Welcome back satire, we've missed you

Something peculiar has been happening in TV land of late: Saturday Night Live has actually become watchable.

I never really got SNL. I appreciate that it's a cultural institution in the United States, but it's always felt a bit like a bunch of college students doing a project for a "let's try comedy" class. Even when there have been people in it who usually crack me up (the show's alumni includes the likes of Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell and Tina Fey), I've always felt thoroughly underwhelmed.

But now, in the last few weeks, it's started to make sense, with the impressions by Alec Baldwin and Melissa McCarthy in particular just the right mix of silly and scathing.

However, there's another component the show has discovered (or maybe that should be rediscovered): anger.

I've always had a soft spot for satire, which is most likely due to growing up in the United Kingdom in the 80s. It was a time of social division, political upheaval and soccer hooligans. I remember a school trip to London being canceled because parents were so concerned about Irish Republican Army bombings.

But every Sunday night, me, my brother and our parents would gather around the television to watch what was basically a puppet show. It was called Spitting Image and it was probably the only program we all liked.

Spitting Image carried a hammer in one hand and a scalpel in the other, skewering everyone from politicians to celebrities, to the media and the royal family. But mainly politicians. True, it could be brutal, but it was also a ray of light in what often felt like rather dark times.

Watching clips from the show now, it's arguably a bit tame by today's standards, especially when compared with the likes of South Park. But the spiky spirit is as relevant as it ever was.

And it's that attitude I've started to see in SNL. Maybe it's always been there and I've only just noticed. Either way, I'm a convert, and I'm not the only one. According to Variety magazine, SNL's ratings have increased by more than 20 percent, a rise that is almost certainly down to the performances of Baldwin and McCarthy.

But SNL and the nightly topical talk shows aren't alone in benefiting from what has been described as a golden age of satire. Back in a UK now preparing in earnest for Brexit, Private Eye magazine, which has been poking fun at the powerful since 1961, has seen circulation go up by 25 percent in five years.

They say comedy is all about timing, and that's especially true of satire. According to Private Eye's editor, Ian Hislop, it's an art form that goes in and out of fashion, depending on the prevailing political climate.

Well, it's safe to say satire has returned with a vengeance. And looking at politics in the US and Europe today, I have a feeling it will be back for a while yet.

Contact the writer at graeme@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/22/2017 page2)