Back when my daughter was still a newborn, there were countless times when I would rock her back to sleep while watching Saturday Night Live. Years later, we’ve started watching every episode together, and it’s kind of become our thing. Watching SNL Season 51 hosts like Sabrina Carpenter and Glen Powell with my nine-year-old daughter has been a tremendous amount of fun, but also an eye-opening experience that has me looking at the show in a new way.
No, it’s not something like the jokes finally make sense or I see something new in the opening title sequence (which doesn’t seem to have changed this year), but instead a different perspective on the show in general, one from the eyes of a fourth grader diving into the world of sketch comedy. Allow me to explain…
We Don’t Catch It Live (Not Yet), But Watching SNL Has Become Our Thing
Though I can no longer watch any of the upcoming WWE events with a Peacock subscription, I’m keeping the streamer just so I can keep watching Saturday Night Live with my daughter. It’s one of the great TV bonding moments we’ve been sharing more intensely as of late, like wrestling with her brother or Bluey with her younger sister. I cannot even begin to explain how much joy this brings to my week, especially when she’s the one who brings it up.
As much as I would love to keep her up until midnight each Saturday to watch all the skits live and watch the cast say goodbye during the closing credits, we’re just not there yet (plus, telling my other two kids they can’t stay up late is a fight I don’t want to fight). However, watching episodes on Sundays, or even Monday nights, has been the route we’ve taken so far, and it’s honestly a great way to cap off a weekend or start a new week.
A Lot Of The Jokes Are Over Her Head, But It’s Not Ruining The Experience
Considering my daughter is a few months shy of her 10th birthday, it should come as no surprise that a lot of the jokes are over her head. Sure, she’ll laugh at funny politically-centric bits like Colin Joest’s impression of Pete Hegseth or James Austin Johnson’s impression of Donald Trump, but some of the more topical jokes taken from that week’s current events don’t land with her. That’s okay!
However, she knows enough about comedy to know that if there’s a big applause and laughter from the audience, chances are something funny has happened. If anything, she’s getting a better understanding of the world around her from these jokes. There have been a few times where she’s had me pause to explain something, and I’m all about that. I don’t know what kind of chaotic monster of a nine-year-old I’m creating here, but it’s been fun.
This Is Making Me Look At The Show From A Kid’s Point Of View
This experience is making me look at Saturday Night Live from a kid’s point of view, which is honestly making it more fun. I know I just talked about pausing now and then to explain some of the jokes to my daughter, but that’s just part of it. Another thing I’ve been doing is imagining that I’m a young elementary school student trying to make sense of jokes. I’ve been deconstructing the bits, and coming to conclusions about why they work (or don’t work).
I do this to in an attempt to get ahead of any questions my daughter might bring up about something in one of the sketches or the Weekend Update segments (she’s still not a big fan of these). I used to do something similar when watching it when I was around my daughter’s age. It would lead to some awkward conversations about some of the more risque moments or political comments about ‘90s culture, but they did seem to help.
This Experience Has Brought Back Memories Of Watching SNL As A Kid
Growing up, I watched SNL all the time. Countless nights were spent at my best friend’s house, where his older sister would let us watch with her while our parents were off at a party or something. I’ll never forget seeing the “Roxbury Guys” routine for the first time, the night Jim Carrey hosted in 1996, or Will Ferrell doing an absurd impression of Harry Caray, or all those fake commercials from back in the day.
This whole experience of watching the show with my daughter has not only forced me to look at it through the eyes of the kid again, but it’s also allowed me to take a trip down memory lane and remember why I’ve continued to watch it for pretty much my entire life. It’s become this incredibly nostalgic and eye-opening journey, to say the least. And yeah, I’ve already started showing her some of the funniest Adam Sandler moments and some of the most ridiculous Chris Farley sketches.
She’s Becoming Obsessed, And I Can’t Wait To See Where This Journey Takes Us
I’ve talked about my daughter becoming obsessed with Studio Ghibli movies after watching Kiki’s Delivery Service like a million times. Well, we’re going through that again, but with SNL.
We watch every new episode within a couple of days of its initial broadcast, but now she’s watching episodes without me. She hasn’t gone too far back yet, but I am trying to get her to participate in one of my favorite activities by looking up episodes that came out around her birthday each year and watching those. That said, she is going back a few seasons to see actresses, singers, or other celebrities she’s into at the moment.
You can’t even begin to imagine how happy I am when I walk into the living room and hear the intro music or an opening monologue as my daughter goes through her after-school routine. As a lifelong fan of the show, this is just too cool. I can’t wait to see where this goes.