Sketch comedy is a type of quick humor with a whole story arc in a short span. Beginning with “Your Show of Shows,” America has viewed sketch comedy since the 1950s. While there were shows many years before it, “Saturday Night Live” pioneered the industry and took it to a new level of popularity.
In the 2023-24 season, the average episode of SNL received 7.2 million views while the episode Ryan Gosling hosted gained 8.9 million views.
Even though “SNL” has been one of the most famous sketch comedy shows, the viewership has not been where its target audience is. The show was designed to appeal to viewers ages 18 to 34 but the recent audience spans from ages 30 to 44.
The current viewership is not the demographic the show originally looked for, and Generation Z only makes up 19.5% of its total viewers. Gen Z has slowed the amount of linear television they watch so watching “SNL” live goes against their natural viewing habits.
Danielle Dorsey, a freshman studying music education, said the show is “kind of old” and sometimes uses “outdated” jokes.
Dorsey also said she used to watch the show in high school, but her life is too busy to watch live television “with college.”
“SNL” has been using some awkward humor as the show makes more political jokes. With the current political climate’s high tension, the show is put in an awkward place with making these jokes and making people uncomfortable.
People have been so upset with the show that during the writer’s strike in 2023, 50% of people polled said they did not miss the show when it temporarily went off air.
Grayson Neimi, a sophomore studying accounting, said the show has a lot of “political garbage.”
“They have one joke that they tend to make,” Neimi said. “They don’t do original content, (and) I feel like they used to do it. Everything has to revolve around something to do with politics.”
To counteract the lack of views, “SNL” has been inviting different hosts and musical guests to attract younger audiences. Guests like Megan Thee Stallion, Aubrey Plaza, Michael B. Jordan and SZA have done a better job at attracting young people and getting the show more views.
However, the tactic has not gotten all of the viewers to watch live. When asked if he would watch a clip if he liked the host, Neimi said, “I think I looked up the Shane Gillis one after.”
Some traction has been gained through social media, however. “SNL” received 3.1 billion views through social media for its latest season. As this is the main way people get information now, it has become a new way for young people to watch television.
Even though they are watching it, young people may not be watching entire episodes or even whole sketches.
Neimi said he might “watch half of (‘SNL’), and then move on.”
Dorsey expressed a similar sentiment, saying she doesn’t think the show will ever get its viewers back.
“I just think people are more interested in other things and sketch comedy isn’t really prevalent now,” Dorsey said. “I just feel like the younger generation just is interested in fast entertainment now and just doesn’t want to watch a skit now. It’s too long.”
The movie “Saturday Night,” about the show’s influence and creation in 1975, was released Oct. 11. The movie reminds its audiences of the nostalgia associated with the show, as well as how difficult it was for them to create it.
Unfortunately, word about the movie was not advertised well. Dorsey and Neimi said they did not know “Saturday Night” existed or was released. They said they would watch it, but Neimi said he “would wait until it was out somewhere.”
With better hosts and the release of its movie, “SNL” hopes to continue to deliver quality to itsaudience, but the outcome is not promising. While sketch comedy has been around for a long time, there is something to be said about watching it live. With the new age of social media and pre-recording, viewers will have to see how it continues to match current trends.
