My memories of my youth grow fuzzier with every passing year. I would have been only about 10 or 11 when this show first aired. Surely, I would have been far too young to stay up so late. But as I look at these clips I do remember seeing certain sketches. I recall that "Presidential Debate '76" when someone asked a complex question and Chevy Chase's Gerald Ford looked increasingly panicked. When he stated that it was his understanding there would be no math, the memories came rushing back. Oh, my goodness. It was all so hilarious. I haven't really seen a show since my television stopped working in 2005 and I wonder what I've missed...
I was a freshman at Tulane University in New Orleans in ‘77 and-like many my age-was a huge SNL fan. When the show came to Mardi Gras, my friends and I were allowed to be extras with our college IDs. During Belushi’s bit on the balcony as Il Duce, I’m in the crowd wearing a white jacket. Belushi arrived at the square for the skit standing in the wagon of a police 3-wheel motorcycle that zipped by me then stopped. When he jumped out, a friend threw him a joint; he stooped down, picked it up, gave us a quick look with his signature raised eyebrow, and tucked it into his pocket.
I just discovered you guys. I am an NBC alumni (15 years) and I know many of the people you discuss, especially the executives. GREAT SHOW. About to start season 3. This is so beautifully executed. The writing is especially good. Thank you.
I just found your channel……. I’m hooked! I was in jr high in 1975 and I watched every show through the duration of high school in 1980. What a great time!
The Mardi Gras episode was the first episode I saw as a little kid. I remember being surprised the following week when the show *wasn’t* taking place during a parade.
This is a genius premise for a RU-vid channel with a singular focus. I would love it if each ep/season was a bit longer (45 mins?) & I'd be willing to wait a bit longer between vidz...
I’m a 71yo retired pilot. Back in those days I had an opportunity to fly a lot of these guys back and forth from LGA Airport and the East Hampton Airport. They would get onboard and never say a word. Steve Martin came on and looked like he was pissed off at the world . I never said a word to them and they never said a word to me. I always thought that was interesting.
@@brettyoung8746 An ex of mine was a bartender in the late 90's at a trendy club lots of celebrities used to frequent in Boston. Any time Ackroyd would show up on TV or in a movie, she'd have a really strong (basically PTSD) reaction and we'd change the channel/turn it off. Now, this is someone who's plenty capable of handling herself (a required skill for any attractive female bartender, especially when dealing with wealthy/famous customers), but Ackroyd's comments and advances were SO sleazy and inappropriate that by the time she left that job she couldn't stand to even look at him. He was the only one she had that reaction to, and on the other hand she had nice things to say about some other celebrity regulars, including Michael Jordan and Bruce Willis. I've heard from a different friend who's worked with Murray that, basically, Bill's not necessarily an a-hole exactly, but he's VERY eccentric and unpredictable, and that can be really off-putting if you're not willing to just accept that and go along for the ride on his terms.
2:21 Rutles first U.S. exposure 3:55 last Chevy episode 5:10 sleazy Irvin Mainway 5:35 Ralph Nader hosts. Bill Murray joins cast. 6:20 Coneheads debut 7:08 Weekend Update / Curtain "Try these on for size, Connie Chung!" 7:11 live from Mardi Gras Sunday night special a disaster 8:01 Aykroyd Bad Playhouse 9:14 Bill Murray Nick the lounge singer
Like many commenters on here, this was a ritual. The third episode, season 1, my brother and I snuck out of bed and sat inches away from the TV. Thanks for the memories jog.
I remember watching the Mardis Gras special. My mother thought it was going to be a Macy's or Orange Bowl type parade. I was 11 and had never heard of SNL. We were surprised.
A Georgia State Senator saying "based on my theory that light skinned blacks are smarter than dark skinned blacks" on a joke show is not something you would ever ever see today. Different time then.
I seem to remember an SNL skit with a guy talking about his friend who goes bowling instead of church. The entire time he is standing with his hand over the "dryer fan" as you would do when bowling. Maybe someone can clue me into the season - episode?
Once again,loved it and had me completely focused for its entirety! Keep it going! Looking forward to your next one. Passing it on to others that I know will appreciate your work! Thanks once again Guys!👍
Oh hell yeah. This was made just for me right? I have a framed photo of season 2 cast next to my bed. My ex wife always found it odd. Why seasons 2? Chevy is why.
That's a really great and detailed video! I subscribed immediately but... I don't know that if this channel is officially connected or not with SNL but I hope that there will be some serious critique for the seasons after the 15th. I hope to not see an unabashed adoring video without any sense of real comparison with the golden first 20 years. And for the same reason I hope to not hear the same old song and dance about the maligned seasons of the Ebersol era. When they aired they were indeed inferior to the previous seasons but when you compare them with the ones after the 15th season you can clearly see how great they were. I hope that there will be a serious analysis of the seasons without trying to be eager to please the crowd and the SNL team.
@@christheghostwriter I never had the chance to watch SNL in the past since I don't live in U.S.A. then when I had the full power of the web (around 2008) I began to watch the current and the past seasons. Finally in 2016, from a point of view without any nostalgia attached, I understood what I wrote in the comment. I have to say that I agree with you there are a lot of great sketches also after the 20th seasons (especially in the last five seasons!) but my overall impression is that something is missing.
@@WhateverHappenedToFun what's missing is that a) you've aged and b) you're remembering the early SNL years through the rose-tinted lenses of nostalgia. You remember the standout sketches from the early years while forgetting all the stuff that fell completely flat. Look for the "Traffic Altercation" sketch from a year or so ago. It's just one example of the many great sketches from recent seasons
@@christheghostwriter As I said I agree with you there are a lot of sketches in the last seasons that are great and, of course, in the first 15 seasons there are sketches that fell flat. But it can't be about nostalgia because I saw most of the first 43 seasons between 2008 and 2016, not in chronological order but randomly . Then in October of 2016 I began to make comparisons. And I felt that there's a big difference between the first 20 seasons and the rest. And what stroke me the most was that the maligned seasons of the Ebersol era were indeed inferior to the previous seasons but when you compare them with the ones after the 15th season you can clearly see how great they were, as I said in the first comment. Now that I'm regularly see SNL on youtube I can see that in the new seasons there are episodes where I can enjoy more than half of the sketches and episodes where I can enjoy not more than one. As far as I am concerned they are always an hit and miss, they are not consistenly good as the first 15th seasons.
I still don't understand how people bought Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford when he put absolutely no effort to try to look or sound like President Ford in any way. He was just playing the role as himself. This is kind of compounded by Dan Akroyd actually making an effort to look and sound like Jimmy Carter. Come to think of it, Chevy Chase always just plays himself. He never puts any real effort into looking or sounding like any other character besides himself in nearly anything he's ever done. Definitely my least favorite original cast member.
The only thing I liked Chevy in was Foul Play. But maybe that is because the focus was on the ensemble and Goldie Hawn in that film. Chevy was okay in that and played things mostly straightforward and was fine.
@@fernandoorozco3751It's lazy, but that was part of the joke too. SNL at the time was shooting for edgy, avant garde-type humor and having Chevy only lampoon Ford's clumsiness was part of that. The show was supposed to appear unpolished and improvised, and having Chevy do a half-ass Ford impression was part of that.
Gerald Ford literally fell down all the time, and Chevy literally went to the hospital falling down. I'd say he put some effort in at least. Nobody at the time was complaining about this, we found it funny. Complaining is a first-world problem of 2024 internet denizens.
WILL FERRELL was the LAST great SNL star. Everybody after that was either crap or subpar. The 3 black folks, the fat guy, the impressionist and Maya Rudolph are mildly appealing ON OCCASION but that's it.
You're not alone. He had star power and charisma I admit but funny? ABSOLUTELY NOT! And we were saying that back in 1975. I was 9 years old back then and remember quite fondly and vividly when SNL came on the scene.
I remember Chevy leaving and not loving his replacement particularly, then came to prefer Bill Murray's FILM roles more than any of the dreck the other guy ever put on celluloid (or subsequent TV for that matter). Generally speaking, the further from its National Lampoon and Second City roots it got in time, the less funny I found SNL, never mind today's embarrassment.
@@Micke12312 He gets his feet under him, though, and DID do funny sketches for SNL in his day, though I still stand by my feelings about the show's decline from its 1975 origin.
Bill Murray had a number of great characters. That is the thing, every sketch didn't gave to be a joke with a punchline. Some were just a few minutes with a character or characters.
It was a funny show back then, and actually funny for several years, but for the past, at least, ten years and especially the years after Trump was elected it has been unwatchable. Their constant bashing of Trump, the constant whining, the unrelenting virtue signaling, the social justice crusade, all adds up to a cringe filled, unfunny SN L.
How could they ignore the #1 pompous adze 🤡 in the known world? People, lots of people, came up to Lorne with tears in their eyes imploring him "Sir, sir won't you please parody Mr. Trump?" Everyone, EVERYONE agreed and it's been the greatest humor of all time. All time.
@@markstevenson6635 The Trump bashing was slighly funny at first, but quickly became mean spirited and repetitive. I'm no Trump lover, but the show became only appealing to the "politically correct" liberal hollywood social justice worriers.
@@markstevenson6635 It was just overdone, and Biden is a comedy gold mine but they didn't seem to touch him (at least I don't think they did because I haven't watched since about 2016). The fact every late night talk show was also mocking Trump every episode made it exhausting.
There is a lot of information. These are summaries of the highlights and changes each season. They pack a lot into ten minutes. If you want more in depth there are long form documentaries out there.
@Lensmaster1 ...there is nothing presented here that isn't already known by the general public/casual observer....pretty much well known clips released 30 years ago on vhs compilation tapes
