The very first Saturday Night Live, on NBC, was broadcast on October 11th, 1975. The program, now in it’s 50th season, has continued to remain culturally relevant during that time frame.
How?
“(SNL) came out of the gates with a brand of youthful, edgy, energy that appealed to baby boomer audiences,” said Dr. Nick Marx, editor of the book, Saturday Night Live and American TV. “It’s managed to keep some of that energy. The positive energy of the show thrives off of those two or three viral clips that circulate on social media.”
Those viral videos continue to keep the show relevant, Marx said.
“Audiences can pick and choose what they sample,” he told WTMJ’s Wis. Morning News on Friday. “They don’t have to sit up and watch the whole 90 minute broadcast.”
The sketch comedy show has always targeted politics, which at times, as rubbed viewers the wrong way. Over the past 20 years, the biggest critique of the show has been the political humor, according to Marx.
“The political humor can be pandering,” he explained. “It’s not always centered around a joke. Political comedy is very much hit or miss.”
