SNL has lasted 43 years... and continuing. Why? Here's the real reason.

Saturday Night Live aired for the first time on October 11, 1975 and is now in its 44 year and counting. SNL has proven itself to be a lot of things to a lot of people...  and it remains today the most poignant show ever on television.

poingnat, adjective,, evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret, "a poignant reminder of the passing of time." Synonyms: touching, moving. sad, affecting, etc. AND FUNNY, sometimes... or not.

If you think much hasn't changed since 1975, you are probably eight years old, but just imagine, we didn't even have the internet, for God's sake! And Pong was the TV game that had us all agog at how far we had come.

Times change so fast with no way to to socially feel then from now unless we look backward. 

SNL has the only format that, for 43 years and continuing, keeps us current, lampooning life of the moment. It's not funny if it's not current.  SNL has skewered every president since Ford and many of them  and other important figures of the day have even made cameos and more to ride with the jokes and skits. Sarah Palin was there with Tina Fey and Barack Obama appeared several times. If you haven't seen Kate McKinnon do Hilary Clinton at the piano playing and singing Hallelujah just days after she lost the Presidency, (no matter what your politics) that was poignantly perfect.

SNL has had its tender moments to help us reflect, like days after 9/11 and other momentous happenings. John McCain has been on numerous times and even hosted once in 2002 and in memoriam, SNL replayed many of those bits.

It is the timely humor that often gives us a grounding of who we are and where we are at the moment. And if we ca't laugh at ourselves, then we are in even worse shape today than it actually feels.

SNL often does political humor from all sides and occasionally uses material that touches the edges but that's what happens when you go at life with few limitations. We are sometimes irreverent and over the borderline ourselves as a people. There is no "hands off" in life as we have plainly seen these past few years.

There have been 151 "regulars" on the show since John Belushi's time and a large number of "Not

ready for prime time" supporting them. There have been more than 850 skits not counting the fabled "News" segments, all about us.

Lorne Michael at Emmy time

Lorne Michael has been the head genius from day one,44 years ago. He must be to pull an incredible
different kind of cast nd writers week after week to produce every show "live," not counting the reruns and various repeat  combinations.


How hard it must be to do that over time with every year bringing updated ideas to production and hold an ever changing audience of fans... and non-fans as well. 

I actually saw a show a number of years back and was amazed as how it all came together.

But, like it or not, SNL is the only one of all in the public domain that has occupied this poignant stage for 43 years and counting. It's a poingnat lampoon of who we are and where we are by a brassy, funny, evolving cast that makes a living pretending to be us, figuratively, with our cloths off.

Here's to the watchers who can laugh. I truly wish there were more who could laugh more often. But it's hard to laugh when you are mad. 

Want more? GO HERE and enjoy.