Me, My Mom, and SNL

Growing up, there were always shows that my family and I would watch together. I remember when 8 Simple Rules and George Lopez were part of our Friday nights. As I got older, these “family shows” kind of ended and other shows were adopted into our TV watching time. Throughout middle and high school, it kind of became a tradition to watch SNL with my Mom on some Saturday nights. I bring this up because I think it represents the idea of audience in two ways.

First, the fact that this show isn’t exactly “family friendly”, I think the producers and actors anticipated that the people who watched it together would be around the same age even if it is in a mass demographic upwards of early 20s. When the actors are producing the show they try to find what is funny and what can get laughs. They’re working among people who are their “peers” from a definitive view and so while they may be getting laughs from each other, it’s different when the show if being streamed. So when they are producing it, their own structure may not always translate well to the audience. I remember in high school, I had a friend who was part of a comedy group and she would occasionally ask me to read over her stuff because as she put it “we’re around each other so often, I don’t know if this would actually make sense to other people”. So while SNL is actually pretty funny, there are some sketches that don’t always make me laugh the way they used to.

Secondly, in my own home, there is definitely a difference when I was watching it with my mom and when I was with my friends. I would say that my mom and I get along pretty well and we’ve reached a point where pretty much anything can be laid out on the table. However, there are certain topics and especially the Digital Shorts, where I would much rather be watching with friends. I sometimes find myself censoring my laughter so as to avoid awkwardness when my mom’s like “my little girl knows what that is?” Which has happened more than once. So when we’re viewing the show together, there’s a difference in how I react to what is showing on the screen. When I’m watching it among my peers, I would say I react more towards how SNL meant it to be. When I’m with my mom, there’s an even bigger difference in the audience, and I think you can definitely tell.