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They are both right.
Comedy isnt a sport, but you sure can followSaturday Night Liveas if it were.
And doing so will make you enjoy it so much more.
Youre probably drawing the parallels already.
Each sketch is an inning, quarter, or period in a game.
Each episode is a game in a season.Seasonandseasonare the same word.
Lorne Michaels is like a fusion of a coach, general manager, and commissioner.
Still, thats just the first step.
Its more about how you apply this framing to interact with the show.
The easiest way to explain this is to go full metaphor.
Lets say youre watching a baseball game.
The batter gets some good wood on it and the ball flies to left-center.
The center fielder backs up to the wall.
ForSNL, this means watching a sketch as both a piece of comedy and feat of human performance.
As Seth Meyers tweeted, McCarthy was throwing a 108 mph fastball.
The fact that McCarthy stuck the landing (a different sports metaphor!)
further bolsters the comparison.
WhetherSCTVin the 80s orMr.
I am not saying to judgeSNLon a curve; judge it like a curveball.
If a sketch is bad, you wont be able to deny its bad.
The timing was off.
Didnt really have an ending.
Didnt really have an ending.
Didnt really have an ending.
Thats part of the fun!
There just isnt much use comparing it to other comedy shows.
Well, you know, except sports.
Theres also the off-season!
When a season wraps up, the real fun (for nerds) starts (for nerds).
What do they need more of?
Whos coming up in the minors?
(These sorts of conversations are happening all the time onLive from New York, theSNLsubreddit.)
Still, a lot of this front-office intrigue happens in public.
Ill give a glimpse of what we talked about.
(This was another hot topic of discussion.)
But would Michaels ever let a non-Weekend Update cast member be head writer!?!
?I wondered for months.
Michaelss Machiavellian motivations were speculated.
Why!?!?!?!?!?!?
And what does it mean forKenan Thompsons potential departure?!?!?!?!
There arent trades, but people do get drafted (i.e.
hired) and cut (fired).
Instead of playing time, theres screen time.
Not glamorous enough for ya?
Does their name rhyme with Wady Waga?
The point is, each host comes with the same intrigue as high-profile front-office moves.
All in all, sounds good, right?
How can you start?
ReadLive From New York, Tom Shales and James Andrew Millers definitive oral history of the show.
Is Kyle Mooney now just there to make bonus web content?
Will Alec Baldwins Trump ever feel like hes actually part of the show anymore?
Why has there been so much more breaking than usual?
Are we on the verge of a Villasenoraissance?
The last one isnt a question.)
Youre ready to followSaturday Night Livelike it was a sport.
I mean, it is just watching a television show.
The times in the title.
