SNL And My Mad Love For Vanessa Bayer

I watch 'Saturday Night Live' every week. WHY? I ask myself that same question sometimes. SNL is what I like to call my HOPE show. I have watched it since I was 12 when I could stay up for however long I wanted on Friday and Saturday night. I go in HOPING to laugh and always come out the other end with some greater understanding of the nature of comedy. Either how to do it right or what made the sketch fail.

Say what you will about SNL - it has stood the test of time and still is (at it's best) a culturally relevant show. You can follow the social trends from the last 35 years by looking at the guest hosts and the topics that were lampooned. Without 'Weekend Update' there is NO 'Daily Show'.

It was 'appointment television' before the days of VCRs and digital downloads. You had to stay up to catch it.

I have seen some really funny stuff on that show and, of course, some terrible crap that made me so embarrassed that I had to run up to the TV and briefly switch to one of the SIX OTHER CHANNELS WE HAD. That's right kids..SIX. You didn't hear us complaining. No sir. We were just grateful it was in color. No remote control either. Your little sister was the remote control.

Sometimes this show makes me feel like I am in an abusive relationship. No matter how SNL may disappoint me I keep coming back for more because, if I loved it enough, it just might change and stop hurting me. They can be cruising right along with a great host like Taylor Swift of Betty White and then suddenly - 'Gilly' shows up. You just never know what you are going to get. I like that kind of painful uncertainty in my entertainment. I may bitch about it all the time but I have that right since I watch the show and my criticism comes from a place of love.

This year my love has been rekindled by the addition of Vanessa Bayer to the cast. I thing she could be a serious break out star. She has a great sense of comedic timing and is cuter than a speckled pup. That never hurts.

I like the sketch she is most known for so far, 'The Miley Cyrus Show'. She seems to perfectly capture the frenetic presentation that Miley puts out in person and on 'Hanna Montana'. If only she would add the gum smacking. Then the impersonation would be perfect.