Raw and Irreverent Comedy Make For The Best Saturday Nights: In his 2022 standup special Why Am I Like This? Chris Redd said: “People think I’m living my dream right now because I’m on SNL.”
The crowd applauds his success before Redd shuts them down. They’ve got it all wrong. “I’m living white people’s dreams.” He adds: “White people love SNL to the point where if there was a flag to put on your house, you would have it, with the years you actually watched the show.”
And there it is: Saturday Night Live is an odd cultural institution. It’s like University. You know how you go to University for 4 years and it’s all intense as you’re figuring out who you are and what you’re gonna do for the rest of your life? And over the 4 years you meet all kinds of people; you go to all kinds of parties: it’s all happening? You bonded with these fellow students who have mostly experienced what you’ve experienced. That’s what SNL is like.
You get a generation…a cast that’s yours with bonds as strong as the people you partied at University with. The four-part docuseries from executive producer Morgan Neville streams ahead of Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary primetime special (Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music directed by Questlove) on February 16th.
(And before Saturday Night—the 2024 movie chronicling the behind the scenes chaos of SNL’s first episode—on Netflix-US and Crave on January 25th. And right before Dave Chappelle host’s SNL on January 18th. It’s…a lot, I get it.)
For this docuseries: “Each episode will highlight a different element to the show including a showcase of the SNL audition process, with never-before-seen audition footage and firsthand accounts from some of the show’s most iconic names, a look at the SNL writing process from script to screen, a deep dive into the More Cowbell sketch and an exploration into SNL’s 11th season, examining the pivotal year that reset the show’s direction and cemented its enduring DNA with Lorne Michaels at the helm.”
#SetTheVCR: for all 4 episodes of SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night:
Episode 1: Five Minutes (directed by Robert Alexander)
Pete Davidson: “How the fuck did I get the show?” Honestly, I don’t know either.
In the first episode of SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night; Tracy Morgan wisely says: “Funny Is Funny.” (So, true!) Though when you see his SNL audition that wasn’t funny. How did he get the iconic Saturday Night gig?
Five Minutes refers to a Saturday Night Live Audition: that’s how long a performer gets in front of Lorne Michaels and other SNL staff.
Jim Carrey was rejected when he auditioned to be on Saturday Night Live. Yet, his Five Minutes killed. Also rejected? Kevin Hart, Jennifer Coolidge, Donald Glover, Jordan Peele and Stephen Colbert. (At the time it musta sucked but they’re all doing just fine.)
Will Ferrell’s Five Minutes is amazing. I can easily see why he got the job. But Pete Davidson? Tracy Morgan? How they got the show…based on Five Minutes I couldn’t even tell you. You’ll be amazed at the auditions.
Episode 2: Written By: A Week Inside The SNL Writers Room (directed by Marshall Curry)
This is the range of emotions to get a sketch on the air. It follows a 2024 writer’s room and I found this to be one of the weakest of the four episodes.
Episode 3: More Cowbell (directed by Neil Berkeley)
“The cowbell is not something to be fucked with.”
Truly a fascinating breakdown of the all-time classic SNL sketch: Will Ferrell’s More Cowbell. Narrated by Darrell Hammond, this episode explores More Cowbell is a sketch that aired on Saturday Night Live on April 8, 2000. The irony here is that the sketch is based on a Behind The Music premise and this episode literally goes…Behind The Music.
Is this the most popular SNL sketch? Really? More than Lazy Sunday? Dick In A Box? Living In A Van Down By The River? Sean Connery in Celebrity Jeopardy? Perhaps. Ferrell killed. Walken killed. Which is what fevers do.
Episode 4: The Weird Year (directed by Jason Zeldes)
Lorne Michaels is 80 years old. Do you think this is it for the kid from Toronto? 50 seasons of SNL…is time to retire? What a stunning cultural contribution for a kid from Toronto. Well…granted, he didn’t produce all 50 seasons.
Lorne Michaels created and produced Saturday Night Live (1975–1980, 1985–present). There’s a gap there, see it? This is The Weird Year. The eleventh season of Saturday Night Live between November 9, 1985, and May 24, 1986. (On November 9, 1985 the season premiere was hosted by Madonna and Musical Guest Simple Minds. Oh, the 80s!)
Lorne returned to SNL and wanted to start over. The new cast? Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Terry Sweeney, Anthony Michael Hall, Randy Quaid, Jon Lovitz, Nora Dunn, Damon Wayans and and new Weekend Update anchor Dennis Miller.
Damon Wayans was fired from SNL immediately after a sketch. “They were trying to make their own identity rather than the identity of SNL. I think that was the whole problem.” According to John Lithgow one of that season’s celebrity hosts.
This is a weird episode. It underscores how electric the OG cast was, Lorne lucked out. It’s not easy to make magic. If SNL was cancelled in 1986 where would comedy be? It’s a weird but relevant question.
Sammy Verdict: Make a seriously serious tea and chill with all 4 episodes. If you are a comedy fan, an SNL fan…this is a rich treasure. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
