Despite being shown on several cable networks, some episodes of Saturday Night Live rarely or never get rerun. There are two cases I’ve heard of:
–In a SD search, a poster noted Louise Lasser’s (of Mary Hartman fame) episode is no longer shown. She was suffering from severe emotional problems at the time, and first refused to get out of her dressing room. When she did show, the shambling show ended with her doing a confusing monologue about her problems.
–Frank Zappa’s episode also is rarely shown. Depending on who you talk to, it’s either Zappa half-assed it or the cast was too drug addled to make much sense.
Anyone have ones they’d like to add?
Somebody who is an expert on SNL will come by soon to expand on this topic, no doubt! But we have a couple of books on the show, and one that I remember reading about is the episode hosted by Desi Arnaz. Lorne Michaels refused to air it again because Arnaz was such an asshole to the cast and crew, nobody could stand to be around him.
Are you sure you’re not thinking of Milton Berle, or was there another incident regarding Arnaz?
Berle was mentioned in the book(s) as well. I don’t know whether his episode has been barred or not, but I did read that his appearance was a miserable occasion for everyone.
Arnaz, though, behaved as a consummate jerk, berating the camera crew during blocking, saying “I invented this shit, what’s so hard about it?” or words to that effect. He was telling people how to do their jobs, pulling the “star” trip, and was so unctuous and obnoxious that nobody wanted to work with him.
I’ve been wanting to see the episode with Derek Jeter again, but they never show it 
Sinead O’Connor’s Fight the real enemy! moment is never replayed (though they may play the rehearsal version that they showed when it was first repeated).
Dunno about Arnaz, but Lorne Michaels definitely refused to ever run the Berle episode ever again. Berle apparently insisted on calling everyone “booby” and also had to have his long rambling monologue.
An episode with George Wendt hosting has “Mr No-Depth Perception Man” that I have been looking for for years…
Then, there is the lost season- the year after all the originals left- I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT WAS A DAMN GOOD SEASON THAT NEVER GETS ANY CREDIT!
Per the book I used to have on SNL, Arnaz was loathed because he came in with a bad attitude based on his history in television. Berle was ridiculed for his monologue and because he was caught spray-coloring his bald spot.
The Lasser episode, though pulled from syndication for decades, is IIRC included on the season 1 box set.
Ron Popeil didn’t invent that? Wow. Berle was a pioneer in more ways than one.
Being an asshole to the cast doesn’t stop them from showing Chevy Chase’s guest appearances.
I don’t think they show **Martin Lawrence’s ** show anymore.
Has the episode they filmed in New Orleans during Mardi Gras ever been reaired? The one where somebody was crushed to death by a float on camera.
The Mardi Gras special is available on the Season 1 DVD set. A person was crushed by a float in the parade, but it wasn’t on-camera. The episode apparently is a complete disaster, however.
The cast members were no more drug addled than usual for the era. But Zappa, who I admire greatly as a musician, did a terrible job as a live comedy show host. He apparently decided that appearing on a comedy sketch show was an opportunity to mock the concept of comedy sketch shows. He intentionally read all his dialogue in a flat monotone and repeatedly broke character.
Hmm, I wonder if this was before or after Andy Kaufman nearly caused a riot on SNL with his comedy-deconstruction shtik, in which he also broke character and refused to do a skit as written?
In 1997, Norm MacDonald made a weird belch midsentence during “Weekend Update” that caught him by surprise and made him say “what the fuck was that?” on camera. Not sure if they ever reran that one.
That was on the show Friday’s I believe- did he do it on SNL as well?
No, the episode of SNL hosted by Zappa was about two or three years before the “Fridays” incident with Kaufman. In any case, I do recall seeing it aired in reruns a few times.
As for the story about Arnez being a jerk during his hosting gig, that’s the first I’ve heard of it. I don’t recall reading about in the 1985 history of the show or the more recent retrospective.