Classic Saturday Night Live Thread

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by MikaelaArsenault, Jun 20, 2020.

  1. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Some people on here wanted a discussion thread about the classic seasons of Saturday Night Live, so I decided to make one by request.

    This is going to be done the same way as the
    Mel Brooks (Directed) Film By Film Thread that was created by @RayS.
     
    Sean, MAYBEIMAMAZED and 905 like this.
  2. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    " Cheeseburger . Pepsi , no Coke."
     
  3. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    First up will be Lorne Michaels on Monday.
     
  4. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    Shouldn't a thread about ' Saturday Night Live ' get rolling on a Saturday night?
     
  5. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Yes, but I'm choosing to start it on Monday.
     
  6. The Wanderer

    The Wanderer Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    NYC
  7. Davosco

    Davosco Senior member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    One sketch that has stuck in my mind to this day is the Samurai Stockbroker from Season 2 Episode 13 with Buck Henry and John Belushi.
    Late in the sketch, Belushi is cutting a window opening in the wall for Buck Henry to jump out of and on one of his back swings, he cuts Buck Henry's head open and you could see the blood dripping from his head on live TV. Buck wipes his bloody head and then jumps out of the window while not making it so smoothly as the window frame breaks under his knee which may have hurt too. I watched this with my friends and we could not believe what happened. Then on the show closing, Buck Henry had a large bandage on his forehead and the entire rest of cast also put bandages on their heads in a show of humorous solidarity.

    https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/samurai-stockbroker/3004180
     
  8. Paul Gase

    Paul Gase Everything is cheaper than it looks.

    Location:
    California
    Now we got two pizzas.
     
  9. Kyle B

    Kyle B Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    What do you consider the classic seasons? The original cast (75-80)? My favorite era is 86-91, where the cast was also mostly stable, with Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks, Phil Hartman et. al.
     
  10. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    I would have to say the original cast.
     
  11. modrevolve

    modrevolve Forum Resident

    They should have made a movie for the character Fred Garvin - male prostitute
     
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  12. Avenging Robot

    Avenging Robot Senior Member

    That gets my vote for greatest skit ever on the show.
     
  13. Jay_Z

    Jay_Z Forum Resident

    Only the first four of those five seasons are classic.
     
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  14. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    The Bass-O-Matic or Mangled Baby Ducks Jam--- Dan Ackroyd at his weirdest.
     
  15. Timeless Classics

    Timeless Classics Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    my favorite era as well, though I would extend it a bit more probably to 1993 or 1994. This has a lot to do with the era I grew up in and relate more to the pop culture references and style of humor, but so many of those early sits and performances are just unbeatable. Overall, though the mainstream performers get the majority of the praise, 2 of my favorites were Jan Hooks and Phil Hartman, very underrated imho.
     
  16. Timeless Classics

    Timeless Classics Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Though John Candy was great on SCTV, I would’ve loved him to join the SNL cast. Imagine how great those early years would’ve been with Candy? Candy was sought after by Dick Ebersol to be a member of the new mid-season 6 cast, but he didn't wish to leave SCTV. He hosted Saturday Night Live on October 22, 1983 and also made cameos on October 17, 1981 and March 2, 1985.
     
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  17. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    John Candy was essential to SCTV and the fact he didn't wish to leave for the greener , more lucrative pastures of ' Saturday Night Live ' speaks volumes.
    Johnny LaRue , Doctor Tongue and the guy with the snake on his face ( and so many others ). Need I say more ?
     
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  18. Timeless Classics

    Timeless Classics Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Just wondering what it would’ve been like with Candy during that time... His commendable personal loyalty to sctv aside, and definitely would’ve been a trade off with his great sctv era for sure, it would been amazing to see him on snl during that time. Not saying he made the wrong decision in staying with SC as well - so much talent over there as well (Levy, O’Hara, Short, Moranis, Ramis, etc)
     
  19. sixtiesstereo

    sixtiesstereo Senior Member

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    They also wanted Catherine O'Hara to come to SNL, but she decided to stay with SCTV. But it's fun
    to think what she could have done on SNL....
     
  20. PNeski@aol.com

    [email protected] Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    While I always bashed The Eddie Murphy seasons (I always like him and Joe ) I been rewatching these ,and some of them are pretty good. A lot funnier and better written than these new shows anyday.While the classic lineup is still the Best
     
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  21. swandown

    swandown Under Assistant West Coast Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    To me, the two most classic eras were 1976-79 (excluding most of Season 1 and Season 5) and 1986-91. The Will Ferrell era had some classic seasons, but there were also a lot of dead spots.
     
  22. Avenging Robot

    Avenging Robot Senior Member

    Also, it was baffling to us Canadians when it took John Candy so long to become a star in the US (arguably his role in Splash in 1984). My family watched SCTV from the beginning (1976) and it seemed obvious to everybody who watched the show that this guy was phenomenal.

    Same lag time happened with Jim Carrey.
     
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  23. swandown

    swandown Under Assistant West Coast Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Jim Carrey had a weird career arc. He started off as a stand-up comedian (even though his "act" was mostly impersonations), then tried to jump right into comedic acting roles. He probably would have found stardom sooner if he had "honed his chops" through improv theater or other low-pressure outlets.

    Then again, those 10 years of frustration probably made him a better performer when he finally broke through with "In Living Color".

    Also, to keep my post from veering too far off topic........Jim Carrey actually auditioned for SNL several times in the '80s. Not much is known about his first attempt in 1980, but it was pretty obvious that they had no idea c. 1980 what to do with teenagers with raw, untapped talent (see: Eddie Murphy). He auditioned again in 1985, but didn't get hired -- probably because Lorne was going for "actor types" that season (Randy Quaid, Joan Cusack, Nora Dunn, etc.) His 3rd audition came in 1986, and he auditioned the same day as Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman -- and Carvey & Hartman both thought that Carrey nailed the audition and would get hired. But it didn't happen.

    It's been suggested that Carrey's failure to make the cut with SNL is what triggered him to stop doing impressions, and start creating his own characters. If so, he should send Lorne some flowers for unknowingly lighting that creative spark that ultimately turned him into a superstar.

    Anyway, here is his 1986 SNL audition:

     
  24. Holerbot6000

    Holerbot6000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    It's funny that both SNL and SCTV drew from basically the same pool of talent but had very different sensibilities. SNL had a much harder anti-establishment edge that I think was borne from it's National Lampoon roots and was a product of it's time. SNL took on Nixon and Watergate and SCTV took on Merv Griffin and Orson Welles. I think each of the respective casts gravitated to the right places. I could have easily seen Danny or Gilda in SCTV land though too.

    For a nice blast from the past, seek out Mr. Mike's Mondo Video - for me this is what SNL would have looked like if Michael O'Donoghue had produced it instead of Lorne Michaels. Definitely more weird than funny, but I enjoyed it and no one is going to have the sand to do something like 'Cat Swimming School' any time soon.
     
  25. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    By request, some members on here wanted a Classic SNL thread, so here it comes.

    First up is Lorne Michaels.

     

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