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i had a thought while watching Saturday Night Live last night, but i must preface the thought quickly with why i had the thought

last night's episode had the absurdly high-potential host and musical guest team of Steve Martin and Prince. my hopes were high, and while Prince rocked harder than i expected him to (which was totally refreshing) and Steve started out strong with a great intro and pretty good monologue, the humor went downhill fast and even when it was decent, all the skits had the same problem that the show has been having for almost a decade in that they don't know how to end a scene. there was rarely anything to signify that a scene was over, except for the mic volume lowering and the audience applauding as the camera zoomed out.

so here's my idea, what i would pitch if i were on the SNL writing staff right now. it may seem a little revolutionary or just plain crazy and nonsensical, but here it is:

every week, come up with one sure-fire ending to a scene, any scene, and apply it to every skit that episode. do not repeat this ending for at least a season and a half unless it really adds to the effectiveness of the joke.

par example: let's say one night, every skit, all fourteen or so of them, ends with Keenan Thompson running in from off camera and announcing a fun fact about lemon flavored Jell-o pudding. the next week, every skit ends with a massive explosion. the next week, every skit ends with the actors being chased away by dogs.
the first skit of the night, people will react "huh...well that was odd, but kinda funny, i guess." the second skit, "oh, i see, its a running gag. that's kinda silly." the third skit, its just plain funny. This keeps up for a little while, and by the last half-hour of the show people start to get a little tired of the joke, but thankfully, the joke won't be used again for another year and a half at least, and we'll get to experience the whole thing another time next week! that's a whole 'nother joke thrown over the entire episode as a whole in addition to the standard humor of the individual sketches.

maybe someday if i have the time and resources, i'll make my own stupid sketch comedy show and use this thematic element in each episode, if another show hasn't completely raped the idea by then. i find that alot of the ideas i have and get excited about are then used by someone else and widely accepted before i ever have a chance to pull it off myself.