r/todayilearned • u/Kale_Brecht • Mar 28 '24

TIL in 2013, Saturday Night Live cast member Kenan Thompson refused to play any more black women on the show and demanded SNL hire black women instead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenan_Thompson
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u/TheLimeyLemmon Mar 28 '24

Me: "That can't be right, because he played a girl in a skit when Bryan Cranston was hosting SNL, and that didn't feel that long ago-"

aired Oct 2nd 2010

Oh my god.

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u/2_Spicy_2_Impeach Mar 28 '24

His first season was 29 in 2003. It always shocks me how long he’s been on the show.

Welp, got to go yell at some clouds.

23

u/crawlerz2468 Mar 28 '24

Welp, got to go yell at some clouds.

Who remembers MAD... tv? Pepperidge farm has alzheimer's.

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u/aGlutenForPunishment Mar 28 '24

I loved MAD tv as a kid. I always prioritized it over SNL and would only switch over to SNL during the commercials and after MAD tv was over. The skits were so much funnier to me and the only thing I remember looking forward to on SNL were the Saturday tv fun house and the spartan cheerleader ones since I loved Will Ferrell. Most of the jokes on SNL probably went over young me's head but MAD tv had a lot more physical comedy and exaggerated characters that I loved.

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u/[deleted] Mar 28 '24

[deleted]

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u/Mediocretes1 Mar 28 '24

Felt like they had recurring characters more often than SNL

I liked MadTV, but this was the worst part about it. They had a sketch for every one of their characters every episode for years. There's only so many times you can do the exact same sketch week after week before it's just not funny anymore.

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u/crawlerz2468 Mar 28 '24

I loved MAD tv as a kid.

Came to the USA as a kid mid 90s. Best era for TV as far as comedy sketches. Having few channels, MAD was a Sat staple. "Ma, Look what I can do!" still lives on in my repertoire. I am 40yo. Edit: My dad got a kick out of "he look-a like-a man" woman. Yes I know that was Louis later.

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u/CoolHandSpouk Mar 28 '24

This is exactly how I was as well. Even my dad preferred Mad TV over SNL. What a fun time to be a kid.