Al Franken Says the Quiet Part Out Loud About ‘SNL’

Former “Saturday Night Live” star Al Franken made headlines as a liberal Minnesota Senator.

One particular news cycle  chased him out of office.

Franken didn’t let his ideological beliefs infect his previous work as an “SNL” writer/performer. He made sure his sketches hit both sides of the political aisle, sometimes hard, during his tenure.

And he’s darn proud of it.

“Our goal was to get laughs from everyone,” Franken says in a new Time essay. The feature recalls the behind-the-scenes maneuvers involving a Dukakis/Bush the Elder sketch. It’s a window into the classic show’s process, one that forged its pop culture legacy.

Said legacy hit its 50th anniversary mark this year.

[Taking sides] was never our goal. It was just to do well-observed (and dare I say smart) political commentary.

The details fascinate, but it’s what he said at the end of the essay that speaks volumes about the show’s eventual decline.

For decades the show avoided veering into advocacy. That would wait until Trump became president. [emphasis added]

That matters for several reasons.

Most “SNL” players refuse to admit the show has become a mouthpiece for the DNC. Show creator Lorne Michaels repeatedly denies “SNL’s” extreme bias in interview after interview.

Alums generally speak fondly of their time on the show and take pains not to attack the institution. In many cases “SNL” made them stars.

One alum couldn’t hold his disdain back for the show’s political “evolution.”

Rob Schneider admitted that the 2016 Hillary Clinton / “Hallelujah” sketch broke him, to a degree.

Kudos to Franken for stating the obvious.

The post Al Franken Says the Quiet Part Out Loud About ‘SNL’ appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.