Saturday Night Live (SNL) has been the leading example of pushing the limits of what comedy and television could be. From its creation in 1975, SNL has been a place where celebrities take risks and cast members make statements in the form of short sketches. Comedians like Adam Sandler, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, and Jimmy Fallon started their careers at SNL, eventually becoming household names going on to win awards and host prestigious TV shows. For years, SNL was the pinnacle of American humor, the gold standard that every comedian aimed for. Which raises the question: why has SNL been so bad these last few years?
For me, the problem lies in casting. Let's face it–SNL cast members are not young. The average age for the Season 52 cast is around 34 years old. Kenan Thompson is 48. Michael Che is 47. Colin Jost is 44. The sentiment all over social media these past years has been that SNL cannot do justice to Gen-Z humor, and with its aging cast, how could it? For years SNL’s cast members have tried too hard to capture Gen-Z humor with sketches with Gen-Z lingo and social media posts. But no other sketch captures SNL's disconnect with Gen-Z humor better than “Gen-Z Hospital” from Season 46 with host Elon Musk. The sketch, while making fun of Gen-Z humor, includes zero Gen-Z aged cast members. The comments under the sketch on Youtube range from pointing out the ages of the actors to calling the video “painful” to watch. Watching the sketch myself, it is just glaringly obvious that neither the writers or actors actually know what Gen-Z humor is: the wild outfits with colored hair, the slow delivery, and words like “gang,” all point to SNL’s lack of understanding about Gen-Z.
The way cast members have been historically scouted was through building their resume through standup gigs and somehow attracting the attention of SNL producers; for decades, that was the formula. Many popular SNL cast members started their comedy careers in stand-up like John Mulaney, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Michael Che. But in 2024 when Jane Wickline was casted for Season 50, it seemed the long-standing standup to SNL pipeline had been broken. Before joining SNL, Wickline had garnered millions of views on Tiktok, being deemed the first “Tiktok influencer” to join SNL. However, Wickline’s casting did not solve SNL’s problem. In fact, her debut season was “polarizing” due to her “unique” sense of humor. A year later, SNL cast Veronica Slowikowska, another comedy Tiktoker. But the 31 year old, even with her awkward Gen-Z adjacent humor, wasn't able to get the Gen-Z audience back onboard with SNL. The shortcomings of Slowikowska and Wickline’s humor stems from their inability to holistically capture Gen-Z humor. Yes, Gen-Z does find awkward comedy to be funny; however, if this is someone’s only bit, it can get repetitive very fast. Don’t get me wrong, Slowikowska and Wickline are funny, but Gen-Z is a dynamic and diverse generation that craves dynamic and diverse comedy.
It seemed that SNL had tried everything besides actually hiring a Gen-Z cast member. This year, Grace Reiter became the first SNL cast member born in the 21st century. Like Wickline and Slowikowska, Reiter started off as a Tiktoker. Her rise to popularity came from her membership in the sketch comedy group, “American High Shorts.” Reiter and a bunch of other Gen-Z comedians post sketches about the American high school experience on TikTok. Along with her comedy group, she created a parody of the “Hunger Games” on Youtube which has amassed over 17 million views. When she announced she was cast on SNL, the online support for her was overwhelming. In Reiter’s debut SNL episode, the audience gave her a massive applause every time she appeared on screen; “Dream Academy,” a parody of a competition dance show featured Reiter as one of the main characters. The comparison from the negative comments under the “Gen-Z hospital” youtube video to the “Dream Academy” youtube video are a sign of SNL’s appeal to younger audiences growing with Reiter’s casting. For example, users write that “SNL finally in its internet humour era and it feels so good,” along with various comments of praise for Reiter.
SNL is not the only television program trying to use Reiter to attract Gen-Z audiences; It was recently announced that the group “American High Shorts” would star in Netflix’s new comedy series “Minimum Wage.” Around the same time people were criticizing SNL for its interpretation of Gen-Z humor, people were also criticizing Netflix for continuously misportraying Gen-Z stereotypes. Only time will tell if “Minimum Wage” saves Netflix just as Reiter’s membership looks to be doing forSNL. But a formula has been created, and I would not be surprised if other streaming platforms and television companies ditched their old casting methods and scouted for talent on social media instead.
Reiter might be the first SNL cast member born in the 21st century, but with her popularity and the overwhelming support of her casting, I believe with every new season more and more Gen-Z cast members will be announced. Due to her massive digital footprint with almost 1 million followers on Instagram, 4 million followers on Tiktok, and over 700k on Youtube (not including the “American High Shorts” followers), it would not be difficult to assume that Reiter’s casting in SNL brought new viewership to the program. As a long standing watcher of SNL, I am so excited to see Gen-Z humor finally being correctly represented. What has also changed with Reiter’s casting is SNL’s choice of hosts and musical guests with the program increasingly inviting Gen-Z celebrities like the “Obsession” star Inde Navarette and Gen-Z pop girl group Katseye. It seems as though SNL has finally figured out that the only way to attract younger audiences is to hire them.
