Complaints about Saturday Night Live

Government Attic posted a collection of complaints lodged with the FCC about Saturday Night Live from 2008-2012. Selections follow.

Problem Description: There is a comedy skit which repeatedly referred to and then depicted anal sex, rape and bestiality involving a man dressed in a hairy, white Yeti costume ... I am offended by the gay acceptance message this skit portrays. The implication is clear, if we got past our fear and tried anal sex, we would like it and then accept it.

Problem Description: Jamie Foxx was talking about his new movie on SNL and explaining how he got to kill all the white people in the movie.

Problem Description: I am shocked at the crap (violence and itiot shows)that is on tv that is why I watch cable educational channels. We are getting stupider by the day allowing this filth on tv. TV is the babysitter of children. I don't want to watch this filth and kids see crap everyday. Television teaches children the wrong messages. Television cannot get any worse, can it? This country is in trouble viewing these shows. Are you listening to complaints?

Problem Description: in this episode of saturday night live nbc aired to the unsuspecting public real images of a woman's vagina not fully covered by her pink leotard+real pornographic images of a woman's nude butt not fully covered by her leather underwear all of which are vulgar, unlawful, pomographic, unconstitutional and goes against all standards of decency within all 50 states that comprise the usa.

Problem Description: In a skit, a cast member said "fucking". I'd also like to complain that Saturday Night Live is not funny.

Problem Description: Lorne Greene ought to be ashamed

• [TheOven]

  The second half of #5 is a legitimate complaint. One I share.

  • [yeld]

    Cool beans.

  • [EH]

    There’s one in every crowd.

    • [Donald Petersen]

      “Uh, well… two.” (waves sheepishly)

    • [wysinwyg]

       It really isn’t funny.

      • [donniebnyc]

        Obviously if there were fewer guns in this country there would also be fewer people being forced to watch television programs they think aren’t funny. 

        Please stop this madness!!

• [Bart]

  People have been complaining about SNL since the first season (and SNL not being funny anymore since the second season). 

• [Scott Slemmons]

  Well, Lorne Greene really should be ashamed. I’m pretty sure Miss Kitty was a prostitute, and no one on Bonanza ever complained!

  • [DreamboatSkanky]

    They should have, because Miss Kitty was on “Gunsmoke”.

    • [Christopher]

      Now get out there and show us some of Tom Barkley’s guts!

    • [Steve Gentry]

      Probably because A. Miss Kitty wasn’t a prostitute, she was a madam and the owner of the Long Branch, AND in a stable long term relationship with US Marshall Matt Dillon, and B. She wasn’t on “Bonanza”, she was on “Gunsmoke”, a completely different show. duh.

  • [welcomeabored]

    Miss Kitty (Russell) owned the Long Branch Saloon.

• [unit1421]

  I once saw Seth Myers call Hugh Hefner a pedophile (through inference) during one of the “Weekend Update” sketches. Seth must have gotten banned from the mansion or something. My ongoing complaint against SNL is that it’s chronically unfunny. Being loud and snarky is not funny.

• [PhosPhorious]

  “I am offended by the gay acceptance message this skit portrays. . . ”

  But the Yeti-sex acceptance message is A-OK!

  • [Christopher]

    That person has nothing against Yetis. He just doesn’t want his daughter dating one.

    • [eldritch]

      The bible clearly states that yeti-sex is evil and wrong!

      It’s right there in black and white, Monstrosities 8:34 “And whosoever shall lay with cryptids shall know neither the love of the LORD, nor the credence of his fellow man, but shall roam the earth forever after shunned by the wise and proponents of expanding earth theory alike!”

      • [Finnagain]

        You can only see Yetis (or Shamans of the forest) while in trance. I’m assuming the same is true for dating or sexing. NTTAWWT.

• [Jeremy Duncan]

  “Pomographic” is an incredibly useful word and I welcome its introduction to the lexicon.

  • [dpamac]

    You like the pomographic images be unleashed on an unsuspecting American public? Is this pomographic enough for you? Where does your depravity end?

    • [Snig]

      could also refer to this imagery:
      http://ak9.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/1213528/preview/stock-footage-back-to-school-carved-apples-outdoors.jpg

  • [eris_kallisti]

    “The Apples of New York” is a classic work of pomography.

• [ajt49]

  By jove, number 4 has said what I have long suspected: vaginas are unconstitutional.

  I don’t agree that they are pomographic though – they are not in the least bit apple-like…

  • [noah django]

     nor postmodern

  • [Funk Daddy]

     Did you know there are FIFTY states in the USA?

    • [Just_Ok]

      NOT true. There’s only 48 in the US. Alaska and Hawaii are outside. 

  • [Just_Ok]

    What about West Vagina?

• [Joseph Francis]

  And those are all just mine.

• [trefecta]

  The word “pomographic” definitely describes most variety shows, commercials, and cartoons since the dawn of the new millennium.

  Not sure that they are “unconstitutional and [go] against all standards of decency within all 50 states that comprise the usa,” but at least we have specificity.

  • [rocketpjs]

    Well, 49 states maybe, but you know those Rhode Islanders march to their own tune.

    • [Aaron Gilliland]

      And I’ll be deep in a cold, cold grave before I recognize Mazurra.

• [signsofrain]

  After I saw a few Spartan Cheerleaders skits, I never purposely watched the show again. 

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    Melanie Hutsell singing Whoomp! (There It Is) was the last time that I watched, so 1993.

• [Finnagain]

  I’d also like to complain that Saturday Night Live is not funny. 

  Me too. Wait, no I wouldn’t, because, who cares?

• [foobar]

  Sounds like someone tried it, liked it, but can’t accept it.

• [Navin_Johnson]

  I like the people that feel compelled to tell needless stories about why they ended up watching the show:

  “My husband and I decided to watch SNL last night since the Tampa Bay Rays weren’t playing so well against the Red Sox.”

  Also, lol at all the predictable whining about “reverse racism” for Jamie Foxx’s jokes about Django…

  a skit with Usher, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberwolf,

  haha. Oh boy, this is quite a rabbit hole.

  Also, love all the comments about kids being in the room or it being “kid friendly” when the show airs at a time when their kids should be in bed…

  • [Christopher]

    That takes me back to staying up late to covertly watch Saturday Night Live, usually in hopes of seeing a Mr. Bill short…and then falling asleep before the opening sketch was finished.

    • [Navin_Johnson]

      My mother let me occasionally stay up to watch Mr. Bill (and the rest of the show) as well, which was a real treat for me. Cherished memories.

      I think most of these prudes (and assorted lunatics) are lying to try to make their complaints carry more weight. Like they’re the most easily offended, prudish types, but they also happen to stay up to watch SNL with their kids…. Yep..

    • [IronEdithKidd]

      My mom rented compilations of the Mr. Bill skits for us to watch.  It was definitely more efficient than me trying to stay up and then being a total grumpus on Sunday.

  • [Blue387]

    For the record, the Rays rallied to beat the Red Sox 7-4 with six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning on September 20, 2012. It was apparently Star Trek theme night for the Rays.

    They should have stuck with the Rays game.

• [Scott Rose]

  If you really think SNL isn’t funny, then, in my opinion, deserve all of the money back that you spent to see it.

  • [Finnagain]

     Our class action suit is pending.

  • [wysinwyg]

     I want the time spent watching the commercials back, or a cash equivalent.

• [MollyMaguire]

  I would only perform a scene if there was total frontal nudity.

• [Sam Ley]

  Reading through the whole list there are some really funny cases of misplaced indignation.

  My favorite part is trying to determine what skit they are referring to, by their overly specific descriptions of the acts contained within the skit… Here is my favorite description, featuring the best reenactment ever for what is clearly an “Ambiguously Gay Duo” skit.

  —————
  Pornographic “Skit” on Saturday Night Live started as a cartoon. In this cartoon there were many words and terms used which describe sexual acts, like “thrusting” etc.In the cartoon after the sexual words were used, the characters in the cartoon get into a ”Penis” automobile and start driving. As they are driving the car, the car has an ”Ejaculation” out the front center hole of the ”Penis” car. The “Penis” car then starts (using one of their words) “thrusting” the “Penis” car into a building, when more sexual words and terms are used.Then the cartoon transitions into a live human skit where the male “porn stars” start trying to rub their genitials against each other. The “actors” also get into positions as if they are going to have anal intercourse.Get the dvd and you will probably see a lot more than I saw because I turned the channel because I was so disgusted and sickened. I would never record or even consider buying a dvd with such wickedness and filth on it even to send you a copy so you could see how terrible it was. 

  • [Navin_Johnson]

     One of my favorites too. Somebody should call their band: “Penis” car

  • [UnderachievingSheep]

    I wonder how much arousal he got from reliving the skit in such detail. Nobody pays so much attention to something they consider inconsequential. Also, I gotta bet on some youtube replays, you know, just for accuracy purposes…

    • [Aaron Gilliland]

      Darn those un-American liberal commie godless Satan-worshippers and their subversive mainstream trash.  You don’t know how it pains me to sit through hours and hours of that garbage, closely analyzing every disgusting moment, my faith tested as I dutifully catalog every obscene image hidden in the prop ice cubes.  The constant allusions to unnatural fornication coupled with the pain in my thumb as I’m forced to rewind again and again.

      Oh how I’ve suffered…..

      But, back to the salt mines, eh?  Blah blah, take one for the team, etc. etc.  No calls, dear.

• [retrojoe]

  Interesting how many people have taken the time here, in this post, to talk about how un-funny they feel SNL is. It makes the FCC complaints a little less surprising. 

  Many people also are apparently in the habit of watching shows they don’t find entertaining.

  • [Finnagain]

     Full disclosure: I don’t watch it. Because it’s not funny.

  • [MrWoods]

    I was in the habit of watching SNL every now and then to see if it got funny again.  Year after year I did this, hoping that perhaps the writing was bad and would improve, or that the actors would be better.  In the end I realized that SNL would never be as funny as it used to be because I am no longer 14 years old.

  • [Sam Ley]

    I know, right? “I watched 10 hours of this unfunny show and didn’t laugh once! Hummph!”

    SNL, because of it’s rotating cast, goes through cycles of funniness, sometimes it is up, and sometimes down. I’d say that, over it’s entire life, I’d still classify it as, “funny”.

  • [wysinwyg]

    …lolwut?

    SNL has been on the air for 40 years.  Lots of people watch it including former roommates of mine.  I don’t need to be “in the habit of watching” it to have seen a few episodes and realized it’s not even remotely funny.

    Put another way: do you like Jersey Shore?  If yes, hahaha.  If no, well how would you know if you didn’t watch it?  I guess you’re in the habit of watching shows you don’t find entertaining.

• [Aaron Gilliland]

  It’s always a treat to see a “Best of” SNL clip show in the NBC listings.  I get to picture a 2nd-string production team trying to find a perfect mixture of classic clips and modern crap.  It’s like Dr. Benway cloaking the vile black centipede meat within the precious bug powder.

  “Let’s see, everyone likes Danny calling Jane an ignorant slut, so we’ve gotta have that… Mr. Robinson is gold, too. But we need to remind people that the show is still on the air, so throw in some of Seth’s least painful Update material, and one or two Fey clips to get some shine off of 30 Rock… 

  Piscopo?  Tough one. Maybe one of his Sinatra spots.  That’ll cover the bitter taste of Kristen Wiig for at least one clip.

  And for God’s sake, no Doumanian and no ’85.”

  Alas, the recipe hasn’t been perfected.

• [Lynda Gutierrez]

  I don’t watch the shows complained about but aside from the pearl- clutching about the random swear word (oh, and the comments sent in by people who are obviously mentally ill), I have to say that I’m with the people who wrote in on some of the more egregious examples.  Crudity for crudity’s sake is just a crutch for people who don’t know how to (or can’t be bothered to) write.  Simply sexualizing everything and everyone for shock value is boring and lazy and assumes an audience too stupid to deserve better.  It seems network TV has been outsourcing its creative to a bunch of sniggering sixth graders.

  • [marilove]

    Perhaps their time would have been better spent turning the channel, or turning the TV off, and doing something else. It’s a TV show, and even the “egregious” examples are pretty mild and not really worth it to spend time writing complaints that no one will take seriously. There is plenty of entertainment to be had elsewhere.

  • [PathosBill]

     Oh sure, blame it on the masturbating zombies

    • [Aaron Gilliland]

      They’re an easy target.  They have the stamina of the Energizer Bunny and they make a helluva mess.

  • [timquinn]

    you don’t watch it do you?

• [xzzy]

  Unfunny comedy show manages to stay on the air for 37 years, in an industry where poorly performing shows get dropped in about three weeks. 

  Clearly SNL has some kind of leverage on NBC to keep from being cancelled.

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    The Tonight Show has the same set-up. That time slot is reserved for unfunny humor.

  • [Aaron Gilliland]

    Same thing, but “The Simpsons”.

    It stopped being relevant in the mid-to-late 90′s, but someone forgot to unplug the sausage machine.

    • [Antinous / Moderator]

      The Simpsons? You mean that bit on the Tracey Ullman Show?

      • [Aaron Gilliland]

        Well played, sir.  I parry with “You mean the nation’s showcase for psychiatrist jokes and musical comedy numbers?”

• [vonbobo]

  SNL fan here… SNL is like bargain shopping, if you go to just one store you will be disappointed, but perhaps if you go to multiple stores frequently enough you will find great gems.

  Back to the other topic… May I recommend the documentary This Film Not Yet Rated. While these kinds of complaints are funny, it is also wickedly maddening how much control and power is held by the moral police in this country. It’s really not funny once you see below the surface.

  • [Aaron Gilliland]

    So… shopping… television show… moral police… I’m a little foggy on the prescription, but I think you want me to watch a variety of shows about moral cops rating movies at a bargain store that isn’t funny once you get to know the staff.  CBS, here we come!

• [recoiled]

  SNL is a gem.  A full hour and a half of new sketch material practiced with an actor/famous thing each week and then produced live.  That is the kind of reality TV that is still great.  Plus, much of the talents that are found by SNL get to continue on after their time honing their skills on SNL to work on other comedies.  I think that the complaint should not be “it is not funny”, instead, the complaint should be, “I don’t find this funny.”  Go watch something else, listen to a podcast, read the funny pages, stop condemning comedy that isn’t in your wheelhouse.

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    And yet, it still isn’t funny.

    • [Donald Petersen]

      And that, ladies and germs, is How It’s Done.

      • [Antinous / Moderator]

        SNL’s biggest problem is taking funny 90 second sketches and stretching them to five minutes.  That and constantly looking into the camera as if to say, “Look at us!  We’re COMEDIANS!!!”

        • [Aaron Gilliland]

          And now another episode of The Big Ear Family!

          *enter giant Q-tip*

        • [wysinwyg]

          Nailed it.

  • [Navin_Johnson]

    The complaints about SNL being just *completely* unfunny are so predictable and tiresome. Always the same cliched complaints about SNL and The Simpsons only being funny pre: [insert year] or even more ridiculous: saying that SNL was *never* funny. SNL may not be very great, and may be nowhere near “alternative”, or more cutting edge comedy, but it’s far from bad.

    Taste is certainly subjective, but when people write off SNL *completely* my bullshit detector begins beeping, and I start to hear King Missile’s “Sensitive Artist” play in the background…

    I can just imagine the same people complaining going back to their Monty Python, Bill Hicks (groan), and Family Guy dvds and just laaaafffing hysterically……………….

• [xzzy]

  I’ve been perusing the PDF, and this one definitely needs some attention:

  “Sarah Palin is  amazing!  Got to be on stage behind her when she was in Iowa.  Smart and would be so great for our country.”

  I don’t think humans are fit to govern themselves.

• [Tom Leo]

  “We are getting stupider by the day allowing this filth on tv.” This quote is so awesome! 

• [feetleet]

  “The implication is clear, If we get past our fear and tried anal sex, we would like it and then accept it [in others].” 

  Crazy #1 may have unintentionally struck deprogramming gold. We need a PSA.

• [Steve Taylor]

  So I notice that in the first complaint you’ve quoted you’ve omitted the bit that says:

  “By the end of the skit, the victim of the sexual attack has a change of heart and is depicted as being converted into accepting the rapist’s love. I don’t think women’s rights groups would accept this type of depiction involving a woman today”

  By leaving that out you make the quote snappier, funnier and crazier – but selective quoting doesn’t score particularly well for honesty.

  • [Aaron Gilliland]

    On the other hand, the complainant’s phrasing suggests that depictions of “seduction by Yeti rape” would have been acceptable but for the timing. 

  • [wysinwyg]

     Yeah, this is the sort of topic that screams out for accurate reporting.  Because it’s important news and not trivial humor.

• [Charlie Parker]

  I guess in the land of the boing-boing the one-eyed moderator is king.

  • [Aaron Gilliland]

    Are you… Are you applauding or bemoaning?

• [timquinn]

  You know, if the kids are laughing and you are not it isn’t the material, pops.

  • [wysinwyg]

     ”Pops!  The kids got into the nitrous again!”

• [Matt L]

  “As an adult at 58 years of age, I occasionally appreciate a measure of pornographic entertainment and am willing to pay for it when circumstances and I warrant. I do not  expect it to be thrown in my face while watching network television.”

  Only 58? Awww, he’ll need a fake ID to rent ultraporn. 

  • [Aaron Gilliland]

    I occasionally appreciate a donut, and am willing to pay for it when circumstances warrant.  I do not expect free donuts to be forced upon me in the company lounge.

    I think it’s a free market argument or something about pornographers pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps or garters or whatever.