Casualties of Common Sense

Since the continuing Writers Guild strike is affecting almost everything entertainment now, it would make absolute and perfect sense Saturday Night Live would air a rerun.  

That’s cool. I get it and so will most people, but I think whoever currently managing the show right needs to seriously consider which episode to air.  

Last Saturday it aired Alec Baldwin along with musical guest Christina Aguilera.  

Still doing good, no big deal. But as you know the devil is always in the details.  

The opening sketch showed “Rep. Nancy Pelosi” (Kristen Wiig) making a speech to the nation thanking voters in last (“Tuesday’s”) November’s election. Clue #1. So now I know it’s a little more than a year old.  

During it, she mentioned that she was looking forward to becoming Speaker of the House then about two months away.  

I could forgive SNL for this; it seems to happen a lot when they show reruns, but what happened next almost floored me.  

The second sketch parodied Saddam Hussein (played by Baldwin) meeting his two lawyers for the last time before his scheduled December hanging. (Yeah, it was a year ago. Hard to believe huh?)  

At the time, sure it would be funny, but now – I don’t know even how to describe it. Knowing the media frenzy that followed and cell phone camera debacle kind of cheapens this supposed slice of funniness.  

The show’s TV Funhouse cartoon featured Nathan’s Famous hot dog champion Takeru Kobayashi as a super hero. Too bad he lost to San Jose’s Joey Chestnut this year.  

And Seth Myers interviewed “Donald Rumsfeld” (Darrell Hammond) on his sudden departure from the Defense Department during the Weekend Update. Even Hammond doesn’t work on the show anymore!  

One delightful surprise came when Alec Baldwin imitated Tony Bennett for the “Tony Bennett Show.” He did a great job; who knew he had this hidden talent? (Ok, all of America who watched it the first time the show aired!)  

But then my excitement quickly dwindled when “Tony Bennett” mentioned to the real Tony Bennett (a guest on the show) he was going to meet or see Pavarotti perform. Pavarotti, of course died in September at the age 71.  

Then of course you have Christina Aguilera – pre-pregnancy. Minor I know. 

Maybe I have ingrown horns on my head, but all I’m asking is to find a more recent episode where nothing catastrophic happened since it originally aired. Be creative – air one episode from each decade, or highlight individual cast members, or guest hosts. I know these are not original ideas I am pitching. I’m saying just be more creative with what you have or currently don’t have.