Today...A post posted on the Saturday Night Live boards, regarding the "sorry state of affairs" at SNL...

What the hell is wrong with SNL?

If you ask me, plenty. And last night's Ashlee Simpson reprise, an apparent attempt to cover up the debicle created by her last appearance on the show, seemed only indicative of the sad state of affairs at SNL. Was last night's audience paid, planted, or what? A real audience would have booed her sorry no-talent [censored] off the stage, but somehow, she held her own, and belted out two no-talent songs. Kanye West, where are you when we need you? Well, at least by next week, we have Franz Ferdinand to look forward to.

First, the cast: WTF. Every few years, there comes a lull in the talent and personality in the cast of SNL. Consider the featured casts of the early eighties and the mid-ninties. It wasn't until the likes of Sandler, Farley, Spade, and later, Oteri, Farrell, Shannon, Hammond (just to name a few) revived the show and gave us new personalities and characters WORTH tuning into every week. It's obvious that this season is not the IT cast, nor does it seem this will be the IT season. The addition of new cast members who can only manage a dead-on imitation of "name-your-favorite-movie-star" is no real talent, and simply acting like a college frat boy on air is not going to cut it. Not with me anyway. Plus, there's a baby-boom on SNL, and two of the most talented and versatile females on the show are temporarily out of commission, Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph. While Horatio Sanz is adequately prepared to take the place behind the Weekend Update desk, the duo of Sanz and Poeler is a long shot and a far call from the glory days of Akroyd/Curtin, Norm Macdonald, Collin Quinn, and Fey/Fallon. Sanz gift on air is presence and impersonation. Doesn't matter if it's Elton John or Gene Shallit. His impersonations are hilarious, charming, without being too dead-on to strike marvel and awe in the viewers. Still, and sadly, Weekend Update is in transition, and personally, I'd rather get my "fake news" from the Daily Show.

Another remarkable thing about SNL as an institution is it's always growing up. Since its inception, SNL has never been content, and changes in cast and production have always been a boon to it. But like I said, every few years, it's obvious Lorne needs to rethink the formula, and cater to the changing target audience of late night TV. The adult fare of the early years has been replaced with the MTV-savy, bubble-gum pop of recent days. It works, but in a way, it works only because it has to in order to survive in a Saturday night, 11:30 time slot. Consequently, the writing has suffered, and jokes are half-assed, and the audience seems to be a little too forgiving of platic-pop-production Ashlee Simpson, who caused the biggest musical shocker on air since the infamous Sinead O'Connor/Pope John Paull II picture ripping incident.

In its growing pains, as Lorne Micheals seeks to perfect the perfect late-night variety show formula, let's not forget better days are always ahead. Being a cast member on SNL not means just having talent. Anyone has talent, but only a select few, Radner, Farley, Belushi, etc. had had the character and personality to back it up, on and off air. No matter if they were in front of the camera or not, they made Saturday Night Live an cultural institution unto itself. True to say, there are cast members who are an asset to the show this year, and those that are not. Fey, Rudolph, Armisen, Sanz, Poeler, Meyers, Forte, Dratch, Parnell, and the ever-ready veteran, Hammond. Here's hoping the new cast members will earn their stripes, and if not, be politely excused from SNL, which seems to be sufferring from that dreaded lull in its production, writing, cast, creativity, and savy that comes about every few years.