Observations and ramblings with some autobiographical content, presented by Brian E. Wilson
Autobiographical introduction (to read in the voice of Don Pardo): I know exactly where I was at 11:35pm (EST) on Saturday, October 11, 1975. I was ten years old, already a veteran MAD magazine subscriber, a lover of goofy silly comedy shows created by such geniuses as Carol Burnett and the members of Monty Python. My parents subscribed to TV Guide and I became curious about the description of this show called NBC’s Saturday Night. My parents let me stay up late on Saturdays and didn’t monitor what I watched, not worried that some reckless comedians would come along and warp me, ha. After Monty Python on PBS, I flipped over to NBC. A sketch with two men (the late Michael O’ Donoghue and the late John Belushi) talking about “wolverines” came on, and it was weird, potentially dangerous, and it blew my mind. And I was hooked. I will not pretend I understood everything that happened on NBC’s Saturday Night but I connected with its subversive youthfulness right away. I instantly loved its world of killer bees, land sharks, and I found a kindred spirit in Gilda Radner who radiated such child-like joy and wonder when performing comedy. I of course would also fall for the lovably deadpan excellence of the underrated Jane Curtin, the goofiness of Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd’s fast-talking pitchmen, Laraine Newman’s expert Valley Girl style line deliveries, Garrett Morris’ ability to add a compelling energy to a skit, and Belushi’s wild rebel spirit. SNL made me want to write comedy. In my school, the 6th grade classes all put on a play, and I somehow convinced our teacher to let us put on an SNL-style comedy show with sketches we students wrote. My contribution: a commercial spoof in which people use foul-smelling mouthwash to make annoying people faint. In 7th grade I did a (weak) Weekend Update homage for a talent show. In the late ’80s I wrote a one-act satirical comedy about a perpetually happy but wildly destructive little girl as a tribute to my beloved Gilda. The show left it’s mark on me. And here I am in September 2017 writing about this show…which is still on the air and receiving much acclaim for its most current season…
This past year Saturday Night Live celebrated its 42nd season (!) in style. Before the season even started, the chameleon-like Kate McKinnon won the show’s 50th Emmy (for her work in the 41st season). For season 42, the veteran comedy/variety series earned 22 Emmy nominations (the highest number the show has ever received) and the ratings soared. This year 3 of its actresses (Vanessa Bayer, Leslie Jones, and McKinnon) received Supporting Actress in a Comedy nominations. Honorary cast member and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump, McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton, frequent guest star Melissa McCarthy’s Sean Spicer, and other spot-on impressions of political figures helped give the show a new feeling of energy and life. The fact that SNL feels like a phoenix rising from the ashes is nothing new. The show’s run has been like a roller coaster ride. Over the years, just when SNL looked down for the count (the notoriously chaotic 6th season, almost getting canceled in the mid-80s, being called “Saturday Night Dead” in the mid-90s), someone (Eddie Murphy, the sparkling late ’80s cast, Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Cheri Oteri, Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Bill Hader, McKinnon, Jones, others) would come along and breathe new life into the show. Right now it seems as if the show will run forever, which is quite amazing since its first few episodes were so modest.
NBC’s Saturday Night premiered on Saturday, October 11, 1975. It was not called Saturday Night Live at first because there was another show on ABC called Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell with a similar title. Despite the presence of the Bay City Rollers singing “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!!!,” Cosell’s show did not last very long, leaving the air in January 1976. According to the Saturday Night Live wiki, the series did not officially call itself Saturday Night Live until the March 26, 1977 (season 2) episode. The show pretty much hit the ground running, although Lorne Michaels and his team were clearly experimenting with the show’s structure during the first few episodes. The very first episode had some quick skits, George Carlin’s hilarious stand-up routine about baseball vs. football, a short Albert Brooks film (a regular feature the first several episodes), several music performances starring such talents as Billy Preston and Janis Ian, grotesque Muppets (unfunny regulars during the first season), and a comedy routine from Andy Kaufman. The soon-to-be-famous cast, then called “The Not Ready for Prime Time Players” are barely featured. The second episode was practically a Paul Simon variety show.
It was the fourth episode starring Candace Bergen where the show would find the formula that it follows, more or less, to this day. The first three episodes had the host either doing stand-up (Carlin), singing (Paul Simon), or assuming an offbeat character (Rob Reiner playing a smarmy lounge singer version of himself). Bergen (looking endearingly nervous) came out as, well, Candace Bergen, interacting with an impish Belushi in his Killer Bee outfit. She announced who the musical guest (the late R & B singer Esther Phillips) would be. Having the host seem both so vulnerable and game, a real person (even though she is a star) in a live TV situation, added an extra layer of fun tension to the series. Then along came the skits (getting longer), some political/topical, others goofy and whimsical, followed, mixed in with a couple of musical performances, the news spoof Weekend Update (which had different titles from 1980 to 1985), and some taped bits (commercial parodies and such). The personalities of the “Not So Ready for Prime Time Players” started to emerge.
Despite some variations, the show has followed this pattern ever since. Although SNL always delivers some unpredictable moments, viewers know that there will always be a cold opening that always climaxes with someone shouting “live from New York…it’s Saturday Night!!!,” the host’s monologue, political and pop culture spoofery with impressions of famous figures, a skit starring some (catch phrase-spinning) popular character, musical guests, Weekend Update, some filmed sketches (commercial parodies, a music video, a short movie perhaps), that weird 12:55 sketch, and goodbyes set to the theme of former musical director Howard Shore’s “Closing Theme (Waltz in A).”
In the mid-late ’70s, being on a TV show wasn’t considered as cool as being a movie star. Nowadays in this Remarkable Era of TV, film actors now are finding that TV offers them juicier roles (thanks to a seemingly endless amount of companies providing content, streaming, on cable, and on traditional network TV). Many stars on ’70s and ’80s hit TV shows eyed the door as soon as success came. Being on a TV show is hard work, and much has been written about the grueling nature of how a typical SNL episode comes together. Chevy Chase, arguably the series’ first breakout star, definitely the first SNL regular to win an Emmy (in 1976), was the first to jump ship and head for a big screen career. He left during the second season. When Chevy said “later, I’m out of here,” many of us were disappointed. But then something terrific happened: Bill Murray became a regular and proved to be one of the show’s greatest performers, excelling at playing lovably sarcastic goofballs. John and Dan would leave in 1979, and then Gilda, Jane, Laraine and Bill, along with producer/creator Lorne Michaels, left in 1980.
Today SNL feels like a revolving door of talent. People come, stay for a while (or for a very long time–I’m looking at you Darrell Hammond, Kenan Thompson, Seth Myers, and Fred Armisen, all with over 200 episodes under your belts), and then leave. Now there are holdovers from the previous season. But having an entirely new cast and producer start in 1980 created a very uneasy feeling, and wow, folks such as the much-derided producer Jean Doumanian, and new regulars Charles Rocket, Gilbert Gottfried, and Denny Dillon were ever scrutinized (and yes, the show wasn’t that good during that season). The next several seasons (most of the them led by producer Dick Ebersole until Michaels returned in 1985) of SNL were better but feel a bit like a blur with cast members dropped, replaced, not used well, temporarily catching fire (e.g., Joe Piscopo with his fabulous Sinatra impression) but then flaming out. Yes, Eddie Murphy became a huge star, but the underappreciated Mary Gross, Robin Duke, Tim Kazurinsky, and Gary Kroeger deserved to become bigger stars too. Murphy’s contributions to the series during this time were immense though, that much is true.
When you go back and look at who was in the cast during the 1981 to 1986 seasons your jaw might drop: future two-time Tony winner Christine Ebersole, future multiple Emmy winner Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Jim Belushi, Harry Shearer (who was on in the ’70s as well), Christopher Guest, Billy Crystal (whose Fernando caught on, as did his skits with Guest about two blue collar workers who trade horror stories about work place accidents), the underrated Terry Sweeney and Danitra Vance, John Hughes regular Anthony Michael Hall (17 at the time), future two-time Academy Award nominee Joan Cusack, future two-time Academy Award nominee Robert Downey Jr., past Oscar nominee Randy Quaid, and SCTV legend Martin Short. Although they all had their moments, SNL didn’t always know what to do with them.
Then in 1986, things settled down and the (mostly unknown at the time) cast finally grounded things again. The effervescent Jan Hooks, the brilliant Dana Carvey, the naturally funny Jon Lovitz, the great Phil Hartman, and the sharp and witty Nora Dunn all rank with the best SNL performers, creating memorable characters and moments. Then along came Kevin Nealon, Mike Myers, and then soon Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, Ellen Cleghorne, and Julia Sweeney (another performer whose post-SNL career is more interesting than her work on the show–she is an expert monologuist and writer).
Then the show spit and sputtered again from 1993 to 1996, despite the presence of such talents. Although stars Adam Sandler, David Spade, and Rob Schneider have their fans, the show started feeling oddly frat boyish, living up to its reputation as a boy’s club. The show didn’t know what to do its female stars, and watching talents like Jaenene Garofolo and Sarah Silverman flounder in thankless roles in sketches that went nowhere was painful. But then again, the show also didn’t know what to do with Michael McKean, Mark McKinney, or Chris Elliott either, and all three of them were proven laugh-getters in the past. Sketches seemed endless, causing The Simpsons to mercilessly spoof SNL. In the spoof, Krusty the Clown appears on a live TV series in a terrible skit. After delivering an umpteenth groaner Krusty gripes “it goes on like this for 15 more minutes.” That’s what SNL felt like during this time. It’s amazing how long a short bad skit can feel.
Luckily Molly Shannon, Ana Gasteyer, and Cheri Oteri came and kicked the door down on SNL in the late ’90s. Thanks to their lively showstopping characters, these women on the show started shaking things up again, reaching the heights of Gilda, Jane, Laraine, Jan, and Nora. They were fearless, paving the way for the fabulous women who have been shaping SNL ever since: Tina Fey (the show’s first woman head writer), the perpetually funny Amy Poehler, the glorious Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, the daring Kristen Wiig (a fantastic dramatic actress), Abby Elliott (daughter of Chris), Nasim Pedrad, the sneakily hilarious Vanessa Boyer, Sasheer Zamata, the endearingly deranged Kate McKinnon, the dynamic Leslie Jones, Aidy Bryant, and Cecily Strong, among others.
During this time, Will Ferrell also rocked Studio 8H with his bizarre and broad characters, skyrocketing to stardom with great celerity. Also contributing memorable characters during this post-late ’90s resurgence were Tracy Morgan, Darrell Hammond (now serving as announcer), Chris Kattan, Chris Parnell, Jimmy Fallon (although he couldn’t get through a skit without laughing), Andy Samberg (he of the great viral videos), Horatio Sanz, the thankfully ubiquitous Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Will Forte, Seth Myers, Kenan Thompson, Billy Moynihan, Jay Pharoah, Taram Killam, Jason Sudeikis, and now Beck Bennett (who started in sweetly funny AT & T commercials with him interviewing children).
A quick bit of trivia: the only regular, current SNL cast member who was alive when the show first premiered in 1975 is Leslie Jones. I mean I guess you can stretch things to include frequent guest Alec Baldwin and announcer Darrell Hammond.
Many people have hosted SNL over the years. Nowadays it does seem that the people hosting the show have some new movie to promote and the hosting gig is just one more stop on the publicity tour. The hosts in the ’70s and going into the ’80s were sometimes truly offbeat and unexpected (e.g., Desi Arnaz killed it when he hosted in the ’70s). What makes a good SNL host? How is it that some people (Candace Bergen, Madeline Kahn, Steve Martin–in eyes, the very best host ever, Buck Henry, Elliott Gould, Charles Grodin, Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Christopher Walken, Justin Timberlake, Drew Barrymore, John Goodman, Megan McCarthy quickly come to mind) can excel at hosting, while others you’d expect to hit a home run end up only bunting or even worse, striking out? I have read some accounts of SNL (the best being the fantastic book Live from New York by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales) and it seems that the best hosts are the ones who go with the flow and view the experience as a true ensemble effort. They know what they are getting themselves into. Sometimes a host’s voice and persona can add a real power to the episode, as was the case with Richard Pryor’s explosive appearance in early Season 1. But when a host starts making it all about them, then that is when things can go wrong. The best hosts entice viewers, but then do their best to blend in even as the show’s writers spoof the host’s image and/or work. Right from the start, it was clear that the people who make it far enough to be “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” are actually in their prime as first-rate comedic actors. To be a great SNL host, you have to be at their mercy, to step back and let them shine and still not be completely overshadowed (a tightrope act for sure).
Quick aside: the image above is from my all-time favorite SNL episode of all time: the Steve Martin hosted April 22, 1978 episode with the Blues Brothers as musical guests. This dance he and Gilda do will always be in my top spot as favorite moment ever on the series.
The SNL cast members have given us unforgettable characters and impressions over the years. Regarding the impressions, I have always been drawn to the unexpected ones. Seeing Julia Child spoofed on SNL was bound to happen. But having Dan Aykroyd play her as someone who cuts herself and then bleeds to death before our eyes…well, that was startling to say the least. Darrell Hammond, that great mimic, of course would be a natural choice to play Sean Connery. But putting him in a bunch of hilarious Celebrity Jeopardy sketches where he serves as Alex Trebek’s arch-nemesis, taunting the poor beleaguered host, is pure genius. And of course Will Ferrell’s Trebek is another brilliant comic creation: exasperated, annoyed, about ready to cry it seems. Over the years, many gifted stars of SNL have taken impersonations to a whole new level, with Aykroyd (Jimmy Carter, Rod Serling), Gilda Radner (Barbara Walters, her riff on Patti Smith), John Belushi (Joe Cocker, William Shatner as Captain Kirk in one of the series’ great sketches, Marlon Brando), Eddie Murphy (James Brown, Buckwheat, Fred Rogers), Terry Sweeney (Nancy Reagan), Danitra Vance (Diahann Caroll as her Dynasty character), Jan Hooks (Tammy Faye Bakker, Hillary Clinton), Dana Carvey (George H. W. Bush), Phil Hartman (Phil Donahue, Bill Clinton), Tina Fey (Sarah Palin), Amy Poehler (Dakota Fanning, Hillary Clinton), Ferrell (George W. Bush), Maya Rudolph (Oprah Winfrey, Donatella Versace), Kristen Wiig (Suze Orman), Kate McKinnon (Hillary Clinton, Justin Bieber), Abby Elliott (Meryl Streep, Zooey Deschanel), honorary cast member Alec Baldwin (Donald Trump), honorary cast member Melissa McCarthy (Sean Spicer) in particular making me laugh. And to say I am just scratching the surface is an understatement.
And of course over the years, cast members have created some memorable characters. Like SCTV, SNL often would spoof television shows, and do so by presenting installments of imaginary TV series. We had shows like “Consumer Probe” with Jane Curtin sparing over customer safety with a sleazy character played by Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi putting his grunting Samurai character in various scenarios, “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood” in which Eddie Murphy played with Mr. Rogers’ wholesome image, Nora Dunn’s very witty “The Pat Stevens Show” which spoofed self-important talk shows, Tracy Morgan’s bizarre “Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet” which added a twisted spin on nature shows, among others. Arguably, the kings of these ongoing fake TV shows were Mike Myers and Dana Carvey with their raucous crowd-pleasers Wayne’s World,” “Coffee Chat,” “Church Lady,” and, my favorite, “Sprockets.” Perhaps they wore out their welcome for some people, but I don’t know, I was happy when they would pop up.
Although it spoofs celebs or gives us people who want to be celebs, SNL is at its best when it gives us lovable outsiders or folks who want to be superstars, but haven’t quite made it. Gilda Radner’s Judy Miller, the child who puts on rollicking shows in her bedroom, might be my favorite SNL character of all time. She is certainly the one I relate to the most. Who as children didn’t entertain themselves by putting on a show where they get to make up the rules? You can see Judy Miller in a lot of the characters populating the SNL universe. Characters who want to be the greatest entertainers in the world, but still cannot get out of their own heads. Like Bill Murray’s Nick the Lounge Singer, Martin Short’s and Harry Shearer’s synchronized swimming Olympic hopefuls, Jon Lovitz’s Great Thespian, Jan Hooks’ and Nora Dunn’s Sweeney Sisters, Al Franken’s neurotic self-analyzing Stuart Smalley, Molly Shannon’s Mary Katherine Gallagher, Will Ferrell’s and Cheri Oteri’s Cheerleaders, Ferrell’s and Ana Gasteyer’s bizarrely earnest music teachers The Culps, and the list goes on. Although you might say that the actors are making fun of people the feel more talented than, still earnestness of these spirited folks makes you cheer for them, even as they make you cringe a little.
Sometimes the characters in the SNL universe aren’t superstars or superstar wannabes, but just downright idiosyncratic and bizarre. Like the Coneheads (Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman), Phil Hartman’s disorienting Caveman Lawyer, Will Ferrell’s and Rachel Dratch’s The Lovers, and many others. Cheri Oteri and Kristen Wiig probably deserve the prize for the strangest (and strangely funny) assortment of characters ever on SNL. They were not afraid of playing grotesque or grating caricatures. Regular guest host Tom Hanks had one of the show’s stranger recent viral video success stories with his appearance as the inexplicably compelling David S. Pumpkins. Or sometimes they weren’t fame-seeking misfits, but simply misfits who are simply unabashedly themselves, like Gilda Radner’s Lisa Loopner. And sometimes, yes, some attempts at creating “hilarious” recurring characters misfired big time (like those skits from the late ’70s about the Widettes, a family with giant tuckuses).
As a result of having a lot of great characters, SNL has been responsible for over 40 years of catch phrases. Here are some of my favorites (feel free to include yours in the comments section). “Live from New York…It’s Saturday Night!” “I’m Chevy Chase…and you’re not.” “Never mind…bitch!” “We’re from France.” “It’s always something.” “I’m Gumby, Dammit!” “Are you from Jersey?” “You look mahvelous.” “I live in a van…by the river.” “SCHWING!!!” “Well, isn’t that special?” “ACTING! GENIUS!” “Clang clang clang went the trolley…” “We are two wild and crazy guys!” “Yeeah, that’s the ticket.” “We are here to PUMP YOU UP.” “I’m good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.” “Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance!” “Sometimes, when I get nervous, I put my fingers under my arms, and then smell them like this…””I’m fifty, fifty years old!” “TOUCH MY MONKEY!!! TOUCH IT!” “Schweddy balls,” “MORE COWBELL!”…
Sometimes SNL characters would not end up in sketches at all, but as special guest commentators on Weekend Update. Some of the more noteworthy WU characters include Gilda Radner’s hard-of-hearing Emily Litella and gross Roseanne Roseannadanna, Bill Hader’s fey trendy party animal Stefon, and Cecily Strong’s Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation with at a Party. They would literally roll into a Weekend Update installment (on a rolling chair), take over for a while, and then hand it back over to the Weekend Update anchors, who were trying not to crack up during their bits.
Weekend Update of course has been there from the SNL‘s start, with comedians playing anchorpeople delivering the headlines of the week with punchlines at the end (mostly funny, sometimes groaners). The segment was called SNL NewsBreak and then Saturday Night News in the early ’80s but then renamed Weekend Update when Lorne Michaels returned as producer in the fall of 1985. Many SNL cast members have had the WU anchoring gig (doing it very well were Chevy Chase, my favorite Jane Curtin, Dan Aykroyd–after a rough start, Kevin Nealon, Dennis Miller, Tina Fey, the perpetually giddy Jimmy Fallon, Seth Myers, Amy Poehler, and currently Colin Jost and Michael Che). WU is when SNL really lets loose with their most topical content, begging for controversy. But you know who has provided most of the controversy or more notoriously surprising moments over the years? The musical guests…
Throughout the show’s 42 year run, SNL has had amazing music acts appear. Everyone from George Harrison to LCD Soundsystem, from Talking Heads to Chance the Rapper, from Leon Redbone to Adele. Over the years there have been incredible musical moments on the show: David Bowie singing “The Man Who Sold the World” with Klaus Nomi, Ray Charles delivering a rocking set in 1977, Nirvana and Pearl Jam grunging things up with their respective early ’90s appearances, Win Butler of The Arcade Fire smashing up his guitar, Kanye West’s unusual (and riveting) performance art pieces. The people who have booked the musicians over the years deserve a round of applause.
But yes with this glory comes some turbulence. Some of the musicians have caused some of the biggest scandals in the show’s history, from Sinead O’Connor tearing up a picture of the Pope to Elvis Costello angering the powers-that-be by singing the anti-corporate “Radio, Radio.” The group Fear literally tore up the stage in 1981. Ashlee Simpson was caught lip-synching and couldn’t finish her number. Frank Zappa proved to be one of the show’s more difficult hosts. Music was even the source of a problem when Milton Berle hosted and wanted to sing a special number. Progressive rockers Rage Against the Machine reportedly angered the show’s stage hands when they were going to put two upside down US flags (on a show hosted by Republican Presidential candidate Steve Forbes in 1996). And lovable musician Paul Shaffer was naughty: the first person to drop the “f” bomb on the show. I could write a whole other essay about the music on SNL.
Over the past decade or so, some of SNL‘s best moments have come in the form of music video spoofs. These include clips like the Andy Samberg-Chris Parnell starring nerdy rap number “Lazy Sunday” (with its catchy chorus about the “Chronicles of Narnia”), Samberg’s hilarious rant “I Threw It on the Ground” (“I’M AN ADULT!!!”), the notorious Emmy winning (!) tune “D@#$ in a Box,” the NSFW Natalie Portman shocker “Rappin’ Natalie” which trashes paparazzi-seeking celebs, the hilarious “Motherlover” (which features regular guest Justin Timberlake, Susan Sarandon, and Patricia Clarkson, all clearly having a ball), and the surprisingly catchy dance romp “Do It On My Twin Bed.”
Having prerecorded bits on the show is nothing new. Right from the very first episode the show has thrown short films, commercial parodies, short animated films (Robert Smigel’s “Saturday TV Funhouse”), and other bursts of oddness (the twisted “Mr. Bill Show”) into the mix. A film by Albert Brooks was a regular feature on the show when it first started. The enormously gifted Tom Schiller contributed some of the finest of these filmed gems, with “La Dolce Gilda” (a Fellini spoof starring the late Gilda Radner), “Don’t Look Back in Anger” (with the late John Belushi appearing in old age make-up as the last SNL survivor; in reality he was the first to die), and “Life Is a Dream” (with the late Jan Hooks and the late Phil Hartman appearing as two elderly people transformed into their younger selves during a magical and strange musical number) especially potent and poignant.
SNL also spoofed exercise videos in the extremely hilarious “Body Fuzion” with Drew Barrymore, Poehler, Rudolph, and Wiig, shot to look as if produced in the ’80s. The show’s commercial parodies rank with some of their best skits: John Belushi claiming chocolate donuts cereal helped him become an Olympics hero, Gilda Radner selling some “Jewess Jeans,” the Calvin Klein perfume spoof “Compulsion,” “Swiftamine” a drug that helps adults deal with the vertigo they experience when they realize they like Taylor Swift, and the list goes on. However, these skits didn’t have to be pre-recorded to deliver. The commercial spoofs that were performed live over the years (“Buckwheat Sings!”; “New Shimmer is a floor wax! “No, new Shimmer is a dessert topping!”; Bass-o-Matic) also emerged as little gems of hilarity.
This afternoon (September 11, 2017) I just heard that SNL collected two more Emmys (for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, Dave Chappelle and Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, Melissa McCarthy). At this point in time, the end for the show is nowhere in sight (although it has only been renewed through its 43rd season–I’m confident NBC will renew it again). There will always be politicians and Presidents to roast, celebrities (famous and infamous) to impersonate, silly characters to create, musicians with new songs to promote, hosts hoping they can pull this whole live TV thing off, comedy writers who will pen the next sketch to go viral, and comedic actors who fearlessly throw themselves into one of the most rigorous production schedules ever known.
Over the years, the show has had its ups and downs. Chris Rock once quipped that “only two seasons” of the show were actually funny. Mike Birbiglia’s excellent feature Don’t Think Twice showed the negative effects on a group of improv partners when one earns a gig on an SNL-style show (the character then starts cracking under the pressure of having to perform on the series). SNL has always been wildly uneven, with some seasons more bumpy than others. The series has had problems with diversity (it didn’t have its first Asian regular until Iranian-American actress Nasim Pedrad joined the cast from 2009-2014; and there have been too long stretches when it did not have any African-American women in the regular cast).
I am not here to shower the show with unconditional praise.
And yet this show has had an undeniable impact on pop culture and on television. It has launched the careers of many talented people (even when it squandered the talents of others). Even though you can justly criticize it, you can deny that it has been responsible for some of television’s most memorable moments. When all the elements come together (expert performances, sharp writing, a witty idea), the show can truly deliver the goods.
Like many-an-SNL skit, this essay has rambled on perhaps a little too long. I thank you for you taking the time to read my thoughts. As I write my last words, I cannot help but start hearing former director Howard Shore’s “Closing Theme Song (A Waltz in A),” quickly and hilariously spoofed by The Onion, playing in my brain. So many cast members, guests, hosts, musicians have stood on that stage while the end credits played–some of them had amazing runs on the show, others struggled to be heard. And as I finish this essay, I know, as I said before, I am only scratching the surface, and invite you to share your thoughts in the comments section.
Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.
