Posted on 08/01/2025 4:22:00 AM PDT by dennisw
Saturday Night Live could be axed by NBC when its elderly creator and producer Lorne Michaels finally steps down from the money-losing show, an expert predicted.
Robert Thompson, who founded the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, shared the gloomy forecast after Stephen Colbert's talk show was canceled by CBS.
He thinks NBC may be moved to axe legendary sketch comedy show SNL and Michaels' other shows for the network - The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers - when the 80-year-old mogul decides to retire. Speaking days after CNBC revealed SNL, Fallon and Meyers lose a combined $100 million a year, Thompson said, '(Lorne Michaels) cant keep doing that forever.
'If he decides to retire, or cant do those shows anymore, NBC would be [in] an interesting position.' He continued, adding the network would have the 'opportunity to get out of late night in one fell swoop instead of overhauling every program.
'It would be the easiest time to say, we had a good run.' Thompson told the Daily Mail part of the reason the shows are 'vulnerable' is the challenge that NBC faces in replacing Michaels, a visionary who first created SNL in 1975.
SNL remains a cultural zenith that attracts the most elite of A-list celebrities to guest host and perform musical acts. It's also been a launch pad for some of the greatest names in comedy
It costs $4 million an episode to produce, or around $100 million a year annually.
But even those numbers are not enough to help SNL or its stablemates Fallon and Meyers cover their costs with traditional advertising, CNBC reported, which has declined across the board as viewers shun linear TV for streamers.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I stopped a few years earlier than that when I had my babies and was not staying up to watch late night TV. I remember Hartman well. So sad about his murder!
Funny how losing money didn’t matter until Trump cut-off the USAID spigot.
And that "conservative" was Liz Cheney.
“Maybe they could try being funny.”
Kinda hard to do when they’re seething with blind hatred for anything or anybody that appears to be to the right of libertarianism.
Conservative Victoria Jackson was a comedian on snl from ‘86 to ‘92 and told horrific stories about the libs on that show harassing her constantly for her political views.
Jan Hooks for instance was a particularly nasty piece of work.
Hows its lasted this long is a miracle.
“money didn’t matter until Trump cut-off the USAID spigot”
Yep, that would explain the dem nuclear meltdown perfectly.
SCTV > SNL
true story- they were talented and funny in the 1970’s , but after that, it’s just been really bad. The original cast members were hideously talented. They were kind of like the American version of Monty Python. For the life of me, I don’t know why it’s still on. It’s kind of like The Simpsons The Simpsons were good for about 10 seasons and then that was it. I think they actually make The Simpsons now in Korea and they just kind of spit it out. It’s probably AI anyway
I thought, what if SNL weren’t woke, would there be material for live sketch comedy?
1) The Math Olympiad with Asians from many countries doing so well
2) Sydney Sweeney getting into tight-fitting jeans
3) The woman who was trying to smuggle turtles in her bra
Obviously, what is funny about these topics is politically incorrect, therefore verboten.
Conservative Victoria Jackson was a comedian on snl from ‘86 to ‘92
Most of the ones from that era are now conservatives: Dennis Miller, Rob Scheider, and Jon Lovitz, to name a few.
I forgot about Victoria Jackson completely.
She did a live comedy sketch ages ago at local club and was funny.
I’d rather have vintage SCTV comedy over SNL.
Fridays > SNL.....The Kids In The Hall > SNL.....Mad TV > SNL.....In Living Color > SNL
Just axe the whole network.
LOL. These SNL threads are hilarious. 50 people will post how horrible it is, so they “haven’t watched it in 30 years!”
How do they know it’s so bad when they haven’t watched it in decades?
“Shut up subterfuge!”
I could write a hilarious skit on the math olympiad with 5 high energy asians and a Snoop Dog style black guy competing. I might have to let the black guy win but it could be hilarious.
SCTV
Agree
hey if snl is begging for ad dollars
maybe AE and Dunkin could buy some ad time
wouldnt that be a hoot
lefty heads exploding would register on the richter scale
SNL with that crew created entertainment that appealed to the whole country. Then they went to Northeast US humor. Then to New York City humor. The rest of us were watching not understanding any of it. It became one big inside joke.
I quit watching the show in the early 80’s because of this.
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