Saturday Night Live

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The 4,218 users who count themselves as Saturday Night Live fans have written a total of 200 reviews.

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"Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

Saturday Night Live is a sketch comedy show that has run since the fall of 1975. Many now-famous actors and actresses such as Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Paul Shaffer, Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, Julia... more »

"Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

Saturday Night Live is a sketch comedy show that has run since the fall of 1975. Many now-famous actors and actresses such as Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Paul Shaffer, Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Martin Short, Damon Wayans, Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Dennis Miller, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Conan O'Brien, Mike Myers, Ben Stiller, David Spade, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, Norm MacDonald, Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell, and Tina Fey got their start from Saturday Night Live. SNL is still unique amongst other sketch shows because of the fact that it has always been live.

Also known as:

"NBC's Saturday Night" from October 11, 1975 to July 31, 1976.
"Saturday Night" from September 18, 1976 to March 19, 1977.
"Saturday Night Live" since March 26, 1977.

"Good night and have a pleasant tommorow!"less «

• General News & Media Mentions

  This thread was orginally posted on The Office (US) forum . Generally, it is meant to be a place for any recent news articles, media mentions, or cast rumors concerning the show. I'll start first: The most recent cover of Vanity Fair .

  This thread was orginally posted on The Office (US) forum . Generally, it is meant to be a place for any recent news articles, media mentions, or cast rumors concerning the show. I'll start first: The most recent cover of Vanity Fair . less «

  cleospal9 Last online 12 days ago
  871 comments, last one 14 hrs, 2 mins ago + Add Comment

• Have an SNL question? Ask Stu!

  Hey guys, A few weeks ago, someone in this forum suggested that I should start a thread for any random questions a casu...more »

  Hey guys, A few weeks ago, someone in this forum suggested that I should start a thread for any random questions a casual fan might have about the show. I was only hesitent because I thought it felt somewhat arrogant, but after some consideration I decided it was worth a shot. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Stu and I'm been watching SNL since grade school. I'm also the editor of the SNL episode guide and I've been writing episode reviews at this site since 2003.I'd like to think I'm fairly well-versed in show-related trivia or any other information you might be looking for. One drawback, though- if you're looking for tapes or MP3s of old episodes, I don't have any to lend out, sorry. The lines are open, and I'm always here to help. :) EDIT: Please do not ask more than three questions at a time. Thank you. less «

  HelloStuart Last online -7 seconds ago
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• The SNL Column #23

  Still no solid news on Year 35 (the season premiere is September 26th, by the way), so with my latest missive I'm gonn...more »

  Still no solid news on Year 35 (the season premiere is September 26th, by the way), so with my latest missive I'm gonna try something different (like I always do). Last week, someone in the forum asked who were the best hosts that were never brought back. It was certainly an excellent question, though it was something I'd been wondering for a while now, something that couldn't be summed up in a regular post. In writing this list, I am only including people that have not hosted in the past five years, if only because there's still a fairly good chance somebody like Anne Hathaway or Neil Patrick Harris will be invited back. Who were the five best "one and done" hosts? Here's my list, in chronological order: Fred Willard. Does anybody genuinely hate Fred Willard? I don't know anyone that does; he's an affable character actor that can make reading the Yellow Pages sound hilarious. So why was his solitary hosting stint in 1978 so underwhelming? This broadcast (with musical guest Devo) wasn't terrible as much as it didn't use Fred to the best of his abilities. My theory is that Fred, a Second City alum with a penchant for ad-libbing, was forced to clamp down on his improv skills, leaving his performance overly restrained. Dave Thomas. For much of the late '70s and going into the mid-80s, "SCTV" was like Saturday Night Live's refined first cousin. Utilizing the same talent pool that many past SNLers were spawned --the Second City theaters in Chicago and Toronto-- "SCTV" was a refuge for more intellectual comedy geeks, especially during the uneven Doumanian and Ebersol years. In other words, if SNL was for the cool kids, SCTV pulled in the Chess Club. In spite of their differences, actors from both shows frequently joined forces and the result was a Justice League-type amalgam of comedy superheroism. Catherine O'Hara and Rick Moranis have both hosted SNL twice, and Martin Short switched alligences for a year after SCTV closed shop in 1984; in turn, Bill Murray was a special guest star on SCTV Network in 1982, and Don Novello spent nine episodes as the show's head writer. But I digress. At the height of McKenzie-mania, Dave Thomas and "brother" Rick Moranis co-hosted SNL in February 1983 while promoting the movie Strange Brew . The broadcast is a hidden gem of the Ebersol era: Moranis' dead-on imitation of Dick Cavett sparring wits with Eddie Murphy's Tyrone Green, a wry SNN commentary by Walter Kronkite (Thomas), and a just-as-advertised cold opening with Woody Allen (Moranis), Bob Hope (Thomas), and Frank Sinatra (Joe Piscopo). Where most of the SCTV cast became stars in their own right, Thomas was regulated to second-banana status in Hollywood; feeling unwanted, Thomas returned to Canada in the late '90s to join former co-star Joe Flaherty as respected elder statesmen of the Canuck improv craft. In a just world, Thomas would've been a go-to supporting actor in the vein of Eugene Levy or Catherine O'Hara, a respected comedy genius both in Canada and the States, and a probable five-timer. Bruce Willis. Sure, he's a consumate action star, but if his frequent guest appearances on Late Show with David Letterman are any indicator, Bruce is not afraid to crack wise or poke fun of his tough-guy image. Bruce was the master of ceremonies for SNL's season premiere in 1989-90, a broadcast that triggered a minor controversy for poking fun of terrorist hijackings of passenger planes. Though that one sketch seems tame in our jaded post-9/11 society, it's an irrelevant factor in an otherwise solid job by Willis. Jim Carrey. This might be the most inexplicable one-timer in the bunch. Granted, his recent film roles have opted to show his dramatic range, though like Willis he's not afraid to get zany when he's promoting said movies on Dave, Conan, et al. When Carrey hosted the capper to the 1995-96 season, the cast couldn't keep up with him. He practically owned an otherwise standard Roxbury Boys sketch, gave the Cheerleaders a distinctive foil, and nearly turned phrases like "I'll see you in hell!" and "Ride the cobra" into immortal pieces of the SNL lexicon. Maybe he was too hyper to host? Steve Buscemi. You'll never confuse a beady-eyed little shrimp like Buscemi for a Hollywood superstar, but his hosting stint in April 1998 was a high point in a season marred by death, interference by network execs, and a passive-aggressive search for the next great SNL catchphrase. In spite of all those distractions, the producers found fair game in the star of Fargo and The Big Lebowski ; you watch the "Job Interview" sketch and I dare you to laugh. Of course, in writing lists like these I'm prone to include honorable mentions. The week after Buscemi hosted, Greg Kinnear led another strong Year 23 show, highlighted by sketches like "Name That Dog!" and the sublime "Koppel Brothers." In the Fall of 2002, My Big Fat Greek Wedding producer-writer-star Nia Vardalos was front and center for a somewhat underrated broadcast that included the first "Falconer" sketch, a send-up of student council elections, and a vicious imitation of Kirstie Alley. Your thoughts? less «

  HelloStuart Last online -7 seconds ago
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•  

  8 Great

  Saturday night live is an original and very entertaining show. hide « show »

  The comcept of saturday night live is what makes it a sucess, a sketch comedy show live, with a different guest celebrity every week, is entirely its own concept. As far as the quality of the acting goes, I can say thatthey are top notch, with mostly the guest starts breaking character to laugh in the middle of a scene. The jokes are hit and miss, but the hit portion of this show is increasingly funny. It also seems that some of the sketches are recycled to a point that they just are no longer funny, or are getting old fast. They also seem to be using the same celebrities too often, which pretty much brings along the previous problem. Overyall I think that SNL is a good show to watch.

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  Andorhal Added May 18, 2009 All my reviews
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  8 Great

  Saturday Night live is whitty in parts and makes fun of some of the idiots who run our country hide « show »

  If you are the kind of guy or girl that likes political humor. racey yet funny humor cheap jokes in parts, and fall off the floor funny then saturday night live is the show for you.
  
  Saturday night live is one of my favorite shows when ever i get the chance i will watch it. Saturday night live is one of the longest running shows it first appeared in the 80's. And it never got old, and to this day it is still one of the most hilarious shows on telivision. Every now and then there will be a seen that will just make me want to record it and watch it over and over again. Every week tons and tons of writers and other people work really hard, to make you entertained every saturday night. Great show................

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  Kipperfan50 Added Apr 28, 2009 All my reviews
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  7 Good

  Topically still funny; Under-utilizing a good host weakens the show hide « show »

  I did not start watching SNL until about 1998, and even then for my age it was a fairly mature show. I genuinely enjoyed it. This was my first real exposure to sketch comedy, an art of making the audience get to know a character in one minute and try to keep them laughing for the next five. I still make a point to watch the show regularly – in fact it's one of the few shows I watch in its original and convenient timeslot. SNL is fun, silly, and a half decent way to kill 90 minutes of a Saturday night at home. The biggest criticism I hear about the show from parents of friends is that 'it was funnier in the first decade.' Yes, it was funnier to them. That was when they were young and needed a scathing satirical look at the politics that rocked their worlds. It's an inherent condition of sketch comedy – material is always topical and evolves with the generations. Watching the Weekend Update sections from the old seasons is a little blast from the past – it might have been funny then, sure, but I didn't grow up with Jane Curtin and Bill Murray, and the political discussion from those seasons is completely lost in translation with me. I grew up on the tail end of Colin Quinn, before the desk changed hands to Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon. News was topical to me and thus became punch-line laughs. These days I find the most consistently funny part of the show tends to be Weekend Update, purely for that topical nature.
  There have been plenty of good episodes, and certainly there have been weaker ones. I tend to break these things down analytically, and I figure there are four types of hosts – a celebrity you didn't expect to be funny and (a) was, or (b) wasn't, and then there's the celebrity you expect to bring strong humor to the show and either (c) brought it in spades, or (d) only showed up in two sketches all night. B always seems to happen when they bring in athletes to host. I think these days they're trying to draw on the star power and it's generating a lot of D's. But the A's are what make it worth watching, those occasional gems where you realize there's a celebrity out there who is comfortable in a sketch comedy setting. Guys like Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck. Before their first appearances, I bet nobody expected they had such comedic energy. And both have returned on multiple occasions – why? Because they were genuinely funny. Lots of hosts seem to go through the motions and read off the cue cards all night. But these guys put effort into it. These are the guys who know how to entertain a live audience, and they make it happen. The writers needs to explore these options for their hosts, instead of creating reactionary characters so that the core cast can keep rehashing a stock persona with a nuance that can only grow more tiresome each time around. For the current generation, I think Andy Samberg is a tremendous asset to the show. The Digital Shorts are the golden moments, and paired up with a strong host, they can make an episode memorable. But like I said, the strongest material is topical, and the demographic topical material plays to is the demographic with the strongest opinion on it – the 18 to 30 year-olds. And if you're too young to care, or older and have stopped caring, the topical material is just not going to entertain you. SNL is a show for the high-school and college generation, and as tastes evolve, the show will hopefully be able to adapt in stride. I know I'll keep watching.

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  Cephyran Added Feb 28, 2009 All my reviews
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  10 Perfect

  Coming to you live from New York It's Saturday Night! hide « show »

  SNL is a comedy made up of various skits to do with anything between politics and celebrities, every episode there is a different host and musical guest. See I had never heard of SNL until I was channel surfing one night about last Sep. and then I saw Week End Update. It was so funny I would recomend this to a friend, the skits are always different, nothing is repetitive. It's an original, It's a classic. SNL has been going for 34 years. Keep on rolling SNL. If you have a comment on my review send me an email at rickrice94@yahoo.com

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  rickrice94 Added Feb 14, 2009 All my reviews
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  1 Abysmal

  Weekend update did a spoof regarding Governor Patterson and did a poor job of protraying him as a capable person. hide « show »

  As a vision teacher who works with individuals who are partially or totally blind, I was VERY offended by the protrayal of Governor Patterson of New York during the Weekend Update segment. It not only made fun of someone who is visually impaired, it also made them look like they act like that all of the time and are not capable of functioning as a normal human being. Needless to say, after the first minute or so, I changed the channel and did not go back to the rest of the show during the evening. I was enjoying Steve Martin as host and looked forward to seeing other segments, but was so turned off by the Patterson bit that I could not. My husband and I do look forward every Sat. to watch SNL and do enjoy the political parodies, but to make fun and do a spoof on a disability is despicable and I am thinking twice of watching SNL from now on. I also understand that Gov. Patterson himself had a grievance against this and I say more power to him! I am very proud that he is a governor and is out there doing his job despite having a handicap. I would say Obams also would agree with this!
  
  Think next time before doing a bit when it deals with disabilities, writers!!!

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  mmvpsv Added Feb 1, 2009 All my reviews