Live from Price, it’s Thursday night

This archived article was written by: Alex Holt

“Live from New York! It’s Saturday Night!” is probably one the most recognized catchphrases in television history, but as soon as you hear it, you know you are going to laugh.
Saturday Night Live! has been the staple of late night satire TV shows since its inception in the 1970s and will continue long into the late 42nd century.
The show has always been a satire on various topics like politics, celebrities, movies, cultural phenomena and awkward situations you get yourself into when you glue your hand to a wall. (Yes, I’ve done that!)
Other late night satires like Conon, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephan Colbert and Sometime Today, I guess with John Oliver. (Last Week Tonight, sorry John, don’t hate me) also both educate us on various issues all while providing us a break from the seriousness of it all.
Shows like this are important because they allow ourselves to take a step back and understand just how ridiculous some situations throughout the world can be. Don’t we all want to make jokes on if Vladimir Putin stepped on a Lego, that he might just nuke us all and then go wrestle a bear.
These shows also educate us on the important issues of day ranging from poverty, the economy, institutionalized racism and to the 2016 presidential elections, AKA the tornado that constantly follows you wherever you go despite all your efforts, you can’t escape from it 2016.
While they do educate us on important issues, they also seem to bring it to a simpler level when they bring celebrities, everyday situations, and other experiences onto their shows. This allows us to get the know the famous and as mentioned before, realize how funny life can be sometimes.
They tell us that it’s okay to laugh at ourselves, which is an important part of learning how to adult and deal with struggles in life. That small break we take laughing helps relieve stress and refocus on the tasks ahead of us.
They help us bond with others, either by making new friends because you both laugh to a fake Sean Connery impression or by strengthening bonds with old friends when you watch a comedian desperately try to sum up Harrison Ford’s hatred of Star Wars.
The point is that shows like SNL are not just some attempt to be everyone’s favorite thing to watch, but bring culture and humor together and that’s something we all could use a bit more of as globalization continues to grow and people become more inter-connected.
And now I just want to end this article by saying live from Price, it’s Thursday night!