So the never ending late night sketch show on US television is celebrating its 50th anniversary tonight with a 3 hour live special on NBC. I don’t know how widely the show has been or is available outside of the US but it has definitely started the careers of a large number of comedians who have become huge stars.
It will be interesting to see who turns up on the broadcast tonight. It seems to me there are still plenty of fans of the show but it is also pretty common for people to complain over the years that the “current” cast is not as good as a past group of performers. My take is that it still remains funny but as with any comedy show it can also be very uneven.
The 1980-81 season was probably the low point but still managed to launch the career of Eddie Murphy. Most of the rest of the cast was fired at the end of 1981.
Also, last night NBC rebroadcast the 1st episode from 1975 with George Carlin as the host and the original cast (Belushi, Ackroyd, Chase, Curtin, Radner, etc). I have to say while it had a few good moments most of the sketches flopped as far I was concerned. Fortunately they found the right vibe within a few weeks, probably around Ep 4 which had Candace Bergan as the host.
I remember when the 15th anniversary aired in 1990. I was 15 at the time, and I taped the special so I could watch it over and over, which I did. I watched it so much I could recite every line from every sketch featured in the show along with the actors.
I plan on watching tonight’s with my 14- and 16-year old. They don’t love SNL now like I loved it then, but they’re looking forward to watching it. They’re big fans of Will Farrell and they know some of his SNL work.
Morris was incredibly talented. He was given limited opportunities to demonstrate that on the show outside of playing all the parts that weren’t ‘white’ people. He had more musical talent than the rest of them put together.
Garrett suffered from a skin condition. His was black. None of the writers were. He was actually hired as a writer and then brought into the cast, but nobody wanted to write for him and nobody understood how to write for him and nobody was interested in the stuff he wrote for himself. That’s why he was sidelined in almost all sketches, and remained bitter for decades.
It’s worse than you think. She spells her name Laraine. She was a founding member of the Groundlings, the L.A. improv troupe who have since contributed at least 15 more SNL cast members. She didn’t have Gilda’s high-energy personality or Jane’s ability to fit in anywhere and improve the surroundings.
Characters and chameleons are the two improv types that make for stars on SNL. Bowen Yang is a character and broke out almost immediately in today’s cast. Heidi Gardner is a dependable chameleon. Most of the rest of the cast aren’t either, which is why the show often feels so dull.
I hope you all saw the three-hour tribute to music guests, Ladies and Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music. My cable still has it on demand. It’s probably on Peacock, too. Grab it before it goes.
Be sure to also watch the four episodes Beyond the Scenes on Peacock. One episode shows auditions, another the making of that one sketch with a cowbell (you know what I mean), one episode on the disastrous 10th season, and an episode about what writing for a show is like. I found them to be really interesting.
The Minneapolis paper reports that Al Franken, as one of the original writers and a sometime performer, will be in one of the coveted seats in the audience. He also shows up in that analysis of the terrible 10th sesson, which he and Davis produced.
I’ve been indulging in various things SNL related over the past couple of weeks, in the lead up to the big shindig tonight. New York magazine has done a bunch of articles that were fascinating. This one featured a bunch of SNL alumni (writers and performers) talking about what it was like immediately after leaving the show. It’s worth reading just for Julia Sweeney’s story; good gravy, that woman went through some THINGS!
Another one was a profile of Lorne Michaels; from reading this and other profiles, I have come to the conclusion that there is a not insignificant portion of SNL’s alumni base that is either 1) terrified of Lorne or 2) hates his guts. I very much get the impression that there is going to be a lot that comes out on Lorne one day when he is dead and can’t wreck anyone’s career anymore.
I remember they hung a lampshade on it at one point; he was playing a part he was obviously unsuited for, but he said it was in his contract to play any and all parts darker than a certain skintone color.
I saw Tom Hanks on Seth Meyers a day or two ago, reminiscing about all the times he hosted SNL; he’s in town to be a part of the reunion. The segment is on Youtube. There might be a bunch more SNL alums and hosts who made appearances on this or that talk show lately in the runup to this.
People have literally been saying this for…49 years I think.
But seriously… From what I see, the cast as it was when someone was a teen to 20 years old is what they’ll think is the BEST cast and everything was downhill from there. Whether it was the originals, or the Lovitz/Carvey years, or the Will Farrell era to the Lonely Island years…kids imprint on ‘that’ cast and see it as the peak.
For good or ill (and IMHO he’s handled it way better than many people would have), Lorne Michaels has arguably had more influence over comedy and pop culture than any other individual of the past 50 years.
I just mentioned one of each as examples. tbh, though everybody else praises his Trump impression, I think it’s the worst out there so that colors my impression of him. I also didn’t mention Kenan, who is maybe the best example of a chameleon-character.
Arguably? I would say unquestionably. He additionally does a fantastic job for someone who’s 80. Name anyone else in comedy who’s that age and has any influence at all.
I wouldn’t doubt it except that he’s going to outlive everybody.
Keeping control of a dozen comics at any time calls for a firm hand and the ability to say an even firmer no. Even improv players don’t go into the field to be nice to all the others in the troupe. And he’s earned the right to have a bigger ego than anybody in the cast. There’s a big biography of him, the first, coming out Monday. I have it on pre-order and I’m dying of curiosity.
I think his Trump is okay but I don’t like him all that much as a comedian. I just thought he was the ultimate “chameleon” because it seems like he’s either always doing an impression or appearing as some other character that’s nothing like him.
He’s like a much worse Darrell Hammond. My point is that not all “chameleons” are successful.
I will say I’m pretty excited for the 50th anniversary. There are a lot of documentaries about different aspects of the show and my wife and I have been watching all of them. There is even one that’s only about the “Cowbell” sketch that I thought was fascinating.
You know, Phil Hartman was a fantastic go-to guy for ‘chameleon’ work, either in a supporting role or when carrying a sketch; but on occasions when they didn’t need him to do that, his go-to persona — with the slick and upbeat and polished demeanor — seemed like, well, a pretty terrific character.
Yep, every time there is a cast change people claim the new one is terrible and a previous cast was the pinnacle of talent. Admittedly there have been some casts that were mostly lackluster (S6, S8-S11 I’m looking hard at you) but even those seasons had a few standouts who helped keep things afloat. But the 80’s were very uneven casts.
As far as the current cast is concerned I would agree Bowen Yang, Kenan Thompson and James Austin Johnson are great but I am also fond Marcello Hernandez, Ego Nwodem, Mikey Day, Cloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner and Sarah Sherman (such a delightful weirdo) to be great. They are really a great group.
Not to mention Jost and Che do an excellent job with Update.
I am watching the Live from the Red Carpet pre-show and am wondering if any previous cast member or host was specifically not invited to return for this.
BTW, my mother mentioned that she used to watch the show and said she remembered they had this one comedian on the show who was really funny but all that she could remember was that it was a white guy. And then there was another white guy. No more specific than that.