By Sara Sivan
Thread
Your changes have been saved
Email is sent
Email has already been sent
Please verify your email address.
You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.
Manage Your List
Follow
Followed
Follow with Notifications
Follow
Unfollow
Link copied to clipboard
Summary
- Maya Rudolph's return to SNL could be the revamp the show needs, with viewers demanding more political satire and fresh humor.
- SNL's struggle to appeal to younger audiences could threaten its longevity, showing a need for moves to resonate with Gen Z.
- Rudolph's trending status on social media after Biden's news and the virality of her sketches hint at her potential to help revive SNL.
When President Joe Biden pulled out of the 2024 race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris instead, many reacted in the same, gloriously sign-of-the-times way: taking to Saturday Night Live's official YouTube channel to comment that Maya Rudolph was about to be "booked and busy." Well, either we're all a little bit clairvoyant or the 20-something intern who runs their socials passed the information along because not long afterward, Deadline announced that Rudolph would be returning to reprise her role.
SNL isn't the only example of folks processing this major political event through media. Viewership of the political satire Veep went up some 350% in the first week following the news. The series has a storyline in its second season about Vice President Selina Meyer learning that her POTUS would no longer be running for a second term. The creator of Veep, Armando Iannucci, thus called comparisons "inevitable." The explosion in Veep's numbers could mean great things for SNL, too. Viewers were polled during the Actors and Writers' Strikes in 2023 when the normally weekly fixture was off the air, and, according to News Week, 50% said that they didn't miss the show "at all." The overwhelming support for Rudolph's return could be exactly the revamp that SNL needs.
How Is SNL Struggling, Exactly?
Saturday Night Live
- Release Date
- October 11, 1975
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 49
- Studio
- NBC
- Creator
- Lorne Michaels
To some extent, the sentiment that SNL "just isn't the same anymore" has been around for almost as long as the show has. Every generation thinks that the era they watched growing up was the best one. A cursory Google search will show countless articles and social media posts ranking the casts. In a blog post from Considering Outloud, the writer wisely points out that the reason for this phenomenon is that when you're in your teens, you're in the process of hardwiring those things you find entertaining and funny. If you catch SNL during this time, it will likely influence your sense of humor into adulthood.
Related
The 20 Best SNL Performers To Begin on SNL in the '90s
There's an argument to be made that the '90s was the best decade for SNL.
This may also help to explain the show's age demographics. Parrot Analytics insights show that most of the audience are from Gen X, loyal fans who would've first caught the show live on TV in their youth. These percentages decrease more and more as the generations go on, with only 19% or so being from Gen Z. To be fair, SNL being Gen Z-lite could be a microcosm of the wider traditional media landscape. Folks Gen Z and younger tend to consume a media diet largely comprised of TikTok and YouTube, too. TV then simply takes up a smaller piece of the pie as a result. Still, this statistic is worrisome. If SNL doesn't start making moves to appeal to younger generations, they may not have surefire longevity anymore.
Will Maya Rudolph Alone Be Able to Revive SNL?
In short, she might. Multiple sketches involving the former cast member have garnered 16 million+ views on YouTube. This is more than double Season 49's viewing average of 7.2 million viewers an episode, which is already up from the season prior. Saturday Night Live's YouTube channel is no stranger to virality, but most of those videos are older than five years old. The Kamala Harris sketches are more recent. Another interesting fact of note is that many of those clips are political satire, demonstrating that this is where SNL thrives.
Related
20 SNL Cast Members Who Contributed the Most to the Series' Success
SNL has served as a launching pad for many comedic talents, who in turn have contributed to its decades-long success.
Besides, Maya Rudolph's return has become such a "moment." She was trending on X (formerly Twitter) after the news that Biden was dropping out broke. On TikTok, users also celebrated the news. User simplysimone made an interesting TikTok speculating that because Rudolph has also played Beyoncé in the past, and Beyoncé just cleared her song "Freedom" to be used by Harris during her campaign, there could be some extremely hilarious tie-ins there, as well.
Audiences have long since called for late-night comedy, be it talk shows or SNL, to be updated with the times. This Salon article proposes that it could be done with more subversive material, like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Others have urged late-night shows to diversify their hosts/casts — although that should equally apply to their behind-the-camera personnel, particularly their writers.
In the case of SNL specifically, they may also (ironically) need to get back in touch with what made the show so great in the first place. Bringing back a powerhouse like Maya Rudolph to do political comedy is a terrific place to start. Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c on NBC and is available for streaming the next day on Peaco*ck.
