Maybe the civil unrest in Ferguson is just too painful a topic to approach, even for a comedy show like Saturday Night Live that’s supposed to be unafraid of mining difficult topics for humor.
That could be why a funny sketch depicting the misery a local St. Louis TV morning show experiences in trying to keep things upbeat and cheery in light of riots protesting police officer Darren Wilson not being indicted for killing teenager Michael Brown didn’t make the Dec. 7 SNL broadcast on NBC, presumably cut for time. However, the sketch was posted online.
As painful as some of the jokes might be, we have had just enough distance from the story to process most details of the case which enables us to get all of the references that cause the hosts (played by Cecily Strong and Kenan Thompson) to cringe and guest Chef Darrel (James Franco) to stick his foot in his mouth. Obviously, feelings are still raw enough for those jokes to have impact, however.
Regardless, I want Leslie Jones as the traffic reporter on my local TV station. Especially in a big city that needs a helicopter to monitor the situation.
With a strong overall show, maybe there really wasn’t enough room for this sketch on the live SNL broadcast. But I’d argue it’s just as funny as anything else that made it to the air. But concerns over offending anyone or touching a hot-button topic might have been enough to convince producers and the network to keep this one online. At least we can still enjoy it that way.
