Comedy New Year's Resolutions: What We Want To See More And Less Of In 2011

2010 was a big year for comedy, but not for altogether funny reasons. We're looking forward to 2011, but first want to make some promises to ourselves, as well as give some advice to others, that will make us all happier, more satisfied fans of humor. Read over our 2011 comedy New Year's resolutions, and vote for the resolution you'll be sure to stick to!

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No More Saying That "SNL" Used To Be Funny

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If you begin a sentence with some variation of "'SNL' used to be good, but...", then congratulations! You have entered into the most boring conversation about comedy that has been repeated since roughly 1976. Remember when you were 13, and idolized [cast member] and [his/her] contemporaries and couldn't wait to see the recurring sketch with [The Sweeney Sisters/Matt Foley/The Spartan Cheerleaders]? The previous generation thought that was a disgrace to the spirit of John Belushi, because their "SNL" cast was the last good one, and it's been downhill from there. And guess what? Nobody is right or wrong. For better or worse, the show is an American comedy institution that has outlasted nearly every other outlet of humor, so they must be doing something right. Not every sketch in a 90 minute show will be a winner, but that's hardly exclusive to any period of "SNL" history. Plus, one might argue that the Digital Shorts of today provide at least one consistently great sketch per episode.

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If you begin a sentence with some variation of "'SNL' used to be good, but...", then congratulations! You have entered into the most boring conversation about comedy that has been repeated since roughly 1976.

Remember when you were 13, and idolized [cast member] and [his/her] contemporaries and couldn't wait to see the recurring sketch with [The Sweeney Sisters/Matt Foley/The Spartan Cheerleaders]? The previous generation thought that was a disgrace to the spirit of John Belushi, because their "SNL" cast was the last good one, and it's been downhill from there. And guess what? Nobody is right or wrong. For better or worse, the show is an American comedy institution that has outlasted nearly every other outlet of humor, so they must be doing something right.

Not every sketch in a 90 minute show will be a winner, but that's hardly exclusive to any period of "SNL" history. Plus, one might argue that the Digital Shorts of today provide at least one consistently great sketch per episode.

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Total comments: 24 | Post a Comment

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This Comedy Resolution

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Comments

[Brian Buckler]

05:38 PM on 01/04/2011

Sorry, but as of January 1st 2011, SNL is STILL NOT FUNNY. It's not entirely their fault, as HBO, Showtime, and other cable networks have less restrictions of what they can and cannot say or do in their programming. I got more laughs from the first season DVD of The State than from the most previous new SNL episode.

[YeahDonkey]

02:19 AM on 01/04/2011

You want to fix SNL FIRE LORNE MICHAELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chaserblue]

10:56 PM on 01/03/2011

On number 2, funny actors in unfunny movies, since it happens SO consistently, as does good action stars in chick flicks, I always thought it was part of the deal they made with the devil to get them good parts. It's in their contracts---"OK---we'll give you 2 awesome (and or) action flicks guaranteed to turn you into a super-star, but you have to do one cr-p comedy and 2 chick flicks. Then we'll renegotiate..."

[huffgirl16]

08:22 PM on 01/03/2011

Are you kidding? Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are comic newscasters who deliver the TRUTH. It doesn't get more "real" than that. Wake up, America,

[thereisonlyoneparty]

11:48 PM on 01/03/2011

I find it more odd that people are still of the opinion that we should trust someone as being a definitive source for news.

Murrow, huh?

[mutton]

07:15 PM on 01/03/2011

And let's stop comedians from playing more than one role in a movie. Or wearing fat suits. Or male comedians dressing like women.

[ariesd]

05:51 PM on 01/03/2011

Enough of the Leno/O'brian debacle.!This was NBC's fault; How do you replace Leno who had the highest rating over all late nite shows??Stupid.

[Eddie G]

04:45 PM on 01/03/2011

If by some miracle I laugh at SNL, it's because I'm watching a "Best of". At least then I can count on a couple of funny skits. The Will Ferrel "Red Ships of Spain" is amazing.

[SeaBlood]

02:34 PM on 01/03/2011

I've been watching SNL from the beginning, more than 30 years! I've said that "forbidden sentence" many times-----usually before or after a cast change. But the show always bounces back as good as before. SNL is more than a "show"----it is an open concept that is capable of evolving with the times. It is good for a few more decades of air time.

[Kuetsar]

01:25 PM on 01/03/2011

Neither running wilde nor Scott pilgim were funny.

[sacbeme]

01:23 PM on 01/03/2011

Regarding #5: "Stop Letting Fake News Show Up Real News"
This can't be done in a legitimate way the cards are stacked. If news outlets were to actually point out the hypocrisy of politics and news story they would be regarded as 'liberal'. The facts have a liberal bias.

[MsMassachusetts]

04:24 PM on 01/04/2011

Absolutely. Reality, facts, and truth are seen as having a liberal bias. Revisionist history is a corporate necessity.

[TheRealThunderMonkey]

11:30 AM on 01/03/2011

"No More Saying That "SNL" Used To Be Funny"

What a cop out and a cheap way to back away from any debate. I'll agree with the premise that it's folly to compare the amount of funny from one SNL crew to another (since humor is a subjective experience that can change from person to person and week to week). However, there's still a case to be made which SNL crew is vastly superior to other SNL crews.

And I watched all of "Terriers" and there were some comedic bits, but it's a bit of stretch to suggest that it's a comedy. Pulp-noir perhaps, but not comedy.

[peachpage01]

01:12 PM on 01/03/2011

Agreed. TV execs, etc. expect us to lower our standards to justify their declining ones.

[Taliese]

10:59 AM on 01/03/2011

Stephens pants still scare me.

[mojopo]

10:56 AM on 01/03/2011

Regarding #8, and the way late night is taking material from the Internet, I don't mind if they take things as long as somebody gets paid. Screw getting exposure - exposure is just another way of saying "we're too cheap to pay you". They can flash my name on the TV 800-million times for all I care. Money is what matters. Hire those people on the Internet, or pay them for bits and open up the gates.

[BlackJAC]

10:56 AM on 01/03/2011

How exactly is Outsourced racially insensitive?

[ABQ-Mike]

10:14 AM on 01/03/2011

But SNL really DID "used to be funny, but...." Let's face it, it's over. Every single TV show that ever existed has it's alpha and its omega. SNL is WAAAAAYY past its sell-by date.

One thing in comedy that we can still count on is that ANY movie in which Adam Sandler appears is guaranteed to be sophomoric, way too predictable, and remarkably un-funny unless you are 13 years old.

[considerthis]

11:56 AM on 01/03/2011

SNL was funny -- and it still is. Perhaps we now have a different sense of humor or are just living in less funny times or those of us that thought it was funny then don't "get" today's humor. How many in the younger generations laugh out loud at Lucy or Carol Burnett or Jack Benny skits or Andy Griffith or.............so many of my childhood favorites?

[gurukalehuru]

04:49 PM on 01/03/2011

Dang, you're old.