Saturday Night Live, Ranked and Reviewed: Season 7

 "Oh, you girls have let yourselves go!"

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And so, following the tumultuous and critically-maligned Season 6, we enter the Ebersol era! It's a period that I've been looking forward to quite a bit, considering how hyped up it's been by a lot of other SNL diehards, and the fact that a so much of it seems to have been erased from the show's sense of lore makes it all the more intriguing. We've also got a promising new class of cast members, some of whom we met on the last episode of last season: Robin Duke, Tim Kazurinsky, Tony Rosato are joined by Second City alum Mary Gross and musical theater performer Christine Ebersole, while (relative) veterans Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo helm the pack. Will they be able to bring credibility and life back to the ailing sketch program? I guess I'll have to find out for myself!

For my reviews of the previous season, Season 6, CLICK HERE! Now, without further ado: Season 7!

Saturday Night Live, Ranked and Reviewed: Season 6

 "It just doesn't matter!"

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With the original era drawing to a close, I now approach some of the most infamously dangerous territory in SNL's history: the maligned Season 6. In the fall-out between Lorne Michaels and Fred Silverman, the show's talent coordinator, Jean Doumanian, was put in charge of helming the next era of the show and building an entirely new cast and writer's room. The results—seen at the time as a disastrous twelve-episode run that found the show in danger of cancellation—have since become the subject of legend, and in recent history, of significant re-evaluation. 

Of the infamous seasons of Saturday Night Live (6, 11, 20, 30), Season 6 has always been the one I'm most eager to explore because of the unique, nigh-impossible challenge the show has been tasked with: retool the hippest, most beloved comedy show on television without any precedent. No matter how good or bad Season 6 would end up, it was tasked with fighting an uphill battle all the way through. This is where I think the re-evaluation spearheaded by the likes of the That Week in SNL podcast, Bronwyn Douwsma, and Stooge are so invaluable; they've facilitated a broader discussion on the show, acknowledging the circumstances in which they were created but with the assistance of hindsight. Such people inspired me to begin chronicling my journey through SNL in the first place, and subsequently, I'm very excited to add to that ongoing dialogue! 

For my reviews of the preceding season, Season 5, CLICK HERE! Now, onwards, into one of the most fascinating periods in SNL's history, beginning with...

Summer Camp Island Review: A Barb is Born / Hot Milk and Careless Whispers / Nightcap (Barb and the Spotted Bears Chapters 1-3)

"I was born with the confidence of a thousand bears, but the wherewithal of a thousand blueberries."

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Welcome back, everybody! Today, I commence my coverage of Summer Camp Island's fifth season, starting with Barb's three-episode arc! As a bit of minor preamble, when the fifth season was announced, I was a bit shocked not just to see the show returning to its arc formatting from Season 3, but to feature Barb as the protagonist in its inaugural arc. It's true that she's a well-established member of the show's cast and one whose past hasn't been etched out prior, and if there's one thing I can say about SCI, it's that it'll never back down from the search for new and unexpected horizons... and yet, I was a bit skeptical of how it would shake out. Let's see how I ultimately felt about the way this season kicks off!

"A Barb is Born": And so, on the third day of life on planet Earth, Barb comes into existence. It's always a bit difficult for me to talk about these arc-starting episodes; they're an exercise in setting the stakes, as much about establishing their focal character as they are establishing the environment we'll explore. In this case, SCI cranks the clock back the furthest its ever been, exploring the island before it became a summer camp, or a witch destination, or even somewhere with the threat of inhabitation—it is merely a primordial landscape, bursting with talking ferns and miscellaneous vegetation, and on the second day, bears intent to eat them. 

Summer Camp Island Review: Hark the Gerald Sings / Hall of Mooms / Pepper and the Fog

"Bup, bup, bup. Susie, can I read you a poem I wrote for you?"

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Hey, so it's been a minute since I last wrote about Summer Camp Island, or a lot of other shows for that matter. I've been busy with a lot of endeavors, and sadly, a lot of the shows got pushed to the wayside because of it. With Season 5 of SCI coming tomorrow, though, my completionist brain decided that it would be worth it to at least blast through a couple mini-reviews in preparation! Plus, if this is well-received, I might try to embrace this sort of writing style more—it definitely takes a lot less out of me to write more nonchalantly.

With that out of the way: let's take a look at the last three episodes of Season 4!

Saturday Night Live, Ranked and Reviewed: Season 5

"Goodnight, and goodbye."

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It's the end of an era, and in some ways, perhaps an ignoble one. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd have been replaced by Harry Shearer and a rotating cast of writers as the show's mission seemingly becomes to survive and be perceived as afloat. As with Season 4, we've also hit a point where SNL, for all of its counterculture synergy, is an institution, increasingly tasked with upholding its reputation rather than defining itself. Similarly, this season feels like the last ride for many of the greatest hosts of this era—Buck Henry, Eric Idle, Richard Benjamin—and the last chance for others to pal along with this specific cast—Steve Martin, Elliott Gould. With the exception of Bill Murray, and Harry Shearer, much of the cast would also exit the studio on the season finale, never to return save for nostalgic cameos in anniversary shows.

Nevertheless, how does Season 5 fare against that ticking clock? Here's what I thought!

For my reviews of the preceding season, Season 4, CLICK HERE!

Summer Camp Island Review: Shave a Little Off the Wheel / He's Just Not Here Right Now

"I'm feelin' a little heavy-hearted."

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Ready the mince pies and pack up your toilet paper rolls! Today's SCI reviews are for "Shave a Little Off the Wheel" and "He's Just Not Here Right Now." Let's get on into it!

One of Summer Camp Island's greatest gifts is its ability to imbue even the most fleeting characters with such a deep sense of inner life, and I can't think of an episode to demonstrate that better than "Shave a Little Off the Wheel." It's a strange entry into the show's catalog; set against the backdrop of a wintry holiday called the "Holly Harvest," our focus immediately shifts from Oscar and Hedgehog to Cookiesmell, the mouse living in the wall of Oscar's cabin, making a small-scale adventure to shave a little cheese off of the cheese wheel in the cafeteria kitchen.

Saturday Night Live, Ranked and Reviewed: Season 4

"What [are] we gonna do now?" "What else? We're Greeks. We... dance!"

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With Season 3 being, by all accounts, the best of the original era—and by accounts that I stand by—I was apprehensive of the season that followed. We've hit critical mass; John Belushi is a bonafide star, and alongside Dan Aykroyd, he's on his way out. At the same time, the show's become more self-satisfied and secure with its place in television, a trait that suggests promise but so often translates to SNL as poison. This season is also one of pronounced experimentation, with its interests shifting more towards slice-of-life sketches, epics, and full ensemble affairs... though that daring spirit doesn't quite translate to its slim rotation of special guests (Father Guido Sarducci, Franken & Davis, Mr. Bill).

Does it persevere through these radical changes, or does it succumb to its fleeting desires? Here's what I thought, episode by episode!

For my reviews of the preceding season, Season 3, CLICK HERE!