The secret behind the enduring success of Saturday Night Live is its ability to evolve and diversify its talent base, according to Kenan Thompson , who pointed to the iconic ‘Black Jeopardy’ sketch as an exemplar. Speaking at Cannes Lions , the SNL stalwart said the near-50-year-old format is “constantly changing,” adding: “Every week there’s a new host, every season there’s a new cast, also it’s weird how the crowd all seems to stay young, and I keep getting older.” During a 21-year-stint on the show, Thompson said it has evolved in several ways, including format changes from its live Saturday night presence to videos being shared on a Sunday morning.
Related Stories News Agnieszka Holland Calls Her Prize-Winning Refugee Drama 'Green Border' "Collective Psychotherapy" -- Cannes Lions News Chrissy Teigen Says She Fears Donald Trump "Coming After" Her For Outspoken Remarks -- Cannes Lions But a bigger change has come in its diversity, he added. “It’s more than format changes, it’s reach,” he said. “For decades, SNL had only one maybe two Black cast members.
Today, I’m one of five, and we also have Asian, Hispanic, LGBTQ+ members in our cast. It’s just not about appearances, it allows the show to do comedy it never could before. With a sketch like ‘Black Jeopardy’, it only works if we have enough Black cast members to make it feel authentic to the community.
Sketches like ‘Black Jeopardy’ open up the show to a whole new audience who never.
