Is 2016-present legitimately the worst era of SNL ever?
According to someone on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/jreng2/is_this_the_worst_era_of_snl_ever/
Reliance on Trump's antics the last 4 years rather than writing their own jokes/sketches.share
Reliance on so few cast members too much. I love Kenan and I have no issues with Kate or Beck, but I get the impression the writers only trust those 3 to hold together a sketch. Think about Beck especially, he's the straight white male in almost every single sketch that needs one where the same role could convincingly be played by 5 others.
They have no idea how to utilize Melissa, Kyle or Bowen. All 3 very talented with very different styles, but only ever get a spotlight as an Update guest with a character they've created.
It feels like they strive for controversial headlines in the news rather than a top to bottom good show now. As recent as only a few years ago, if SNL was trending it was because of a sketch that everyone needed to see (David Pumpkins or Kate's Alien Abduction), now the only time I see SNL trending is if a monologue is divisive and edgy or there's some kind of attention grabbing shock moment.
Same sketch formats over and over. I know this has always kind of been a thing, but they have no stand out sketch formats at the moment. Think about how many times in the last couple of seasons a show has consisted of a Bachelor parody, News field reporter interviewing people with embarrassing name or story, Kenan hosted game show, rap music video about a non-typical rap subject, couples dinner date, board room meeting. That covers about 90% of the last 2-3 years.