Idle Chatter
by William Ham
Yawn, more late-weekend-night TV intrigue. As SNL continues the painful public refurbishing of its creaky (but still standing) foundation, yet another pretender to the irreverent sketch-com throne has wandered into the arena. And you must admit, Saturday Night Special (Saturdays – really? – through May, 11 PM, Fox) has a formidable presence leading its attack – comedy’s Queen Bitch herself, Roseanne. Advance word had it that SNS would be a fresher-smelling beast than its adversary: a faster pace, a slicker look, and a different third word in its title. Oh, and a new attitude too – Rosey wants to strike a blow to the cojones of that other show’s boys-club atmosphere. (I guess the mud-wrestling sketch in the premiere was really a tacit evocation of feminist values). Having only seen the first show as I write this, it would be unfair to make any swift judgments as to the ultimate value of SNS, but, judging by the not-unpromising debut and the condition of the other sketch shows on the air (including Mad TV, ABC’s Dana Carvey Show, and the old boy itself), allow me to give a gentle word of advice: TRY SOMETHING NEW!!! For all the pre-premiere blather, SNS is not appreciably different from that which preceded it. It’s telling, for example, that both it and SNL did Full Metal Jacket basic-training parodies on the same night. Sketch comedy is, by nature, a limited format, but the lasting practitioners (like M—-y P——n and the K—s in the H—l) always manage to bring something unique to the form. That doesn’t mean jokes about crack babies instead of jokes about fat guys falling through coffee tables, nor does it mean having two musical guests instead of one; it means sharpening your approach, messing with the format, presenting new viewpoints. Roseanne’s no dummy (and I say this not just because she’d trounce the crap out of me if I said otherwise), so it’s still possible that SNS may start tilting at those windmills before its trial run is through. I certainly hope so; I’m beginning to weary of getting most of my laughs these days from C-SPAN.
