even the mediocre but reasonably funny Bob and Doug McKenzie and Waynes World movies.

I can handle some arrested development concept humour and I can even handle silliness-but this is neither.

Time to shake the etch a sketch over at NBC and start over.

Take off, you hoser, Bob and Doug McKenzie weren't on SNL, they were on SCTV, eh! Along with all those other Canadians like Count Floyd, and ... uh ... Catherine O'Hara? That whole Great White North thing, anyway.

Actually I wasn't a huge fan of any of that stuff back then (I was around for the original SNL cast and while my friends would hoot and holler over "Samurai Deli," personally I find chopping things to bits with a sword gets a bit stale after about the fiftieth time. But I did go to see "Strange Brew" in the theater (dragged by a friend) and I laughed out loud quite a bit, especially during the first part where they make a low-budget SF movie.

"Act! Act!"

Ah, that still slays me. Eh.

"Many of these concepts translated well into movies too"

Many?

Many concepts such as The Coneheads, The Blues Brothers, and Waynes World went HUGE. And I know its not SNL but Bob and Doug McKenzie were of the same time and place as many of these and the show was clearly of the same concept too. Even lesser roles like the Armpit smelling catholic school girl and "Night at the Roxbury" club dudes gt movies despite a weak premise and the failures were predictable. In any industry the number of concepts to big dollars projects would be considered a serious pattern of success.

But when these better writers moved on, the shows didnt have the foresight to seek out the better writers but rather tried to increase profits through hiring lesser writers and talent. The result is the mediocre SNL and copy cat shows of today.

Jim Carey hosted SNL but was never a cast member. He was on In Living Color with the Wayans Bros. in the 90s.

But when these better writers moved on, the shows didnt have the foresight to seek out the better writers but rather tried to increase profits through hiring lesser writers and talent.

Oh give it a rest. Could complaining about how bad SNL has become be any more of a tired cliche? People have been doing it sense Chevy Chase left during the second season.

The show has always had its ups and downs. It went through more than one abysmal period before Mike Myers ever showed up.

PS the Coneheads were a huge flop as a movie.

Yeah that and Bob and Doug. The guy hasn't got a clue what he's talking about. He think he knows something interesting about the writers when in fact he's badly confused about even the front-line talent.

The Coneheads made money. So did Bob and Doug and so did Waynes World. You may not have liked it personally, but none of these movies lost money at the box office.

Night at the Roxbury and that school girl movie lost money big time-they were financial black holes.

And it doesnt take an insider to see the differences in writers. It also doesnt take a Harvard grad to understand that when you pay less for talent and writing you make more money with the same budget. Welcome to hollywood. This is the same place which now LOVES the reality TV shows because of the fortune it saves them on writers and actors. The quality is only a concern to people who know better-John and Jane Q Public take what is served and dont know how much it cost to make.

The Real RML:

...From the truly unfunny Jim Carey "Pet detective" and pathetic movies like the arm pit smelling catholic school girl movie, gone are the days of Animal House, The Blues Brothers...

Okay, you say this (the above) in your initial post, and then downthread you contradict yourself So, I take issue with your inconsistent argument.

Jim Carrey made a fortune and forged the beginning of a seriously successful comedy career on the back of Pet Detec (also the hugely successful The Mask series). Yes, yes - I know Carrey is not a SNL alum.

So, "You may not have liked it personally, but none of these movies lost money at the box office." (<<< yr contradiction)

Then, to damn the box-office winner Pet Detec for its wholly kid-friendly albeit puerile humour (you say 'truly unfunny and pathetic' and lump it in with Mary Catherine Gallagher - the pit-smeller) AND THEN in the same sentence, mention Animal House?!?! Belushi, he of the impersonation of an exploding zit? One of the most juvenile (tho funny) comedies of all time?! Possibly second only to Porky's??? Of course, Blues Brothers still stands up as a legendary comedy, thanks to the music, the characters, the galaxy of cameos from stars and music greats, the memorably quotable dialogue, the wacky car chases etc etc

I just can't take you seriously.

"I just can't take you seriously."

Then dont. I dont really care what you think of me. If you liked Carey you clearly are not operating at an intellectually funny level anyway.

Yes-pet detective made money and the catholic pit girl lost money. The point is that Carey is no John Belushi. Purerile humour is great but should be properly positioned within a good script-Dumb abd dumber made money too but would you call the writer a genius? I cant compare anything Carey has ever done with Animal House or Blues Bros. Could you honestly put them in the same catagory? I hope not.

So now you're claiming to have insider information on SNL writers' salaries? Uh, right.

And again with the Bob and Doug. Sigh.

Again, someone who can't even identify the frontline talent is not exactly credible when he starts talking about how the show is run, mmkay?

Oh, and Night at the Roxbury grossed $30 million in the US on a budget of $17 million, per IMDB. It's a ten-year-old movie, so I have no idea why you think it has anything to do with anything.

Coneheads was made 5 years earlier and grossed $21 million in the U.S. It doesn't list the budget, but its presumably similar.

In any event, both movies sucked major cock.

Basically you're full of nothing but hot air. How can you even stand to listen to your own drivel?

And finally, Superstar, "that school girl movie" was also profitable, with a US box office of $30.6 million on a budget of $14 million. Which isn't exactly a surprise, since you've been demonstrably wrong on everything else.

I never claimed to be an insider, but given the amount of effort you are putting into defending the current writers at SNL I can only assume you are one of them. Not funny and pathetic is the way to decribe the majority of what has been done since the days of Belushi, etc. I also mentioned several shows including SCTV and MadTV as examples of copy cats-and yeah, Bob and Doug were not on SCTV but contributed plenty of writers and actors to same so I put them together.

Glad you could prove the pits girl made money-bravo. I doubt it made it with the publics help. Chances are the producers laughed all the way to the bank and pocketed the money from distribution-passing the hot potato loser flick onto the studio and showing a profit.

I wonder how it did in rentals or purchases on DVD........

Anyway you picked your side. Schoolyard morons it is.