Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson are Saving SNL
Saturday Night Live (SNL) rst aired in the mid-1970s and continues to be in pro- duction. Throughout the beloved American comedy show, there have been ups and downs in its popularity. After major hiccups and ac-tor replacements in the sec- ond half of the 1990s, SNL picked up its slack with atalented cast in the early2000s. These actors, which include comedy legends like Tina Fey, Maya Ruldoph, Amy Pohler, Jimmy Fal-lon, and Kenan Thompson(who started on the show and 2003 and continues to be a regular cast member), helped to boost SNL’s rat- ings and regain momentum on American television air- waves.
Throughout the 2010s, SNL has hired and replaced various actors to try and re-gain the comedic talent ofthe previous decade. Nota- ble hires include Aidy Bry- ant, Leslie Jones (who sadly left SNL in the spring—a huge comedic loss for the show), and, of course, Kate McKinnon.
Obviously, this article is just my opinion, but McK-innon is one of the best ac- tors on the show (besides Thompson). Since her 2012 debut as a featured guest to her current position as a regular cast member, McK- innon has played a multitudeof characters that made/continue to make me laugh. Some of her famous politi- cal characters include spoton impersonations of Mas- sachusetts Senator ElizabethWarren, former DemocraticPresidential Candidate Hill-ary Rodham Clinton, formerPrime Minister of the Unit-ed Kingdom Teresa May,and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. McKinnon has also played ctional charac-ters that make the sketchesmemorable and entertaining. One of my favorite sketchesshe’s been in is titled “CloseEncounter” where she plays a country woman who had a terrible yet funny encounter with aliens. The sketch isn’t that funny until McKinnon steps in with her hilarious accent and catch phrases. “Close Encounter” is one example of the many skitsMcKinnon has saved with her comedic genius.
McKinnon and Thompson are probably given funnier characters because of their adaptability to various personalities and natural talent. The writers of the show are smart when they assign both actors these memorable roles because they both help make stupid skits funny.
I’m not saying that the other actors on the show are not funny or do not contribute noteworthy content. I personally love Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong (they both have become funnier throughout their careers), but McKinnon and Thompson have always been the best performing actors on the show.
Again, this article is just my opinion, and it can be easily refuted. For me, McKinnon is the one actor on the show that can consistently make me laugh, especially at 12:20 a.m. when I’m watching the show half asleep. To finish with a memorable quote from McKinnon as Elizabeth Warrne: “Yeah I’m into BDSM—Bank Destruction and Secured Medicare.”
