# Was the "Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger" SNL sketch real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [November 10, 2020, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210 "2020-11-10T09:00:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![urbanredneck2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/5f8ce5/32.png) [@urbanredneck2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urbanredneck2)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/1 "2020-11-10T09:00:23Z")
Going back to the old [Olympia Grill SNL sketch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puJePACBoIo), from 1978 do you think Dan Akroyd was really cooking cheeseburgers on that grill or was it just good acting, props, and sound effects? It sure looks real. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/2 "2020-11-10T11:05:52Z")
I don’t know definitively, but those sets have to come down and be replaced in about 45 seconds and a real grill frying real burgers would put the stagehands in harm’s way. Plus, they have existing diner sets from previous unrelated sketches, including Bill Murray’s very first appearance, and I just can’t see them paying for multiple diner sets. I’m going with “no.” ---
**Author:** ![urbanredneck2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/5f8ce5/32.png) [@urbanredneck2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urbanredneck2)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/3 "2020-11-10T13:21:14Z")
I agree and from those points alone I would also say “no”. Still it looks so darn real. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/4 "2020-11-10T13:26:56Z")
It’s been years since I saw it - and I’m sure I wasn’t looking at that detail. If I were doing the sketch, I would buy lunch for the cast in rehearsal and keep an extra couple cheeseburgers, let them cool down, and use those. If that is the case, they were using previously cooked burgers. Why wouldn’t that look real? A couple frozen patties could be used to add verisimilitude. Both could be easily switched out. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/5 "2020-11-10T13:55:55Z")
According to Don Novello, one of the writers of the sketch, the grill was real. “The set was the most elaborate for “SNL” at the time, because it included a working grill, Novello said.” > **[CHEEZBORGER!](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-10-19-9910190232-story.html)** ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/6 "2020-11-10T13:58:19Z")
cheeburger cheeburger is a small burger chain, it closed here. Food was decent , can’t recall if they only served Pepsi. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/7 "2020-11-10T14:17:42Z")
You can see steam coming off the grill and hear the sound of the sizzle. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/8 "2020-11-10T14:28:02Z")
Bear\_Nenno mentioned it was a working grill (but his link just goes to the front page of the Chicago Tribune). However, even if it was fake, a stagehand behind the set with a blow torch and some water on the skillet would probably accomplish the same thing. I’d assume they just used an electric skillet. The most difficult part of doing that would be cleaning it and making sure no one accidentally touches it while it’s back stage pre-heating/cooling off. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/9 "2020-11-10T14:36:40Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > However, even if it was fake, a stagehand behind the set with a blow torch and some water on the skillet would probably accomplish the same thing. Kind of more complicated than using a real grill. Takes a lot of blow torching to heat up that metal to get that effect. Even back then renting a grill for that purpose would not have been difficult, they are available for catering use. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/10 "2020-11-10T14:40:11Z")
There were so many cooking shows in the Seventies, I don’t think using actual cooking fixtures in a studio was a challenge any TV crew at the time hadn’t already had plenty of experience with. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/11 "2020-11-10T14:47:11Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > There were so many cooking shows in the Seventies, I don’t think using actual cooking fixtures in a studio was a challenge any TV crew at the time hadn’t already had plenty of experience with. - True but most cooking shows had fairly stable sets. They weren’t attempting the quick changes that SNL were. The challenge isn’t setting up a working grill on a studio set. The challenge is quickly getting a working grill out on the set, having it up and running, performing the scene live while taping it, and then getting the now hot grill back off the set as you remove all of the other props around it. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/12 "2020-11-10T14:50:02Z")
A lot of those cooking segments were on talk shows who would have been dealing with the same logistics as SNL. TV crews already knew how to do stuff like that. And don’t forget, the SNL studio has more than one set. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/13 "2020-11-10T15:24:03Z")
I would imagine the SNL crew was young, energetic, and ignorant enough not to realize that having a working grill on a live stage show was unusual. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/14 "2020-11-10T15:31:46Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The challenge is quickly getting a working grill out on the set, having it up and running, performing the scene live while taping it, and then getting the now hot grill back off the set as you remove all of the other props around it. I think all of those challenges are much less difficult than actually faking it while making it look and sound so real. If the previous link did not work, try this: [CHEEZBORGER! – Chicago Tribune](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-10-19-9910190232-story.html) Johnson, A. (1999, October 19). CHEEZBORGER!. _Chicago Tribune._ Retrieved from [https://www.chicagotribune.com/](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-10-19-9910190232-story.html) ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/15 "2020-11-10T15:32:31Z")
Generally speaking, the only SNL set that is set up and broken down during air time is Weekend Update. The sets for the sketches are built around the perimeter of the studio. They’re roughed in on Thursday, completed and dressed on Friday and Saturday, and broken down IIRC on Monday. If it was a real grill — and I have no reason to doubt Mr. Novello — once the sketch ended, no one would go anywhere near the cooling-off grill until after the show. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/16 "2020-11-10T15:32:45Z")
I’m pretty sure the SNL crew were the same people who did other shows broadcast from 30 Rock. Mostly older blue collar union types from the frequent behind the camera shots SNL showed. ---
**Author:** ![urbanredneck2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/5f8ce5/32.png) [@urbanredneck2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urbanredneck2)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/17 "2020-11-10T15:56:50Z")
From the link above it said they actually did the bit about 7-8 times (although on 2 are available on youtube) with various people as guest stars including members of the Rolling Stones. So I imagine if they are going to reuse a set many times it wouldnt be taken down. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/18 "2020-11-10T15:59:16Z")
> [@urbanredneck2](#): > > From the link above it said they actually did the bit about 7-8 times (although on 2 are available on youtube) with various people as guest stars including members of the Rolling Stones. So I imagine if they are going to reuse a set many times it wouldnt be taken down They did it 6 times over a year and a half. It absolutely would have been broken down between uses. A studio doesn’t have the space to leave a set fully assembled if it’s not going to get used again for several months. ---
**Author:** ![urbanredneck2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/5f8ce5/32.png) [@urbanredneck2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urbanredneck2)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/19 "2020-11-10T16:00:25Z")
I wish those other 6 times were on youtube. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210/20 "2020-11-10T16:02:04Z")
Old SNL shows were on the NBC website before they were on youtube. Check there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-cheeseburger-cheeseburger-snl-sketch-real/925210.md?page=2)