Cool DVD announcement news: The first season of Saturday Night Live will be released on December 5th. According to this (link) the set will include all 24 episodes in their entirety. Meaning yes, there will be musical performances included. And all for the (somewhat) reasonable suggested retail price of $69.98. This announcement comes as somewhat surprising, little fanfare, a quick release, and the copyright of the musical performances always being a large obstacle. As someone who has dabbled in sketch comedy writing, I am excited to finally see the complete series, not just compilations that cut bits in half and repeatedly show the same "classic sketches" over and over. Now we can finally see if the monologue has always felt strained, if even the original cast created filler after the 12:30am point and the Albert Brooks shorts!
Truth be told, I haven't really watched Saturday Night Live weekly since...uh, when did Phil Hartman leave? I have caught it from time to time in the last twelve plus years, but can't think of many episodes that were consistent throughout (one notable exception, a 1997 episode with Kevin Spacey as host and Beck as musical guest). I've felt in the last dozen seasons they have tried too hard to manufacture recurring characters instead of letting them gain popularity organically. Despite the fact I love Anchorman and Talladega Nights, I even found Will Ferrell wanting during his tenure. Obviously he's a gifted comedian, but the material I saw him in always felt forced (I am thinking the Cheerleaders, the Roxbury guys, etc) and he seemed to overcompensate for the poor material with extreme energy, which could sometimes be a burden. I give him credit for trying hard, and from time to time he shone through (the More Cowbell sketch being the obvious highlight), but I found the series spinning its wheels with the above mentioned lame characters and falling back on impersonation for its own sake without any commentary. And I am still wondering if I am ever going to find someone who agrees with me on Tina Fey being the Emperor's New Clothes of comedy the last five years running. Yes, its great SNL finally hired a lead female writer, and yeah she's cute, and dude, what up with the scar? Seriously though I think the show has become readymade for the TRL set during her time there rather than anything resembling biting satire.
I've always found it frustrating that despite the fact Lorne Michaels seems currently intent on not rocking the boat and grasps onto control of every facet of the show, he has done a really shoddy job of historically preserving his legacy. I remember when Nick at Night began airing classic SNL reruns in the late 80s, instead of the entire show, they were sketches cut together willy-nilly into a half hour. I didn't realize until much later that Chevy Chase and Bill Murray were never castmates at the same time until much later thanks to that. In the nineties Comedy Central started airing edited hour long episodes, usually with one of the musical guest's normal two performances and Weekend Update intact, but only with episodes from the '80-81 season and after. So yeah, I've probably seen more of the Charles Rocket/Joe Piscopo era than the Akroyd/Belushi/Radner/et al. time period. Lately, Michaels have been editing together "Best of ______(fill in cast member or regular guest host here)" compilations. Again giving us mainly the recurring characters and favorite bits, but little depth into what made these cast members, like Hartman, such diverse and strong personalities. Though I must admit, I want to pick this up.
So is the original season overrated thanks to it being there first? Do the 30 year old sketches hold up now? Are there any unsung sketches that have been overshadowed for decades in favor of Samurai Baker, the Blues Brothers, Chevy Chase's Gerald Ford impersonation and Julia Child bleeding? Finally a definitive answer can be assessed.
