How ‘Saturday Night Live’ Betrayed Its Legacy (and Us)

“Saturday Night Live” is doing a victory lap this weekend, and for good reason.

This year marks the NBC show’s 50th anniversary, a remarkable feat in broadcasting. 

The celebration began with “SNL: The Homecoming Concert” at Radio City Music Hall. The star-studded event featured a who’s who of rock, pop and soul, including Cher, Lady Gaga, Nirvana (with Post Malone filling in for the late Kurt Cobain) and Snoop Dogg.

Nirvana reunites with Post Malone for SNL 50 concert at Radio City Music Hall https://t.co/dbyyqEVweB

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) February 15, 2025

Feb. 16’s “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” airs at 8 p.m. ET on, where else, NBC. The gala will include Peyton Manning, Robert De Niro, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Miley Cyrus and other stars.

Many fans will tune in for the memories, but others know the milestone is bittersweet. The current show is a shell of its former self. That’s been the case for nearly a decade.

What changed?

First, “SNL” became hyper-partisan and abandoned bipartisan satire. “SNL,” like the legacy media, mostly ignored President Joe Biden’s obvious mental decline, the most stark example of its liberal bias.

Show founder Lorne Michaels pretends the show remains nonpartisan. Reality says otherwise.

Screams it, to be precise.

Plenty of new media outlets have shared that sad state of affairs. The legacy media ignores it, yet another reason the public no longer trusts the old-school press.

The other serious flaw infecting “SNL” is less obvious but just as important.

“SNL” could have been at the forefront of the counter-culture revolution. Again. The early “SNL” days examined race, sexual taboos and more, some of which shocked audiences at the time.

Not every sketch hit the bullseye. On average, about half the night’s sketches made us howl.

Sometimes less.

That ratio didn’t matter. “SNL” swung for the fences, trotting out fresh jokes and provocative angles in search of laughs and insight. It’s why we cared about the show in the first place. The recent “Saturday Night” feature captured that comedic chaos.

The show’s unique status once let it explore topics other programs avoid.

Not anymore.

The current “SNL” is hopelessly safe and predictable. We know the topics to be covered, the comedic angles under consideration and what sacred cows will be tipped.

Very few, if any. And here’s why that matters.

The woke mind virus bloomed in the mid 2010s, a time when “SNL” remained a cultural force. The show could have met the woke wave head on, mocking its tropes in that grand “SNL” fashion. 

No rules. No off-bound topics. Chevy Chase would be proud.

Instead, “SNL” avoided toxic elements like Identity Politics, sensitivity readers, trigger warnings and progressive hypocrisy on steroids.

Why does that matter? Free speech is the lifeblood of both comedy and “SNL.” What Elon Musk dubbed the “woke mind virus” is a direct assault on free expression.

Yet “SNL” couldn’t muster much comic rage against the Twitter Files scandal or the Biden administration’s reign of censorship.

It gets worse.

Remember how guest Brad Pitt feted Dr. Anthony Fauci? The NBC show chose to ignore how Dr. Fauci helped silence scientific debate, flip-flopped on mask usage and encouraged the shuttering of society.

When Gina Carano got unfairly fired by Disney for a simple, heartfelt message the show quipped about “Star Wars’” alleged anti-semitism.

Nothing more.

Yes, once in a cobalt blue moon “SNL” would step a toe into this cultural space, occasionally with brilliant results.

Sketches like “Woke Jeans” proved the exception to the show’s unwritten rule. Don’t engage with woke.

“SNL” had nothing consequential to say when Dr. Seuss got canceled. The show hired Dave Chappelle to host several times but never confronted how the comedian’s trans material nearly got him canceled in sketch form.

More recently, “SNL” looked the other way when Jewish artists like Matisyahu, Michael Rapaport and Bret Gelman got canceled by pro-Palestinian mobs.

Cancel Culture? What Cancel Culture?

Fans have had to beg for satirical scraps, like when comedian Bill Burr would host and speak truth to power via his opening monologue. That’s the best we could expect.

Woody Harrelson mocked pandemic overreach in his 2023 monologue, and it felt like “SNL” had suddenly found its spine. The moment didn’t last long.

The “SNL” many grew up watching should have eviscerated woke scolds and held Cancel Culture’s feet to the digital fire. Not THIS “SNL.” The show exists in a bulletproof progressive bubble that doesn’t hear outside voices.

Meanwhile, rebel comedians picked up the slack. There’s no “SNL” sketch in recent memory that can touch this brutal takedown by Ryan Long and Danny Polishchuk.

Even news stories happening in the show’s Big Apple backyard, like the rise of house “squatters,” got ignored. Once again, counter-culture rebels took advantage of “SNL’s” silence.

One notable “SNL” low?

Michaels hired rising star Shane Gillis in 2019 to join the Not Ready for Prime Time Players. Then, when Gillis’ old material about the Asian community resurfaced, he rescinded the invitation.

Gillis became a superstar without “SNL,” and the show sheepishly invited him to host an episode last year.

That says it all, no?

Yes, “SNL’s’ extreme liberal bias is a stain on its once-great legacy. That matters.

So does the show’s unwillingness to confront the biggest social upheaval of our age, once perfectly suited for the show’s humor.

“SNL” stood down when it mattered the most. It’s impossible to celebrate the show’s run without acknowledging that cold, hard fact.

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