What fond memories do you have of Saturday night Live?

I have a bunch.

"The Bad News Bees"

"I'm Hans, und dis is my brudder Franz, and ve gonna pump you up!"

Andy Kaufman does horrible impressions in his "Latka" voice, and then blows everyone way doing Elvis.

Bill Murray as the Vegas lounge singer.

Carrie Fischer doing "Princess Leia doing a 60's beach movie."

Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor, "Job Interview."

So many more...

also all of Ackroyd's sleazy characters

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, Rosanne Roseannadanna, Da Bears - are you kidding?

Way too many to list.

Here's one: http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=1422

"Susan Sontag said that Munsters lies at 24 frames a second. Do you agree, Eddie Munster?"

John Belushi as the short order cook who only made cheeseburgers no matter what anyone ordered. And Chevy Chase's pratfalls during the Ford administration.

Cheebu'ger, cheebu'ger, cheebu'ger..."

And if you ever went to the Billy Goat Tavern, you'd see what inspired these sketches!

opportunity to see for myself. :0)

Is it still there? What's the ethnicity of the workers/owners? I always guessed SNL were doing Greek imitations or something...

When I was going to school in Chicago during the late 70s, the Billy Goat was a great place for cheap eats. Those "cheeburgers" just went great with the Pepsi!

Can you believe it actually took me a few minutes to find the original Dan Aykroyd skit?

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=33695570

I was crying I was laughing so hard.

but it's actually "Dr. Seuss." I've even heard TV reporters call him Dr. Zeus.

Never mind.

Jack Handy's Deep Thoughts

Mr. Bill

Eddie Murphy as Gumby, Buckwheat and Landshark.

My boyfriend and I were watching SNL (I don't even remember what was on), and immediately afterward, there was a special news bulletin about the Jonestown mass suicide.

For a moment, we didn't know whether it was real or some especially sick SNL shtick.

and I thought it was the set up to a sketch

there was an incident back in the 70's in which singer Claudine Longet, ex-wife of Andy Williams, shot and killed her lover, a skier named Spider Sabich. SNL came up with a particularly tasteless video game, something like the Spider Sabich shooting gallery, in which the player took aim at the skier as he came down a hill. I remember being sort of appalled but thinking it was also clever in a perverse sort of way.

:evilgrin:

tasteless but funny

That scene was the first thing that popped in my head, kind of like the skier kept popping up.

Michael O'Donoghue
RIP

Seriously...anything worth reading in the magazine's glory years came from those three guys. Miller's the only survivor from the group...what a legacy. The quality of National Lampoon fell of a cliff about thirty seconds after these guys stopped contributing.

that made me snort.

or supermarket every month
Those were the days

They were boyfriend and girlfriend. I loved those.

I liked John Belushi doing the parody of the Billy Goat, too.

That thing totally snapped me when I first saw it. I think I caught it once more on rerun, but I have no idea if it made it to the DVD versions of the original cast. It was classic.

Dennis Miller on Weekend Up-date.

Opera Man.

Canteen Boy.

Will Ferrell as Janet Reno

Celebrity Jeopardy.

Hartman's Reagan sketch.

"I LIVE IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!"

The Church Lady.

Wayne's World.

Dieter's Dream!

The 2000 election sketches.

...which, in hindsight, is somewhat disturbing. It was a parody of "Cops" and officers were called out over a domestic dispute between Bill and Hillary. The central joke was that Hartman and Jan Hooks (as Hillary) played it from the persona of every other "domestic abuse" episode of Cops. Kevin Nealon, as one of the officers, says to Bill "You know, if you don't stop this, one of these days she's gonna kill you," to which he replies "Yeah...but I love her."

Hard to watch that one after the death of Hartman. Masterfully played, excellent satire, still disturbing.

:toast:

But it's still an awesome skit, I remember it. It caught the anti-Hillary tone of the times.

The first time I heard "Jane Yoy Ignorant Slut" you could hear my jaw hit the floor for blocks!

"Never mind..."

C-I-L-L

Kill my landlord, kill my landlord.
Watchdog barking - Do he bite?
Kill my landlord, kill my landlord.
Slip in his window,
Break his neck!
Then his house
I start to wreck!
Got no reason --
What the heck!
Kill my landlord, kill my landlord.
C-I-L-L ...
My land - lord ...

Eddie Murphy wasn't even part of the cast yet when they did that, if I remember correctly.

Lol, haven't thought of that in YEARS.

Tastes terrific, and just look at that shine!

Gerald: Oh, it's not going to be easy. My brother and I know. Men have never done synchronized swimming in a sanctioned competition in this country. Officially, it's got like a zero acceptance rate.

Lawrence: I don't swim.

Gerald: Lawrence doesn't swim. So.. I mean, no, of course not.. no one's going to just walk up and hand us a gold medal. Men's syncro isn't even in the '88 Olympics yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5mcONtwdwo

about a group of high school boys who form a synchronized swimming team. (Yes, it's a women's sport in Japan, too.)

Unlike a lot of Japanese comedies, this one is actually funny to Westerners.

I've also heard that on one of Pryor's albums, but the version on SNL was vastly superior.

very under appreciated.

Randomly picking women out of the NBC studio audience in the early 1980's and wrestling them on stage.

That's when I knew this nation was fucked !!!!

Back with the original SNL cast. My cousin often babysat me on Saturday nights, or we would go to other relatives' and we'd watch it together there.

Then I remember that SNL was awful for awhile, and then Phil Hartman and crew came in and there was some great stuff for a few years: Sprockets, Deep Thoughts, Anal Retentive Chef, and some others. Then it got really shitty again, and then the Will Ferrel crew came and there was some good stuff for a bit, and then it got shitty and seems to have stayed there.

The writers actually pulled off almost an entire show of quality material.

And Betty was her perfectly awesome unstoppable wonderful self all the way through.

My memories were not only of what I was watching on SNL (the original performances of the Blues Brothers, Dan Aykroyd as Julia Child bleeding all over the place, and "Land Shark" come to mind), but more the memory of watching it with my older brother. He's 15 years older than I am (no siblings in between), so we had a weird family dynamic--I have a photo of him in his high school graduation gown and he's carrying me, 3 years old, in a yellow sundress, in the crook of his arm. Anyway, when SNL was at its peak with the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players, he was in law school, and I was in elementary school (like I said, weird dynamic). I remember when he'd come home to visit--he and I would lie on the floor with our heads against the bottom of the couch eating potato chips, and my mom would fall asleep on the couch behind us, so she never noticed what I was watching. Most of the jokes went over my head, but I could still enjoy the crazy stuff.

Every once in a while, when the skits were racy or crude, my brother would look over at me and say, "Are you supposed to be watching this?" And every once in a while my mother would half-wake up and mumble "Gotobed..." and then fall asleep again.

Man, I got away with murder when my brother was home. Good memories. :D

This skit came out back when Jesse Helms was trying to cut funding for the National Endowment for the Arts over alleged indecencies. The skit showed a squad car tearing around town to the tune of some 19770s cop show. It had an "Art Squad" logo on the door. The scene had the car going through a park and winding up next to a statue of Michelangelo's "David". The doors opened up, and a hand holding a gun appears. In the next scene, David's genitalia get shot off, and the car drive off. LOL!

howard shore and his all nurse band. totally off the wall. hooked instantly.

where it was a road trip in a car with 4 female characters, and she played all of them. My friends and I have been saying "Why can't some people just stay home!" often ever since then, when someone acts bad during a car trip or is a difficult fellow traveler.

Jim Belushi as the "Flashdance" dancer in Swan Lake.

JIm Belushi as "Boy George Burns."

Eddie Murphy's "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood."

"Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein." (Kevin Nealon, Jon Lovitz, and Phil Hartman)

Gilda Radner anything. (I got the DVD!)

Toonces the Driving Cat.

Tim Kazurinsky on the Saturday Night News (1980s).

Too many spoof ads to list: Santy Wrap, Rubik's Grenade, Colon Blow, AM Ale, Stevie Wonder for Canon cameras, Jiffy Pop air bags ("now available in Cheddar Cheese"), Shimmer floor wax/dessert topping, etc.

"Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball..."
:rofl:

Accept No Substitutes! :rofl:

Speaking of dancing (when you referenced Swan Lake): Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze auditioning for Chippendales!

Glances!
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTM2p4Y9v75abIrn_ANTmpBj114sDOd6RdswXszEQuPxlLWKaE&t=1&usg=__21teGuocnK-uxGt8y2ELaksE8d0=

with a hammer and sickle behind him. My favorite was his fundraising for the revolution appeal, in which he begged listeners to send gold bars to Al Franken, PO Box ...

Dan Akroyd as Julia Child--one of the few times my father and I watched together, and I really enjoyed his out-of-control giggling.

the "flash in the pan" artists they have now...


I suppose watching all those great Belushi Samurai Delicatessen skits, Jane Curtin and Chevy Chase, Bill Murray as the lounge singer.


I also loved the Eddie Murphy Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood sketches and the sweet black and white films with Jon Lovitz et al, they used to make.



I miss how they could simply make the joke in the old days, and not have the skit drag on and on ad infinitum.

and thinking, WTF? The commercials floored me; I couldn't tell if was just real late-night schlock or a put-on.


The early years were ground-breaking, and in addition to all the skits mentioned above, I humbly submit the genius of Andy Kaufman, as he sings the theme from "Mighty Mouse".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C570byQCLpI


I lost my breath laughing at this.




May he rest in peace.

:D

It wasn't until I saw it again two nights later on Monday Night Football that I realized that it HADN'T been a joke! Instant advertising industry laughingstock!

:rofl:
rocktivity

I used to laugh so hard.

Also, Dan Akroyd as Julia Child, bleeding profusely.

Chevy Chase taking bad falls as Gerald Ford.

Land Shark: "Jehovah's Witness".

The wild and crazy guys, Julia Child, Candy-gram, Baba WaWa and the pesidential ewection, Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford, that family where Gilda Radner was the little girl. Then there was one with Radner and Murray where he was a guy named Todd. I can't remember that time period so well...

and Larry the Lobster. Best episode ever.

:rofl:

Julia Sweeney as It's Pat

Jon Lovitz as Tommy Flanagan, the Pathological Liar (Yeah, that's the ticket!)

Al Franken as Stuart Smalley (Daily Affirmation: You're Good Enough, You're Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like You!)

Martin Short as Ed Grimley

Garrett Morris doing the news for the hearing impaired.

"It's always something."

When Frank Zappa was on, he was in a couple of sketches. I think one was called something like "Night on Freak Mountain" and nobody would believe him when he said he didn't do drugs.

There was another sketch, "The Killer Christmas Trees," in which Christmas Trees stabbed and killed people, including Frank. I was in college at the time and at our house we made a super8 movie every year with footage of our events and sketches we wrote. I was in charge of the film that year and I came up with a parody sketch, The Killer Pot Plants. We cut big pot leaves out of green construction paper and two of my stoner friends dressed up as pot plants. I managed to get two of the most straight-laced guys at the house to be in the film, and they were the ones 'killed' by the pot plants. It was such a riot! I wish I still had a copy of the film.

A lot of other great things were already mentioned in this thread. Don't know if anyone mentioned Land Shark.

Coffee Talk
Church Chat
"Job Interview" (maybe the ballsiest sketch ever)
Lorne Michaels offering the Beatles $3000 for a reunion ("You can give Ringo less if you want...)
Nixon:The Final Days
Star Trek (with Belushi in all his genius as Kirk)
A credit card commercial with Roseanne as a customer rep and Phil Hartman as a customer. (If I had that kind of power over time and space do you think I'd be talking to a loser like you at 3 in the morning?")

That is the absolutely funniest skit I've ever seen on SNL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ2kfyQPfto

Walter Cronkite: Thank you, Mr. President, ha ha! Our next call is Peter Elkin of Westbrook, Oregan, whom I am told is 17 years of age.

Peter (on phone): Hello? Hello?

President Jimmy Carter: Yes. Hello, Peter?

Peter (on phone): Is this the President?

President Jimmy Carter: Yes, it is.

Walter Cronkite: Do you have a question for the President?

Peter (on phone): Uh.. I, uh.. I took some acid.. I'm afraid to leave my apartment, and I can't wear any clothes.. and the ceiling is dripping, and uh.. I, uh..

Walter Cronkite: Well, thank you very much for calling, sir..

President Jimmy Carter: Just a minute, Walter, this guy's in trouble. I think I better try to talk him down. Peter?

Peter (on phone): Yeah..?

President Jimmy Carter: Peter, what did the acid look like?

Peter (on phone): They were these little orange pills.

President Jimmy Carter: Were they barrel shaped?

Peter (on phone): Uh.. yes.

President Jimmy Carter: Okay, right, you did some orange sunshine, Peter.

Peter (on phone): Very good of you to know that, sir.

President Jimmy Carter: How long ago did you take it, Peter?

Peter (on phone): Uh.. I don't know. I can't read my watch.

President Jimmy Carter: Alright, Peter, just listen. Everything is going to be fine. You're very high right now. You will probably be that way for about five more hours. Try taking some vitamin B complex, vitamin C complex.. if you have a beer, go ahead and drink it..

Peter (on phone): Okay..

President Jimmy Carter: Just remember you're a living organism on this planet, and you're very safe. You've just taken a heavy drug. Relax, stay inside and listen to some music, Okay? Do you have any Allman Brothers?

Peter (on phone): Yes, I do, sir. Everything is okay, huh Jimmy?

President Jimmy Carter: It sure is, Peter. You know, I'm against drug use myself, but I'm not going to lay that on you right now. Just mellow out the best you can, okay?

Peter (on phone): Okay..!

President Jimmy Carter: Okay.

That was a classic moment on the show. Also I liked the commercial for "Compulsion, the world's most indulgent disinfectant," I liked the "Christmastime for the Jews" song, I liked the very first "Debbie Downer" skit because everyone was cracking up and trying to not laugh (except the one playing Debbie). I liked the skit where Gilda Radner interviewed Candice Bergen and got her name wrong and Candice cracked up. The episode where Frank Zappa appeared was pretty funny, the Stuart Smalley thing where Michael Jordan appeared with him was funny, and the recent episode with Betty White had some funny parts. Some of Robert Smigel's cartoons called "TV Fun House" have been very good too.

The older i get, the more i relate to this old fart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N2E93VzQSA&feature=related

Todd and Lisa Loopner, The Judy Miller Show, hell, anything Gilda Radner did, to mention another poster.

Eddie Murphy's Celebrity Hot Tub

Da Bears

More recently, What Up With That?

You know you're old when you can call up a girlfriend, pinch your nostrils shut, say, "Telegram. Candygram," and she dissolves into giggles.

John Belushi coming up and did joe better than joe himself

lots o' funny in that one. Killer Christmas Trees, Santi-Wrap, Irwin Mainway, Ad for extremely stupid people and my all time favorite sick Christmas dittie: Let's Kill Gary Gilmore for Christmas.

:-)

I loved that show too, and my post talks about a parody that I made of that sketch; mine was the Killer Pot Plants.

two of the teenaged mitchum's favorite people

"I have your Shweaty balls in my mouth."

I was a freshman when SNL debuted

Here is Dana Carvey as Lyle. I always busted a gut laughing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXp4j1agK7Q

And all the other phony commercials

But you know that they are gay, in an ambiguous way...

To this day, I'm still laughing at that sketch.

How funny was it? Sarah Palin never actually said, "I can see Russia from my house". Tina Fey did in that sketch, but everyone thinks that Palin said it.

When asked what she has for experience in international relations she said well, Russia is our next door neighbor. I do not remember her exact words and am too lazy to look it up . . . : )

featuring the Minkmens and Nathan "you're the one who's being defensive" Thurm.

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/84/84f60minutes.phtml
Love it.

and Massive Headwound Harry, think that was Carvey?

This was early, early on -- 1977 or thereabouts. I just remember about wetting my pants I was laughing so hard.

Another funny Andy Kaufman skit is where he "sings" along with the record player.

I was in high school back when SNL first started, and I would stay up on Saturday nights to watch. My mother would say "Why are you watching that stupid show?" And I would go, "But mom, it's funny!" She would just roll her eyes.

It predicted today's "discussion" tv shows, but Point-Counterpoint was more polite.

:hi:

I think I was about 12 when I saw her on SNL singing "Them Heavy People". I've been a fan of hers ever since.

Wayne's World, It's Pat, Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, Cheeseburger Cheesburger..

So many fond memories.

Dana Carvey playing Bush Sr., as well as Ross Perot and the Church Lady...

Mike Myers in Coffee Talk, dropping all the Yiddish phrases
"OK now, this show used to be hosted by my friend Paul Baldwin, but he developed shpilkis in his genechtagazoink. So now he's in Boca Raton, Florida recovering nicely, thank you very much."

Also Dana Carvey playing the freaking drum set for real behind Aerosmith when they were guests on "Wayne's World"

Phil Hartman..... just Phil Hartman, RIP.

Weekend Updates - some better than others...

David Spade's "Dirtball and Burnout Convention" skit

Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song :)

Will Ferrell as Satan in a skit with Garth Brooks "FRED'S SLACKS IS A HIT!!!"

Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek on Jeopardy

but I love Stefan.

John Belushi as a guest who just couldn't take a hint that he'd overstayed his welcome. And that time Richard Pryor and the Samurai teamed up.

Modern era: Eddie Murphy as Little Richard Simmons and headmaster of the Velvet Jones School of Technology.

Post-modern era: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, of course.

:headbang:
rocktivity

It's making me sick!