Americans SNL?

Have to agree - a lot of SNL doesn't do it for me either. As others have said, there seems to be a cultural divide.

When it originally came out it was sometimes funny but the skits now have to be so politically correct that it’s no longer even a little funny. Most of it makes no sense but the comics seem to get a kick out of each other. I haven’t watched it in years.

Mike Myers NAILED the sheer weirdness of Musk.

And Mike myers as Elon was brilliant

I saw this, it was the first time I've ever found something amusing on SNL.

They did a send up of Trump and Zelensky and have got JD Vance’s small dick energy, daddy issues energy down to tee

I’m just watching the 50th anniversary and I’m loving it. Not too political either. It’s amazing really how well those old comics and writers have done. I can’t say I like the later years but there are some gems now and then. I also really like the musicians they have on. More “live” than our bands on Graham Norton etc

Whenever I see clips I find it so unfunny. But worse than that it seems really smug too. Yanbu

Despite my name, I'm not a huge fan, but it does raise a smile occasionally. I did like Andy Samberg 'dick in a box song with Gaga. For a sketch show, I like Key & Peele. Mr Garvey substitute teacher is awesome.

I like a fair bit of it. I can appreciate a lot of different types of humour and like a varied amount of stuff.

Kate McKinnon as Bieber - absolutely nails it. The show with Kirsten Stewart, where she plays Gisele on the quiz show and McKinnon is Bieber… ace

I love Corner Gas. I found it when I was staying in Toronto this summer and then I was very excited to see that it's available to watch at home in Ohio.

Oh, and I have a t-shirt that says, "Midwest Nice." I bought it in Cleveland.

Agreed on Midwest nice! I was confused by the description of it being passive aggressive.

@knitnerd90

I think Midwest nice gets really misinterpreted outside the Midwest. We just have a cultural setting to maintain a positive attitude even if we are somewhat annoyed. It might come off as fake but to us it’s just a way to maintain good social relations.

As for Britain, I still can’t get used to personal insults being used as a sort of bonding ritual. Particularly so among men. I find it so mean-spirited lol

I also feel Americans generally get sarcasm but it’s always with a ‘tone’. The dry humor is something that totally throws a lot of us off

I’ve seen loads clips of the special from the weekend and I don’t get any of it. I’m assuming a lot of it is in jokes because it was an anniversary show and a lot cultural references I don’t know about.
Obviously there’s a lot of talent on there, but apart from the musical performances, I’ve never seen anything to tempt me to watch any of it.

Beautiful summary 😆

As an aside, the gold medal of passive aggression has to go a greetings card I found in a shop once (in London): "May this year bring everything you deserve".
Still makes me chuckle!

I think it's partly cultural and partly the nature of the show. I know when I moved to he UK it wasn't so much that I didn't get UK humour, but more that I didn't always get humour that was based around cultural references. Like I could always laugh at HIGNFY because it was current and topical, but I wouldn't (back then) have understood This Country.

SNL has always been hit and miss, which I think is part of the point. It's ensemble sketch comedy, put together in a week, some topical, some not. I think the idea behind it was partly to bring the audience into it by having a cast they formed an attachment to and letting the cast try things out. They've had some brilliant writers and comedians over the years. They probably have more misses than hits, but the hits can be very funny.

My kids grew up here, but 2 went back to the US for university, and I remember them being shocked that their friends didn't get The In Betweeners and Peep Show - I do think Americans often find cringe comedy difficult.

There are lots I find funny but certainly not all of it. I like most of the weekend updates because I like Colin Jost and others that stand out are Jumanji one and the Avatar font one. To the PP who asked, you can watch on their YouTube channel or Tiktok.

I disagree with "Americans don't get sarcasm". That's an overused trope. They just do it differently. I feel like which comedians translate is a bit more subtle than that. There's the obvious things, that the humour or subject matter is very nationally or culturally specific. I think to Americans, Ricky Gervais just comes off like an arsehole instead of funny and I don't think it's because of sarcasm. I can't explain why, because I don't like him either! Americans have a hard time with a specific strain of British understatement. If a British person says something is "quite nice," the American thinks they don't like it very much and they're being polite. By the same token, if you say something very neutral and you actually mean "that is a terrible idea and you are a dribbling idiot," they don't get that either. The British use this way of expressing themselves so much that we take it as natural. Americans only do it sometimes. It's like if a Southerner says "bless your heart." Northerners think it's always passive aggressive, but no. Sometimes it's straight (your neighbour heard you were in the hospital and brought a casserole, and she's a great cook. Bless her heart!) Sometimes it means "You're an asshole," and you have to infer through experience which one it is. As a rule Americans are more direct, especially on the east coast, and sarcasm is less used in interpersonal communication unless you're trying to insult someone. Don't ask me to navigate Midwest Nice, though, which is candy-coated passive-aggression.

TBH the British "I'm going to insult you and call it a compliment" is difficult to navigate. I'm autistic and it can be difficult to tell when it's a real insult (with the sandwich of "I'm going to insult you, use it to pretend we're mates, but actually the insult is real"). Americans are more straightforward and tend to signal sarcasm by tone. "How are you today?" "Hit by a bus on the way to work. Absolutely wonderful, thank you for asking!")

This Reddit thread is quite funny though.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/4q66fi/do_americans_understand_sarcastic_humour/

Little Britain wasn't even funny here never mind.being shown abroad! I don't even think little Britain is repeated anywhere.

SNL has been going 50 years that's good going for something that isn't funny. I watch it .here and there some of the humour hits some of it goes over my head, they do.satire of US culture that I don't understand, I really don't think it's aimed at "us" though.

Absolutely a huge cultural difference. The show isn’t made for Brits - it’s made for Americans who find it funny. In the same way I don’t find any of the old British comedies remotely funny at all.

I find it funny but there are some skits that I don't understand because they are about American life/politics which im not experiencing.

I wouldn't expect anyone other than British based people to understand a skit impersonating Jacob Rees-Mogg or thr despair a job seekers appointment

@MarketSt I'm a similar age to you and I think it might be because SNL is SO American- it's the cultural complexities and in jokes that are hard to grasp if they don't relate to your every day, so it's not funny, just strange.

Also films aimed at an international audience will be designed to appeal broadly. So yes, still American but accessible in their references and set ups in a way that SNL doesn't have to be. I still don't rate a lot of the attempted comedy.

Then again someone upthread mentioned Fawlty Towers which I've never found remotely funny despite being English. Even when you're clued in, humour doesn't necessarily land.

Watched it several times over the decades and, not only did I not think it funny, but just didn’t get most of it. I did see one of the Baldwin brothers do Donald Trump in his last presidency and thought it humorous but that’s been the sum total. Would rather watch paint dry. But, some people obviously think it good or it wouldn’t have lasted decades like it has so power to them.

I don’t get it either but find many of the former cast funny in other things. I assume it’s a cultural gap.