Jon22: The Website of Jonathan Dobres

Saturday Night Live is lucky—extremely lucky—that we just wrapped up an election year. One of the Vice Presidential candidates just happened to be a comically overconfident anti-feminist nightmare, and also just happened to bear a striking resemblance to one of SNL‘s funniest alumni. Given the VP’s interview skills and the cast member’s spot-on comedic sensibilities, the jokes practically wrote themselves. The nation was so invested in this election that SNL could hardly miss.

The rest of the show, though, is a complete disaster. Sketches go nowhere, characters try way too hard for Cowbell and hit only weirdness, and Andy Samberg’s Digital Shorts are clearly living off the past glory of “Dick in a Box” and “Lazy Sunday“.

You need look no further than the recent mid-season finale, hosted by Hugh Laurie. Let me say again, Hugh Laurie. The fact that the writers of SNL could take an actor like Hugh Laurie—who proved himself as a comedian before he ever stepped into Dr. House’s shoes—and churn out such willfully uncreative and unfunny drivel speaks to deep dysfunction in the writer’s room. Jokes about how sexy his British accent is? Sketches which accomplish nothing other than making Hugh Laurie look awkward? Is this really the best you could do? With Hugh Laurie? My disappointment could chill oceans.

The election is over and SNL is now faced with four years of a President who is difficult to mock. No easy stategery here, and Fred Armisen’s absolutely terrible Obama impersonation isn’t helping matters. You know what might be funny? Let Kenan Thompson have the part. If there’s no way to do a good Obama parody, the only way to be funny is to acknowledge that. Thompson is so wrong for the part that it just might work.

Seriously, SNL, you’ve got to pull out of this death spiral. You can’t count on legitimately funny people like Justin Timberlake to just show up out of the goodness of their hearts. You’ve had some recent gems, like the Don Draper thing, or the Mark Wahlberg thing (and the other one), but it’s too little spread too thin.  The only consistently funny part of the show is “Weekend Update,” but let’s be honest, you’re not The Daily Show. With Amy Poehler now departed from the anchor desk, even that well could run dry.

My fingers are crossed for the rest of the season, but I get the feeling that Saturday Night Live will continue to wallow in mediocrity for a few more years.