Lorne Michaels, the creator and executive producer of “Saturday Night Live,” recently broke down the show’s mission to podcaster Marc Maron.

But actual viewers likely have a far different take on “SNL” circa 2015.

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The show’s strength, we’re told, is tied to what Michaels calls “the middle of the country,” according to RollingStone.com’s encapsulation of their Q&A.

“Michaels designs the show not to appeal to New Yorkers or Angelenos, but those in Kansas. Though the writers may never have a consensus about what they find funny, he never wants to shut out people who seem to really need the show by ‘doing things that are too specific.’ This is why he tries to include elements of satire, political, dry, broad and physical comedy. Regardless of personal aesthetics, Michaels feels, ‘If you laugh, if you give it up for somebody … we know it.'”

That hardly seems the case of late.

The current version of “Saturday Night Live” seems to obsess on big-city dwellers over middle American viewers. Consider the show’s political bent, which in recent years has taken a dramatic shift to the left. The show routinely hammers GOP candidates harder than liberals. Last month, NBC gave Hillary Clinton a full forum to push her freshly launched “likeable” persona during a sketch. A few weeks later, Donald Trump hosted the show and a black cast member insinuated the mogul’s new book “Crippled America” represents a racist view of the country.

The NBC series took a broad, ugly swipe at Americans who support the Second Amendment.

The sketch series has had fun mocking Clinton’s stiff persona, but typically won’t touch her more serious scandals like her email debacle and the cash-for-play allegations hurled at the Clinton Foundation. And the same show that mercilessly mocked Sarah Palin and President George W. Bush’s IQ have been pretty tame when targeting President Obama.

Yet, while big cities like New York and Los Angeles are reliably liberal, great swaths of middle America tend to vote for conservative candidates and causes. It’s hard to imagine them rallying around the show’s liberally biased content.

And then there’s arguably the most infamous “SNL” sketch of 2015. The NBC series took a broad, ugly swipe at Americans who support the Second Amendment. Guest host Amy Schumer, who is fighting for more gun control in real life with her cousin, Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, took part in the following routine.

[lz_ndn video= 29804602]

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The country as a whole has little appetite for expansive gun control laws. And millions of law-abiding citizens use guns to hunt, a sport passed down through the generations. The sketch made owning a gun a suspect behavior, hardly a message aimed at Michaels’ alleged “middle of the country” target.

Michaels is entitled to describe and define his show in any way he pleases. Audiences across the country see the broadcast itself and are drawing their own, more accurate, conclusions.