The Blog of Sideshow Theatre Company
Matt Fletcher Has a Rant about Saturday Night Live (Part 1)
May 26th, 2010
Hey blog world,
Sometimes at Sideshow, we just want to sit around, ranting and raving about the injustices of the world. And by Sideshow, I mean me. Welcome to the first of my two part series – An Open Letter to the Cast of Saturday Night Live (Part 1). Or, as my fellow blogger Ms. Megan likes to call it – Matt Fletcher has a Rant.
I can’t help it. I’m overly opinionated and now the internet gives me the chance to voice all these crazy thoughts in my brain. Lucky you!
Here goes:
Dear Mr. Saturday Night Live,
It seems to me that you have the best job in the world.
You make a handsome living in one of the biggest cities in the world, entertaining millions on prime-time network TV, hanging with the major stars of the day, performing weekly with your friends in a now-legendary entertainment institution that is now one of the longest running television shows in history.
You are following in the footsteps of Bill Murray, Gilda Ratner, John Belushi, Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, Mike Myers… the list goes on. You are living the dream. You are living your dream!
Pictured: Comedy
So why do you suck so badly at it?
How could you have forgotten what this show is about, what it showcases and what it’s supposed to do?
Why can’t you memorize your lines?
Seriously.
Acting 101, the basics, the one thing that every person alive knows that an actor is supposed to do: learn your lines.
Pictured: Acting
I know, it’s hard. You have a week—a week—to put together an hour-and-a-half long comedy show, 10 minutes dedicated to some band I probably don’t care about, 20 minutes of which is occupied by commercials… That’s… what, an hour? Tops? Oh, and you’ll likely have some pre-recorded digital shorts, the host’s monologue, the host’s epilogue (which is, by the way, the most self-congratulatory, vomit-inducing piece of gluttonous trash on the air).
Well, maybe not THE most.
So that’s… maybe 40 minutes of material?
Do you ever watch soap operas? They know their lines. They get their script that morning! And their show goes up in less than a day! And that’s 45 minutes of…this.
Pictured: …whatever this is.
SO WHY CAN’T YOU MEMORIZE YOUR LINES?
STAY TUNED for part 2, arriving at your fancy computer machines tomorrow. Don’t you just love a good rant? Makes me feel like it’s a new day!
Yours in angry, unjustified soap-box blogging,
Fletcher
I don’t know if Richard shared this chestnut with you when you took Acting III, but he mentioned in our Auditions class (from his personal soap experience) that most soap operas employ cue cards liberally, in a place where they can stare off dramatically at a proper moment. Same goes with commercials. Granted it’s no excuse, because I agree that the level of professionalism should be a bit higher–just that the soap opera comparison isn’t necessarily a fair one, as they have even more nets than SNL (i.e., cue cards, multiple takes, not being live). Now Broadway shows with prompters sitting in the front row for the likes of Matthew Broderick? That’s just wrong.
Anal retentively yours,
Adam Smith
I agree with the author of the wealth of nations; The “shoot from the hip” style that most writers and cast members employ often makes for bad television. Conversely, a show like MadTV that got cancelled seemed like the writers and actors worked hard to make sure it was polished and sometimes once in a blue moon it paid off in the form of sketches that were ten times funnier than anything that SNL has ever done in its 30+ year history. Over-rated celebrity hosts and the hour and a half time slot should be reconsidered. Don’t be afraid of the soap box on this one…