The prospect of American sketch comedy mainstay Saturday Night Live launching a UK version had me cautiously excited – while a lot of the humour is inherently American, with the right team on both sides of the Atlantic, I thought that Sky’s new UK edition could be similarly successful.
But after this weekend’s Stranger Things themed episode, I’m seriously worried.
It was a complete embarrassment for everyone involved. From that bizarre Heated Rivalry Harry Potter sketch to Finn Wolfhard’s uncomfortable monologue, I’ve never seen such a colossal fumble of both a game host and a zeitgeist cultural moment.
Viewers were quick to point out what they saw as the rampant misogyny and homophobia that plagued the episode, which notably did not include the Netflix show’s female leads.
Perhaps it’s because Sadie Sink was not taking part that Caleb McLaughlin felt comfortable joking – in character as Lucas – that Max ‘just lies there like she’s back in that coma’ while they have sex.
I would have hoped the long-running show was above a joke about having sex with a comatose person.
Apparently not.
Finn, who despite being 23 seemed to be possessed by the ghosts of old-fashioned ‘I hate my wife’ comedians past as he compared vaginas to demogorgons in his monologue, for which he has already received considerable backlash.
Another sketch that shocked me saw regular cast member Jeremy Culhane step into absent Noah Schnapp’s shoes as Will Byers, mocking his emotional Stranger Things coming-out scene.
Then there was that tone deaf Harry Potter spoof where the big punch line appeared to be ‘what if Ron and Harry were gay’.
Calling Hagrid, played by Jason Momoa, an ‘old queen’ as he makes a ‘longbottom’ joke and even drops a slur, feels like shoddy Tumblr fanfiction from 2010 rather than quality comedy on one of America’s most popular shows.
With Bowen Yang recently leaving SNL, there are currently very few – if any – openly LGBTQ+ cast members left. Judging by this weekend, his absence may go on to be more noticeable than we realised.
Not least because one of the show’s newest hires, Kam Patterson, debuted new standup material last week in which he said of SNL ‘It’s really gay, dog. It’s gay as f***’.
While the Stranger Things actors could have and should have spoken up about the discriminatory (and frankly just not funny) sketches, we should be looking at the writers.
For years now, I’ve written off SNL as American humour that doesn’t translate well to British audiences, assuming any remake on our screens would use local talent to make relevant jokes.
But as the UK version inches closer, I do wonder whether we can trust the people in charge.
Creator Lorne Michaels is set to be the executive producer of the UK iteration of the show, and it’s safe to say he’ll go for a hands-on approach, as he has done since creating the original in 1975.
Michaels, now 81, handpicked many of the comedians who have gone on to become superstars. The list is endless with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Andy Samberg, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Eddie Murphy all making their starts on SNL.
However, his presence could end up hindering rather than helping this new launch, as clearly the SNL writers’ room is not what it used to be.
Even before this steaming pile of demodog waste, fans have criticised the show for steadily becoming less and less entertaining, with viewership fluctuating over the past few years.
Do you think the upcoming UK version of SNL will resonate with British audiences?
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Yes, it could work well
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No, it may face difficulties adapting
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It depends on the cast and writers
It’s still a staple, but the complaints are mounting. At the launch of this current season, The Guardian declared the show is ‘bad, actually’, citing its tendency ‘towards sympathy for the powerful and the influential’.
This was exposed most plainly in the inclusion of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
Satire on British screens hasn’t been great recently either.
When Spitting Image returned, one notable incident saw many calling out misogyny and sexism after puppet Jess Phillips told people to ‘convene my Labour vag’ with jokes about her breasts, months after she had received rape threats (bizarrely, Phillips called being portrayed as a Spitting Image puppet ‘an honour’).
Even criticism of Trump on Spitting Image was reduced to a vomit-inducing farting gag directed at his penchant for (at the time) tweeting.
In an attempt to walk a line between upsetting everyone and no one, the satire lost its teeth and sense of humour.
While I am more optimistic about SNL UK than I was about rehashing an 1980s puppet show, we desperately need the writers to come into the room with an understanding of what a British audience will find funny.
Regardless of the political leaning of the writer or performer, satire is not about punching down or taking on sitting ducks – and UK viewers are highly attuned to recognising comedy that takes that easy route.
One speck of hope is that James Longman is signed on to be showrunner, having previously worked on the likes of Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Alan Carr: Chatty Man.
Joining him is Suzi Aplin, who has worked with outspoken feminist comic Katherine Ryan as well as on the Jonathan Ross show.
While we’re still in the dark about the cast, here’s hoping that Suzi and James can help steer Lorne’s previously keen eye to suit a British audience.
What SNL needs on both sides of the pond is some fresh blood: comedians who are willing to ruffle the right feathers, without reaching for low-hanging, outdated stereotypes.
Satire is more relevant than ever, but only if it’s actually funny.
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