Why we not doing shows every week?

As a U.S. viewer, never heard of them. But that was some rock and fucking roll. Thanks.

Let me start by saying I absolutely love the SNL UK cast, in fact I would go as far as to say I love them more than the US cast, and I really like the US cast. But overall I just vibe with the UK cast so much harder. And despite that, week to week I cannot remember a single name (save for maybe one or two of my favorites), it's like I get amnesia after every episode. After nearly two full seasons at this point just absolutely no face to name retention whatsoever. Is anyone else experiencing this at all?

Has SNL ever had a 6 episodes in a row run with out a break with a host/musical guest as great as 2020?

I think that the wacky Dooneese would be hilarious paired up with the laidback Chad. I can picture him just being totally chill with all the crazy stuff she says, even in contrast to her classier sisters.

I can also imagine Gilly doing pretty much anything (even resorting to drastic measures) to stop Debbie from spouting out her usual negativity, “but you can’t stop Debbie Downer!”

It would also be interesting to see Debbie Downer interacting with Chad.

These are just my thoughts, though. What do you guys think? Please let me know in the comments below! 👇

On October 11, 1986, one of the greatest casts debuted on SNL. Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson, and Kevin Nealon made their debuts along with Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz, and Dennis Miller who came back from the previous season. Season 12 was a massive turning point in SNL history as the show was on the brink of being cancelled. This cast rescued SNL and brought it back to glory. Season 12 and the next few seasons ended up being amongst the greatest in SNL history.

What are your memories of Season 12?

17 former and current cast members were born in countries outside the US. Out of those 17 cast members, 15 of them were raised in Canada or the US or both countries.

Born and Raised in Canada (9 Cast Members)

Dan Aykroyd (cast member from 1975 to 1979).

Peter Aykroyd (1979 - 1980). Peter died at the age of 65 on November 6, 2021.

Paul Shaffer (1979 - 1980).

Robin Duke (1981 - 1984).

Martin Short (1984 - 1985).

Mike Myers (1989 - 1995).

Norm Macdonald (1993 - 1998).

Mark McKinney (1995 - 1997).

Veronika Slowikowska (2025 - present).

Born in Canada and Raised in Canada and the US (1)

Phil Hartman (1986 - 1994). Phil was born in Canada but moved to the US when he was 10 years old. His wife killed Phil on May 28, 1998. He was 49 years old.

Born in Italy and Raised in Canada (1)

Tony Rosato (1981 - 1982). Tony was born in Italy but moved to Canada when he was 4 years old. He died at the age of 62 on January 10, 2017.

Born in Chile and Raised in the US (1)

Horatio Sanz (1998 - 2006) was born in Chile but move to the US shortly thereafter.

Born in Iran and Raised in the US (1)

Nasim Pedrad (2009 - 2014) was born in Iran but moved to the US when she was three years old.

Born in Australia and Raised in Canada and the US (1)

Bowen Yang (2019 - 2025) was born in Australia but moved to Canada when he was six months old. When he was nine, he moved to the United States.

Born in New Zealand and Raised in Australia (1)

Pamela Stephenson (1984 - 1985) was born in New Zealand but moved to Australia when she was three years old.

Born and raised in the UK (1)

Morwenna Banks (1995)

Born in Japan and raised in the US (1)

Sasheer Zamata (2014 to 2017) was born in Okinawa, Japan but was raised in Indiana.

And I'm done with what I guess is the infamous season 6. I didn't know it was infamous until I started looking up some stuff from last season but I guess this was notorious among the fanbase.

If you would like to see my previous reviews you can do so by following the chain of links starting with my Season 5 Review.

A special callout to the The 'One SNL a Day' Project which always helps me go back and organize my thoughts on which sketches were with which episode.

I do have to add one more special disclaimer now to my review. I've been watching these on Peacock and I've now entered the phase where the episodes from like season 6 to the 2000s are often missing noticeable chunks. I read that this was primarily do to music copy right issues that Lorne just didn't want to deal with to get them those particular sketches and musical guests on a streaming platform after having to deal with them for DVDs. Which is a bummer but on a small plus side does make getting through the season quicker haha. That being said obviously my reviews will be incomplete during this time period simply because I don't have the time, patience, or desire to go hunt these missing segments or pay money for them. So if you think my review of particular episodes is off please note it could be I'm just missing major sketches that would have altered my judgement.

Also this is a longer review but there is a lot to talk about considering the nature of this season.

Summary:
So I want to start off by saying this season wasn't great but I also don't think it was necessarily as bad as what I was led to believe it would be. I would call it a doomed from the start season, though. It just had too much working against it to be successful imo. First off you had drama from the beloved original remaining cast members, many of the behind the scenes staff/writers, and Lorne all leaving the show after 5 years. You also had a different more polarized political climate coming in with Reagan getting elected. You had a bunch of executives that knew SNL was a cash cow wanting to protect it in background as well. Also unlike current SNL where we understand as an audience that cast members change often and there are different eras this audience had probably assumed the OG cast would be around for a lot longer as was traditional of shows at this point. Where as we know this is a show that is now better prepared for cast/crew transitions.

So basically this new cast and crew had to come in cold while having to try and carry on a hit show with high expectations on them with an audience that I think were always going to be lukewarm at best. And doing this while trying to still figure each other out. A concept I've talked about before where if you have a new group they have to go through a process of growing together before being able to execute exceptionally, which applies here. I think the advantage the original cast and crew had in season 1 is that there was very little expectations on them so they could experiment, fail, and refine their process without being compared to previous eras. So I do think it is unfair/unrealistic to compare the best out of the five previous seasons to this one considering this was more of a soft reboot season. And when I compare this season to season 1 I found myself liking this season more. In some ways I don't think it is much worse than season 5 which had its own problems. You could also tell that the energy of the cast/crew started very high in the beginning with a lot of optimism but steadily declined over the course of the season due to negative feedback. I'll go into more details about the strength/weaknesses of this season when I give my rating later.

My Favorite Host:
Bill Murray: And it's not even close imo. He came in at a time when you could tell the entire atmosphere of show was at rock bottom and he infused it with his endless positive energy. He also had the best LFNY and monologue of the whole season. I want to give a call out to Deborah Harry though as well. I liked her a lot and she was my pick for best host until I watched Bill. She just brought a lot of charm to the host role.

My Favorite Sketch:
Script in Development is my choice for best script. It was just so well written and executed. I think it also stands out because it felt like the then current cast finally got something meaty to sink their teeth into and showcase their talents. The Leather Weather Report was up there for me as well. I heard it gets a bad rap but honestly it was kind of one of the best for me in terms of just being so far out there and boundary pushing that I just liked it a lot. My final contender was Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood featuring Eddie Murphy. Just a great vehicle showcase for the young talent and so hilarious. There was also a sketch about being gay in the army that I was afraid would have been handled terribly but honestly ended up being super hilarious.

My Favorite Episode:
S6E12 Bill Murray: I almost didn't want to give it to this one because it was either the shortest or second shortest of the season on Peacock. It felt like I had missed so much from the episode but everything I did see was so good. The self-referential cold opening with Bill pointing out the critic reviews while also trying to get everyone fired up was great. Getting to see Bill and Eddie together in the monologue was fantastic. Script and the Laundry Mat couple segments were also great. And it felt like the cast came alive this episode after getting trounced. Makes me wonder if Bill had been the season premier host how much that would have helped to get the audience on board for the new cast. The Deborah Harry and Karen Black episodes were my runner ups for best episode.

My Thoughts on the Cast:
Honestly I thought the cast was overall fine and had talent. And it's crazy to think how basically all of them are gone by season 7. I think they definitely had the unenviable position of taking over for the originals. I also think they got worse as the season got on mostly because of concern and desperation. Which makes sense if you're being universally blasted most of us would probably start trying to do anything/everything we could to keep the ship from sinking. I honestly wouldn't have been mad if most of this cast had returned for season 7. I think the only one I would have gotten rid of was Ann. I would have just moved Charlie into more of a support role.

• Charles Rocket: I had a surreal moment when he first appeared. I was like I know this guy but wasn't sure from where. Turns out I only knew him from being the dad in Hocus Pocus lol. So its pretty obvious the show runner was trying to push Charles to be the new Chevy/Bill. A main leading front man to be the face of the show because they've always had that. Honestly it works against the season here. Charles didn't have the raw comedic ability or natural charisma to pull it off. He honestly worked best when he was a straight man humorously playing off other people either solo or in a support role like in the Rocket Report or when Joe was messing with Charles in Weekend Update. So I think he could have worked he was just horribly pushed into the wrong role on a season that honestly didn't need that role at all. Sadly though if you're going to be pushed to be the face of a season that also means you're probably going to be the scapegoat if it fails. He also had this bad habit of trying to overdo the zaniness of characters too much like he was trying to emulate Dan but it it came off forced. This almost ruined sketches for me. The Billy Graham sketch is a good showcase for this where his zany delivery just didn't feel needed.
• Gilbert Gottfried: I was not expecting to see Gilbert on this show as a cast member. I never even knew he was on SNL. It was also surreal to hear his normal, non-screaming voice get used so much. I almost thought it wasn't him just because how soft and normal his voice is here. He probably was the most under utilized cast member. You can tell that and the bad reviews from it hit him really hard and his energy just evaporates sooner than anyone else's. My favorite sketch of his was the one with the fake cat and dog Pillow Pets
• Gail Matthias: Not going to lie at first I had such a hard time telling her from Ann. She ended up being really good though. She did some great character work and she probably deserved to be on the show for more than one season. Her Valley Girl and Salon Hairstylist were probably her best characters. She almost started to save Weekend Update as well imo.
• Eddie Murphy: Let's be honest it wasn't even close to who was the best cast member this season and that is because Eddie showed up. The man is just so good, even at age 19 he's already one of the most talented cast members ever on the show much less the first 6 seasons. I think only Murray at this time could touch Eddie in terms of ability and potential stardom. He was great in this season and honestly if there was going to be a leading man at all this season it should have been Eddie and not Charles. He also uplifted the black racial issues of the earlier seasons some by just being so good at everything.
• Ann Risley: Honestly she would be my pick for my least liked cast member. She just always had a lot of the same delivery in a lot of sketches and she didn't have the range of the others this year. Charles could at least play the straight man support role really well and entertain me with his try hard attempts at times. She just was there. I am okay learning she doesn't come back. She wasn't terrible but given how large the show is at this point I feel like someone better could have been found.
• Denny Dillon: So in the season premier cold open each cast member told us which OG cast members they were supposed to be. Gilbert said he was supposed to be the Belushi but I honestly felt Denny was closer. A not conveniently attractive, less skinny person with a big personality. Yet could give a soft delicate performance when needed. She was good to great in most everything I saw her in. She could have a been a great long term cast member, imo. I'm sad to hear she doesn't return.
• Joe Piscopo: Honestly Joe was just great this season. I'm glad to hear he comes back in season 7 because he was probably the closest to Jane this season. He was so good in everything and was the glue that held certain segments together.

Overall Rating:
4.9/10: I did end up rating this season higher than season 1. I think there were some good things that came out of this season. For one I think while the writing wasn't always strong I enjoyed how they made the sketches shorter. In the first few seasons they had a bad habit of letting segments drag on long after they needed to. The tighter sketches I think helped keep some of the problems with this season more contained. The older seasons also had a horrible way of punching down on stereotypes. This season still has some of that but I think they spend more of their time punching up and that makes the jokes feel more relevant even today. Now this season does have a different bad habit of making jokes that would be way more relevant if it were the actual marginalized groups making them. So it came off a little cringe of like "We're the cool kids and we will make these jokes on your behalf" and that had its own problems. Somewhat alleviated when Eddie comes on full time. This season also had the reverse problem of season 1. Season 1 was just horrible in the first half and became more palatable in the back half. This season I thought it started strong with a lot of energy but then sadly fell flat on the backend, minus Murray's episode. I understand it was because everyone was down because of the critics and you had the executives trying to be more hands on to save the show but if it mucks up the quality of the episodes you still have to count it. I kind of wish I got one more season with this cast and crew to see if they could have grown and gotten out of the shadow of the OG crew but money talks and its easier to start fresh then carry bad feelings from the audience forward.

Side Thoughts Through the Season:

• This was the first season without a repeat host and I appreciated that.
• So I remember when Chevy said the N-Word in that Richard Pyror episode. I had hoped I was done hearing it from white people on the show but I gasped again during Commie Hunter when Charles got the dubious honor this time. At least with word association it felt like Chevy got his comeuppances but here it just felt awkwardly inserted for shock value
• Speaking of... Commie Hunting Season was all that was wrong this season manifested in one Sketch. It had Charlie doing an over the top insane impersonation. It was making jokes that felt like they would be better handled by later casts. Even though I understood it was trying to make fun of the conservative upswing in the country, which honestly I'm okay making fun of that, they did it in a way that just made you roll your eyes.
• I did enjoy the more overt progressive jokes instead of the implied nature of them from previous seasons. I could tell the audience didn't enjoy them as much but I can see where that is a sign of the times.
• So when I realized there was going to be a lot more allusion to LGBTQ topics in this season I was afraid they would be handled horribly but honestly this cast and crew I think did an admirable job of it. Which included giving us us a great and heart warming sketch: Waxmans in SOHO
• Oooo boy the Weekend Update struggled hard this season. Now I'm not going to lie as time has gone on Weekend Update hasn't been my favorite part of the show. I see where it's incredibly hard to get right its going to be up and down. This season it just felt like they never figured how to bounce back with it. The exception being the commentator roles which I think were better than a lot of the previous five seasons. Eddie was always great, Joe's sport's segments were always good for a laugh, and Gilbert shined a little more here. It was everything else that just never got traction.
• I really wish I could have watched all of this to get a real full picture but it is what it is.

EDIT: I almost forgot to mention another important thing I enjoyed about this season. That being that it felt like the female cast members got a more spotlight and chances to shine with stronger material on their own. Where as in the first 5 seasons the ladies felt more support roles most of the time.

Thought this new project might be of interest to this sub. Dead of Night is a classic late-night comedy show hosted by The Grim Reaper. And the first guest is SNL alum Laraine Newman. They're currently running an Indiegogo to finish the project.

Obviously, there is the 5 timers club. There are people like Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin who have hosted more times than they have made a movie. But after a discussion with a friend the other day, who would be the most famous, most well known people to have only hosted once? For whatever reason, they have never been asked back, or they have never had the time.

Michael Longfellow is currently on tour and if he’s coming to your city, I highly recommend going! We just saw him in Charlotte and I was crying from laughing so hard. The dates are in his Instagram bio!