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Is Saturday Night Live new tonight, March 23?

By Daniel George

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Lorne Michaels and the cast of 'Saturday Night Live' pose with the Outstanding Variety Sketch Series award in the press room on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dan MacMedan/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Lorne Michaels and the cast of 'Saturday Night Live' pose with the Outstanding Variety Sketch Series award in the press room on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dan MacMedan/Getty Images) /
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The award-winning late-night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live has been off the rails in season 44. Will a new SNL episode tonight bring back momentum?

It’s been a rough year for Saturday Night Live. Whether it’s middling at best, poor at worst writing each week, performers bumbling over their lines in non-comedic ways, continued accusations of plagiarism or needing former writers to host the show for us to get at least one good-to-great episode, things have not gone Lorne Michaels’ way.

We’re just six months removed from SNL winning an award at the 2018 Emmys, with the show receiving the Outstanding Variety Sketch Series honors. None of the five Saturday Night Live supporting actor and actress nominees won an award, and the writers were left out to dry, as well, but it’s certainly interesting to see how the once-standard satirical platform in the political comedy sphere has been deflated in season 44.

It’s not the first time the show has been disappointing for the majority of an entire season, but it has certainly been a long time. Young people might not remember the Ebersol era or the “Saturday Night Dead” talk of the 90s, where despite hosting a number of performers and writers who would go on to shape a generation of comedy outside of the show, they just couldn’t pull it together.

Who knows if we’re about to face that kind of era with Saturday Night Live in the near future, but the stars are starting to align. The show needs fresh writing and acting talent, and needs to start scouring the farm systems at the Upright Citizens Brigade, Second City and standup clubs across America soon. With so many top performers set to leave for sitcoms and movies in a year or two’s time, a new perspective is needed.

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Though Saturday Night Live is not new tonight, the show will return on March 30 to start a string of three-straight weeks with intriguing hosts. Sandra Oh, Kit Harington, and Emma Stone will be your next three SNL hosts heading into mid-April.