Saturday Night Live and Diversity
In August, SNL hired six new cast members. Five were replacements for Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Tim Robinson, Jason Sudekis, and the soon to be gone Seth Meyers. All five of these men were white, which sparked outrage for the cast's lack of diverse actors. They also hired a white female, and although she is part Tunisian, people still weren't happy.
Then came Kenan Thompson's comment about how black female comedians just weren't ready for the show. Meanwhile, both Jay Pharoah and show creator Lorne Michaels acknowledged the issue. The issue even found itself as the issue of a cold open that featured Kerry Washington that aired in November. In the sketch, Washington is forced to portray Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Beyoncé. An onscreen text read by an announcer apologized to Washington, and said they would be working to resolve the issue.
Also appearing was Rev. Al Sharpton, who introduced himself and said "What have we learned from this sketch? As usual, nothing." He then went on to shout the shows opening line. This was one of my favorite cold opens from the season so far, but it did prove quite the point.
In December, news came that auditions were being held for a black female cast member. Many people quit squabbling when Sasheer Zamata was hired on January 6th, but now people are complaining about how there are no Hispanics and such. I think they have enough cast members right now because several of them barely get screen time in a show, so maybe this issue should be put to rest. Besides, it won't be much longer before some of the veterans start leaving, and that's when they should be replaced with diverse men and women.
As for the story, I have plowed into Chapter 21 this week, which involves a showdown in Walmart and is a bit longer then most of the chapters so far. It also introduces several characters into the story. And yes, the story has left Chicago!
I'll update this again on Friday, January 24th.
Then came Kenan Thompson's comment about how black female comedians just weren't ready for the show. Meanwhile, both Jay Pharoah and show creator Lorne Michaels acknowledged the issue. The issue even found itself as the issue of a cold open that featured Kerry Washington that aired in November. In the sketch, Washington is forced to portray Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Beyoncé. An onscreen text read by an announcer apologized to Washington, and said they would be working to resolve the issue.
Also appearing was Rev. Al Sharpton, who introduced himself and said "What have we learned from this sketch? As usual, nothing." He then went on to shout the shows opening line. This was one of my favorite cold opens from the season so far, but it did prove quite the point.
In December, news came that auditions were being held for a black female cast member. Many people quit squabbling when Sasheer Zamata was hired on January 6th, but now people are complaining about how there are no Hispanics and such. I think they have enough cast members right now because several of them barely get screen time in a show, so maybe this issue should be put to rest. Besides, it won't be much longer before some of the veterans start leaving, and that's when they should be replaced with diverse men and women.
As for the story, I have plowed into Chapter 21 this week, which involves a showdown in Walmart and is a bit longer then most of the chapters so far. It also introduces several characters into the story. And yes, the story has left Chicago!
I'll update this again on Friday, January 24th.
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