As a Saturday Night Live junkie who spent her youth devouring sketches like "Dieter’s Dream" and "The McLaughlin Group," I was ecstatic about NBC’s decision to rebroadcast the sketch comedy show’s debut episode this weekend, as a way to honor its very first host, George Carlin, who passed away June 22 at the age of 71. Really, could I have had a better reason to stay home with jar of Nutella on a Saturday night? (Or I just have no friends. You decide.) And for the most part, I was far from disappointed: What I saw was a stripped-down show that featured a not-quite-yet-cocky Chevy Chase, a larger-than-life John Belushi and traces of Gilda Radner’s brilliance (not to mention several of Carlin’s mind-blowing monologues, one of which included his now-famous football vs. baseball bit, embedded below).
Still, as much as I enjoyed delving into SNL history, I surprised myself by dozing off on a couple occasions. Sure, I’m a twentysomething living in a world of Speed Racer-esque pacing, but there’s no denying the SNL of 1975 was slower and more subtle (note: the absence oflaser cats) than the zippier broadcasts of 2008. Not to say the Carlin-led episode was completely dated — John Belushi’s"Wolverines" was one of several sketches that would still hold up well today. Others, however, like the faux commercial about the three-bladerazor — "Because you’ll believe anything" — were clearly products of their time. (Heck, my boyfriend uses a razor with not three, not four, butfive blades! And can you imagine how younger generations might react to SNL’s "Happy Fun Ball" sketch after growing up in a society plastered with warning labels?)
Tell me, PopWatchers, did you enjoy Saturday’s SNL rebroadcast from 1975? Or were you jonesing for a more modern edition, complete with more outlandish sketches?
Comments (1-11) of 11 Add your comment
I was 17 years old and remember watching Saturday Night and was amazed and entertained. Jim Hensons puppets were considered very edgy at the time. Watched it last Sat night and was “Huh?” Andy Kaufman was the best!
I showed my middle school students a clip of “Happy Fun Ball” and they didn’t get it!
I rented the first two seasons recently (since I was too young the first time around). As good as a lot of the stuff was, and still is, I think people forget how just plain bad a lot of it was too. In the rush to praise and worship the original cast (rightly so in many respects), we forget how clunky the first season was and how long it took them to reach their stride. Most of the first season, the original cast didn’t actually do a whole lot–the guest hosts were supposed to be the big stars.
I enjoyed most of it, but I agree with orville–it was pretty clunky. I found much of it funny, but I’m not sure if it’s because it was actually funny or if I was laughing because of the nostalgia. But gosh it was great to see Gilda and John again.
It was a very nice trip down memory lane, memories that I didn’t have, seeing as I was one year old when SNL premiered – but I had never seen the entire episode. It’s nice to see a full episode like that to put things in historical context.
1. I never realized that Don Pardo screwed up the name of the acting company on the first episode. He said “…and the Not for Ready Prime Time Players” instead of The Not Ready For Prime Time Players.
2. I could have sworn that the lady back up singer on Billy Preston’s left was jazz/R&B singer Randy Crawford.
3. It’s so amazing how far SNL has come in terms of what they can get away with when it comes to verbally explicit word and phrase gags. First it was “Jamitall” and now it’s “Sofa King”.
What I noticed more than anything else was the patience that the audience had for Andy Kaufman’s skit. I’m not sure that he’d survive in today’s instant-gratification culture and that would be a shame. He was delightfully different.
I stayed up for the whole thing, even though I’ve seen this particular episode a couple times. It wasn’t that funny. Even Carlin wasn’t that great. Maybe it’s because I’ve heard “baseball vs. football” about a thousand times now. And wow, riffing on religion. Not even in 1975 could that be considered original. The wolverine sketch was a pale imitation of a similar Monty Python bit. The muppets were dull. OK, just call me Miss Cranky-Pants this morning. The triple-bladed razor commercial, however, was hilarious, precisely BECAUSE my husband uses a 5-bladed razor now.
I’d take the rebroadcasted classics over any SNL made in the last 20 years… ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. I’m seriously in disbelief that anyone would even consider that they’d rather watch the new crap. I’m embarrassed for you on your behalf Kate… seriously, get some taste. New SNL is atrocious!
I was pleasantly surprised to find Andy Kaufman’s Mighty Mouse bit to be every bit as funny as I remembered!! I miss him, John, and Gilda.
I loved watching this episode, which only emphasized how far SNL has fallen over the last 33 years. It was nice to see sketches that didn’t revolve around bad costumes or over-the-top impersonations. So many of the sketches of the original episode wouldn’t make it to the final show today simply because they don’t have those now-cliche characteristics. It’s stuff like this episode that make me sad I wasn’t around to see it when it first aired.