Saturday Night Live And Philosophy: Deep Thoughts Through The Decades (the Blackwell Philosophy And Pop Culture Series)

"Fit to Philosophy: Saturday Night Live is one of the funniest and longest-running network shows on television, and perhaps the most well-known springboard to comedic fame for new talent, which gives the show an undeniably innovative and edgy writing staff and a great cast, making it an extremely rich thematic source for political satire. Satire is of course critical by nature, which means that comedy is typically performed really well with philosophy. The Daily Show and Philosophy performed exceedingly well for this reason, which points to comedic content as a fruitful avenue of further exploration for a new volume. Fan-base: Saturday Night Live's sketches have global reach thanks to YouTube and other channels of electronic distribution, and the show has developed a cult following due to its longevity through generations of viewers. Fans of the show are a book buying group, as evidence by the numerous books on the market about the history of Saturday Night Live, and its success producing satirical topical comedy means that it is continually keeping its fanbase engaged and on their toes. Publicity and Sales moment: Seasons air annually, and typically run from the end of September or beginning of October through late April or early May, and as 2020 will be a US presidential election year, it makes sense to time the release of the book around Super Tuesday in the US when the show will be in top-form and there will be a lot of eyes on SNL due to the documented "electoral effect" of its sketches. The soundest strategy would then be to push and re-promote during the show's 45th anniversary on the air in October 2020 when the general presidential election will be less than a month away. Sales Longevity -- Saturday Night Live has been running for over 43 years, and because new seasons are released annually, there will be regular and ongoing promotional moments, although smaller in scale and scope. Moreover, the broader themes of the book will be of relevance annually, so this title will likely have higher than average sales longevity, and we can expect spikes of interest around key events like US presidential elections or particularly controversial cultural moments"-- Provided by publisher Cover......Page 1 Title Page......Page 5 Copyright Page......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Cast Members......Page 11 Cold Open: The Introduction......Page 17 Part I The Opening Monologue......Page 19 Radical Autonomism......Page 21 Radical Moralism......Page 22 Moderate Moralism......Page 23 Who is the Butt of the Joke?......Page 24 Public Figures: The Clintons......Page 25 Group Membership: The Delicious Dish and Samurai Futaba......Page 26 Targeting as a Means of Elevating: Lunch Lady Land......Page 27 When the Subject is Not the Butt: Schmitts Gay Beer......Page 28 Notes......Page 29 Absurdity......Page 31 Death......Page 35 The Look and the Other......Page 36 Responsibility......Page 37 Notes......Page 40 Chapter 3 How Do They Get Away with It?: Pushing Boundaries with Offensive Material on Saturday Night Live......Page 41 Censorship and its Problems......Page 42 The First Amendment and its Applicability......Page 47 Comedy and its Utility......Page 49 Notes......Page 52 Chapter 4 SNL, Satire, and Socrates: Smart‐Assery or Seriousness?......Page 55 I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not......Page 56 We Are Two Wild and Crazy Guys!......Page 58 I’m Gumby Dammit!......Page 60 Jane, You Ignorant Slut......Page 62 Not Gonna Do It......Page 63 And Now, Deep Thoughts.........Page 65 Notes......Page 66 Part II Some Political Sketches......Page 67 Caricature: What’s So Funny about That?......Page 69 The Ideological Turing Test......Page 71 Diversity in Comedy?......Page 72 Notes......Page 76 Chapter 6 Saturday Night Live and the Production of Political Truth: Foucault Explains the Danger of Late Night Comedy......Page 79 Foucault: Knowledge, Truth, and Power......Page 80 Late Night Comedy as a Contemporary Authority of Delimination......Page 81 SNL and the 2016 Election......Page 83 Saturday Night Live as an Authority of Delimination for Political Truth......Page 85 “We Always Have Something To Do”......Page 87 Notes......Page 88 Word Associations: SNL and the N‐word......Page 91 Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood: The Genius of Eddie Murphy......Page 94 SNL’s Double Consciousness......Page 95 Black Jeopardy and a Trumped‐Up SNL......Page 97 Where in the Hell is Chris Rock?......Page 99 Notes......Page 101 Lend Me Your Ears and I’ll Sing You a Song......Page 103 I Get High with a Little Help from my Friends......Page 106 How Do I Feel by the End of the Day?......Page 108 And in the End......Page 112 Notes......Page 113 Part III Some Sketches Featuring Your Favorite Recurring Characters......Page 115 A New Experience of Bush and Brokaw......Page 117 Darrell Hammond as a Tribute Band......Page 120 Notes......Page 123 Chapter 10 SNL’s Blasphemy and Rippin’ up the Pope: “Well Isn’t That Special”......Page 125 DJesus Uncrossed......Page 126 The Religetables......Page 127 Tebow and Jesus......Page 128 God’s a Boob Man......Page 130 Louis C.K.’s God Monologue......Page 132 The Church Lady......Page 134 Fighting the Real Enemy......Page 137 Notes......Page 141 Chapter 11 “Wayne’s World” and the Philosophy of Play......Page 147 “Party Time! Excellent!”......Page 148 “Dream Weaver”......Page 150 “Game On!”......Page 151 “We’re Not Worthy”......Page 154 Notes......Page 155 The Spectrum of Fandom......Page 157 Identity......Page 158 Mobility Along the Spectrum......Page 159 Virtues and Vices......Page 160 What Hath Athens to do with Chicago?......Page 163 Notes......Page 164 Part IV And Now for Our Musical Guest......Page 165 Chapter 13 Liveness and Lip‐Synching: Andy Kaufman and Eminem......Page 167 The Argument that SNL Is Not Live......Page 168 What Is Required to View a Performance?......Page 170 Framing......Page 173 Andy Kaufman Lip‐synchs......Page 176 Notes......Page 178 Part V Weekend Update......Page 183 Buh-Bye: The Firing of Norm Macdonald......Page 185 No One Can Resist My Schweddy Balls: Involuntary Reactions......Page 187 Party On! Voluntary Celebration......Page 188 I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me: Relief Theory......Page 190 We’re Here to Pump ‐clap‐ You Up!: The Goal of SNL and “Weekend Update”......Page 191 Notes......Page 192 Chapter 15 Saturday Night Live’s Citizen Journalists and the Nature of Democracy......Page 193 “New York’s Hottest Club Is...” Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion, and Weekend Update Correspondents......Page 194 Point/Counterpoint: Dewey’s The Public and its Problems as a Pragmatic Response......Page 198 Notes......Page 201 Chapter 16 Fake News as Media Theory: SNL on TV Journalism......Page 203 SNL and “Weekend Update”......Page 204 Medium Shapes the Message......Page 205 Now, This: “Update,” TV News, and Postman......Page 206 This, Now: More Recent “Updates”......Page 208 Lorne Michaels and Philosophy?......Page 210 That’s the News. Good Night and Have a Pleasant Tomorrow......Page 212 Notes......Page 213 Chapter 17 “Look, Children, It’s a Falling Star”: David Spade and SNL Family Disloyalty......Page 215 Kissing Family: The Just Because View......Page 216 “Ya’ll Want the Hose Again or Ya’ll Gonna Be Good Boys?” – The Reciprocity View......Page 217 Dysfunctional Family Feud: The No Special Obligations View......Page 220 Notes......Page 222 Part VI The Absurd Stuff That Happens Near the End......Page 225 Chapter 18 The Simulated Reality of Saturday Night Live......Page 227 God I Love a Scalding Hot Vodka......Page 228 Well, Isn’t That Special?......Page 229 Justin Bieber for Calvin Klein......Page 230 Don’t Test When I’m Crazy On That Airplane Glue......Page 231 Versace Pockets......Page 233 A Storm’s A-comin’, Baby......Page 234 Notes......Page 236 Chapter 19 Deep Thoughts about Deep Thoughts: The Existentialism of Jack Handey......Page 239 The Absurdity of Finding Fun in the Absurd......Page 240 What to Do When Clowns Kill Your Father......Page 241 When You Die Laughing......Page 242 Making the Funny: Why Delivery Matters......Page 243 Notes......Page 244 Moral Responsibility: Well Isn’t That Special?......Page 247 The Merit View: I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough......Page 248 The Consequentialist View: No One Can Resist My Schweddy Balls......Page 249 Strawson’s View: Yeah, That’s the Ticket......Page 251 Where Do We Go from Here? – Buh‐Bye!......Page 253 Notes......Page 254 Index......Page 255 EULA......Page 261

This hilarious cast of star philosophers will make you laugh while you think as they explore the moral conundrums, ridiculous paradoxes, and wild implications of Saturday Night Live

Comedian-philosophers from Socrates to Sartre have always prodded and provoked us, critiquing our most sacred institutions and urging us to examine ourselves in the process. In Saturday Night Live and Philosophy, a star-studded cast of philosophers takes a close look at the "deep thoughts" beneath the surface of NBC's award-winning late-night variety show and its hosts' zany antics. In this book, philosophy and comedy join forces, just like the Ambiguously Gay Duo, to explore the meaning of life itself through the riffs and beats of the subversive parody that gives the show its razor-sharp wit and undeniable cultural and political significance. Our guest hosts raise some eyebrows with questions like:

• Is Weekend Update Fake News?
• Does SNL upset dominant paradigms or trap us in political bubbles?
• When it comes to SNL, how can we tell the difference between satire, smart-assery, and seriousness?
• Is the Ladies Man too stupid for moral responsibility?
• What is the benefit of jokes that cause outrage?
• The Church Lady has a bad case of moral superiority. How about you?
• What can Wayne and Garth teach us about living a happy life?