I yearn for the days SNL and comedians were not political hacks in disguise.

[Dill]

(03-26-2024, 03:35 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: Yeah, most of the stuff by Meyers is harmless, but he still shows the older falls, slips, problems with stairs when none of the others bring up the past ones. And I think that the OP isn't quite remembering SNL correctly. I have the Peacock app and I went back about a year ago to watch a lot of ''The Not Ready For Prime-Time Players'' and the pacing was very slow and some of the sketches didn't quite live up to when I saw them as a kid, Samurai Night Fever specifically. George Carlin was on many of the early shows and some of his routines weren't comedy routines as much as they were hippy complaints about society and the government. Paul Simon would play songs with some commentary. Dan Akroyd as both Nixon and Carter were regular appearances

I remember when SNL began back in the 70s. I was in my twenties then, and watched it religiously.

In the context of the times, it was VERY political in the LEFTISH/LIBERAL direction, 
making fun of corporate society, uptight conservatives and the like. It was NOTHING like anyone had ever
seen in terms of breaking cultural norms. It became increasing bland as the original cast left.

As far as the claim of some golden age when "both sides" were equally lambasted on late night comedy,
I also remember that back then (60s and 70s), the difference between sides and politicians (except for Nixon and Agnew, who were not considered funny) 
just was NOT very great, as it is now.  Their foibles and scandals were ordinary, and kind of equal. Rhetorically maybe Agnew was on par
with Trump, and then he was gone for good. 

Also, there was no cable, much less variety, and all comedians/talk shows had to respect "family values."

Cable and the internet suddenly widened the spectrum of comedy offering; then during the '90s the difference between both sides
began to widen year by year, becoming a chasm in 2015 .

I cannot imagine my parents and older relatives or the nation as a whole back then tolerating a presidential p-grabber with so many bankruptcies
and fraud settlements, who paid off porn stars, said he didn't like troops who were "captured," defamed his rape victims, and eventually attempted a coup--
all while millions of followers and three media affiliates insisted everyday that the other guy who did NONE of that was just as corrupt and bad so DOUBLE STANDARD!!

Complaining about comedy "balance" in this context just entirely misses what has happened to the country.