There are two institutions that are responsible for the demise of political comedy: Saturday Night Live, and social media.
Growing up, Saturday Night Live would relentlessly make fun of whoever was in office, and take serious (and hilarious) shots in ways that were so creative that you couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. Phil Hartman would do his best Bill Clinton impression, stuff his face with McDonald’s, and wail on his saxophone while talking policy as spectators stood there in disbelief, and it was inherently good comedy. It didn’t matter what side of the aisle you were on because the comedy was critical of some of Clinton’s problematic behavior but also clever enough to stick the landing.
After the 2016 election, political comedy on Saturday Night Live devolved into Alec Baldwin simply puckering up his face, throwing on a wig, and walking around quoting things Donald Trump said in real life while waiting for the “applause” sign to light up. It was funny for a while, but after months of the same shtick it just seemed like the writers were just getting lazy.
