TV: Saturday Night Live 40 years live? and beyond -MOD 724

[Tkachuk4MVP]

When they did that montage of clips over the last 40 years, you could practically pinpoint right when the show started to suck and it was basically in the late 90s.

I thought the late 2000s/early 2010s was a pretty good period as well. The writing was fairly consistent, and it had a strong cast from top to bottom (Armisen, Hader, Forte, Sudekis, Samberg, Wiig, Meyers, Poheler, Thompson, Killam, etc.).

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

This show made me really nostalgic for what the show used to be, and it made me sad that all of these greats are getting old and passing away. I think seeing Jack Nicholson up there at his age was really sobering... also seeing Chevy Chase in his condition.

What condition? He's just old and fat lol. Still acting and stuff.

 

[kingsholygrail]

I know it sounds like a broken record, but there were definitely better eras than others on SNL. Almost anyone who watched during the time would probably agree that 1986-'94 was an exceptional time period. For a lot of reasons. The 1985-'86 season was horrible. Lorne brought in Hartman and Carvey and Jan Hooks and Victoria Jackson the year after. Miller and Lovitz were already there. From then on the show was great and it isn't a coincidence that 1994 was the last best year at SNL for a while. Hartman left, Carvey had left and while 1994-'95 was still a decent year, it wasn't the same. But 1995 onwards is when it just stayed being brutal.

Will Ferrell in that late 1990s/early 2000s era was sort of like Eddie Murphy in the early 1980s, the lone bright spot. There were guys like Jim Breuer, Chris Kattan, Cheri Oteri, Tracy Morgan, etc. They fired Norm MacDonald who actually was funny. It was a dark time. Colin Quinn was not a good Weekend Update guy. Dennis Miller he wasn't. Then Jimmy Fallon comes in and I just never got into Fallon on that show. I think maybe by the time the mid 2000s came around things started to pick up a bit. Hader, Samberg, Wiig, Forte, Sudekis, etc. came around. The 2008 Presidential era was pretty good, sort of got me watching it more regularly again. And I would say up until 2012 the show was pretty good again. But since 2012, not so much.

So I would definitely say the best era was 1986-'94 followed up by 1975-'80. The original cast, once they got the chemistry going did well obviously.

That's pretty much where I was at with it. lol It's interesting that Jimmy Fallon is actually much more entertaining now than when he was on SNL for me.

But yeah when they had Hartman, Spade, Farley, Carvey, and such, it was pretty dynamite. Not young enough for the original crew or even the mid 80s.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Nice to see they added Charles Rocket to the show--for those who do not know--he dropped the f bomb twice and was on the banned list at the time of his death. He was not on good terms with NBC--but I suspect that Lorne had control over last nights show

 

[SweetyV]

Wish there was a way to see full seasons from the early 80's and up.

Sucks that they are kind of only a memory now (for the lucky people who have seen them )

 

[Jumptheshark]

Wish there was a way to see full seasons from the early 80's and up.

Sucks that they are kind of only a memory now (for the lucky people who have seen them )

Sadly--I am just old enough to have nearly all the shows from the late 70's till now

I am convinced fred arneson is black mailing people for his jobs--that is the one guy I hate

 

[SweetyV]

Sadly--I am just old enough to have nearly all the shows from the late 70's till now

I am convinced fred arneson is black mailing people for his jobs--that is the one guy I hate

Consider yourself lucky. I'll have to order some best of DVDs

 

[Cory Trevor]

Californians had me cracking up.

 

[GertrudeStein]

Californians had me cracking up.

i didn't understand why they did that one. I think it's terrible.

I wonder why the older members didn't get to do skits. Eddie Murphy or Chevy Chase in a skit is more of a celebration of 40 years.

 

[NyQuil]

I wonder why the older members didn't get to do skits. Eddie Murphy or Chevy Chase in a skit is more of a celebration of 40 years.

Dan Aykroyd did the Bass-o-matic sketch.

I'd say that what the 40th anniversary drove home for me is that you really need two kinds of talent for the show to work:

1. Big Laughs Talent

These are the guys that play the crazy characters and generally get the most laughs. They tend to be the centre of the sketches that they are in, and writers will write for them specifically.

As far as the generations go, I'd say you have people like:
-Chevy Chase
-John Belushi
-Eddie Murphy
-Dana Carvey
-Mike Myers
-Will Ferrell
-Bill Hader
-Kristen Wiig

There are people out there who aspire to be one of these types but they don't have the chops, so they end up only playing their own characters for the most part when they do end up on screen and entire weeks can go by without seeing them. For example, I'd argue that, as much as I really like Andy Samberg, he was really there to do his Digital Shorts and his live sketch work was pretty forgettable.

2. Support Talent

These are the guys that seem to show up in every sketch. They play authority figures, they do impressions, but it seems as if they are always on TV and never lack for screen time.

As far as the generations go, I'd say you have people like:
-Dan Aykroyd
-Garrett Morris
-Jan Hooks
-Phil Hartman
-Jason Sudeikis
-Taran Killam
-Nasim Pedrad
-Keenan Thompson

When you read about SNL and how some cast members are so desperate to get on TV, you have to marvel about how often these guys are on. More importantly, they're comfortable in a range of characters and types of humour.

Clearly it's a bit of a continuum, with some people sort of in the middle (John Lovitz).

 

[NyQuil]

I am convinced fred arneson is black mailing people for his jobs--that is the one guy I hate

I like Fred Armisen, but then again, I like Portlandia as well.

This sketch is probably my favourite:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/311554

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Sadly--I am just old enough to have nearly all the shows from the late 70's till now

I am convinced fred arneson is black mailing people for his jobs--that is the one guy I hate

Armisen doesn't seem like the greatest guy off-camera, but I don't see how you can deny the man's talent.

 

[bohlmeister]

Yeah, I love Armisen.

 

[Cory Trevor]

i didn't understand why they did that one. I think it's terrible.

I liked it. I don't know why. Armisen and Hader had me cracking up.

 

[NyQuil]

I liked it. I don't know why. Armisen and Hader had me cracking up.

The California accents are sort of funny.

It really is a simple joke that probably went on a little long.

1. They talk funny.

2. They always refer to encyclopedic knowledge of California roads and highways.

 

[Cory Trevor]

The California accents are sort of funny.

It really is a simple joke that probably went on a little long.

1. They talk funny.

2. They always refer to encyclopedic knowledge of California roads and highways.

I like simple things. If you were going to stereotype California in any way, that would be it. Well, Southern California.

 

[donghabs98]

There is an SNL app for the iphone; it's pretty excellent. has clips from every episode from every season. I've been watching it a lot today.

Really enjoyed the show last night. I'm in my early 40's; so kinda grew up with the show, and come back to it every few years as a new cast gets their footing. I feel like the show re-invents itself every couple of years and continues to be topical and entertaining. And it continues to be a star making factory.

Was nice to see nearly everyone show up and willing to go out and have fun like that . I agree with the assessment that they could have cut some musical numbers; but I know that is a big part of the show. I thought the tribute, McCartney and of course Simon with Still Crazy were all good; but the other two were horrid.

Man you're lucky. The app isn't available to Canadians. . I hope they put up SNL seasons on Netflix like they did before. I used to be able to watch all the episodes from 96-2010.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

I've always liked The Californians skit, not sure how much that has to do with spending way too much time with people like that . Like NyQuil said, the way that L.A. and O.C. residents constantly refer to the specific road/highway/city that they were in while doing any activity is very real, and has long driven me crazy.

 

[Liliaceae]

I enjoyed the special

 

[bohlmeister]

Man you're lucky. The app isn't available to Canadians. . I hope they put up SNL seasons on Netflix like they did before. I used to be able to watch all the episodes from 96-2010.

XBMC has them.


^^ Watched that Fallon bit last night. What a night that would have been. Wish I was doing security or bartending for it.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I enjoyed the special

That sounds like the most amazing after party ever.

 

[hototogisu]

Watched the special last night, it was okay. I was kind of amazed at how many people flubbed their lines, or how many weird editing/camera/cue mistakes there seemed to be. I get that it was a live show and most people no doubt started the party early and didn't care too much for "nailing it", but it was hard to watch sometimes. The end of the Californians skit with David Spade and Cecily Strong doing the flight attendant bit was just a disaster, no one seemed to know what was going on or what they were supposed to do.

Same thing for the Eddie Murphy bit, that was just weird. Rock's intro was appropriate but I expected a little more from Eddie than to just come onstage, awkwardly say thanks, and leave.

Anyway there were some good laughs. I liked Seinfeld's Q&A and the tribute to the musical characters, that was well done. Jon Lovitz at the end of the in memoriam package was the best joke of the night for me.

"Okay with some good laughs" - sounds like a good summation of SNL's last 40 years to me

 

[Brodeur]

Grantland did a big feature on SNL back in August, but in case anybody wants to check it out: http://grantland.com/snl/

In particular, just read the excerpt on Chevy Chase's departure from the behind the scenes book: http://grantland.com/features/chevy-chase-saturday-night-live-career/

 

[seventieslord]

This show made me really nostalgic for what the show used to be, and it made me sad that all of these greats are getting old and passing away. I think seeing Jack Nicholson up there at his age was really sobering... also seeing Chevy Chase in his condition.

Yeah, Chevy Chase is one of the five best cast members ever, and they had to have him there just to pay tribute, but his appearance was just... sad.

But he did and it's widely acknowledged by everyone who had anything to do with the show at the time, so it's not like they were kissing his butt for no reason.

This.

Taylor Swift should stick to making music, she ruined that whole sketch for me.
That and seeing Kanye's stupid face again....
But I enjoyed everything else.

Swift was terrible. Which was maybe a surprise, because she didn't suck when she hosted.

maybe it's because it takes a special kind of actor (a real actor, not a musician) to act like a bad actor.

I always crack up when Hammond screws up the titles of the categories on the Jeapardy sketches.

Yeah, that's easily the highlight of those sketches, and they must know it, because that was the first and only time they inserted that gag into the same sketch twice.

I like looking at the titles and seeing if I can figure out which one he's going to get wrong, and I never can!

It really made me miss guys like Phil Hartman - literally.

I can't stress enough how much I agree with this. Phil was awesome.

I can't think of any celebrity whose death saddens me more, actually. just considering all the factors - his age, his talent level, the joy he brought to people, the universal acclaim as an actor and a person, the circumstances of his death... I mean, he was sticking with his crackhead wife through all her issues and he paid the ultimate price for his loyalty. It doesn't get any sadder.

I know what you mean man...Hartman was just rock solid in EVERYTHING he did. A lot of people have mentioned over the years that while he wasn't a performer who could do a really good impersonation of anyone in particular, he was GREAT as someone you could put in every sketch...just really was funny all the way around.

Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer will always be my favorite because of the way he really hammed it up playing the title character.

Hartman was SNL's classic "everyman".

Jason Sudekis is probably pretty unappreciated. As much as I enjoy Hartman, Sudekis was a pretty reasonable facsimile of that cast member niche, and it looks like Taran Killam is on pace to surpass his greatness... seriously.

When they did that montage of clips over the last 40 years, you could practically pinpoint right when the show started to suck and it was basically in the late 90s.

I agree that it started to suck, but at another point the show also stopped sucking.

It's funny because every 5 years a new generation of fans talk about 'when the show was good'

Truth!

Hartman would be my pick for greatest cast member ever for that reason- he could do everything. It's no coincidence that that the show went downhill right after he left.

He's my pick as well.

 

[seventieslord]

Wish there was a way to see full seasons from the early 80's and up.

Sucks that they are kind of only a memory now (for the lucky people who have seen them )

They do play classic episodes most weeks now. All the ones I've seen have been very good, and they're truncated to an hour too. I assume this means they're taking the best episodes and using the best sketches from them.

Dan Aykroyd did the Bass-o-matic sketch.

I'd say that what the 40th anniversary drove home for me is that you really need two kinds of talent for the show to work:

1. Big Laughs Talent

These are the guys that play the crazy characters and generally get the most laughs. They tend to be the centre of the sketches that they are in, and writers will write for them specifically.

As far as the generations go, I'd say you have people like:
-Chevy Chase
-John Belushi
-Eddie Murphy
-Dana Carvey
-Mike Myers
-Will Ferrell
-Bill Hader
-Kristen Wiig

There are people out there who aspire to be one of these types but they don't have the chops, so they end up only playing their own characters for the most part when they do end up on screen and entire weeks can go by without seeing them. For example, I'd argue that, as much as I really like Andy Samberg, he was really there to do his Digital Shorts and his live sketch work was pretty forgettable.

2. Support Talent

These are the guys that seem to show up in every sketch. They play authority figures, they do impressions, but it seems as if they are always on TV and never lack for screen time.

As far as the generations go, I'd say you have people like:
-Dan Aykroyd
-Garrett Morris
-Jan Hooks
-Phil Hartman
-Jason Sudeikis
-Taran Killam
-Nasim Pedrad
-Keenan Thompson

When you read about SNL and how some cast members are so desperate to get on TV, you have to marvel about how often these guys are on. More importantly, they're comfortable in a range of characters and types of humour.

Clearly it's a bit of a continuum, with some people sort of in the middle (John Lovitz).

You nailed it.