Too many players may weaken the show, I’m not sure.  Look at its heyday during the first few seasons: a handful of actors and writers, and it made history.  Which isn’t to say that the current players are weak—on the contrary, individually they are all solid performers.

Maybe Lorne thought that overt competition would produce the best performances.  And, from a purely acting standpoint, I think they’re well done.  In my view, it is the writing and/or politics-of-selection that has caused SNL’s recent decline.  If I had my druthers, they would have a rule of no more than 3 sketches for any given character.

I do dislike the idea of shortening SNL to 60 minutes (unless they cut the musical guest—which lately has been the Billboard band du jour).  I recall some of the best sketches appearing in the last half hour.  It seems like that’s when the writers get a little more leeway to put on the weird and experimental stuff.  Granted, there is a lot of crap that gets in that slot, but not worth cutting the show by one-third for.

I like the idea of cutting it to 60 minutes.  It would hopefully force the writers to shorten the sketches and cut the bad ones, and an episode would not overstay its welcome.  Even at its best it is kind of a slog to get through an episode.

SNL needs to be fearless.  Give people a reason to tune in.  The Daily Show has outdone Weekend Update, and even old Mr. Show episodes feel fresher than current SNL.

I can accept the fact that they will do sketches on current politics and pop culture, though that’s not my favorite kind of sketch humor.

After writing the initial “cut the show down to 60 minutes” comment, I have an idea that can allow SNL to have 90 minutes of TV airtime, yet also have one show that is 60 minutes long.

Shorten the main show to 60 minutes (obviously), but what about doing a 30 minute primetime SNL “satellite” show. Hasn’t NBC toyed around with the idea of bringing SNL into primetime in the past? Then why not make a sketch comedy show that’s short and sweet and can be a teaser to connect to the main show.

It can bridge both markets and focus creative energies more.  At least in theory.

I used to agree that 60 minutes made more sense, but I’ve recently thought otherwise. For the past five years (when I can bear to watch), I’ve noticed that some of the edgier and funnier sketches are going on after 12:30, while much of the deadweight sits in the first hour, probably because they tend to put their worst recurring sketches ("Gays in Space") up front.

I think everyone’s glad to see Sanz go. Pohler’s SNL’s Kobe Bryant—massively talented, but needs to share the ball a lot more.

Finally, I don’t know any of the writers on the show, but the writing over the past few years has kind of disgusted me with its intolerance. Particularly the sketches with Finesse and Kenan have bothered me—they all seem to be plays on “aren’t black people lazy?” or “aren’t black people ignorant?” There’s a HUGE difference between making fun of racism and making fun of races.