Saturday Night Live was launched in 1975, a time when television and America were not dabbling in edgy comedy. Since then, the show has managed to develop massive comedy icons (Bill Murry, Adam Sandler, Will Farrel) even as it struggles against deep creative lows that plague every long-running TV show. Other sketch comedy troops that were arguably funnier and more in touch with their era (The State, Kids In The Hall, Mad TV) burned brightly and then burned out as SNL chugged forward fueled largely on the strength of its political satire. Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan, Ross Perot, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and George Bush have all been brilliantly mocked with non-partisan consistency.

Recently SNL has endorsed Hillary Clinton for President. Since the writers strike ended, each SNL episode has contained at least one pro-Hillary segment that have varied from authentically funny to false evenhandedness.

Political pundants have credited Clinton’s win in the Texas primary in part due to her positive SNL treatment. SNL favoring a Democrat isn’t a surprise. Endorsing the establishment Democrat is.

By contrast, the new issue of Rolling Stone has endorsed Obama, the first time the magazine has endorsed a candidate during a primary since its inception in 1967. (click ‘cover stories’)

Both SNL and Rolling Stone are left-leaning institutions that emerged from the haze that was the 1960′s idealism, but where as Rolling Stone has stayed true to it’s insurgent origins, SNL has repositioned itself in the safety of the middle.Based on the influence SNL has exerted over the electorate, there is little question over its current relevance, however it is not the same relevance of 30 years ago. These are not the days of Chevy Chase defining Gerald Ford as a bumbling incompetent or even those of Norm MacDonald’s single minded conviction that O.J. did it. These are the days of quietly getting by.