In 1975 the national pride in the United States was low. Saturday Night Live began to restore the United States by doing something unexpected…making everyone laugh. The original cast and head producer Lorne Michaels pushed the envelope to make a new kind of satirical comedy. Yet despite many years of great comedy, currently the show is limping along relying on its former glory. Something needs to be done to restore Saturday Night Live to its comedy pedigree.

Saturday Night Live has had to fight through tough years before, such as the 5 years from 1980 to 1985 when Lorne Michaels took a hiatus from the show. Yet despite these “dark days” of SNL, Eddie Murphy was able to shine through the darkness with great characters such as “Buckwheat”, “James Brown’s Hot Tub”, and “Gumby”.

What Saturday Night Live needs now is another Eddie Murphy, someone who dominates the screen and makes anything funny. Currently, there is no one in the cast that has that ability. When casting for next season, they need to find someone who possesses that quality.

Now while saying this, there are some very funny people on SNL such as Jay Pharoah, Cecily Strong, and Pete Davidson. While these three have the most comedic acumen, they still do not possess the ability Eddie Murphy had to make anything, literally anything, funny.

Another problem that SNL must address is getting better writing. In the first season of SNL, they were graced with the hilarious writer Dan Aykroyd. He wrote during the first four seasons of Saturday Night Live and wrote some hilarious sketches such as “Blue’s Brothers” and “Bass-O-Matic”. Aykroyd won an Emmy in 1977 for his writing on SNL, which then launched his illustrious career that includes Trading Places, Ghostbusters, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

More recently, Saturday Night Live has had an equally accomplished writer Tina Fey. She came as a breath of fresh air for SNL. Her writing took true form when she began writing for the Weekend Update segment of SNL. Many critics said that she took the highly praised segment and innovated it, making it even more humorous than before. Even once Fey left SNL, she continued to be a critically acclaimed writer. This time Fey was writing and starring in 30 Rock for which she won six Emmy’s.

Currently there is no great double threat writer/actor on Saturday Night Live. If only the show could find the next Aykroyd of Fey, then it may have some of its former glory restored. After all the show is only as good as the writing.

Saturday Night Live may be missing some major components, but that is not their only problem. Another thing that is hurting the show is its preoccupation with marijuana humor. For example this season Woody Harrelson hosted an episode that primarily relied on this type of cheap humor. While it is true that this is a prevalent topic in the United States, sometimes SNL overuses this genre of comedy.

For Saturday Night Live to fulfill its high expectations, the show must go out and employ better comedians and writers. Sadly, any good comics have been taken by other television companies. Hopefully Lorne Michaels will be able to find a diamond in the rough like he did with Tina Fey in 1997, or with Dan Aykroyd in 1975. Luckily there is a myriad of young comics who want to go to New York and audition for Lorne Michaels. As long as Lorne can use good discernment, the show should be back on the right track soon.