The Real Reason SNL Stopped Making Movies 

A buddy and I saw “Night at the Roxbury” opening night around 8pm. We were the only two people in the theater. No complaints from me. It made it easier to enjoy the beers we smuggled in and felt free to chat. I remember laughing a lot and enjoying it. I’ve never risked spoiling that by actually rewatching it.

I only learned recently that Steve Martin was never actually a main SNL cast member. He just hosted it so many times, and was involved with such iconic shit, that he feels like a main part

Coneheads flopped obviously since it was based on a long forgotten sketch from the 70's. By 1993 the premise seemed dated. Yet, I still love the movie and find it's premise more relevant now than when it came out in 1993.

The problem was the quality of the movies. The Blues Brothers was the best (and still one of the best comedies ever) because they made an amazing film first and foremost, and stuck SNL characters in secondarily. The rest of the films were basically just really long sketches, not good films.

Film has also changed a lot over the last few years. Comedy movies used to be considered "safe bets" for movie studios, but many studios have moved onto larger, higher budget films. Comedies themselves have sort of shuffled on over to streaming services. But a good deal of more recent SNL cast members have found great success with television. Documentary Now!, Portlandia, Barry, The Last Man on Earth, Brooklyn 99, Parks and Rec, 30 Rock etc were all fairly well received.

A lot of these movies are just five minutes sketches unnecessarily stretched out for a ninety minute runtime. The only decent ones in my opinion are "Blues Brothers" and "Wayne's World."

For me the existence of Lonely Island is kinda the extention of the SNL movie line. Their movies like "Hot Rod" or "Popstar. Never Stop Never Stopping" aren't based on any sketches, but were created by people who were doing sketches for SNL. The movies are very similar in style and humour to the bits they were doing under the SNL baner.

I think what really changed the game was RU-vid. When Samburg and the Lonely Island came along the style of sketch changed. In general the comedy landed has changed, people can get similar content any time any where on MULTIPLE platforms and staying relevant’s become that much harder. I like watching the different eras of SNL b/c they each have their own style (albeit to varying shades of being problematic sometimes) but audiences change and so does the style of humor, it’s not a bad thing but sketch characters regardless of the generation can only go so far. Billy On The Street is a character Billy Eichner came up with but even that’s broken up throughout the show. People can only watch straight zaniness for so long.

There are some serious nostalgia goggles going on in the second half of this video. The old SNL characters were also shallow and one-note. It's why they worked better in 5-minute intervals than 90min ones.

Hearing how much Lorne Michaels fought nbc for the sketches in the early days of SNL brightens my day...only for it to darken again when I remember he couldn’t do the same for Norm Macdonald.

When Bohemian Rhapsody was played in Wayne's World, Mike Myers didn't like filming that scene because he complained that his head would hurt when headbanging so he needed Advil and the scene wasn't funny as they remembered.

Coneheads brings back so many good memories. I still remember the Subway sandwich promotions from the 90s😂

Great video! Love to see this kind of content, I'm running a Nerdstalgic marathon ! Little note, The Blues Brothers weren't SNL characters, they where official musical guests, the band was already playing gigs outside of SNL before the first tv appearance and the rights belong to Dan Aykroyd and Judy, Belushi's Wife

I’m slightly confused by the thesis here. You “wonder what we’re missing” by SNL’s failure to invest in recurring characters, but moments earlier you listed a string of painful and failed attempts to profit from those characters at the box office. The logical conclusion is the only thing we’re missing is more terrible feature-length films. So maybe high quality 3-minute viral videos is actually the better outcome for both the show and audiences?

Coneheads and Superstar are two movies I watched an ungodly amount of time with the family growing up. Coneheads is one we quote almost constantly.

It wasn't even about whether audiences were seeing them: Lorne Michaels wanted his own production company (he'd already produced the 90s Lassie remake), but all he owned was SNL. Meanwhile, 90's NBC wanted more sitcoms like "Just Shoot Me" for breakout ex-SNL stars, so starting with "Coneheads", it became a three-way Lorne/Viacom/Paramount six-pic deal: SNL performers were told to concentrate on marketable running characters, participation in any spinoff movies would be mandatory, and they'd have to accept at least one sitcom pilot script if offered.

SNL movies come in one of three categories: Successful: The Blues Brothers, Wayne's World, (to a lesser extent) Wayne's World 2 Underrated Gems: Coneheads, McGruber Dumpster Fires: Everything else.

Night at the roxbury and superstar were great films for my young teenage self lol

It's a real shame Night at the Roxbury failed. It's such a great flick and remains one of my mutually loved favorites with my sister. Both she and I went to see it in the theater together back then. Also... I really didn't think Blues Brothers 2000 was that bad. That opening scene kills my heart.

There is a difference between a character that can carry a sketch and one that can carry a film. Figuring out what makes one film work and another not, is rarely rocket surgery. Writing is the key ingredient. One of the huge differences between the original Blues Brothers and the sequel is the writing. Yeah, John Belushi not being there didn't help, but even had he been, it would not have been a great film.

Chris Farley and David Spade were totally hilarious and Tommy boy and black sheep. I wish they would have done more comedy movies with Chris Farley and David Spade together they were comedy gold.

I saw MacGruber in a theater at Naval Station Norfolk when I had just gotten back from a three month underway. I was the only person in the theater at the time and it was hilarious. I had a blast watching it. I didn't know it was related to SNL (which I don't care for) and I normally would watch a movie without seeing the trailers beforehand.

The early 90s cast is what I like to call the “super cast”. You have so many comedy heavy weights and amazing writers during that time. I don’t think SNL will ever be that great again

This is an excellently researched and put together exploration. But, there is one hole that I think is worth discussing because it gets a bit lost in the narrative. Many of those SNL movies were “financial” failures, but they were absolutely not “cultural” flops. Breezing past the failure of Stuart saves his family and Pat is fine. But, the financial failures of the late 90s flicks like Superstar and Night at the Roxbury were totally different. These movies were popular with teenagers and did well on TV. In fact, many millennials (some are in these comments) are happy to tell you their friends rode around doing the Roxbury head nod or the girls in high school used to yell “SUPERSTAR” randomly in awkward moments. Everyone had a Ladies Man impression. These were very popular characters that struck a cultural nerve. They just didn’t put asses in the seats in theaters. Still, many of them are still some of your friends and families favorite movies. I just think it’s important when telling the story of SNL movies to acknowledge that many of them have cult-like followings, despite not translating that into box office success. McGruber was the most recent but certainly not the only.

Growing up with SNL movies coming out consistently was great, even several of the flops are movies I'm grateful for, Ladies Man, Night at the Roxbury, Wayne's World 2, Coneheads all got a special place in my heart.

Damn, this is most positivity for modern SNL I’ve ever seen in a RU-vid comment section that wasn’t on SNL’s channel itself.

Mad TV deserves more love than SNL does.

Observing that SNL isn't funny anymore is one of America's favorite pastimes. I've been doing it since 1980. Though, that stretch from '88 to '92 was pretty damn good -- better even than the 70's seasons. Haven't watched it much in 20 years.

Holy crap. I had never even heard of "It's Pat" until this video.

Dude your insight is very much appreciated

Peacock is now making a Please do not Destroy a movie starring SNL writers and Conan O'brien.

OK, but why did they stop making comedy?

A Night at the Roxbury and Coneheads are *classics.*

The "real reason" SNL stopped making movies isn't because SNL was chasing viral videos. SNL stopped making movies because they flopped over and over. As for the bits getting shorter, they're just creating content for the modern era of consumption. I've seen virtually every episode of SNL and every single movie. I'm a super fan. The show is comedy and culture evolving.

Coneheads is a very underrated movie. I watched it recently and it’s enjoyable even if you never saw the SNL sketches

the blues brothers is easily one of my all time favorite comedies, my family also enjoyed the coneheads when i was young.

i think you are correct. case in point: game show parodies. premise based. not character based, exept for wiigs broadway star. very one note. premise is similar to situation, thus they are moving more towards the sitcom model of ridiculous premise, rather than comedic characters that can respond to somewhat ordinary situations in a fun ny way, or whose choices lead to silly situations, rather than them being dropped into silliness.

25 years ago my dad was complaining, going on about how "Saturday night just isn't as funny as it used to be". Personally? I don't watch it. I mean, I watched a bit the summer of 92' and 93' because school and virginity. But! Besides that, I don't watch it. I don't know anyone who does. Implying that maybe I know enough people to make that expressed sentiment a viable metric... that would be incorrect. So. I don't watch Saturday night live AND don't know a lot of people who also don't watch Saturday night live. Glad we sorted that one out. Thank you for your time.

MacGruber is one of the best comedy films ever made, the show is pretty good too. If you haven't seen MacGruber go watch it right now.

Wayne's World was the first movie I bought with my own money on VHS.

You call it "developing characters", i call it "stretching every comedy premise way too much"

ARE WE GOING TO FORGET ABOUT THE LONELY ISLAND???? Popstar Never Stop Never Stopping was hysterical! I think it was a flop in the box office too, but man that movie is funny.

Superstar with Molly Shannon was my fav as a pre teen lol it’s goofy but the pepper mill is still a solid dance move to keep in rotation✌️

Coneheads 💗 Just watched this week again 😎

I don’t know about “failed”, but Wayne’s World 2, A Night at the Roxbury and Superstar all were profitable.

SNL, Fridays, MadTV, Cracked, and regional comedy began to mock pomposity on a shoe-string budget with young directors, writers, and talent. Then SNL survived, got access to big-budget and guests, and became conservative in protecting its existence and influence. Today, more care is given to the expensive sets than the writing. Lorne Michaels is an old dinosaur now disinterested in shocking authority. Pablum.

The Blues Brothers is one of the greatest movies ever made. I just don't think another SNL movie could top that. However, Wanes Worls was hilarious and I definitely wouldn't say no to a What's Up With That movie. Now that they're done doing that sketch, it would be interesting to see what happens to those characters when the show's over. Linday Buckingham yells at Diondre until the dancing tracksuit guy gets him to back down then they all get in discount KennyG's windowless van and try to score coke in the shady part of town.

I consider the Tina fey Amy poeler movies snl movies. Lonely island movie is also an snl movie since it’s produce by Lorne Michaels. Portlandia is an snl show, bridesmaids is an snl show too imo

One thing you didnt take into consideration is the fact that comedy movies dont do very well nowdays so theres no reason to chase that market anymore. Also the fact that they along with other sketch comedy shows have to compete with sketches on youtube, instagram and tiktok so they have to chase that viral hit with every sketch to draw people in.

I feel like one thing missing from this is the SNL DOES do recurring characters still...they're just politicians. At some point, there was a realization/decision that doing impressions of Palin/Trump/Obama/Biden/Spicer/etc. was the way to stay relevant, and they've basically never looked back. Where there once were tons of recurring ORIGINAL characters, now there are recurring politicians and pundits (I mean, one of the featured players is there mostly to do Trump impressions now and Trump isn't even president anymore). Everything said here is true, but I think this is an important factor as well.

2:19 so that's where the inspiration for Bumblebee Man from the Simpsons came from

I loved It’s Pat. it came with a VHS/ TV combo my parents got for our minivan for a road trip and we watched it over and over. My parents hate It’s Pat 😂

It's hard to turn a 5-6 minute sketch into a 90 minute film so what they should've done was make a movie centered around 2-4 normal characters who get into some out of the ordinary situation maintained by encountering various SNL characters throughout the film to help move the story along to the resolution of the main arc.

Most SNL skits usually go 2-3 minutes past any point it was funny. Stretching it out to 90+ minutes is often worse. I think the perfect vehicle for a movie is something like Beverly Hills Cop or Ghostbusters. Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop was just a normal guy with a sense of humor who could talk his way into anything. Ghostbusters was originally to star 3 SNL people (Eddie Murphy was originally supposed to be Winston but couldn't do it because he was making Beverly Hills Cop.). Again 3 (then 4) fairly normal people (compared to SNL characters) put into a crazy situation. Let's take Night at the Roxbury. Their thing was bobbing their head sideways to "What is Love". That's a dumb premise to base a movie on. Groundhog day, Trading Places, the Vacation movies, Coming to America, etc. The characters were more subtle than a conehead. Coneheads were aliens, whose heads were shaped as cones. That's it. Pat's thing was nobody was sure if Pat was male or female. That's it. They can be entertaining, and help kill a couple hours. But I'll take Ghostbusters over any SNL movie. There's exceptions. But I think the key is there needs to be more there than a 5 minute joke.

McGruber is by far the best film ever made. Better than The Godfather, Goodfellas, Parasite, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Gone With The Wind, Star Wars, Titanic etc etc etc. McGruber BY FAR greatest film ever

Last time i was this early I ended up with a child .

I always felt like an Irwin Mainway movie would be amazing, I think it's a big missed opportunity. I also think that a Stefon movie would've worked if written by a trusted screenwriter.

I’m surprised you didn’t mention the scrapped Dieter movie.

Good movies were an anomally, not the norm. For every Blues Brothers there were 10 Coneheads. Also, Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison and Judd Apatow’s movies sorta superseded the need for SNL movies since they’d feature a lot of SNL players anyways and usually did way better job too.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said, "In the last decade," but it's not for the reason you suggest (lack of strong characters). The times they are changing, and the show has tried to adapt to social media, which changed the media landscape and effected how society consumed media over the last decade. Characters aren't catching on because the audience moves on - they simply have too many options today. During SNL's heyday, the audience would watch their favorite shows on a television - millions would tune in and talk about those characters the next day, and that simply doesn't happen anymore. SNL will likely die when Lorne retires at the 50th - it had a long run, but unfortunately, it's a victim of streaming and other social media outlets that compete for space in the 15-35 demographic.

Oh no, it's Mr Bill! I lived for that. Had a Mr Bill tshirt for years till it fell apart around the plastisol.

I had no idea coneheads flopped. I swore that shit was as big as Look Who's Talking. My 5th grade friends all knew it...

4:38 "Spider-Man told me." That's funny coming from Iron Man.

The Ladies Man was one of my favorites as a kid

I had no idea about the Robert Downey Jr / suitcase/spiderman sketch. And to think of him playing iron Man and giving a suitcase to Spider-Man in "homecoming", that's pretty dope

Lorne Michaels: It's not about keeping the bees, it's about sending a message

HBO show “Succession” needs a video from you!!! Please!!

The MacGruber movie is probably my all time favorite comedy movie. It's either that, or The Jerk with Steve Martin.

Coneheads is a CLASSIC!!!

Yea as much as I loved "The Californians" bit I couldn't site through 90minutes of that. Short and sweet and bring it back 3-4 times and then call it good.

That felt like a weird pivot at the end, you've just finished pointing out what a colossal failure almost every SNL movie was (and that the two good films came from before the "let's try and push characters for movies" period), and then finish with "what a shame they moved away from that"?

Another thing that has changed, before SNL alum would quit the show before embarking on a movie career. Now, they are keeping their talented cast members (Kate McKinnon for example) by letting them take a leave of absence to make movies.

Well. They recently did Last Duel featuring Adam Driver, who did a recent SNL knight skit very similar to the movie script. I think that should could as an SNL skit turned movie myself.

Biggest difference is a film only needed to make like 40 million in the 90s to be successful. With budgets ballooning over the decades it needs 200 million now of days. You can get 40 million dollars worth of people to check out a snl movie. It’s a bigger ask

its just a sign of the times, back in the late 70's through out to the mid 2000's making a big movie was the end game, now times have changed now everyone wants to go viral, so really SNL never changed its goals, which was "reach the big end game of that era" back then it was movies, now its internet fame.

there would never have been the Blues Brothers without Curtis Salgado

i think snl recently has been making reccuring sketches that arent relient to the character anymore, but the settings, and i think its way better than a character doing the same unfunny thing constantly, like that stupid baby yoda that they still do for some reason. Stuff like PDD or the Dionne Warwick thingy has way more unique and funny jokes. helps that they arent 50 minutes long like back in the day

The first film I ever walked out on was Stewart Saves his Family. I made it about 15 minutes and then demanded a refund on 6he ticket, popcorn and soda. The manager gave me two future comp tickets and that was acceptable to me.

Let Keenan do a full “What’s Up With That?” movie. That’s what we need.

Ha! I’m pretty sure that’s Frank Zappa down on all fours at 2:34. Makes sense given it’s a music involved sketch.

Narrator: lists all these SNL movies that failed miserably at making a skit character interesting enough for a feature length movie Same narrator: “one can’t but think, what are we missing out on because of SNL’s switch from weekly recurring character to more situation based skits that are better adapted to today’s formats and sensibilities?” Maybe SNL just realized that’s just not their forte. I’m ok with that.

Coneheads is a classic movie regardless of its box office numbers.

My favorite skit used to the the Californias lol

When I was a kid I was a huge SNL fan, I mean like 10. I remember think thinking when I saw Lorne Michaels as producer on a film, that was prestige to me lol

I personally liked a lot of SNL guys movies...like Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Three Amigos, Waynes World and even a lot of Adam Sandler movies

Okay but Lonely Island movies are incredible. I

I've never really sat down before to think about the multiple styles in which SNL has not been funny over the years.

Here on YT the channel Characters Wanted has some great videos specifically of character sketches. They're single actor sketches so not the same feel as SNL, but sometimes they explore some great character concepts. If you miss the old "wacky characters" style SNL, maybe see if you like any of those.

What Up With That with Keenan is the biggest reoccurring sketch I can think of from more recent’ish SNL history. I hope Angelo really catches on, there have been three already (at least two).

You realize you said "after It's Pat failed in 1994, Lorne made Coneheads in 1992," right?

Man, I miss Mad TV

I had no idea Night at the Roxbury failed. I remember people watching it and loving it even back then. I've never looked up the Box office numbers though

A lot of the more modern recurring sketches were things there was no way they could have gotten the rights to do movies about. They couldn't just go out and make a "Jeopardy!" movie that makes fun of Burt Reynolds and Sean Connery.

5:05 Wayne’s World is to this day my favorite “cheer up” movie. I can watch it whenever I get down and I still laugh at the good jokes and the stupid jokes. Alice Cooper is in it, as is the immortal Rob Lowe. And Delaware. I love this movie. The second one isn’t my bag, but is still okay.

Good vid

This video made me realize that we need the David Pumpkin 🎃 Movie! It would be awesome, it can be its own thing.

I don't know that SNL was behind Blues Brothers 2000 as much as Akroyd was but there's a common thread that shouldn't be ignored w/ Akroyd and the legacy of some great movies being ruined by terrible sequels. Ghostbusters II, Caddyshack II, and BB 2000. The originals should have been respected and left alone.

I know it’s been a while but I would watch a David S Pumpkins movie

A night at the Roxbury and Superstar are so good to me and some of the movies i adored growing up before even realizing they were SNL spin-offs.

I didn't realize two of my favorite childhood movies were based on SNL sketch characters. I also didn't realize Coneheads wasn't a hit, maybe it became a cult classic? Anyway, I really want to rewatch Blues Brothers now.