Tinkering

Last weekend's SNL was a rerun of the season premiere (Ben Affleck/Nelly). There were two noteworthy changes in the show, however. First, during Weekend Update, Affleck's commentary on Matt Damon was changed to the dress rehearsal version. Why? Who knows. There was seemingly no difference between the two, but the change was definite. Someone just likes to tinker.

But the most notable change was the inclusion of the dress rehearsal version of the horrible Debbie Downer sketch. Now, for what I believe is the first time on a non-DVD release of SNL, they put a title card on screen before the sketch saying "The following is from dress rehearsal, simply because it worked better." Keep that phrase "worked better" in mind.

So what spills out on screen is what always seems to happen in dress rehearsal... the sketch is one big gigglefest. No one can contain the hilarity that is Debbie Downer! So, what SNL is telling us is that "worked better" means that the material isn't funny unless the cast cracks up all throughout it. The sketch, as written, is garbage. That's proven true by the non-response the live audience gave. But get the cast to laugh and it's comedy gold! So if this is true, why not just replace EVERY sketch that bombs with a giggle-filled dress version? Why is Debbie Downer the only one worthy of "working better"?

This weekend skips the Queen Latifah rerun and heads straight to the Jude Law/Ashlee Simpson debacle. It'll be interesting to note what changes are made there.