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The Comedy of Politics
Since Chevy Chase’s acerbic satire of President Gerald Ford in 1976, “Saturday Night Live’s” comics have played a defining role in the political life of America
Marshall Fine
From the Print Edition:
Saturday Night Live: How it Shapes Our Politics & Culture, September/October 2011
(continued from page 8)
“Lorne keeps it working,” Belushi says. “He created it. He gets it. He understands the form like nobody else.”
“SNLs’” final show of the 2010–2011 season—with Justin Timberlake as host and Lady Gaga as musical guest—recorded the biggest overall audience for a season finale in 15 years, with the largest 18-to-49-year-old audience since 2004–2005’s final show. The show drew 9.8 million total viewers, slightly less than the 10 million who watched Jim Carrey host the season closer in May 1996.
“I have to guess that NBC is interested in doing anything necessary to keep the franchise alive,” Shales says. “I think Lorne is determined not to retire. Of course, nobody in show business ever thinks they’re going to die. If he dies, it will probably be in that job. If anybody was ever born to do a job, he was born to do that.”
Contributing Editor Marshall Fine writes about film and entertainment at his website, www.hollywoodandfine.com
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