With comedy sketches, satirical news, and celebrity guests, NBC’s Emmy-winning late-night comedy showcase, Saturday Night Live (SNL), has been a viral sensation of comedic television. Debuting in 1975, the long-running comedy show has stayed strong and relevant through the decades. However, the show’s relevance has skyrocketed in the past few months, especially amongst younger generations, and many BSM students are a part of SNL’s rising fandom.
Historically, SNL has had an older fandom. With much of the show’s fandom growing up on cable TV, the premiere of SNL on cable has been more convenient and routine for older generations. However, with the rise of streaming platforms that provide instant and convenient streaming, cable has been on the decline at the expense of shows that rely on cable to reach audiences. Additionally, with SNL premiering at a specific time, more people aren’t able to tune in at a specific time, especially younger generations who have other commitments to school, sports, activities, and social events. BSM students are among this younger generation. “Cable has really been fading out within the past couple decades, and it’s getting really hard to watch cable shows now. Obviously, some people try to tune into SNL and shows like that, but it’s still not very convenient for everyone to tune in at a specific time anymore,” sophomore Arwen Patell said.
However, despite SNL’s historical attraction to older audiences, recently, younger viewers have been getting into the SNL groove thanks to its rise in relevance on social media. Recently, SNL has grown its platform onto social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, extending its platform to younger generations, who spend large amounts of time on social media. SNL has since gained a younger fandom beyond cable loyalists, including BSM students. “Especially for the younger generation, who wasn’t really raised on SNL, they really they saw it [on social media], and they saw what it really could be and then that’s gonna lead to a lot of new, younger people tuning which is definitely gonna lead to the show having a good future,” Patell said.
Additionally, SNL has been attracting Generation Z’s attention with sketches geared towards younger audiences. Although the show does have a consistent cast creating and executing sketches each week, SNL also invites celebrities to guest star on the show. Recently, the producers have cleverly been inviting some of Gen Z’s favorite celebrities, prompting a wave of younger viewers excited to see more of their favorite celebrities. “[SNL has had a rise in popularity] because they’ve gotten a lot of people that the Gen Z population likes on their show, special guests like Billie Eilish and Timothée Chalamet,” senior Sophia Hoffman said.
Along with SNL’s efforts to appeal to younger audiences, their sketches regarding the 2024 presidential election caught the attention of even more viewers. With the relevance of the election, people’s eyes were on all things politics, and SNL played into that. “I think with all the political skits and the election, [SNL] definitely has been rising. That’s one of the things people love, they can make fun of celebrities without really any repercussions. So it’s always very entertaining. So with the election, I think [SNL is] definitely reviving a lot,” Patell said.
As BSM students are increasingly tuning into SNL’s new and old sketches, some students are becoming very fond of the humor, casts, guests, and everything SNL has to offer. SNL’s rising relevance has become evident in the BSM halls as students quote and talk about their favorite SNL skits. And, it is safe to say that SNL has definitely made its comeback, increasingly becoming a new relatable and enjoyable topic throughout the BSM halls. “I think its fun [to share conversations about it at school] because it’s a big part of pop culture and something that people relate to,” senior Harper Kanz said.