Al Franken was one of the original writers on Saturday Night Live, one of the longest running shows in television history; and one of the most socially relevant. Although it cannot match the more than 65 years that Meet the Press (which first aired on November 6, 1947) , part of the longevity of both shows can be attributed to is that they stay on top of relevant current events. There is a post circulating on Facebook that says, “I get my news from Comedy Central and my comedy from Fox News.” . Saturday Night Live was one of the main influences in founding this trend to seek a greater level of honesty in the satiric parodies of satiric parodies of political and social reporting and events than could be found on the news programs themselves. Now satire is not new. Michael Coffey credits the Romans as originating the genre around the 2nd Century BCE. . A couple of millennia ago it was a useful device for politicians to make a memorable point that people enjoyed passing around and sharing. Some things just do not change. Down through the years satire has remained a part of society as issues become more divisive, the number of programs and comedians who find their material in the current news ebbs and flows. Few have the tenacity of Saturday Night Live however and that is what makes it an important television show to this day.
As with all great television shows, one of the reasons for their success is their writers. Quite often, this is also a reason for their eventual demise, one person or even one team can only come up with so many good ideas. Saturday Night Live dodged this problem with a continuously circulating team of writers. Many of the writers from Saturday Night Live went on to join the show in front of the camera. Some graduated from that to create and star in shows of their own. Al Franken is an example of this type of individual who started as a writer on Saturday Night Live and evolved into a on stage comedian, then hosted his own show and ended up in the Halls of Congress.
Al Franken was one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live when it started in 1975. He left in 1980, following conflicts with the NBC President Fred Silverman who refused Lorne Michaels request to have Al Franken succeed him as head producer. When Michaels left the show, so did Franken. He returned in 1985 and stayed until 1995. While with Saturday Night Live he worked, as many of the Saturday Night Live team members do, both as a writer and a performer. During his tenure at Saturday Night Live he received seven Emmy nominations and three awards. Independently from his work at Saturday Night Live Franken worked on various other movie, radio and television projects and wrote four bestselling books. From there he went on to become a successful political comedians turned politician.
Al Franken in the United States is one of these successful political satirist turned politician. He helped lead the charge by winning a seat in the United States Senate in 2008. Although elected to a term to start on January 3, 2009 he had to fight through a recount and an election challenge. As a result, his instatement into the Senate was delayed by these proceedings. He took his seat in the Senate as a representative from the State of Minnesota on January 3, 2009. Many of his fans from Saturday Night Live expected him to hit Washington like a whirlwind. Others, fans and opponents alike did not quite know what to expect. However, one thing seemed to be clear, no one expected him to work quietly within the system to create reform.
What he has done is work on projects like the Rural Energy Investment Act. Provisions in this act help encourage job creation in Minnesota and across the nation. However, the greatest strides in this bill are in the area of agricultural energy technologies for farmers. This includes, provisions in the form of efficiency and development such as, renewable resources advanced bio-fuels, bio-gas and bio-mass technologies. There is a list of new programs in this bill specifically designed to help farmers create new energy resources.
Al Franken fits John O’Farrell’s description of a political satirist turned politician “who is genuinely angry about injustice and the state of the government, but is prepared to put in the work doing all the boring stuff that change actually demands." . From his stand up comedy on Saturday Night Live to his seat in the United States Senate, Al Franken is an important person in the mass media.
Now Saturday Night Live cannot boast about any other Senator who graduated from its ranks, but one of the ways it attracts cutting edge talent is because many of the individuals associated with the show have gone on to successful careers. The original cast was officially known as the ‘Not Ready for Prime Time Players” and the cast members included Dan Aykryd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner. Sketches like The Blues Brothers and Wayne’s World became successful feature films. Performers like Eddie Murphy, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler all found a start on Saturday Night Live.
New talent, current issues and an enthusiastic willingness to offend everyone are some of the reasons Saturday Night Live became part of the fabric of American society as well as on the cutting edge of comedy. This makes it one of the most important shows in the mass media. From the time Al Franken joined the starting team of Saturday Night Live in 1975 to present gig as a United States Senator Al Franken has ventured into every form of media behind and in front of the cameras. Looked at together they demonstrate how a Television show and its staff member can create relevance, become important in the eyes of mass media, and stay there for decades.
Works Cited
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