Live from New York! It's Crap!

"Saturday Night Live" returns for an all new season this weekend. I remember back when I grew up with the show, in the days of Hartman, Farley, and Meadows (that's right, I singled out Meadows) it was always great to see the show return after the long summer off. These days I just don't care anymore. Obviously that's due in part to the fact that I'm older now and have access to all sorts of pornography which makes sketch comedy seem pointless. But the real reason I don't care anymore stems from the fact that the show is painful to sit through.

The last time I watched a new episode of the show was a little over a year ago when Will Ferrell came back to host. I couldn't believe how bad it was and I haven't felt the need to revisit it since. Last season a lot of "SNL's" supposed highlights always found their way on the Internet right after they aired. I'd watch a lot of that selected ass and shake my head. Natalie Portman curses and raps! Amazing!

I know bagging on "SNL" is hardly original thinking. It has been going on in various forms since the original cast left over 25 years ago. But it's pretty clear that the show needs a real shake-up. Last week the cast was cut down for budget reasons with longtime players Horatio Sanz and Chris Parnell among those who got the axe. Sanz is no big loss, only Jimmy Fallon broke out of character more, but Parnell seemed funny at least from what I saw of him.

The best thing "SNL" could do to get back in the public's consciousness is start over with a mixture of proven talent and young unknowns. Take a page from the mid-80's when Billy Crystal and Martin Short did the show for a year and go after people like David Alan Grier, Jim Gaffigan, and even Fred Willard. That would do a lot to help the problems in front of the camera. As for the show's writing, I'm not going to pretend that I know how to salvage what the show has been serving up in that department.

Aside from that advice the only other suggestion I can make would be to let Robert Smigel do 90 minutes of "TV Funhouse" bits.