No, but that's what happens a show turns bad, most people aren't going to give it another shot. It could be great again but I'm not really seeing reviews of that anywhere.
Most people quit SNL when a new cast comes in and they take awhile to figure out their strengths.
In general, TV comedies don't usually hit their stride until their 3rd season.
People said the same thing about Crystal and Murphy and Piscopo, they said the same thing about Hartman and Carvey and Miller, they said the same about Myers and Sandler, about Ferrell and Wiig.
A lot talent flows through those doors, most recently guys like Bill Hader and Bob Odenkirk.
My Dad stopped watching after the Chase and Aykroyd cast were done. "It was never as good, it was never the same."
Most people like the cast that they watched as adolescents and think of it as "peak SNL". It's a bit like how people tend to idolize the NHL period of hockey that they watched in their early teens.
As someone who has watched it for almost 40 years, I don't think the quality has changed all that much. It was never as good as people think it was, and it is never as bad as they think it is now.
There are still hits, misses, breakout stars and characters and topical humor.
Weekend Update is pretty much the same as its ever been, better I think with Jost and Che than some of the earlier editions like Kevin Nealon, Colin Quinn or Fallon and Fey or Poehler.
After Norm and Miller, I think they're probably the best. Early update with Chase and Aykroyd and Curtin wasn't as consistently funny IMO.
I think you can take issue that the format is stale, but in a way, it's the one constant on a show with such a changing cast.
There's always a political cold open intro, there's the monologue, there's a fake commercial, two to three sketches, a musical guest, Update, and then the worst sketches (or bravest) follow with another musical performance and the goodbye.
One improvement I think is less reliance on characters that return every week, like the Church Lady, Hans and Franz and the Roxbury dancing guys. It's easy to whip up another sketch, but the comedic returns diminish pretty quickly after about the 3rd appearance.
I don't really mind if they decide to end it after 50 years, it's a significant achievement in television history and represents a nice closure as opposed to it getting cancelled unceremoniously someday.
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