SNL: What next
May. 19th, 2014 12:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiSo, a rough season has ended*, and SNL, presumably, is going to make some changes. There are, I shit you not, 17 folks listed as main or featured players. That's led to a muddled season, and the real blame goes to Lorne Michaels, of course. But since he's probably not leaving, hopefully he's at least going to take a look at things.
Of the seventeen, I'm assuming Nasim Pedrad's already gone, since she's got a sitcom this fall. That's too bad, since she's one of the better members of the cast, but it is what it is.
The remaining core cast members are all strong. Now, Kenan Thompson's been in the cast for eleven seasons, so I could easily see him moving on, but although he's got less range than the rest of the cast, he's still great at a certain kind of affable goofiness that most of the cast lacks. Of the rest of the cast, Bobby Moynahan and Taran Killam are the ones who have started to have some success outside of the show, but I'd see them sticking around. And the female side of the cast -- Vanessa Bayer, Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon, and Aidy Bryant -- are as strong as the show's ever had. Jay Pharoah is the cast's best remaining impressionist, and I can't imagine him leaving.
OTOH, the featured players are a hot fucking mess.
Sasheer Zamata is literally the only talented person in the bunch. She can and should stay.
But the rest: Colin Jost's half season in front of the camera has, at best, shown why not every head writer has what it takes to work in front of the camera. Tyson should go solo here; she's more than capable of handing it. If they do want to pair her up, Bryant would be my pick for a bunch of reasons, ranging from chemistry to the fact that she's one of the few core cast members who doesn't do Update recurring characters.
Noël Wells has blown damned near every shot in front of the camera, and her Allyson Hannigan will go down as one of the worst impressions in the show's history.
As for the Five Interchangeable New White Guys, they've done almost nothing to distinguish themselves. Kyle Mooney has shown a little bit of potential with his awkward shorts (the one with the high school presidential campaign was kind of inspired). Beck Bennett's big baby sketch is about as awful as anything that's ever been done at a high-school talent show. The rest of them are literally indistinguishable, physically or comedically. They make great extras, but extras don't get billing.
So, my preferred cast for next year:
Bayer, Strong, Bryant, McKinnon, Killam, Pharoah, Moynahan, Thompson, with Zamata and maybe Mooney as supporting players. One (and no more than one) new supporting cast member, maybe. Only Tyson behind the Weekend Update desk (or Tyson/Bryant if needed). That's a range of nine to eleven cast members, more than enough to carry the show.
*People saying "SNL isn't funny anymore" is practically a tradition, and it's bullshit now. The reason things are so frustrating is that there's actually some really good stuff getting buried by crap like the giant baby sketches. "Twin Bed" was about as brilliant as anything that appeared this year, and each episode had moments that were good. This isn't the '85 cast.
Of the seventeen, I'm assuming Nasim Pedrad's already gone, since she's got a sitcom this fall. That's too bad, since she's one of the better members of the cast, but it is what it is.
The remaining core cast members are all strong. Now, Kenan Thompson's been in the cast for eleven seasons, so I could easily see him moving on, but although he's got less range than the rest of the cast, he's still great at a certain kind of affable goofiness that most of the cast lacks. Of the rest of the cast, Bobby Moynahan and Taran Killam are the ones who have started to have some success outside of the show, but I'd see them sticking around. And the female side of the cast -- Vanessa Bayer, Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon, and Aidy Bryant -- are as strong as the show's ever had. Jay Pharoah is the cast's best remaining impressionist, and I can't imagine him leaving.
OTOH, the featured players are a hot fucking mess.
Sasheer Zamata is literally the only talented person in the bunch. She can and should stay.
But the rest: Colin Jost's half season in front of the camera has, at best, shown why not every head writer has what it takes to work in front of the camera. Tyson should go solo here; she's more than capable of handing it. If they do want to pair her up, Bryant would be my pick for a bunch of reasons, ranging from chemistry to the fact that she's one of the few core cast members who doesn't do Update recurring characters.
Noël Wells has blown damned near every shot in front of the camera, and her Allyson Hannigan will go down as one of the worst impressions in the show's history.
As for the Five Interchangeable New White Guys, they've done almost nothing to distinguish themselves. Kyle Mooney has shown a little bit of potential with his awkward shorts (the one with the high school presidential campaign was kind of inspired). Beck Bennett's big baby sketch is about as awful as anything that's ever been done at a high-school talent show. The rest of them are literally indistinguishable, physically or comedically. They make great extras, but extras don't get billing.
So, my preferred cast for next year:
Bayer, Strong, Bryant, McKinnon, Killam, Pharoah, Moynahan, Thompson, with Zamata and maybe Mooney as supporting players. One (and no more than one) new supporting cast member, maybe. Only Tyson behind the Weekend Update desk (or Tyson/Bryant if needed). That's a range of nine to eleven cast members, more than enough to carry the show.
*People saying "SNL isn't funny anymore" is practically a tradition, and it's bullshit now. The reason things are so frustrating is that there's actually some really good stuff getting buried by crap like the giant baby sketches. "Twin Bed" was about as brilliant as anything that appeared this year, and each episode had moments that were good. This isn't the '85 cast.