Saturday Night Live is one of the staples of American television. The live sketch comedy show has been on air for nearly 50 years now, having premiered on NBC on 11 October 1975.
To be fair, they also have a history of going ‘harder’ on Republican politicians than Democrats, starting with the portrayal of President Gerald Ford by Chevy Chase, one of the original cast members, back in 1975. Decades later, Chase admitted that his preference for President (then-candidate) Jimmy Carter played a part in how he depicted Ford on the show.
Now, we have another candid revelation from an SNL alumnus, Dana Carvey (in the cast between 1986 and 1993). Carvey, perhaps best known for his part in the Wayne’s World films, returned to the show ahead of the 2024 election to do his impression of President Joe Biden. As he recently shared on the Fly on the Wall podcast, however, he was cautious about not being too mean when playing the 46th POTUS on the comedy show—something certainly none of the comedians on any network television show would do about President Trump.
Carvey also revealed that he decided to pull some punches because of President Biden’s mental decline, which ‘was obvious’, as he put it.
‘I knew that he [President Biden] was compromised mentally, I mean, it was obvious. But it was a delicate thing in the comedy world. There were a lot of people who did not want to do anything that would kind of ding him in an awkward way,’ the comedian stated.
Dana Carvey also played President George H W Bush on Saturday Night Live, during his original stint on the show in the late 80s–early 90s.
Is Saturday Night Live Still on the Air?
Yes, although it does not draw the ratings it used to, Saturday Night Live still airs new episodes on NBC.
It wrapped up its 50th season on 27 May this year, and its 51st season is scheduled to start this fall. Previously, both creator and Executive Producer Lorne Michaels and the longest-featured cast member in the show’s history, Kenan Thompson, have talked about ending the show after 50 seasons. However, those plans were eventually abandoned, and SNL has been renewed for another season; thus, it can celebrate its 1,000th episode soon, as it is only 12 shows away.
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