It probably shouldn't be a big deal that Saturday Night Live just hired a black female performer to its cast. Yet here we are. Sasheer Zamata will be the first such member of the cast since Maya Rudolph left the show in 2007. She'll make her debut next when SNL returns from its winter hiatus this Saturday, Jan. 18.
The show took heavy criticism before its most recent season began when six new performers — five of them white males, the other a white female — were added to the cast. It certainly didn't look very progressive, especially as the show continues to evolve and attempts to stay relevant among today's entertainment and cultural offerings.
While departing cast members — including Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Jason Sudekis —weren't a melting pot of ethnicities, it did seem like executive producer Lorne Michaels had whiffed on an opportunity to make his cast more interesting. With comedians able to promote themselves on their work on YouTube and podcasts, the pool of available talent seems deeper than ever. Michaels couldn't possibly claim that it was difficult for him to find talented black (along with Latino and Asian) performers for his show.
But to be fair to Michaels, perhaps he hired the six most talented people who had recently auditioned for SNL. The season premiere poked fun at this with skits like "New Cast Member or Arcade Fire?" But that commented more on the huge cast turnover, rather than how homogenous the group of performers now appeared.
Is Michaels obligated to make the cast as diverse as possible? Maybe not for social reasons. But how about for comedy reasons? Having a versatile group of performers simply allows SNL to cover a greater range of possibilities, seemingly enabling the writers and cast to create virtually any skit without self-imposed limits. The show's current restrictions were exposed on the Nov. 2 episode, hosted by Scandal's Kerry Washington.
Again, SNL tried to own up to the cast's limitations by making fun of them in the show's cold open, in which Washington has to play Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey (and is also asked to portray Beyonce in the skit). Obviously, she can't be on stage as both characters at the same time and has to run off to change costumes.
The script also included a reference to Kenan Thompson refusing to dress up as Oprah. Nearly a month earlier, Thompson said he wouldn't dress in drag to play a black woman until the show hired a black female cast member. (Thompson also caused an uproar when he said black women that had auditioned for SNL weren't ready to be on the show.)
But sometimes acknowledging a problem — even in self-deprecating fashion — simply makes it glaringly apparent. Though SNL's writers and performers found the humor in the cast's lack of diversity, drawing attention to it made the questions grow louder. What is the show going to do about this? When will Michaels make the obvious move and hire another black female cast member?
Presumably, these questions have been addressed with Zamata's hiring. At least for the time being. We'll find out quickly if Zamata — an Upright Citizens Brigade alumnus — was added to the cast in an attempt to quiet down the diversity uproar or if the show legitimately intends to take advantage of a more well-rounded cast that can play a variety of characters. That could mean that Zamata's debut on the Jan. 18 episode of SNL will suffer from unfair scrutiny.
What if she's only used in one skit? What if her part in that skit isn't very large? Maybe SNL will throw Zamata right into the deep end and have her play Michelle Obama right away. (Or maybe she can play Oprah, wondering why she didn't receive an Oscar nomination for The Butler.) While this likely isn't the sole reason Zamata was hired, it couldn't have hurt her case that she's previously portrayed the first lady in her comedy and will presumably do so often in the future.
Yet if it turns out Zamata was, in fact, largely hired to play Michelle Obama and is only used when a skit includes the first lady, will SNL's cast truly be more diverse? The show might be more versatile and wouldn't get trapped into forcing (jokingly or not) one performer — or guest host — into playing more than one black character. But adding a black female to the cast and then marginalizing her would be nearly as bad as not having such a cast member in the first place. What would really have changed?
Unfortunately, SNL has some history of not utilizing its performers to the best of their abilities. Look at Chris Rock. Can you remember him doing anything truly memorable on the show? Instead, he broke out as a comedian and actor after leaving the cast. Tracy Morgan might fit into that category as well. While he may be remembered affectionately, he became far more famous away from SNL.
But performers such as Garrett Morris, Tim Meadows and Maya Rudolph have succeeded on the show, even if they didn't become breakout stars. Thompson has too, and Pharoah seems to be on his way to doing so. Ideally, Zamata will be the next to succeed — perhaps even thrive — rather than be eventually discarded like Ellen Cleghorne.
However, her chances of success might be stronger because of two other additions SNL made to the show. Perhaps even more important than adding Zamata to the cast was the hiring of two black female writers soon afterwards. LaKendra Tookes and Leslie Jones both joined the writing staff after auditioning for the show in the same wave of performers from which Zamata emerged. While there aren't currently plans for Tookes and Jones to join the cast, writers have transitioned to onscreen roles in the past. Seth Meyers and Sudeikis are two such breakouts. New cast member Mike O'Brien is the latest to go from the writers room to the cast.
Will there be pressure on Zamata, Tookes and Jones to succeed? Certainly. But there's arguably just as much pressure on the show to make sure they become valued members of the production. Otherwise, they could be perceived as token hires, made to placate an increasingly critical media and fanbase. SNL has shown it's willing to acknowledge its flaws and listen to criticisms. But how these latest additions are utilized will show how willing the show is to answer its critics and create a better onscreen product.
