Scot Bertram

SNL Kicks Off the Willennium, Tina Fey Has News for You, and Molly Shannon Bolts

Any viewer of Season 26 of Saturday Night Live may alternate between loving it or hating it based on the episode or even the sketch they are watching. This, of course, happens in every season – there are high and low points to every year. But Season 26 can be sliced into many halves, each of which appear to be running away from each other.

There are, for instance, the episodes before Tom Green shows up to host, which are much better than the ones immediately after. There are the episodes before Molly Shannon leaves the show and the ones following her exit, which feel unmoored and adrift. There are some episodes that bump up against the best the show has offered and some that dip into the “terrible” category. (In the Will Ferrell era, between seasons 21 and 26, such low points have been nonexistent.)

Part of the inconsistency is due to the poor selection of guest hosts. Jennifer Lopez, Charlie Sheen, Katie Holmes, Kate Hudson, and Tom Green all underwhelmed, while classic hosts like Christopher Walken, Rob Lowe, and Alec Baldwin shined.

Further, the show is split between the political sketches, many of which that lead episodes off as cold opens, and the rest of the sketches. As George W. Bush and Al Gore barreled towards the 2000 election and the ballot counting controversies that followed, SNL writers rose to the occasion, writing some of the best political bits the show has seen.

The show was further re-energized with the installation of writer Tina Fey and cast member Jimmy Fallon as co-hosts of Weekend Update. Fey immediately injected the previously moribund news bit with sharp, biting jokes, while Fallon added a dopey, puppy dog-like charm to the desk.

We discuss all these topics and much more on this week’s episode of Wasn’t That Special. Please subscribe and join us for a trip through every year of SNL. And consider joining at the Executive Producer level, where you get a whole load of extra commentary and clips that will help you become an SNL expert.