Nah, I can watch skits from the 70s and 80s, before I was born, and find them humorous. Hell, Steve Martin and Martin Short also just starred in a wildly popular Hulu series as senior citizens. While it was funny when I was 15 too, it has been absolute garbage for 10+ years. This is just some pathetic line he’s trotted out to gloss over the fact that he’s lost his knack for producing good work.
There is plenty of great sketch comedy being made (just look at the popularity and memes from Tim Robinson’s work), just not anywhere in Lorne Michaels’ orbit.
There have been plenty of great sketches in the last 15 years, like many of Adam Driver's, and Weekend Update with Colin and Michael is really good, especially when they swap jokes.
The 15 year olds of today are going to say the same thing in 10 years though. I don't think it really was that great when we were 15, we only think it was.
It's not true, though. No 15 year olds find 2024 SNL funny, at all. Almost everybody found it funny up until 15-20 years ago. After that point every sketch was like "normal stuff, but black people doing it!" or "somebody acting gay, and everybody is uncomfortable!" Once Trump came along, it was almost a revitalization for about 30 seconds, because Trump himself is funny. Until it became Trump! fascist! Putin!, end of the world! over and over like all late night comedy.
No 15 year old is enjoying that. I'd bet the average age is approaching the same average age as the cable news audience. Retirees might even be getting sick of it. The truth might be that Lorne Michaels is the real audience of Saturday Night Live.
The 15 year olds today aren’t watching network television and you missed the part where I mentioned the lasting celebrity and comedic appeal of stars that predated my teenage years. “Actually, it’s the children who are wrong, things can’t ever decline in quality” is not the argument you, nor Lorne, think it is.
There is plenty of great sketch comedy being made (just look at the popularity and memes from Tim Robinson’s work), just not anywhere in Lorne Michaels’ orbit.