Are you a big SNL fan? Have you rearranged your Saturday nights so that you can catch the Cheerleaders, Mango, or the Ambiguously Gay Duo? If so . . . then you must have a few questions about what's going on with Saturday Night Live this season. Has SNL lost its edge? Has it "jumped the shark?" Join Melanie Burkes as she examines exactly what has happened to one of the classic shows on television and find out if SNL has any laughs left.

When I was in high school, I always looked forward to Saturday night with anxious anticipation. It was not because I got to stay up late - although that was an added bonus. It was not because I had some hot date lined up - I was a bit of a wallflower in high school. Nor was it because I was looking forward to playing Scrabble with my parents (I was a wallflower - not a loser). It was because, usually without fail, from 11:30 to 1:00 a.m. on Saturday night/Sunday morning - I knew that I would be entertained with 90 minutes of zaniness - otherwise known as Saturday Night Live. It was a guarantee that " Pat" was going to make me laugh. However, if for some reason that missed the mark, "Wayne's World" was guaranteed to have me giggling. If all else failed, and I was having a slow night and just didn't find anything funny, I knew that "The Church-Chat Lady" would bring it all home. This was all back in the good old days (in the early 90s) when SNL was funny and before today when SNL well . . . isn't so funny anymore. In fact, it kinda sucks.

When SNL first came on the air in 1975, the motley crew of improvisationalists, comedians and actors/actresses were soon dubbed the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players." Breaking most of the rules for television during its time, SNL showcased irreverent comedy, biting political satire, and a we-just-don't-give-a-f&*# attitude that soon won a legion of fans. Over the years SNL has become known not just for its sketch comedy, but as the launching pad for both successful (ex.: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, and Mike Myers) and unsuccessful (ex.: Dana Carvey, Tim Meadows, Rob Schneider, Molly Shannon, and Jon Lovitz ) movie careers. SNL has also been guilty of launching more than a few stinker movies as well. Do the movies The Ladies Man, Superstar, A Night at the Roxbury and It's Pat ring any bells?

These criticisms aside, in its own shell, SNL has pretty consistently been a winner. I mean how could it not be. It's been on the air for 27 years. Even Law and Order probably won't be on that long. But, because of the nature of the sketch comedy format of the show and the constantly shifting cast, there are always bound to be stinker years for the series. While SNL was hilarious with John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtain and Bill Murray in the late 70s, it hit a real bump in mid-80s after Billy Crystal and Eddie Murphy left. Then once again, it peaked in the early 90's with Dana Carvey, Mike Meyers, Nora Dunn, Jan Hooks, Chris Farley, and Phil Hartman (my hay days of high school ), only to take a quick leap into not-so-funny and peak once again in the late 90's with Will Ferrell, Ana Gesteyer, Molly Shannon, Cheri Oteri and Chris Kattan. What's the point? This is all to say that we are in a serious SNL drought right about now. Despite the cute and funny antics of Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey (first female head writer - yeah!), and some dead-on impressions by Maya Rudolph, SNL really isn't so funny this year.

Case in point, I tune in a couple of weeks ago for the premiere. My friends and I are really excited because (a) Matt Damon is hosting, (b) there has been a summer's worth of hearty material, and (c) Matt Damon is hosting. Ninety minutes later, after barely cracking a smile, we get up from the television set and my first thought was "What the hell was that?" Other than a kind-of-funny dance-off that takes place between Matt Damon, as Justin Timberlake, and another female cast member as Britney Spears (the funny part being watching the rhythm less Damon desperately trying to find a beat), everything else was not so funny (one exception being a hysterical Smurfette version of the Anna Nicole Show). Even the usual biting humor of Fey and Fallon at the news desk failed to brighten the show.

Thinking maybe it was Damon (how could it be?), I tuned in the following week to witness Sarah Michelle Gellar proceed to butcher another number of skits. The most disturbing aspect of her performance was her take on the new Christina Aguilera music video/soft-porn production for her song, "Dirrty." If you have seen the video, or anything that Christina has had on lately, you know that there is a lot of fodder there for jokes. Yet, inexplicably, the skit still stunk. The problem? Well, with the episodes I have seen thus far this year, it is that the jokes are outstaying their welcome. Although I am not a comedienne nor an expert, I do realize that much of comedy is about timing, and knowing where to cut if off . . . and that is a trick that this year's cast hasn't managed to get right yet. Hit the audience with zingers, and then move onto the next joke. As the boys like to say in football, "Stick and move."

Another criticism? The material they choose. It has been a ripe and juicy summer full of material for jokes. Between the Anna Nicole Show (which they used), to J. Lo's soon-to-be-betrothed guy Affleck, to the Bush twins drunken outings, to WorldCom. Perhaps many of these things will soon be addressed in episodes to come, because they have been notoriously absent in the first couple.

Despite all of my current criticisms, I am going to wrap up my little tirade by saying, that funny or not-so-funny, I am going to stick it out. Like I said, SNL has been on the air for almost 30 years, and I really don't think it's going anywhere. If I can make it through years in which Victoria "baby voice" Jackson and Colin "Remote Control" Quinn were main cast members then I can make it through this. After all... what else do I have to do on a Saturday night? Play Scrabble . . . um, I mean, go out on a hot date. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket . . . a hot date.

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Melanie Burkes is a twenty something corporate attorney in Washington, D.C. Much to the chagrin of her parents and all of the banks holding her student loans, Melanie plans on quitting her job as a lawyer as soon as possible, and shall strike out for the wealth of riches that awaits her in the broadcast journalism field. In her spare time, Melanie likes to read current literature, prepare meals for her friends, and plots the overthrow of her current employer.