Saturday Night Secret

Lorne Michaels does not seem to fully understand the reasons for “Saturday Night Live’s” change in style in the ‘80s (Calendar, Sept. 17). The change is not due to the nature of television, but to a change in American society.

Humor and satire have always been accurate mirrors of society, and “SNL” is no exception. The original cast, with its wild spontaneity and brazen offensiveness, fit perfectly the nation’s reaction to hippies, Vietnam and Richard Nixon. Today’s sleek, spit-and-polished “SNL” is the ideal show for post-Reagan America, which values style over substance. Perhaps if Michaels understood this, he could improve the quality of the current “Saturday Night Live.”

ERIC BORER

Upland