Whenever there’s a major event in the world, it’s fair to assume that Saturday Night Live (SNL) is going to get some jabs in. Well, the cast wasted no time poking fun at the Luigi Mangione situation. The only problem is that the cold open is not getting a positive reception.
December 14th’s episode of SNL, hosted by Chris Rock, starts with a spoof episode of Crime Stories With Nancy Grace, with Sarah Sherman taking on the role of the TV personality. Of course, she begins by touching on something every other late-night show has been: social media’s obsession with Mangione’s looks.
“And, of course, everyone online celebrated the hard work of law enforcement in apprehending this dangerous criminal,” she said. “Just kidding! Y’all psychos made him a sex symbol.”
Sherman’s Grace proceeds to read tweets from thirty commenters, calling them out for having no shame when talking about someone she considers to be a “murderer.” After moving on from that topic and dealing with an interruption from Marcello Hernández’s gym bro, it looks like SNL is about to get serious and discuss the status of healthcare in the United States. Unfortunately, more jokes start flying, and viewers aren’t happy about it.
“Pretty pitiful sidestepping the real issue that is healthcare in America,” said one Reddit user. “They just used luigi for ratings. It didn’t touch on any real issue, didn’t make any point whatsoever, it just wasn’t funny. SNL stopped being subversive 40 years ago. Corporate sponsored dribble.”
“SNL is so lame, what a cowardly opening act to use Luigi’s name for ratings and views but not talk about the issue at hand or why people are actually supporting him,” added another. “This is why the show is so irrelevant now, they roll over for their corporate overlords and no longer push the envelope.”
More than a few commenters on the Reddit post claim seeing advertisements for healthcare companies while watching SNL, which may explain why punches were pulled. Of course, it would be far from the first time this has happened. It’s hard to tune into a channel without seeing an ad for something healthcare-related. However, it does open up a conversation about whether a program should touch on a topic they’re not able to cover from every angle.
That’s probably part of the reason social media has become such a hub for comedy. The platforms have plenty of problems, sure, but the people using them don’t have to answer to anyone, which allows them to push the envelope. While that can go wrong in a lot of ways, at least it’s authentic and there’s never any meat left on the bone. SNL will never have that opportunity, which means the Mangione cold open is unlikely to be the last time the storied show faces backlash for not taking things far enough.
Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 PM on Saturdays on NBC.
Published: Dec 16, 2024 09:50 am