A lot of the SNL folks from the late 80s turned out to be conservative, Victoria Jackson, Dennis Miller, even Jon Lovitz, has come out against Obama.
The late 80s cast was still pretty funny. Nothing new or original, but still managed to pull through some decent schtick. "The Sinatra Group" still kills me, though I've seen it 500 times.
SNL started sliding downhill about the time that Dennis Miller left the show. Everything became more liberal and more politically correct. The comedians became too safe, afraid of offending anyone other than those (white, male, or conservative) it was safe to offend.
I still watch it occasionally. SNL to me is sort of like the crazy uncle that you used to like when you were a kid and now feel obligated to visit once in awhile, even though he's standing on the front porch in his underwear hollering at cars. It's not that I don't get their current brand of humor - I get it, I understand where they're going - it's just not funny. Lousy writing and mostly 2nd rate PC performers, in a properly diverse mix as well, makes for poor entertainment.
That, and someone needs to tell Will Ferrell - and the dozens of clones that have followed in his footsteps - that yelling the joke loudly doesn't make it any funnier.