Weekend Update Segment - Al Franken on the Downfall of SNL 

Too bad he turned into his acting self when he turned politician, what a moron.

Disgraced former Senator Al Franken.

@adshaw6484 mee-too'd former senator Al Franken. He wrote some of the BEST SNL sketches too!

I never knew that Lorne left the show before this video.

Dick Ebersole wasn't that bad, he had the sense to give Murphy the majority of the airtime (Jean famously tried to sideline Murphy) and then once Murphy and Piscopoe left he had the fortitude to hire Crystal, Short and Guest. Obviously he's not as good as Lorne, but he deserves credit for keeping the show afloat until Lorne got back.

OMG that was an oldy ~ hahaha

Mmmmm, not anymore. :/

Time will tell on that one, but you might be right. I don't think he wants the job anyway.

@@blueblade455 The capacity of the Democratic Party to undermine itself is utterly disheartening to me. I'm no fan of their coporatism (which might be unavoidable in our political landscape), but at least when they fuck us over, they use lube and sweet words. They should have fought for Franken.

@@nonsensepoem yes, I agree.

And Dick Ebersol conveniently never returned Al Franken's calls

3:51, I think Dick took Al’s crack at him personally.

To this very day, Al has never hosted Saturday Night Live.

Silverman was an asshole.

"The Peacock's Dead! Thank you, Fred!"

Also, @Gabriela, I have a feeling Fox would've died like Dumont had he ever entertained the idea of a new network being his redemption song

@@clipobserver Is Silverman related to Sara Silverman?!

ALL THESE YEARS I thought it was a JOKE!

...and the Alliance of American Football. NOT!!!

@@vancedurbin1132 The AAF was more or less the brainchild of Dick's son Charlie.

he has a radio show

Not a fan of Al's politics (not what you think, go look up Sam Seder) but Al is making a come back and he'll be back.

@@zeus6662 and where is he?

@@zeus6662 love the comment. Majority report rules

He is shady AF.

This is so much more hilarious now that he's no longer a senator. I say that even though I am not a Republican or Trump supporter.

@@whocares.95 better than Biden, Hillary, Trump, Obomba or Bush.

Went on beyond the 80's "the Al Franken decade" Seriously, he was a great Senator and should be President right now.

Except Americans will never vote for a Jew

Dustin

@@blueblade455 He didn't grope that right-wing creep. He was making fun of her. You obviously don't a sense of humor either. Right-wingnutters tend not..

@@blueblade455 Did you notice that Al didn’t even try to lie about a tacky sexist gag. He resigned 😑

I would have no problem with President Franken.

Screw that, he was meat and potatoes. He got shit done and that is sadly missed.

Jackson DeStefano Because he doesn't need to.

A

It's Al Franken's own response to his "Limo For A Lame-O" segment in May 1980, in which he claimed that NBC president Fred Silverman shouldn't get a limo as his tenure at NBC was a failure, which led to Silverman refusing to allow Al Franken to take over from Al Michaels as producer of SNL. Less than one year later, Fred Silverman was gone from NBC, Silverman's choice to replace Lorne Michaels was fired, and Al Franken was back at SNL. So this was Al Franken's chance to rub it in, in the mock-self-serving way that he made famous during his time on SNL. It's really only funny if you know the backstory. That's why the audience laughed at the skit, since the incident was still very fresh at the time.

I know! That's what I laugh to the most! I'm so glad to see these old clips again.

It is to suggest that he is conceited.

Snl is still a good show. But yes, it used to be too.

@@EllissDee4you4me yeah.

No SNL clip or conversation is complete without at _least_ one "SNL *used* to be good" comment. I'm told there are bonus points if you point to the years when it _was_ good, and they just happened to be when you were in high school, but I can't get confirmation on those extra points.

@@EllissDee4you4me I assume that's a Mitch reference. Good one, too.

@@FakingANerve the irony of the original comment stating the show was good when it was going through one of its worst seasons

Get your history right . Al came back as the head writer and was there from 1985 to 1995. He probably helped hired many of the people you mentioned

Al literally hired Jon Lovitz, Dana Carvey and Several other cast members. When Lorne returned in 85 he made Al head writer and Producer.

@@newportnew3912 I think the poster is referring to Al's insistence that people stop watching, because then the show would not have continued

@@douglaslowe5 A job eventually passed to Tina (swoon, thud) Fey. I agree with those who say that there was a bit of a dead spot prior to Al's return. Eddie Murphy and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, yes, but I never thought that Tim Kazurinsky was funny, and Mary Gross rarely was.

The Tim K and Mary Gross and Joe Piscapo (and even Eddie Murphy for a season) era was absolutely Awful and unwatchable.

His books are pretty awesome.

Truly are!!!!

he had help writing it most probably

I think Al Franken is hilarious. I happen to love the guy . You don't have to live in MN to appreciate him as a Senator ..I have great respect for Al Franken in spite of the conspiracy against him..He's amazing.

I’ve always found Al Franken hilariously funny and waited for six months for him to finally be installed as our Junior Senator. He took the job seriously, kept his head down and learned the ropes. As time went on he earned the respect of his colleagues with his quick intelligence and sharp wit. What was done to him by his fellow Democrats was an unforgivable travesty which many Minnesotans still condemn. It would be poetic justice to have him return to the Senate and finish the job he started.

trump fans don't get knock knock jokes

David Rosen 😂 Good point!

Trump fans don't get laid.

BizWiz :: Closed mindedness.

Seaside Wister Well, it's certainly possible that they're closed minded, ignorant or maybe just stuck in their ways. I got the point where where I kind of feel sorry for them to be honest.

Sarah Kelly once upon a time absolutely nobody believed me when I said that. Good to know that’s been fixed.

Hence the: Live from New York it's "Saturday Night".

In an amazing coincidence, the season finale of the 1984-85 season (the last episode before Lorne Michaels' return) was hosted by Howard Cosell. During his opening monologue, he made reference to the ABC version. I think he called it "the real Saturday Night Live" in the process.

You sure about that? lol

I'd be just fine with that. By electing him, Al Franken! 😎👍

Al actually wrote a satirical book about just that ( a presidential) bid, when he was still a senator. It came out around 1998. He jokingly selects Joe Lieberman as a running mate, when in real life Joe was the VP nominee in 2000.

Sorry!

Al Franken, Amen 🙏🏻 Al Franken

And sadly, that episode never happened, victim of a writer's strike that ended the season prematurely.

Arnold Stollar He was forced out by the Democratic leadership's refusal to back him. In fact, they told him to resign. For his part, he should have shown more guts and refused, because they were not prepared to expel him, and the petty accusations would have blown over. He was not ready for the hardball world of politics. That he thought he was is merely an indication of the hubris found in so many entertainers today.

It went downhill in this season, it got rocky with the show ever since

It was a known trainwreck at the time, Lorne Michael's replacement barely lasted half a season and most of the cast had already been fired, with Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo being the only 1980 members to come back. Without Murphy it probably would've been cancelled...It didn't really hit a high point again until Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, and Kevin Nealon came on in 1986.

@@KalOrtPorand Jon Lovitz!

@@picture-you Jon Lovitz actually debuted during the 1985-86 season, which was almost as much of a disaster as 1980-81. He was one of maybe two or three performers to return the next season. Everybody else was let go.

Eddie Murphy single handedly saved SNL during the Ebersol years. The show wouldn't have survived without him.

True.

They ran out of cocaine and the show went to shit.

Jason Pate Not true. Charles Rocket snorted it all and thought he was funny.

I forgot he WAS a senator. I will always remember him mostly from SNL. And as being a sexual predator. XD

He apologized and the radio host accepted his apology....unlike others currently being investigated.

​@@RavenBlaze There is a great piece from the New Yorker from 2019, that explains how he was set up by the woman and her radio station, then railroaded out of the Senate by the Democratic leadership. He should not have apologized or resigned according to the article.

It's over, he will be forced to resign soon.

You were 100% completely correct.

Emanuel Combs oof

Is that the number of asses he's grabbed?

Hunter Franken??😂😂😂

Should the 2020's be the real Al Franken decade?

The next president doesn't take office until 2021.

You don't say? (It'll be here tomorrow).

Sen Franken was on Hillary's short list for VP...dare i dream about how the world would be different now had she actually picked him?? :X

President re-elect Trump 2020! Al Franken in jail, 2020!

You had to be there.

Why would he choose a dumbass bitch like Jill Stein

Not that crazy about Jill Stein but it fit for comedic purposes.

FilmsFor SMARTpeople oh, sorry

LOL FrankenStein! I see what you did there! But seriously, his political career is over. Maybe SNL might welcome him back? Or maybe not. :/

@@blueblade455 If Lorne Michaels retires in a couple years, Franken *might* actually take over as showrunner, although it's unlikely.

Could be.

Colin Kruse God I hope so.

I'm worried he won't risk giving up his seat in a state that could easily turn red.

Colin Kruse I certainly hope so!

Jamie Estep. Doubt it. The Mississippi keeps the vestiges of Bircherism and white supremacist tendecies firmly in Wisconsin.

Larry Lee Moniz AMAZING COMMENT! Lol

Unfortunately, Dick decided to leave when NBC rejected his taped format proposal. To that end, Lorne Michaels returned at the helm of SNL.

Spacetime :: Share the love ❤️ for your generations security. He’s the man. Progressive & cannabis friendly. 🌿❤️🌏

Spacetime I'm older than you and didn't even know whotf. al Franken even was? I'm suscribed to SNL and this SNL video with al Frankenstein poped up ...now I get it.

.....when you're a progressive, or a regressive (same thing), you need cannabis to rationalize your irrationality.....or maybe your use of cannabis led to your inability to call yourself exactly what you are, a liberal who hides behind the progressive label....go burn one and help this country become greater....stoned citizens are the answer....

I don't think anything Poped up. Franken isn't Catholic.

It’s a scripted show

Zach Toundas Why vote for someone who accepts corporate donations when you could, idk, not do that.

I'd prefer Harris/Franken but yea

The ChillyWinds you must have never voted in your life

Irene Adler In 2020 we will undoubtedly have a candidate who takes no corporate money either Bernie or Warren(assuming she doesnt take the money) or both so why would you vote for someone who does take corporate money when you have the option not to? In most elections you dont get that option, but 2016 saw a shift and 2018 and 2020 will have those options.

I highly doubt that they are electable. They won't capture the center, let alone die-hard democrats.

Could not agree with you more. Can’t remember when I quit watching. Do remember watching a Sarah Palin bit at a friend’s home and I thoroughly enjoyed RU-vid’s videos of Melissa McCarthy portraying Sean Spicer. However, I’ve not wasted time by turning it on in years.

@@broadwaysam8405 That's your loss! Good casts have come and gone since then. I think 1989 through about 1992 was a real golden age for them (Phil Hartman, Victoria Jackson, Mike Meyers, John Lovitz...) - tons of cast members who were incredibly funny in the show but terribly un-funny in movies (Dana Carvey, Rob Schneider, Adam Sandler...). The late 90s and early naughties were really good too (Will Ferrel, Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, Shari Oteri, etc). Each cast has its own personality, and none will be the same as the original cast, but that's a good thing IMO. I've enjoyed SNL over the years. When they're on, they're incredible. Though, when they're off, they can be sickening. I think Ebersol was punting when he let Franken roast him like that. It was so obviously true - the show sucked profoundly in 1980-81, and they kept getting worse every year after. Everyone knew it, so why not use it for comic effect? I re-discovered the show in 88 or so, and Lorne was back with this fantastic cast. I'm curious - did you watch ABC's live sketch comedy show Fridays? It ran 1980-83 I think? I was sad to see that show go. When SNL was rotten, Fridays really had life.

SNl is still on the air?

Jack Duff even though I'm politically more on...Al Franken's side, that's a funny comment.

Jack Duff I like franken but that was fucking funny😂

True!

Fuck you, pussy

Don’t watch it. You aren’t missed.

@@SKa-tt9nm 20-30% of the people watching TV on Saturday night used to be watching SNL back in this time. Now it's around 7%. Imagine only being able to get 7% of the people watching TV at 11 on a Saturday Night. It basically means 90%+ of people would rather watch reruns they could stream than SNL. Other live event television still does fine. SNL doesnt...because its bad...I guarantee the ratings are missed.

Not anymore! XD

hhahahah

Franken =Never

Micah Henry well this comment aged quickly

I never knew that! I guess I shouldn't have stopped watching after Belushi and Akroyd left. Shit!!

in that segment, Malcolm McDowell played John. I think Denny Dillon was Yoko, but I could be wrong.

@@wylier You are right Malcolm McDowell is Lennon and Denny Dillion is Yoko.

Not anymore! XD