SNL Classic: Re-Airings, Past Casts, Past Sketches, Past Hosts, the Past

[mtlchick]

Phil, Dana and Jan in a sketch together on their first show? The newbies now would be lucky just to be in the background and say one line let alone being the focus!

[M. Darcy]

And no Dennis Miller at all during the showing (though he was probably in the Aliens sketch).

Aw, Jan and Phil - still missed. And Jon Lovitz of course.

Edited March 29, 2015 by M. Darcy

[Bees]

This was the beginning of a new era of SNL. It's really interesting to see. While some stuff was really odd, you could see the seeds of what was to come. You had the beginning of two recurring characters already off the bat and an absolute classic sketch with Choppin' Broccoli. 

 

It's really fascinating to look at.

[Fostersmom]

Sigourney's monologue was HORRIBLE. She was so stiff. And damn, that version of Baby It's Cold Outside might just take the rape-y version award. The part that stuck out the most was Choppin' Broccoli, I had massive flashbacks of the boys at my elementary school being obsessed with that bit. They were always doing Choppin' Broccoli. We had to be like 10 or 11 years old. 

[absnow54]

I really liked the psychic game show contestant sketch. The cast chemistry there was incredible. 

[vb68]

It was really interesting to see the very first Church Chat.  Church Lady even had a name, and they hadn't got the voice inflection with"SATAN" down yet. 

[LADreamr]

It's so weird to see these episodes as "vintage" when I remember them so well from the first run. The new cast members really hit the ground running.

[cpcathy]

I remember watching this episode first hand, the new cast really was great right off the bat. I think I cried laughing at Choppin' Brocolli.

[WendyCR72]

It's so weird to see these episodes as "vintage" when I remember them so well from the first run. The new cast members really hit the ground running.

 

If the '70s original cast was SNL's Golden Age, I think the '80s cast was its Silver Age. I loved the Carvey/Hooks/Hartman era and I do think that cast was a large help in revitalizing the show after many rocky years.

[ajsnaves]

What was interesting is that there was no musical guest for this episode.  Buster Poinexter was listed as part of the band.  Has there ever been another episode without a listed musical guest?

 

And now I have to get to my choppin' broccoli.

[Kjharrison]

I would have been like 8 when this aired, so I don't really remember this era. Can someone explain what was so awful about the previous season that they had Madonna say it was only a dream? Thanks!

[LADreamr]

Only part of the issues, but here is Al Franken's take:

AL FRANKEN, Writer: The ’85–’86 season was difficult for a number of reasons, one of which was that Tom Davis and I were nominally the producers but didn’t have that much authority. The second was we had a cast that didn’t gel, and it was very hard to write in the same way as for a cast that had worked. I don’t know what was happening in Lorne’s head when he put that cast together, but I think he was consciously going after youth. We didn’t have enough people to play middle- aged males. It was impossible to write a Senate hearing. I liked Danitra Vance very much, but it turned out she was dyslexic and couldn’t read cue cards on the air. I remember her agent or manager coming to us and saying, “You wrote for Eddie Murphy, why aren’t you writing for her?” And I said, “Eddie Murphy’s Eddie Murphy and Danitra’s Danitra. Just because they’re black doesn’t mean they’re the same thing.” It was a little out of control. But we had Lovitz, who was great, and Dennis Miller started coming in and doing “Update,” so the building blocks were definitely there, but it was a tough year. Youthful problems, attitude, absence of skills, not to mention what may be a case of talent lack— that confluence made it very, very hard for a talented group of writers to find stuff to do. When the show is doing well, it’s usually overpraised, and when it’s not doing so well, it’s overcriticized.

[benteen]

The episode last night with The Rock was probably one of my favorites.  I was thinking back to old favorite episodes of mine...the one I always remembered was in 1993 I believe.  Danny DeVito was hosting and more than half the skits were about Joey Buttafuco and Amy Fisher.

[editorgrrl]

I would have been like 8 when this aired, so I don't really remember this era. Can someone explain what was so awful about the previous season that they had Madonna say it was only a dream? Thanks!

It was a "Dallas" reference, but the 1985–86 season was pretty terrible. Cast members included Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, and Randy Quaid.

[M. Darcy]

This Sat is from 1982 - a Season 7 episode with Johnny Cash and Elton John.

[vb68]

Another non-Lorne episode!  Cool! Those never get rerun.

[Galileo908]

People who have low opinions of SNL these days should've watched tonight's episode from 1982. Aside from Johnny Cash, Elton John and Eddie Murphy this one was though to sit through.

[methodwriter85]

It's so weird to see these episodes as "vintage" when I remember them so well from the first run. The new cast members really hit the ground running.

 

I was a couple of months shy of my 1st birthday when this aired and I'm pushing 30, so I have no trouble in thinking of SNL 1986-1987 as vintage.

 

Jon Lovitz did a bit where he sang about how the '86 to '93 cast was the best...it did seem like the chemistry there was pretty amazing.

 

The cast I grew up on was the 1996 to circa early 2000's cast, aka the Will Ferrell/Molly Shannon/Ana Gasteyer/start  era. I did catch a lot of the Adam Sandler/Chris Farley era on reruns that were on SNL.

Edited April 5, 2015 by methodwriter85

[Spartan Girl]

People who have low opinions of SNL these days should've watched tonight's episode from 1982. Aside from Johnny Cash, Elton John and Eddie Murphy this one was though to sit through.

 

 

I agree.  The only funny skit was the death row one and as cruel as it was, I laughed because of the silly way Eddie was dancing to Johnny Cash's "99 Bottles of Beer."

 

It's weird to think that when this skit aired in April 1982, John Belushi had been dead for a month.

[Traveller519]

Johnny looked like he was having a lot of fun. Eddie and Joe were doing the heavy lifting. Everyone else just looked young and a little out of their depth at the moment, which is fine and expected.

 

Loved Elton John.

[M. Darcy]

It's back!!! The Sat night 10 pm show tonight is Betty White with Jay Z from 2010.

Though, last night the comcast guide said it was Julia Louis Dreyfus with Paul Simon from 2009. Weird. I'd rather see that episode.

[Galileo908]

Well, Betty White's was a Mother's Day episode so it makes sense to air it tonight.

[formerlyfreedom]

Oooh, that's the one with the Dusty Muffins on the NPR show! YAY!

[helenamonster]

God, I hope they show the census sketch with Tina and Betty.

 

"How many people live at this residence?"

"Zero."

"Oh, you don't live here?"

"Oh, including me? Three."

[stonehaven]

I could have done without the Macgruber sketches if that meant we would get the Census sketch..Glad the episode is on Hulu Plus though..

[helenamonster]

God, this episode was fantastic. With the exception of the Doonese cold open of course. It was nice seeing all the SNL ladies from the previous decade or so together, but ugghhhh.

 

Why can't more monologues be like this one? Are they really that fucking hard? Just give the host a bunch of jokes; they won't all have perfect delivery but I guarantee they will all be better than another song monologue.

 

"WIZARD OF ASS."

 

In case anyone needs further proof that Kristen Wiig was eating the show alive, she was the only female repertory player this season. Seeing Abby, Jenny, and Nasim made me kind of sad. The ladies we have now are great (hi, Kate McKinnon!) but the fact that this episode aired only five years ago and none of these women, who were all featured players at time, are on the show anymore just ain't right. I get that Nasim left for Mulaney but still. At least that problem has somewhat corrected itself, too bad it couldn't do so sooner.

 

Greek-speaking Tina Fey might just be my favorite Tina Fey.

 

Betty White is going to outlive us all and I've made my peace with it.

[M. Darcy]

It's a good one tomorrow - Kevin Spacey/Beck from '97. It should be the one with the Star Wars auditions.

[vb68]

From what I saw, these classic shows are still on the schedule for Fall.

[Galileo908]

It's also the one where Michael Palin and John Cleese show up and explain the new ratings system, as well as perform the Dead Parrot Sketch.

[editorgrrl]

It's a good one tomorrow - Kevin Spacey/Beck from '97. It should be the one with the Star Wars auditions.

A musical monologue—with snarky subtitles: "We know what you're thinking. This is stupid." 18 years ago!

[jjj]

The reason they ran this episode became clear when the Letterman show parody began -- I had never seen this episode before, and it was a great imitation of Dave (Norm MacDonald) and Paul.  All the more poignant because last night on Letterman, Norm MacDonald broke down while saying goodbye and "I love you" to Dave. 

[Spartan Girl]

Loved the Monty Python cold opening. And Kevin Spacey did some pretty excellent impressions: his Chrisopher Walken was spot on!!

[mtlchick]

 

A musical monologue—with snarky subtitles: "We know what you're thinking. This is stupid." 18 years ago!

 

I had forgotten about that monologue until last night.  Given how the monologues were this year I chuckled quite a bit. 

 

 

And Kevin Spacey did some pretty excellent impressions: his Chrisopher Walken was spot on!!

 

I remember reading that Walken was up for the role for Han Solo at the time the videos were coming out.  Spacey doing his Walken impression will never get old.

[cpcathy]

The Star Wars parody will never, ever not be funny. Ever.

 

I recall Dead Parrot redo being lackluster the first time I saw it, and hey, still is, all these years later!

[ajsnaves]

 

I recall Dead Parrot redo being lackluster the first time I saw it, and hey, still is, all these years later!

 

For me what made it lackluster was not Palin and Cleese, but the audience.  It is like they didn't get it, and had no idea what they were seeing.

[M. Darcy]

Plus, we got to hear Norm do an OJ joke!

[M. Darcy]

Its been such a long time - I wonder if the Sat night 10 pm classic will ever return.

[editorgrrl]

Its been such a long time - I wonder if the Sat night 10 pm classic will ever return.

 

Dunno, but every Friday they're posting a new batch of classic sketches at http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live

 

The Fourth of July collection includes such "patriotic and summer-themed sketches" as "Lil General Fireworks" with Phil Hartman and "Frank Sinatra hosts 'Drive for America'" with Joe PIscopo.

[formerlyfreedom]

Its been such a long time - I wonder if the Sat night 10 pm classic will ever return.

 

They actually have it plugged into the fall schedule, so maybe they're just taking the summer off.

[M. Darcy]

They were supposed to show one show for each season so if they are keeping to that, they still have a way to go.  I think.  I'm not sure now many they have shown so far.

[27bored]

Tonight they're replaying the Bill Hader/Hozier episode. I actually watched Hozier's performances on mute because I was just not interested. Had I known he was the "Take Me To Church" guy, I would've listened. Chicks really dig Hozier, but I'm not sure why. So what the dude is 6'5 with long hair and a deep, commanding singing voice. So basic!

[Shopgirl406]

ahhhhh - once again they play the Hartman/Hooks "Love is a Dream".   So lovely!

[Kick40]

Does anyone remember the skit with Jerry Seinfeld and he has a delayed reaction to getting the punchline of the joke?

[VCRTracking]

Great story about Bill Murray from his brother Joel(Mad Men):

 

[Spartan Girl]

The vintage re-airings start again next Saturday with the new season! I hope they pick some good ones!

[ktwo]

Also this Saturday, NBC is premiering a documentary by Bao Nguyen called Live from New York! from 8-10 before the 10 pm vintage episode.

[ebk57]

Also this Saturday, NBC is premiering a documentary by Bao Nguyen called Live from New York! from 8-10 before the 10 pm vintage episode.

 

I saw that in the theatre when it came out.  I enjoyed it.  Not the most in-depth film, but lots of laughs.

[M. Darcy]

Tonight at 10 is the season finale from 2012 - host/musical guest Mick Jagger.

Sigh, I'm pretty sure that was Kristen Wiig's last show so lots of Kristen.

[ABitOFluff]

Mick is the best he's ever been, especially the karaoke sketch, but yes, way too much Kristen being too much Kristen.

[Fisher King]

Aw, hell. It WAS too much Kristen but I thoroughly enjoyed the show.. Mick was great and Stefon never fails.

When SNL airs live here, the goodnight/end credits are always cut short - if the local affiliate bothers to air it at all. I was glad to see the the full farewell to Kristen.