On the issue of MADtv, your sisters are most wise.
I hadn’t realized that that was the same Howard Shore who scored the LOTR movies, until a friend of mine made that same “All Nurse Orchestra” joke while we watching one of the films.
I didn’t say he wasn’t working. Note I compared quality, not quantity - I did mention that he’s done enough to have a marathon, for instance. It doesn’t matter how much work he’s doing, if his entire post-SNL oeuvre doesn’t get as many laughs as one of his silly voices when he was on the show…that’s fallen.
The original cast for me as well. I was a young boy of 8 back then, but one of the highlights of my week was getting back out of bed and watching Saturday Night with mom. She’d even break out the skillet and pop some popcorn for us.
George Coe’s still around? He must be around 80 by now. A classic HITG (Hey, It’
s That Guy!).
As for the OP, I turned 13 in 1978 so it was the Original Cast v.1.2. (i.e., Bill Murray had replaced Chevy Chase).
Original cast for me. I was a mid-teen at the time. I remember watching the first episode and being blown away by how good it was. At the time, I think the other entertainment on Saturday night was “Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert”
Just Go With It grossed over $200 million. Grown Ups also grossed over $200 million. Bedtime Stories likewise grossed over $200 million. You Don’t Mess With The Zohan grossed over $200 million as well. Not to mention Click, which, y’know, grossed well over $200 million. Sure, back in the '90s he could make sure that The Wedding Singer would gross well over $200 million and Big Daddy would gross well over $200 million and so on – but compared to SNL alums who’ve fallen by the wayside, he’s still a top-billed star; mentioning him alongside Dana Carvey is just weird.
Which I wouldn’t have expected, when Sandler and Carvey were in my SNL cast – along with Phil Hartman and Chris Rock and Mike Myers and Chris Farley and Dennis Miller.
I only really watched with semi-regularity between probably ages 10 and 14 (88-92). The ones I remember are:
Dana Carvey
Phil Hartman
Jon Lovitz
Kevin Nealon
Victoria Jackson
Jan Hooks
Nora Dunn
I loved that cast. I liked Mike Myers and Chris Farley, and David Spade was ok, but I never cared for Rob Schneider or Adam Sandler and stopped watching probably soon after Wayne’s World (the movie) came out. It was awful when Sherri Oteri, Chris Kattan, Jim Breuer, and Tim Meadows were on. I got sucked back in a bit with Ferrell as Bush and Hammond as Gore were doing their thing, but that’s the last I’ve watched of it while enjoying it.
Changing the subject slightly… Which cast had the most successful post-SNL career as a whole?
Looking at the original cast, Dan Ayckroyd, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and John Belushi had big post-SNL careers. All except Belushi are still working regularly, 35 years later. Garret Morris and Laraine Newman vanished, Jane Curtin had one hit TV show, and Gilda Radner was doing Broadway as I recall, after fizzling somewhat in other attempts at a post-SNL career.
Has any other cast had this kind of success? There have been plenty of breakout stars like Adam Sandler, Will Ferrill, and Eddie Murphy, but I can’t think of another cast that had as much post-SNL success.
A close second might be the cast with Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Dana Carvey, Norm Macdonald, Kevin Nealon, David Spade, Dennis Miller . David Spade is still working in TV, Norm MacDonald has managed to stay working, Mike Myers made a gazillion dollars in movies as did Adam Sandler, and both of them are still working the ‘A’ list or close to it. Carvey has faded a bit because of health problems, but Dennis Miller is still opening big rooms and has turned into a pretty popular figure on the right-wing talk circuit. Chris Farley had a great movie career going before he died (not great as in quality, but box office), and Phil Hartman’s career was still on the way up when he died.
I only ask because you mention Phil Hartman’s death: you know she died, right?
Yep. Cancer.
I claim two casts:
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A. Whitney Brown/Nora Dunn/Jon Lovitz/Dennis Miller/Dana Carvey/Jan Hooks/Phil Hartman/Kevin Nealon
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Mike Myers/Chris Farley/Tim Meadows/Chris Rock/Adam Sandler/Rob Schneider/David Spade/Julia Sweeney
Will Ferrell
Ana Gasteyer
Darrel Hammond
Chris Kattan
Molly Shannon
Cheri Oteri
Colin Quinn
There were plenty of reruns of the Phil Hartman/Dana Carvey/Jon Lovitz etc. cast on Comedy Central back then, too.
I turned on the first episode during the Weekend Update segment, and thought it was real at first … in my defense, Chevy Chase was acting very anchorperson-ish. Right up until he tripped over the desk and brought it down on top of him. Then I heard the audience laughing, and said “Hey, wait a minute…”
I was the tail end of Ferrel/Kattan/Shannon/Oteri casts, but I really started watching in college, which was the Jimmy Fallon, Darrell Hammond, Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph era.
If you like SNL stories, you should listen to The ABCs of SNL, a podcast of Jon Lovitz talking with Kevin Smith about his experience with SNL. there are two episodes published, and there should be another one put up this week. They are about an hour each, and it’s a really fascinating account of Lovitz’s time on this show.
I haven’t listened to it yet, but thanks for the link to that podcast. It looks fascinating, as do a bunch of other podcasts on that same network.
They said they were going to do this weekly. It’s been forever since the second episode. Anyone know what’s up?
I should claim the original NRFPTP cast, but about a month after SNL premiered (does anyone remember the show Weekend that aired when SNL wasn’t on?) I had my work schedule changed. I didn’t see another episode until the 1980-81 season, where I discovered Denny Dillon, Ann Risling and Charles Rocket, among others.