I'm so old that I can dimly remember when Saturday Night Live (SNL) was "must see TV," as it was occasionally mildly amusing.  But I matured; they didn't.

Wait, no!  This isn't another rant bemoaning the steep downhill comedic slope of the (supposedly) once great Saturday Night Live because of the shallowness and general ineptness of the younger generation.  The so called Millennials, along with their slightly older and slightly younger siblings, apparently agree with me, according to the ratings for the program's 47th (yeah, that's old, but not as old as Joe Biden [D]) season premiere.  (No, I didn't realize that it returned for a new season either.)

So, despite Wuflu's negative effect on alternative entertainment options which would seemingly provide a ready audience

"SNL" Ratings Update: Season Premiere Down More than 50% from Last Year's, Even with End of Season 46

Last night's Season 47 premiere had just 3.5 million viewers, which was the same for the last two episodes of Season 46 last May. (snip)

Of course, last year at this time the election made "SNL" hot, and there was huge demand for political comedy. The Rock show was also the first one back in the studio after the pandemic had made "SNL" virtual.

But the ratings last season dropped precipitously after the election was over. By January they'd leveled off to a regular "SNL" rating  of 4.1 million. But then, after Nick Jonas hosted on February 27th, around 500,000 fans left and never came back. Why? Who knows?

And a tasteless — not to mention unfunny — sketch mocking the search for Brian Laundrie, who allegedly murdered his fiancée, Gabby Petito, alienated some viewers who normally would be amused by Pete Davidson as reality star Dog the Bounty Hunter.  (I admit, I also hadn't heard of the latter character until I read about the sketch.)

NBC's long-running comedy sketch series builds its shows around the week's most prominent headlines, but making a joke related to Laundrie, whose location remains unknown, soon after Petito's death did not sit will (sic) with some "SNL" viewers. 

This callousness just might spur another viewer exodus of moderates, who watch the show out of habit because there is nothing else to do late at night during these pandemic times.

In case you're interested — or not — Kim Kardashian is hosting this Saturday night.  Yes, I also have more interesting plans then. 

Image via Picryl.

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