I’m particularly gratified these days when people are genuinely surprised when they find out my actual age. I take particular pride in how I’ve been able to physically retool myself enough that the photograph on my driver’s license, now nearly a decade old, looks absolutely nothing like how I do now and people–even the most discerning ones–almost never come within five years on the low side. Often, that’s because after I’ve interacted with them they are surprised to know the depth and recency of my interests and at least decent working knowledge of more contemporary personalities and concerns. Yes, I’m technically old enough to merit a few “OK, Boomer” eyerolls, and to be honest if you put a gun to my head and demanded I sing the lyrics in two languages to a Bad Bunny hit I’d likely fail you, but I know I earn more street cred than most of my vintage.
Which is why in an otherwise tepid and sometimes dragging season of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE I’m thankful that we’ve seen the return of Dana Carvey to a semi-regular role. Carvey’s first appearance on the show was part of a 1986 cast revamp that the show sorely needed at the time. The iconic original cast members were long gone, and its creator and champion Lorne Michaels had been coaxed back to the show by NBC management to try and bring back the luster–and the audience–that it had during the 70s, when a cast known as the “Not Ready For Prime Time Players” ruled the daypart and pop cultire. And considering this was happening at a time when the prime time lineup had been so successfully and dramatically ignited by the magical touch of Brandon Tartikoff and the “Must-See TV” comedies and dramas, the fact that SNL was flailing was all the more aberrative.
Carvey was part of a rookie class that included, as Wikipedia notes. newcomers Phil Hartman, Kevin Nealon, Jan Hooks, and Victoria Jackson, (who) helped to reverse the show’s declining popularity and made SNL “must-see” TV once again. To put that in sobering perspective, Hartman and Hooks are no longer alive and Jackson recently revealed she has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
But Carvey is very much alive and extremely well, and last night, as THE WRAP’s Ross A. Lincoln reported, he got the first of the show’s Golden Anniversary season December episodes off to a roaring start:
“Saturday Night Live” legend Dana Carvey has been back a lot this year — and we’re definitely not complaining — and on the latest “SNL” he led the cold open by bringing back one of the many iconic characters he created for the show: The Church Lady.
The whole cold open was an episode of “Church Chat,” the fictional Christian TV show Carvey created back in the 1980s as a parody of the era’s evangelical judgmental moralizing. And Carvey’s Church Lady was joined by another “SNL” legend, David Spade, who played a version of Hunter Biden that compared himself to Jesus with some surprising sophistry. The sketch featured all of the character’s bits and catch phrases — “Well isn’t that special,” “SATAN?” and of course the dance.
DEADLINE’s Ted Johnson rattled off a few of the stronger rejoinders that Carvey delivered in character:
“Easy, church woman,” Hunter Biden told her.
“Oh, well, pardon me.”
“Pardon you? Who do you think I am, your daddy?” she replied.
And on the shtick went.
“They singled me out because of who I am. Much like Trump, they went after me because of my last name, and all the illegal things I did,” Biden insisted.
“Well, isn’t that special?” the Church Lady replied.
What we got there was a good old-fashioned schooling of what the current show, even with the many talented members it has access to, lacks compared to its earlier incarnations. Strong, defined characters, not just exaggerated imitations of politicians and personalities in the news, capable of making recurring appearances and developing audience expectations and loyalties in the manner of a traditional scripted series. Carvey is a master at that art, developing a repetoire that also notably included the immortal Garth Algar, the “party on” partner in WAYNE’S WORLD. That skit spawned two memorable movies that, sorry, not sorry, I defy anyone who currently hangs out in their parents’ basement, age notwithstanding, to not find both relatable and hilarious.
And the fact that Carvey is more than holding his own with a cast where, out of 17 regulars only three were even ALIVE when he first appeared—now at age 69 1/2 no less—is especially delicious to watch. While Maya Rudolph’s return as Kamala Harris was spot on and welcomed, Carvey literally stole the show when his interpretation of Joe Biden was added to the pre-election mix. And since he had already played one of his predecessors, the “na ganah” homage to George H.W. Bush, he had 
the perfect resume to send up someone with as many tentacles for spoofing as this year’s version of Biden did.
He’s even made Spade, another SNL veteran who is nowhere near as well-liked as is Carvey, relatable and welcomed. Their podcast FLY ON THE WALL serves as a de facto oral history of the show, one that’s especially well-timed given the upcoming milestone (revealed last night to be happening on the first Sunday after the Super Bowl, February 16th). And that’s made both of them recognizable and appreciated by those who fall into age groups closer to the balance of the current cast. 
I’d like to think those young ‘uns might be inspired to write and refine recurring characters based on their own experiences, much as Carvey did bringing the Church Lady, a.k.a. Enid Strict, to life. Wikipedia reminds that Carvey said he based the character on women he knew from church while growing up, who would keep track of other churchgoers’ attendance. When you see the stand-up routines of some of the more promising newer talents, such as the cast’s resident Generation Z member Marcello Hernandez, the potential clearly exists. It takes a performer willing to work closely with writers and indeed be capable of writing themself to do that. Kenan Thompson, the all-time veteran cast member now in his 22nd season, has a few in his repetoire, though none currently have reached the level of demand and popularity that those of Carvey’s era did.
Perhaps if those who are being schooled by Carvey this fall are inspired, there may yet be more reasons for me, and especially those in the more coveted younger demos that NBC (and Peacock) prioritize, to make SNL appointment viewing once again, and look forward to weekly telecasts with something close to the level of anticipation for SNL50.
And yes, that would indeed be special.
Until next time…