Saturday Night Live..

[EmergencyIan]

For me, as they get further back into the first 10 seasons, most of the musical acts are superb. This sells many of the episodes for me.


- Ian

[thunderbolt]

^^^ I always liked Norm MacDonald's fake news, and man his Burt Reynolds was gold. He even reprised it on My Name is Earl as Chubby's son.

[cjefferys]

Anybody given a shout out to Dennis Miller as anchor?

I thought he was golden.

I mentioned him a few posts up. He is still my favourite SNL news anchor, he was awesome!

[Sideshow Spock]

That is odd. They just did the primetime SNL Super Bowl special, and they showed the Schmitt's Gay ad with the real music.

I saw that, and it was the replacement music, not VH. The clip doesn't work nearly as well without it.

[starsky]

i like the eddie murray , dana carvey, and chris farley years.

[Hector]

Anybody given a shout out to Dennis Miller as anchor?

I thought he was golden.

[EmergencyIan]

Like I mentioned, VH1 Classic is going all the way back to the 1975/first season. So, stay tuned if you haven't seen your favorite regulars, yet.

- Ian

[Toy Timelord]

I liked Nealon.

But Norm was the best update Anchor.

I have the original broadcast of the Martin Lawrence episode on VHS.

[sprytel]

I also noticed that they changed out some of the music in the fake ads, such as the Van Halen tune in Schmitts Gay Beer. Wonder why?

That is odd. They just did the primetime SNL Super Bowl special, and they showed the Schmitt's Gay ad with the real music.

[johnnystorm]

I've been watching that marathon on vh1 , it's addicting as they roll through the hosts. It's funny how some of these people were such big stars for such a brief period that they hosted and disappeared.

I'm struck at how unfunny Kevin Nealon is on the news, and how damn good Jan Hooks was in everything, as was Phil Hartman.
As I'm older ( so old!) now, I find that Adam Sandler is a bit annoying, as is David Spade.

I'd forgotten a few classic character bits like the "Fawning Fops" and Jon Lovitz "Randy movie Reviewer". Lovitz was pretty good in most stuff he was in too. Victoria Jackson was so pretty then. And Dana Carvey wasn't as funny in everything as I remembered. I'd like to see more of the Billy Crystal, Martin Short era.

I also noticed that they changed out some of the music in the fake ads, such as the Van Halen tune in Schmitts Gay Beer. Wonder why?

[EmergencyIan]

SNL is playing now through next weekend, an all seasons countdown. Right now is the episode with Chris Farley and Paul McCartney. By next Thursday, they will be into the 1970s and through the remainder of next weekend.

- Ian

[Brazoo]

My favorite era is the one I discovered the show in, the '86 cast with Hartman, Hooks, Miller, Carvey...

I think it's the tightest the show has ever been for quality constancy. As that cast went on they did depend a little heavily on bringing back sketches that were hits too often. Or, maybe as I got older I just got a little bored of seeing things like "Hans and Franz" each week.

When I watch reruns of the early years the thing that stands out is how loose it was. It really felt live, and like anything could happen. Because they seemed to be trying lots of different things it could be very uneven though. I love sketches with Radner and Murray - it was nuts, how much chemistry they had.

I find that SNL is one of those shows that people love to hate, in a way. Each new cast is hated at first, and then revered later. Like, the Ferrell cast is a good example of that.

The newest cast started off really shaky, but the last episode I saw was pretty great, so I think they're doing okay too.

[Brazoo]

In my opinion, nothing beats the experience of watching the very first episode on live television the night it premiered.

Man, that's cool!

[Mikey]

Mikey, I'm going to agree with you. Chevy was overrated.

I don't think Chevy was overrated, I just think he wasn't all that funny as one of the SNL players.

He was GREAT in the Vacaction movies imo.

Bill Murray was just more of an all-around great comedian.

In real life Chevy was a rich kid that got everything he wanted handed to him --- on the other hand Bill Murray worked for his laughs.

That alone always makes me cheer for the underdog

[Iron Mego]

Mikey, I'm going to agree with you. Chevy was overrated.