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

[prican58]

Well, the classic Gumby at the Jewish Deli with the old Borscht Belt comics played by Billy Crystal, Marty Short and Chris Guest was still funny. I love that old school stand up so it resonates. I did notice a young dark haired (albeit a Larry Fine hair style) Larry David sitting in the background.

 

I love this era of SNL. 

 

Eddie doing Buckwheat. Still funny.Stupid, but funny.

[ebk57]

Missed the first half, but turned in as the deli skit was happening.  I'd not seen it before - pretty surreal and really funny.  Agree about the Buckwheat sketch.  Loved the doll commentary during the news (could they not call it Weekend Update during the non-Lorne years?).  

 

And an added bonus - Robert Plant!! 

[VCRTracking]

I've seen the classic "White Like Me" sketch before from an old Best of Eddie Murphy tape("What a silly Negro!)

 

Eddie, Martin Short, Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest all in one sketch. Incredible.

 

I'm a big Zeppelin fan so yay Robert Plant, even if he's singing retro 50s rockabilly.

[absnow54]

I was impressed that for the first 20 minutes, Eddie carried the entire episode by myself. Also, during the Black History Minute when he mispronounced soil, and someone in the audience commented loud enough for Eddie (and the boom mic) to hear, and he -- without a beat or breaking character -- was like "yeah, I messed up, shut up!"

[peeayebee]

Well, the classic Gumby at the Jewish Deli with the old Borscht Belt comics played by Billy Crystal, Marty Short and Chris Guest was still funny. I love that old school stand up so it resonates. I did notice a young dark haired (albeit a Larry Fine hair style) Larry David sitting in the background.

You made me go back and look. I never would have noticed or recognized him.

 

I thought the deli sketch was basically unfunny. I like character skits, but this didn't do much for me.

 

I do like Eddie's Buckwheat.

[DXD526]

That Honeydrippers song was unbelievable! Not only seeing Robert Plant circa 1984, but Brian Setzer strutting around like a young buck, in bad 80s clothes and hair, playing a screaming guitar! And who was that on sax? He kicked some crazy ass, too. What a performance! I'm still catching my breath.

 

Can't bring myself to delete this from the DVR, much like the '90 ep from a few weeks ago with the B-52s. How can one erase Fred Schneider jumping around in his ridiculous red suit singing about shaking your honeybuns?

 

Wow, this show has brought us some great music over the years...

[prican58]

You made me go back and look. I never would have noticed or recognized him.

 

I thought the deli sketch was basically unfunny. I like character skits, but this didn't do much for me.

 

I do like Eddie's Buckwheat.

As i watched I did think to myself that the skit could mos def be unfunny to many people, especially if you don't know or appreciate that old school humor. Not saying that you, PAB, don't. Funny is subjective. I am a big fan of Billy's old Jewish men schtick and I loved how they incorporated names like Corbett Monica. I used to see lots of the old comics on tv back in the 60's/70's so the name drops are a gas. 

 

i didn't notice Larry David right away but his hair "style" just caught my eye. And I think, stress "think" the old guy at his table was Al Lewis, "Grandpa" from The Munsters. He was still very active in the NYC scene back then. 

[peeayebee]

Now you've made me google Corbett Monica. 

[Miss Scarlet]

Some posters were discussing WU on another board and someone posted that they didn't like when Cecily did it because she seemed to get annoyed if her jokes didn't get a laugh. I kind of did notice this from the Fallon/Timberlake re-run that was aired during the winter hiatus. Does anyone else remember this happening last year? I've already forgotten about that era of WU.

[Inquisitionist]

Wow, this show has brought us some great music over the years...

 

 

Yes, it certainly used to do that.

[vb68]

 

Yes, it certainly used to do that

 

I'll respond to this in the Complaints thread.

[M. Darcy]

Looks like there is no show this week. NBC is showing figure skating instead - US Championship, Women's finals.

[Traveller519]

A lot of good stuff during the Eddie Murphy epsiode. It's like they got to do a "Best of Eddie" show with that one. The only downside to it was that so much of the remainder of the cast was excluded, due to his ability to carry a sketch all by himself, and what a cast that was. I would have loved to have seen more of the cast playing off one another.

[absnow54]

Has anyone been watching the SNL rewind marathon on VH1 Classic? They're still in the 2000's, but it's been fun remembering the featured players who never were (Finesse Mitchell, Rob Riggle, Casey Wilson... even Abby Elliot is better than I remember her) and also the recurring sketches that never quite took off. One of my favorites in the early 2000's was Amy and Seth as the Needlers (or the couple that should be divorced) it was a real precursor to their Weekend Update dynamic, especially the "Really!" segment. And yesterday they played two of my favorite sketches, The Falconer with Kevin Spacey when they keep on going back in time to rescue Donald ("Donald, duck!") and the entire cast is dressed as the Falconer doing awful impressions. The other is the Ben Affleck episode when they get stuck on an escalator and they parody every disaster movie cliche. At one point Rachel Dratch does this over the top anguished scream and the entire cast just stand there with a blank expression to keep from breaking. Ben also gets extra points for performing most of the sketch with his back to the cue cards.

 

They're almost to the late-90's era, this weekend is the Sandler years with a Chris Farley block/tribute, then Monday they're into the golden age of Hartman, Hooks, Carvey, Dunn... The non-Lorne years are Wednesday, and then Thursday through Sunday will be the first five seasons. Here's a pretty nice layout of the schedule. My DVR is getting quite a workout.

Edited February 3, 2015 by absnow54

[JTMacc99]

They're almost to the late-90's era, this weekend is the Sandler years with a Chris Farley block/tribute, then Monday they're into the golden age of Hartman, Hooks, Carvey, Dunn... The non-Lorne years are Wednesday, and then Thursday through Sunday will be the first five seasons. Here's a pretty nice layout of the schedule. My DVR is getting quite a workout.

 

I like that you called it the Golden Age.  I loved those guys.

[cpcathy]

I caught some episodes after Jimmy Fallon left but prior to Bill Hader getting there, and there seemed a huge void. I watched Skeleton Twins on Sunday and Hader was fantastic. I really love him on SNL, he may be one of my all time favorite cast members.

[vb68]

I've recorded all the Jon Hamm episodes.  I really love the Hamm and Michael Buble show especially.  There's not only that great sketch with the two of them (and I still want a sequel to that), but the Scott Brown sketch with him being the fantasy of all the Senators is an absolute riot.  Bill Hader kills me as Robert Byrd, and I can never stop laughing that his fantasy is in black and white.

 

I'm looking forward to tonight with the Resse Witherspoon and Seann William Scott episodes right after 9/11.  I haven't seen those in years, and I would consider both of them very important shows. 

[cpcathy]

The 2008 Jon Hamm episode was just tops on all accounts, it doesn't hurt that the original episode featured four songs from Coldplay, my favorite band.

 

Why hasn't Hamm hosted in awhile, I wonder?

[absnow54]

He showed up last season during Zach Galifianakis' episode, I think. I imagine with Mad Men ending soon, he'll be hosting before the end of the season. He's definitely one of my all time favorite hosts. He's a natural at sketch comedy.

Edited February 3, 2015 by absnow54

[M. Darcy]

It is back on this Saturday but the NBC website doesn't say which episode is on.

[M. Darcy]

It's Patrick Swayze and Mariah Carey from 1990.

Chippendales!

[vb68]

The whole Patrick Swayze episode was pretty much gold.  In addition to the famous Chippendales sketch, I had forgotten all about the Hanz and Franz sketch with Franz having confused feelings.  Victoria Jackson was surprisingly decent in the Ghost sketch.  I did find myself wondering once again about the rumors that she rarely used her real voice.  And I have never seen anyone else do a Susan Dey impression.  Jan had the speech pattern and vocal inflections down.  "La Law is not about people who sing.  It's about people who feel."   I guess it impressed me because I could tell she put in the effort even in a small role. 

[jjj]

Oh, my, Phil Hartman at the start of the Patrick Swayze episode.   Breaks my heart every time I see him. 

[Stella MD]

I adore Phil Hartman. His nearly-inarticulate Ed McMahon in last night's episode reminded me of one of my absolute favorite characters of his: James Stockdale, the long forgotten and arguably demented running mate of Ross Perot.

https://screen.yahoo.com/joyride-ross-perot-000000231.html

[jjj]

I adore Phil Hartman. His nearly-inarticulate Ed McMahon in last night's episode reminded me of one of my absolute favorite characters of his: James Stockdale, the long forgotten and arguably demented running mate of Ross Perot.

Thanks so much for reminding me of this -- if you had asked me to picture James Stockdale, my mind would have pictured Phil Hartman as James Stockdale.  "WHo am I? Why am I here?"  For those who did not live through it, that was actually part of Stockdale's debate, not Hartman's mocking of it!

 

By the way, I was alive in the 90s, but could not believe the hair on Patrick Swayze in his episode.  I thought it was a costume at first.  And at the end, I thought I was seeing Candice Bergen. 

Edited February 8, 2015 by jjj

[Dejana]

It's kind of surprising that SNL was allowed to make such biting criticisms of Carson being out of touch and past it, since he was such an NBC stalwart. The mention in the sketch of Leno being his successor (back in 1990) stood out to me, because the way that the late night wars are framed in hindsight, it was clearly going to be Letterman hosting The Tonight Show until that wolf in sheep's clothing Leno connived and maneuvered and stole it from him, basically, all while snowing NBC and America about what a "nice guy" he was.

 

Great to see old-school Mariah, back when she just sang and wasn't caught up in being a butterfly.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Dejana

[Guest]

Oh, my, Phil Hartman at the start of the Patrick Swayze episode.   Breaks my heart every time I see him. 

 

I watched that and realized that all three principles in that sketch had passed away.  Then I realized that this episode had a host that had passed away and three cast members.  It kind of made the whole thing tough to watch.

[vb68]

 

I watched that and realized that all three principles in that sketch had passed away.

 

Yeah, that caught my attention too.  It took my breath away. For me, it's still hard to think of Jan as being gone.  

[M. Darcy]

That was just so sad to watch with Patrick, Phil, Jan and Chris being gone.....plus those are the credits with Phil sitting with Brynn :-( Then I felt sad also because I starting thinking about missing Johnny and Ed. So many feelings.

But it is a great episode - Hanz and Franz still make me laugh.

Heh they are still not showing Al Franken.

[BrokenRemote]

I'd forgotten just how bad Norm MacDonald was at Weekend Update.  His starting out with a snide "Here's the fake news" and ending with something along the lines of "I'm done" along with the many, many flubs, mispronunciations and mistakes makes me appreciate Che and Jost a little more.

 

(I've seen Al Franken--saw Stuart Smalley today.  Or do you mean an episode he hosted?)

[nowandlater]

I watched that and realized that all three principles in that sketch had passed away.  Then I realized that this episode had a host that had passed away and three cast members.  It kind of made the whole thing tough to watch.

 

Kevin Nealon noted that he was the last surviving member of the Chippendales sketch in an interview late last year with Howard Stern. (though of course Mike Myers is still alive).

 

 

It's kind of surprising that SNL was allowed to make such biting criticisms of Carson being out of touch and past it, since he was such an NBC stalwart. The mention in the sketch of Leno being his successor (back in 1990) stood out to me, because the way that the late night wars are framed in hindsight, it was clearly going to be Letterman hosting The Tonight Show until that wolf in sheep's clothing Leno connived and maneuvered and stole it from him, basically, all while snowing NBC and America about what a "nice guy" he was.

 

Great to see old-school Mariah, back when she just sang and wasn't caught up in being a butterfly.

 

I was a Letterman and Leno-watching kid during this time. I remember staying up late every Monday, then every Tuesday, just to watch Leno's monologue.

 

I say every Tuesday, because by that point of the SNL episode, I believe, Carson was only working Wednesday through Friday. So calling him out on phoning it in was fair game. (As for Leno, it's always downplayed that he guest-hosted for Carson for 5 years....that's a long time, and would've made him a major contender for the slot.)

[absnow54]

Heh they are still not showing Al Franken.

Have they been cutting him out of the NBC repeats? He's appeared several times during the Vh1 rewind marathon.

[Spartan Girl]

I watched the Patrick Swayze rerun knowing it would be hard...but I was not expecting him to do that lovely little dance with his wife in the monologue!  That was both a pleasant surprise and heartbreaking.

 

Ah, the Chippendales sketch.  I know on a level it was yet another fat guy joke, but props to Chris Farley for owning it by dancing the hell out of that scene.

 

RIP to both.

[Inquisitionist]

 props to Chris Farley for owning it by dancing the hell out of that scene.

 

Indeed!

[M. Darcy]

 

Have they been cutting him out of the NBC repeats?

They have.  There have been a few Sat night NBC repeats where Al Franken is mentioned in the opening credits as part of the cast (which means he probably did a bit on Update) but then he's not shown.

Edited February 9, 2015 by M. Darcy

[BrokenRemote]

Do they cut those episodes down to an hour, or are they the full 90 minutes?  I can't remember.

[mtlchick]

Patrick Swayze's hair was the human version of a lion's mane.  Let him rest in peace. 

[cpcathy]

The VH1 90's episode definitely do not have the musical acts added, while the more current ones did. I even noticed a few 90's episodes that were nearly commercial free.

[absnow54]

The edits have been a little weird. I hate when they cut the monologue too, it really throws me off. Still, I'd rather have a wonky marathon, than no marathon at all.

Edited February 10, 2015 by absnow54

[Juneau Gal]

The edits have been a little weird. I hate when they cut the monologue too, it really throws me off. Still, I'd rather have a wonky marathon, than no marathon at all.

True that, But I do reserve the right to complain, HA! They gave so much time to the 2000s that they are giving short shift to the rest of the years. As often happens in these sort of marathons, the more recent years are prominent to play to the tastes of the current, perhaps younger, audience while the early years are not. I would have preferred they concentrated on showing the best episodes from each season, cull out the clunkers (of which there are shockingly MANY) and knocked it off with the tribute blocks. Five hours devoted to Chris Farley whose act mostly revolved around him being obese? An hour of his best skits would have sufficed. John Belushi and Gilda Radner best get the same level of attention since the precedence has been set.

But all of this is just the opinion of a person who vividly remembers watching that very first episode live (on TV) in 1975 with my high school friends.

[Rai]

Late last night, the Fred Savage/Teknotronic episode started to air, and then my cable service had to update itself or something.  I was unreasonably annoyed about not getting to watch it, because I remembered watching it during its first airing, lo these...uh...maybe 25 years ago.  Fred Savage as the Church Lady's Neice was inspired, and Jan Hooks rocked the Marla Maples like none other.  Alas.

[cpcathy]

Who know how the episodes for the marathon were chosen, I saw a Tom Hanks episode (Five Timers' Club, Short Term Memory Guy) that was hysterical, and it was cut to half an hour. But we got the whole hour of a terrible Courtney Cox episode and an painfully unfunny Sharon Stone episode. They even dared to show the Steven Seagal episode, and I hear he is being touted as the worst host ever.

[absnow54]

Most of the episodes from the 70's look to be 90 minutes, so hopefully they won't be heavily edited. They're also basically spending 4 days on those five seasons, so it looks like the 80's (unsurprisingly) got the shaft for this marathon.

 

I'm watching the Tom Hanks episode from the 85 season, and it was nice to see the 5 minutes that Damon Wayans was on the show. His son looks and sounds exactly like him.

[Guest]

Yeah, like I said, the episodes are weirdly edited, and sketches I clearly remember are edited out, or cut off, and while I am glad to see these episodes again, I would love to see the sketches as they originally aired. I have been watching SNL since I was a wee baby in the 70s. It was a big deal to watch w/my dad on Saturdays.

Also, I personally have no desire to see A Whitney Brown again.

 

I wonder if anything that was slightly difficult to get rights to or past censors was just cut and they didn't work on any clearances at all.

 

I had actually forgotten about A Whitey Brown, but his Christmas chat on vegetarian hunting of a Christmas tree was funny.

 

I'm watching the Oprah episode; and OMG, this Update is falling apart.   I've never seen anything like it.  I think Miller just completely lost his rhythm at the stupidity of Robert Downey Jr and Anthony Michael Hall doing fart noises (and not in a' he found it funny' way)  I've never seen Miller want anything over so bad.  A complete train wreck.

Edited February 11, 2015 by ParadoxLost

[prican58]

I go back to the start. The Not Ready group is still the most enjoyable bunch for me. One of my favorites was when Candace Bergen hosted. I loved the skit she did with Gilda about Gilda's character being stupid. Drop dead funny still and Gilda's line about the uvula still comes into my head at the most inopportune moments.

 

Gilda was hands down my favorite cast member ever. Judy Miller, the little girl in her Brownie uniform playing by herself in her room, practically bouncing off walls. Lov her and miss Gilda.

So many good, talented performers over the years and I am glad to have experienced so many of them as they were doing their thing. Hartman, probably my number 2 favorite, Ackroyd, Shearer, Hooks, and so many others. I think airing eps on Saturdays is a great thing.

[BizBuzz]

One of my favorites was when Candace Bergen hosted. I loved the skit she did with Gilda about Gilda's character being stupid. Drop dead funny still and Gilda's line about the uvula still comes into my head at the most inopportune moments.

 

For the record, I struggled with what I wanted to quote.

 

Candis Bergen was always a great host. 

[vb68]

Lorne has always said it was the first Candice Bergen show where they really figured out the structure of the show and how it was going to work. He's always generous with praise for her.  And she has always been a great five-timer aka cheerleader for the show too.

[prican58]

Candace has always been a favorite of mine since that initial SNL appearance. I bought her autobio Knock Wood back in the day. She is a great writer and story teller. Her life as Charlie McCarthy's "sister" is a great read.

 

Lorne is so right. I remember that show just gelling that night.

 

BTW, the uvula skit was actually done with Larraine Newman and Gilda. It was PSA about uvulas. Not sure now if it was the Bergen show but it was still funny. There is an audio clip on youtube.   

Edited February 12, 2015 by prican58

[cpcathy]

Hmmm, watching the Ebersol years now. Just awful. Eddie Murphy really kept the show alive.

[opus]

Hmmm, watching the Ebersol years now. Just awful. Eddie Murphy really kept the show alive.

Was the Buckwheat gets shot show in that era?