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In response to the rise of internet content, the show started producing digital sketches. Please Don’t Destroy’s digital format is only one part of its appeal, however, and SNL has never been afraid to change things up.
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What Stacey Abrams Is Really Doing in Georgia The Worst Person on This Week’s House of the Dragon Can’t Keep a SecretĪ Guide to the Cheating Scandal Roiling the World of Chess The Woman King Softens the Truth of the Slave Trade.This is at odds with the format of most of the show’s sketches, where timing and delivery vary from dress rehearsal to the live show. The trio reportedly shoots dozens of takes for every few seconds of footage in an attempt to get the perfect reaction shot, the perfect line delivery. After all, most of the techniques that allow them to infuse so much energy into their sketches aren’t available to live performances. It’s possible, however, that the style of Please Don’t Destroy can’t be fully replicated. Most fans accept these as inevitable limitations of the show, but it’s grown less tolerable after seeing PDD avoid all of these issues every time the group makes it on air. And perhaps because pandemic protocols limit rehearsal time, it’s never seemed more obvious that most of the performers are reading their lines off cue cards. That’s not to say there aren’t still problems with the rest of the live show. There’s still no shortage of sketches that are essentially one joke repeated with slight variations for five minutes straight, and it’s common for sketches to end without a proper conclusion. (Last week’s Ariana DeBose-hosted episode did feature a musical monologue, but in fairness to the show she was there to promote an actual musical.) Whereas the political content previously seemed more concerned with getting a rise out of people within the Trump administration than with being funny, the show as a whole this season has started leaning more into the weird, absurdist sensibilities seen in a PDD sketch. Some of this may just be COVID-related, as it’s easier for the show’s high-strung production schedule to run smoothly when almost everyone involved’s been following the same safety measures all season, but that’s not the only area where the show’s changed recently. None of the monologues have relied on musical bits or gimmicky Q&As from the audience, two crutches the monologue writers seemed to rely on throughout the 2010s. The Kardashian episode aside, the 47 th season has shied away from celebrity cameos, allowing more actual cast members to take up the major roles in cold opens. The renewed focus on the cast is part of why the new season of SNL has felt so fresh overall. Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.