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

[Robert Lynch]

I can't believe Collin Ferrell only in 2004! I thought he would have hosted multiple times.

[Pete Martell]

Gary Kroeger, an early '80s cast member I'm very fond of (and way ahead of his time - he would have been a real star in the pretty-boys-are-funny-too era of the mid/late '00s), penned some thoughts about his years at the show and had kind words for Eddie Murphy.

http://garyhasissues.com/2019/12/a-belated-thank-you-to-eddie-murphy/

[Pete Martell]

SNL put this up on their Instagram - they said when a repeat host returns, they give a script copy of their last episode. This has the names of several of the cut sketches, and also reveals the piece that was cut and led to Eddie killing time on-air (it was a Reagan Christmas message).

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6OmU7PlKYb/

[SoMuchTV]

25 minutes ago, Pete Martell said:

SNL put this up on their Instagram - they said when a repeat host returns, they give a script copy of their last episode. This has the names of several of the cut sketches, and also reveals the piece that was cut and led to Eddie killing time on-air (it was a Reagan Christmas message).

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6OmU7PlKYb/

That's cool.  Are there any stats on "most time between repeat hosting"?

[Pete Martell]

1 hour ago, SoMuchTV said:

That's cool.  Are there any stats on "most time between repeat hosting"?

I've seen a few fans talk about this...I think Eddie breaks the record at 35 years. The closest after that is Jeff Bridges, who hosted in 1983 and in 2010. 

[Pete Martell]

This is about Eddie Murphy returning but also has a lot of talk about the 80-81 season. There are comments from many writers and cast members of the early '80s, about the show and about Eddie. 

https://www.theringer.com/tv/2019/12/20/21029815/eddie-murphy-saturday-night-live-first-season-mister-robinson

Here's a promo for the last episode he hosted. 

 

Edited December 21, 2019 by Pete Martell

[JakeyJokes]

I caught up on last week’s classic, which was rather serendipitous (a Christmas episode and right after Clinton got impeached!). I don’t consider myself an opera fan at all, but I thought it was really cool that Luciano Pavarotti was the musical guest (zenith Vanessa Williams, who did a great job).

[Pete Martell]

The Hidden Gems of Eddie Murphy's SNL run.

https://usefullyuselessinfo.wordpress.com/2019/12/21/the-hidden-gems-of-eddie-murphy/

[vb68]

Why couldn't they air the last time Eddie hosted from 84 instead of the Christmas Show from last year?

It would had been the obvious and correct choice.

For some reason I think they don't like to rerun episodes from the non-Lorne years. But there should had been an exception made for tonight.

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, vb68 said:

Why couldn't they air the last time Eddie hosted from 84 instead of the Christmas Show from last year?

Funny, I was asking the same thing. Unless NBC, for some reason, will not re-air Doumanian/Ebersol-era episodes?

[JZL]

From last week's Vintage airing, the Alec Baldwin Christmas show from 1998 . . .

This did indeed have the Jimmy Fallon ghost-of-SNL-future bit, as someone mentioned above.  Fallon ostensibly had become a big star and had returned to host the Christmas sketch on "December 12, 2011."  Fallon, of course, did become huge.  He did host the Christmas show in 2011 (albeit on the 17th).

[/mind-blown]

Edited December 23, 2019 by JZL

[Dr.OO7]

I caught the "Christmas compilation" episode the other night. It was hilarious and lovely as always. This show has had some terrific Christmas skits.

[Jaded]

If anyone saw the original Christmas Special airing in early Dec. did the Eddie Murphy clip of one of his old Mr. Robertson skits near the end only show him walking through the door and down the steps? I accidentally erased it off my DVR so I ended up catching the rerun the other night so I was wondering if weird editing was at work again.

[Lantern7]

7 hours ago, Jaded said:

If anyone saw the original Christmas Special airing in early Dec. did the Eddie Murphy clip of one of his old Mr. Robertson skits near the end only show him walking through the door and down the steps? I accidentally erased it off my DVR so I ended up catching the rerun the other night so I was wondering if weird editing was at work again.

The clip got clipped. Mr. Robinson showed how he sold dolls with literal cabbages for heads.

I was poking around for TV Funhouse Christmas clips. The only one I can’t find is the one for 2000, where Santa skips the red states, then has Chinese food with liberals such as Al Franken and Margaret Cho.

Oh, and Rush Limbaugh takes Santa’s place, but that’s an Oxytocin-fueled dream.

ETA: . . . and Moby was there. It’s a fun post-2000 bit, with Santa labeling Middle America as “Dumbfuckistan.” Good times. Good times.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Lantern7

[Dr.OO7]

The lost ending to "It's A Wonderful Life":

What a terrific choice for last night's vintage episode. Even if parts of it were downright eerie--Trump wanting to run for governor--the rest was hilarious.

Edited December 29, 2019 by Camille

[msrachelj]

Did anyone read about Cindy Crawford and Randy Gerber having a concerning confrontation with Pete at the apt in NYC he shares with their daughter?
Saw today That the parents and whatever her name is were at the airport headed back to CA.  
I worry about him. Have a relative who’s bipolar and know how hard it is to regulate.  

[Pete Martell]

Cheri Oteri popped up out of nowhere on CNN to reprise her always-lovely Baba Wawa impression. As Colette Reardon would say - good times. 

 

[Pete Martell]

Buck Henry's first episode will be tonight's vintage installment. 

I'm not sure whether to put this here or in the Eddie Murphy episode thread, but I'm just going to go with here as it's exclusively about his time as a cast member.

 

[vb68]

2 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

Buck Henry's first episode will be tonight's vintage installment. 

With Bill Withers as the musical guest!

Very happy to get to DVR this one!

[Spartan Girl]

Samurai Delicatessen, always a classic!

[Chippings]

That opening monologue of Buck Henry's (with the crawl over it) was really incredibly funny.  You had to have been, you know, alive in 1976 to catch some of the names of alternate hosts they'd invited.  Very cool, and it was nice to see it all.  That, and to see the show when it was barely a few months old, the customs that've stuck and those that disappeared.

[SoMuchTV]

On 1/18/2020 at 1:05 PM, vb68 said:

With Bill Withers as the musical guest!

Very happy to get to DVR this one!

Same thought, but it turns out my local nbc station changed frequencies at some point yesterday so I got a nice recording of dead air. With all the notices they put in the crawls about every feud with every cable provider, I’m surprised I didn’t see anything about needing to do a rescan. 

So, found season 1 on the nbc app and watched the one with Buck Henry, but turns out it was a different one. Samurai tailor, not deli. Gordon Lightfoot, not Bill Withers. Very young Lorne. Some things aged well and some definitely didn’t. I guess you could say that about any season though.

Maybe I’ll go back and see if I can find the vintage episode they actually aired.

[Pete Martell]

Will Ferrell talks a little about his memories at SNL, complete with some backstage footage of when he played "Ron."

 

[freddi]

Was there a vintage show on January 25?  Just saw a picture of Buck Henry on the live SNL, which reminded me.  Saw the first Buck Henry episode last week—loved all of his early appearances.  

[Jaded]

7 minutes ago, freddi said:

Was there a vintage show on January 25?  Just saw a picture of Buck Henry on the live SNL, which reminded me.  Saw the first Buck Henry episode last week—loved all of his early appearances.  

NBC aired the 2020 NHL All-Star Game for three hours so you didn't miss anything.

[freddi]

24 minutes ago, Jaded said:

NBC aired the 2020 NHL All-Star Game for three hours so you didn't miss anything.

Many thanks!  West Coast here, so there is always an hour between the “live” SNL and the repeat of the live show.  NHL was in the late afternoon! But glad not to miss an early season rerun. 

[Lantern7]

Tonight at 10: Eli Manning/Rihanna. I had figured that would be the case, given that Eli recently retired. But I figured the untimely death of Kobe Bryant would have altered that, even though he had — IIRC — never been on SNL.

Was Eli the last NFLer to host before JJ Watts tonight? And didn’t we get a “Shy Randy” Digital Short with that ep?

Edited February 1, 2020 by Lantern7

[Maverick]

 Shy Ronnie. 

 Ha! Ha!

[saber5055]

That Eli Manning episode was painful to watch, absolutely nothing remotely funny in it except the video of his Big Brother sketch. That was good. Otherwise, man, this was an episode to turn the channel on. I wish I had.

[Pete Martell]

Looks like we're getting another way way back episode tonight for Vintage - Kirk Douglas/Sam & Dave. 

[Caseysgirl]

This episode with Kirk Douglas from 1980 had only 4 of the original cast members - the ladies ( Jane, Gilda & Lorraine) and Garrett Morris. The writing seemed a little weak and the only thing at all  funny was Bill Murray’s lounge singer.  Sam & Dave were fabulous.

[Pete Martell]

4 hours ago, Caseysgirl said:

This episode with Kirk Douglas from 1980 had only 4 of the original cast members - the ladies ( Jane, Gilda & Lorraine) and Garrett Morris. The writing seemed a little weak and the only thing at all  funny was Bill Murray’s lounge singer.  Sam & Dave were fabulous.

That season found most of the cast burnt out, and in some cases, struggling with bad drug problems or eating disorders. Gilda was busy with a Broadway show so her involvement was lessened. There are some compelling moments to be found but overall it was a sluggish and at times depressing, strange year.

Here's a recap of the full episode if anyone wants to read it.

https://www.onesnladay.com/2018/11/15/february-23-1980-kirk-douglas-sam-dave-s5-e12/

[cpcathy]

Wow, that was bad. Nice seeing Brian Doyle Murray and Tom Davis. And Jim Downey was a cast member at the point.

[saber5055]

18 hours ago, Caseysgirl said:

This episode with Kirk Douglas from 1980 had only 4 of the original cast members - the ladies ( Jane, Gilda & Lorraine) and Garrett Morris. The writing seemed a little weak and the only thing at all  funny was Bill Murray’s lounge singer.  Sam & Dave were fabulous.

I'm just the opposite, I loved this repeat, it was SO much better than Eli Manning's rerun, and Kirk Douglas was great in everything. The only sketch I got bored with was Bill Murray's lounge singer, although I got a laugh that the Bar Mitzvah kid looked so much like present-day Vanessa Bayer's Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy.

I was great to see Sam and Dave, but when they started singing I kept expecting the Blues Brothers to come out.

[Wackojacko]

Hey all, there is a skit in my head that I absolutely cannot find online and I was wondering if anyone knew the name of it or the company in the parody.

In the commercial the firm talks about their list and the list has their customers and they need to copy the list incase they lose the first list 

This all may be off but I am trying my best to remember it more clearly.  Anyone know this?

[Pete Martell]

19 hours ago, Wackojacko said:

Hey all, there is a skit in my head that I absolutely cannot find online and I was wondering if anyone knew the name of it or the company in the parody.

In the commercial the firm talks about their list and the list has their customers and they need to copy the list incase they lose the first list 

This all may be off but I am trying my best to remember it more clearly.  Anyone know this?

I think this may go in the Classic thread, but somebody told me the sketch name - it was a Grayson Moorhead sketch, starring Jim Downey. It aired in David Schwimmer's episode. 

https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/cast/jim-downey-14911/character/arthur-grayson-107221

There are more clips on Youtube, but they are blocked in the US.

 

[freddi]

What was the classic episode on February 29?  Ours got pre-empted by a breaking news special on the virus events of the day (to be fair, a lot happened in WA State today, so I understand the need for many updates).  

[possibilities]

Alex Baldwin was the host. I don't remember who the musical guest was, because when I saw AB was hosting, I didn't watch.

[Pete Martell]

5 hours ago, freddi said:

What was the classic episode on February 29?  Ours got pre-empted by a breaking news special on the virus events of the day (to be fair, a lot happened in WA State today, so I understand the need for many updates).  

Alec Baldwin/Ed Sheeran.

[Pete Martell]

The One SNL a Day blog has now gotten up to fall 2001, and multiple episodes which are eerily familiar to today's world. The much-remembered post 9/11 premiere, but also this episode, which actually has an impression of Anthony Fauci. 

https://www.onesnladay.com/2020/03/16/november-3-2001-john-goodman-ja-rule-s27-e4/

[KWalkerInc]

The other day, the beginning of my Simpsons recording had the end of a Masked Singer repeat, and well, it made me think of this clip:

 

[peacheslatour]

On 2/25/2020 at 8:34 PM, Wackojacko said:

Hey all, there is a skit in my head that I absolutely cannot find online and I was wondering if anyone knew the name of it or the company in the parody.

In the commercial the firm talks about their list and the list has their customers and they need to copy the list incase they lose the first list 

This all may be off but I am trying my best to remember it more clearly.  Anyone know this?

All I remember is "If we lose the list, we're ruined." My husband and I say that whenever we go shopping.

[Pete Martell]

Karen Black hosting SNL was mentioned in another thread. I have a soft spot for 80-81, as rough as so much of it is, and this is one of the reasons why. It's a genuinely moving character piece they mostly stopped doing as the '80s progressed. 

https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/patient-thoughts/n8758

[Guest]

I was thinking about the at Home episode.  If they were to do another one, I think I would like to see if they could find some humor in all their former premises not working by having former cast revive old sketches.

The kissing family dealing with social distancing.  The Californians coping with no traffic to navigate around.  What does Stefon recommend to do when all the clubs are closed?

Edited April 18, 2020 by ParadoxLost

[Pete Martell]

Jan Hooks would have been 63 yesterday. Robert Smigel, longtime writer and occasional onscreen player, wrote a lovely series of tweets about her, and also managed to get a Jan sketch he thought highly of unblocked in the US. Here it is. 

 

[vb68]

That waitress sketch is a thing of beauty.

[Pete Martell]

A recent piece on perhaps my favorite Ebersol-era cast member, Gary Kroeger. 

https://dennisperrinblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/27/gary-kroeger-is-still-smiling/

[Pete Martell]

Dan Vitale, featured player of 85-86, talks about his experiences with Lorne's other show (The New Show) as well as his SNL stint. Some fascinating behind the scenes tidbits I'd never heard about (among others, George C Scott nearly hosted, and Anjelica Huston nearly joined the cast).

https://www.vulture.com/2020/04/dan-vitale-snl-interview.html

[Pete Martell]

If you have time to kill or are a big Debbie Downer fan, SNL's Youtube channel put up a few of her sketches. There is a "new" to Youtube (it was blocked in the US before now - it has been on the NBC site for a while) dress rehearsal sketch from 2010 that features Betty White, Kristen Wiig, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Molly Shannon.

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Pete Martell

[Pete Martell]

Tonight's vintage episode is going to be the Ray Charles show from season 3.