And, yeah, season one is pretty much abysmal.
― Runny Trumpet (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 January 2015 18:57 (nine years ago) link
the Paul Simon stuff is good
― Οὖτις, Friday, 30 January 2015 18:57 (nine years ago) link
Lorne or whoever isn't gonna shell out for music rights just for streaming. There were (are?) a bunch of seasons on Netflix, but the lack of music clearances meant that some episodes were 20 minutes long.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 30 January 2015 18:58 (nine years ago) link
SNL should just create their own app and put it on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire, or whatever other device people use to stream content. If HBO is going to do it, SNL surely could. There are 40 seasons of episodes now. That's plenty of material to justify its own app.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 30 January 2015 19:03 (nine years ago) link
NBC would probably object, no?
― I dunno. (amateurist), Friday, 30 January 2015 19:05 (nine years ago) link
I don't think that would get them around the music rights problem
― Οὖτις, Friday, 30 January 2015 19:06 (nine years ago) link
I guess it would depend on subscription projections and how much they think people would pay.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 30 January 2015 19:08 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, the music rights stuff is such a drag.
Really could make an argument that SNL eps, good or bad, are as good a historical document of an era as any and should be available to anyone with a library card
― uncle banmee who can remember his live posts (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 30 January 2015 19:09 (nine years ago) link
So anyone can see The Night of the Masturbating Zombies
― uncle banmee who can remember his live posts (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 30 January 2015 19:10 (nine years ago) link
I pray for the kids of today who don't get to see that sketch before they're old enough to really understand what's going on. Such a formative experience.
― Runny Trumpet (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 January 2015 19:11 (nine years ago) link
I think SNL moved from Netflix to Hulu at some point, because I signed up for Hulu specifically hoping I could watch the old "Who's More Grizzled?" sketch one night. It wasn't included in the episode it was supposed to be in, so I canceled immediately and removed the app.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 30 January 2015 19:12 (nine years ago) link
This really is a case against contemporary copy rigs law if there ever was one
― uncle banmee who can remember his live posts (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 30 January 2015 19:15 (nine years ago) link
this eps been p funny
― johnny crunch, Sunday, 1 February 2015 05:47 (nine years ago) link
lmao @ whos more grizzled anecdote btw
― johnny crunch, Sunday, 1 February 2015 05:48 (nine years ago) link
damn if that d'angelo performance wasn't one of the best things on SNL ever
― I dunno. (amateurist), Sunday, 1 February 2015 05:51 (nine years ago) link
"charade" was fantastic
― It's strange to me too. But we're talking about praxis, man. (Sufjan Grafton), Sunday, 1 February 2015 20:50 (nine years ago) link
This is old news apparently, but I just noticed today that Cecily Strong is slated to host the 2015 White House Correspondents' Dinner: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/cecily-strong-white-house-correspondents-dinner-113019.html
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 2 February 2015 19:48 (nine years ago) link
man catching a bunch of this VH1 Classic marathon has really soured me on several "eras" - the Bush years are depressing from end to end, although mostly for what was going on in the country. Knowing how things turned out and seeing people trying to milk Iraq invasion etc for laughs is just hard to watch. Non-topical stuff from that period fares better.
And then going back to the early 90s things get super-grim again but this time it's because of the cast and, I guess, the writing. I'm referring to the Sandler/Spade/Farley/Meyers era where you've got a bunch of guys who really just can't do character acting at all (well, Meyers can to a limited extent) and sketches end up relying a *lot* on endlessly repeated catchphrases and recycled jokes. Every Matt Foley sketch is exactly the same, for example. Wayne's World sketches recycle jokes mirthlessly. Sandler and Spade can't be bothered to do anything resembling acting. It's just embarassing.
I'm curious what episodes they're going to cherrypick from the 80s, since I've never seen a bunch of those episodes as I was too young and they were not endlessly re-run.
― Οὖτις, Monday, 9 February 2015 19:49 (nine years ago) link
they were not endlessly re-run
Weird. It seemed to me at one time that all the SNL reruns on VH1 or some other cable outlet were from the Piscopo/Murphy era or the season with Billy Crystal and Martin Short. I've seen many of those SO MANY TIMES.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 9 February 2015 19:52 (nine years ago) link
early-mid 80s SNLs were an after-school staple for me thanks to comedy central iirc
― da croupier, Monday, 9 February 2015 19:53 (nine years ago) link
back when it was a joke on the simpsons that smithers watched comedy central
― da croupier, Monday, 9 February 2015 19:54 (nine years ago) link
Bush II era is when my attention started to wane, especially when Chris Parnell started doing Bush.
Will Ferrell was right - should've kept the president in the Mission Accomplished bodysuit for the rest of his terms, getting more worn out as time goes by.
― pplains, Monday, 9 February 2015 19:54 (nine years ago) link
yeah I didn't get cable/comedy central during that period I guess
xp
― Οὖτις, Monday, 9 February 2015 19:55 (nine years ago) link
this show is deeply embarrassing
― example (crüt), Monday, 9 February 2015 20:02 (nine years ago) link
large chunks of it def are
otoh I randomly caught Jesse Jackson reading "Green Eggs and Ham" so that was cool
― Οὖτις, Monday, 9 February 2015 20:04 (nine years ago) link
Was that the same episode as the "The Question Is Moot" gameshow sketch? One of the all-time best.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 9 February 2015 20:05 (nine years ago) link
I didn't see that so I'm not sure. It was hosted by Michael Jordan and musical guest was Public Enemy so I guess that was one of their "let's put some black people on" episodes
― Οὖτις, Monday, 9 February 2015 20:08 (nine years ago) link
Oh, nm...that sketch was from an earlier ep that Jesse hosted (84-ish).
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 9 February 2015 20:09 (nine years ago) link
http://www.maniacworld.com/question-is-moot.html
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 9 February 2015 20:11 (nine years ago) link
insane fux
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Monday, 9 February 2015 20:21 (nine years ago) link
there's good stuff (mostly Paul Simon-related) but it's erratic
― Οὖτις, Monday, 9 February 2015 20:22 (nine years ago) link
Chevy's good right out the gate
the style of the first season IS WHY THE SHOW WAS EVER SIGNIFICANT.
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Monday, 9 February 2015 20:23 (nine years ago) link
The Question Is Moot is classic.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 9 February 2015 21:21 (nine years ago) link
― Οὖτις, Monday, February 9, 2015 3:08 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I remember this episode well, as it aired the night Miles Davis died. Public Enemy asked for a moment of silence for Miles before their second song saying, "Without him, there'd be no us."
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 9 February 2015 21:22 (nine years ago) link
Rolling Stone ranks the cast members!
http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/lists/saturday-night-live-all-141-cast-members-ranked-20150211
(something something one old, irrelevant institution reviews another something something)
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:12 (nine years ago) link
man the pre-Hartman/Lovitz 80s seasons are a real wasteland (occasional Eddie Murphy brilliance excepted)
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:15 (nine years ago) link
138. Victoria Jackson
She's got so much to answer for, but still...Ouch
― Don A Henley And Get Over It (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:19 (nine years ago) link
Some funny stuff during the season of ringers (Short, Crystal, Guest and Shearer), but yeah.
One of the funniest things from the years prior to Lorne's return is Madonna's monologue where she shows a filmed piece of her wedding to Sean Penn.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:20 (nine years ago) link
Even though Lovitz was in the top 20 on Rob's list, he should've been top 10.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:22 (nine years ago) link
I remember the ringer season being solid (and there were some all-time classic bits: synchronized swimming, Murphy's "White Like Me"), but I'm probably overrating it since it was the first season I was allowed to stay up and watch every week.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:27 (nine years ago) link
The first page of that shit made me so angry haha
― polyphonic, Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:29 (nine years ago) link
I have a soft spot for the assassination of Buckwheat because it's the first SNL episode I ever saw. I was at the house of some friends of the family—the adults were doing bible study and the kids were staying up watching tv—and it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.
I didn't watch it again until the 86/87 season, though, when Hartman and Hooks and Carvey and Lovitz etc all came together for the beginning of the show's best era.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:32 (nine years ago) link
The Buckwheat assassination bit has one of my favorite Murphy moments, when the guy who shot Buckwheat (and who was voted "Most Likely to Kill Buckwheat" in high school) talked about tasting lime jello in a dream.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:37 (nine years ago) link
Bobby Moynihan deserved better imho.
― dan selzer, Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:48 (nine years ago) link
That huge unsorted pile of new cast members bummed me out
― polyphonic, Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:50 (nine years ago) link
Moynihan's placement was a slight and Jay Pharaoh's placement was inflated.
Kinda true, though. Also, I'd never thought about it, but I'm totally cool with Cheri Oteri and Chris Kattan sharing a placement.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:52 (nine years ago) link
I was sad Melanie Hutsell placed so low.
― nickn, Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:54 (nine years ago) link
I don't agree w that list at all (quel surprise) - for one thing my opinion of the Sandler/Farley/Spade axis has dropped considerably since the 90s
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:56 (nine years ago) link
it's kind of terrifying/awesome how many talented people have been on this show
― "Go pet your dog" is the name of my dog (DJP), Thursday, 12 February 2015 21:56 (nine years ago) link