The Comedy Gods are a Fickle Bunch

Last week, there was a bizarre story in the news about Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick getting caught at the Miami Airport with weed hidden in the bottled water he was carrying. After he surrendered the water at the security checkpoint, screeners discovered the bottle had a secret compartment that "had a dark residue and a pungent odor of marijuana".

Of all places, I first heard about this story on Saturday Night Live. Weekend Update did a hilarious segment called "Really!?! with Seth & Amy" that skewered the quarterback.

"And also, I don't know if you've heard, but you can't bring bottled water past security anymore. So you hid your weed, which is not allowed on a plane, in another thing that is not allowed on a plane. That's like hiding your weed in a barrel of a gun or in the mouth of an endangered species."

When it first aired, I thought it was the funniest bit of the entire show, but there was a development in the story this week that has dampened that opinion.

The police tested the water bottle for drugs and the test came back negative, so no charges will be filed against Vick. That's good news, but that news seems to have taken some of the punch out of the segment. It's still funny, but just not as funny as when the premise was true. Now when I watch it, instead of laughing out loud, I'm wondering if the show will apologize to Vick.

With the exception of "Lazy Sunday" and "A Special Christmas Box", SNL hasn't had a lot of truly funny moments lately (some people measure lately in years). I thought Seth and Amy's bit had potential to be one of those moments and possibly a sign of a comedy rebirth for the show.

But it seems the show hasn't done enough to please the comedy gods. One wonders what the show has to do to regain their good graces for it seems the comedy gods are a fickle bunch.