can't wait for the weird and forgotten mid 80's episodes with Julia Luis Dryfus and Anthony Michael Hall
Why?? Most of those kinda sucked as I remember. Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest had some funny bits, but a lot of that stuff was pretty lame.
Martin Short as Ed Grimley, however,
One of many SNL "poaches" from this, the funniest TV show of the 80's....
indeedy.
i wished there were more ramis skits though.
he bailed after Season 1 (or at least what became Season 1 in the US).
I remember watching the 1/2 hour SCTV episodes that they showed in NYC on Channel 9 in (I think) 1979, before NBC picked up the 90 minute shows a few years later. Ramis was in a lot of the early stuff.
I remember watching the 1/2 hour SCTV episodes that they showed in NYC on Channel 9 in (I think) 1979, before NBC picked up the 90 minute shows a few years later. Ramis was in a lot of the early stuff.
really? as a lead character? the only one i can think of is Officer Friendly
I remember watching the 1/2 hour SCTV episodes that they showed in NYC on Channel 9 in (I think) 1979, before NBC picked up the 90 minute shows a few years later. Ramis was in a lot of the early stuff.
really? as a lead character? the only one i can think of is Officer Friendly
He played a Swami that did a meditation program (with stuffed cloth legs that he proceeded to wrap around his head and tie in knots), and he was also Captain Combat's assistant (Corporal Punishment??), and was the original Moe Green (I forget who took over the role).
The people responsible for the music selections in the early days were ex-hippie, sixties types, so it's not a surprise that they featured a lot of singer-songwriters and such on the show. And other than Belushi the cast had pretty straightforward tastes as well. None of those guys were into the downtown NY, CBGB, Max's Kansas City thing.
If you are a fan of SNL you owe it to yourself to read this book, stories for days in here...
can't wait for the weird and forgotten mid 80's episodes with Julia Luis Dryfus and Anthony Michael Hall
Why?? Most of those kinda sucked as I remember. Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest had some funny bits, but a lot of that stuff was pretty lame.
Martin Short as Ed Grimley, however,
ed grimley was hilarious, i must say. i miss his saturday morning cartoon as well! i have a talking ed grimley doll that someone gave me as a gift back when the cartoon was on.
there probably was a lot of lame skits back then, but as i was 15 and probably pretty punchy staying up after midnight, i thought they were hilarious! i guess i'll find out for sure when that season drops....
I would also think that Punk still wouldnt go over well w/ the late night audience who was still a Middle Amercian demographic.
naw, you got it wrong. the show was not targeted towards "middle america" at all. which probably explains why they were on late at night 'cause the hipster drug references wouldnt have lasted five minutes on prime time back then. the seventies SNL was definitely targeted at the hipsters of the time. remember, bob hope and all the vegas ratpackers were still alive and on TV regularly, and lorne michaels was intentionally trying to get away from that mindset. so to have chase, belushi and the rest aiming all their jokes at the post-hippie crowd - on TELEVISION - NETWORK TELEVISION, mind - was very revolutionary for the day, hardly middle-of-the-road. this wasnt The Carol Burnett Show.
Patti Smith musta had radio play at the time - right?
no she didnt either. one fluke hit single ("because the night"), and even that wasnt being played in a major city like chicago, where i grew up.
airplay wasnt the point either, cause we just got thru talking about how adventurous and under-the-radar their music bookings were. most of the time. patti, tom waits, randy newman, all those jazz acts (including sun ra) - none of them were donny osmond-big.
One of the highlights of Season One SNL - the short film of various lounge musicians singing "Misty," edited together - my fave is the older black gentleman who doesnt even have a mic, so he just BELLOWS the lyrics like hes yelling cross the room. prime stuff, its on one of the elliot gould-hosted episodes
maybe too honest - seems like everybody from the first season totally disowns that book
Having read it, I can understand why. Apparently at one point Garrett Morris pretty much lost his mind on coke.
I do get the drift that Garrett Morris was slightly out of his element on that show, given all the "token" roles he was given. Talented guy, but he never really came into his own on that program. Both of the SNL books kinda allege that for a variety of reasons, Morris (who was a good ten years older than everybody else) never fit in socially or otherwise with the rest of the cast.
I just copped. The highlight so far was The Lockers w/ Toni Basil(ballerina whitechick ala Breakin). Fred Berry(pre What's Happening) in an Uncle Sam costume.The SNL house/orchestra band played B.T. Express' Express. I swear up and down Micheal Jackson straight ripped his Robot era moves from these cats. Toni Basil(HeyRicky) does a leg move that is st8 MJ. And this is '1975. YO, I was astounded. I knew MJ was peepin Pop Lockers in the L.A. areas since has was there then, but Daaaaaaammmm.
Holy shit! I've seen a bootleg version of this footage, but I can get it on DVD!? I am copping now.
chevy chase doing gerald ford is probably the only instance where i've found him funny.
Uuuuhhh.....both Vacations? Fletch? Three Amigos? Anything he was in pre-1993 basically? Don't tell my sister you said that....she may never give you the keys!
dope! i was always an snl fan up until the last 10 years... can't wait for the weird and forgotten mid 80's episodes with julia luis dryfus, billy crystal, christopher guest and martan short in the cast!
How do you feel about the 1980-81 season of SNL?
I need to buy this DVD now. If all of the seasons were subsequently released, I think I would only but the first 5 seasons. The 86-90 seasons were cool but I don't think I would buy them.
dope! i was always an snl fan up until the last 10 years... can't wait for the weird and forgotten mid 80's episodes with julia luis dryfus, billy crystal, christopher guest and martan short in the cast!
How do you feel about the 1980-81 season of SNL?
I need to buy this DVD now. If all of the seasons were subsequently released, I think I would only but the first 5 seasons. The 86-90 seasons were cool but I don't think I would buy them.
My take on SNL: - 1975-79: can do no wrong - 1979-80: Belushi & Akroyd leave, and Radner, Murray, etc. seem to be phoning it in; wasn't terrible, but I seriously don't remember much from this season - 1980-81: godawful!! it's like watching Fridays! the dope jokes are dumber and more gratuitous, although the musical guests were surprisingly hot (Capt. Beefheart) - 1981-85: Eddie Murphy was killin' it. And even after he left in '84, they had one more surprisingly good season - 1985-present: this is where I get off the train...not really into it these days
Its funny that Chevy Chase is only on for one season but is so linked to SNL.
One-and-a-half - he actually quit midway through season two (which I pray will be released soon).
I've been immersing myself in the first season DVD lately, and even though Chase protests that he was just another player doing his gig, it really does look like they intentionally made him the breakout superstar from the gitgo. Just about every opening skit starts out with him falling down and announcing "LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!" (although the seriously underused Garrett Morris gets to do the honors on the Richard Pryor ep). The man is always mugging, looking like he's trying to hijack the show from the rest of the cast, and even when Carly Simon is shown (via videotape) singing "You're So Vain," there he is in the background chorus! He was funny as all hell, but you can understand why John Belushi wasn't sorry to see him go.
Comments
One of many SNL "poaches" from this, the funniest TV show of the 80's....
indeedy.
i wished there were more ramis skits though.
he bailed after Season 1 (or at least what became Season 1 in the US).
I remember watching the 1/2 hour SCTV episodes that they showed in NYC on Channel 9 in (I think) 1979, before NBC picked up the 90 minute shows a few years later. Ramis was in a lot of the early stuff.
really? as a lead character? the only one i can think of is Officer Friendly
He played a Swami that did a meditation program (with stuffed cloth legs that he proceeded to wrap around his head and tie in knots), and he was also Captain Combat's assistant (Corporal Punishment??), and was the original Moe Green (I forget who took over the role).
If you are a fan of SNL you owe it to yourself to read this book, stories for days in here...
A little more honest dirt...
ed grimley was hilarious, i must say. i miss his saturday morning cartoon as well! i have a talking ed grimley doll that someone gave me as a gift back when the cartoon was on.
there probably was a lot of lame skits back then, but as i was 15 and probably pretty punchy staying up after midnight, i thought they were hilarious! i guess i'll find out for sure when that season drops....
maybe too honest - seems like everybody from the first season totally disowns that book
doesnt matter, they were both better than Fridays (ABC's lame attempt at a hip counterculture comedy show)
gottfried was part of the first cast after the originals left, and holy shit they were terrible. even he had to concede it was a lame season
Friday's had ill musical guests though:
Plasmatics (blew my little 11 year old mind)
King Crimson
The Jam
The Clash (before SNL)
Devo
The Pretenders
and more that I'm forgetting now. But it wasn't very funny, that's true.
naw, you got it wrong. the show was not targeted towards "middle america" at all. which probably explains why they were on late at night 'cause the hipster drug references wouldnt have lasted five minutes on prime time back then. the seventies SNL was definitely targeted at the hipsters of the time. remember, bob hope and all the vegas ratpackers were still alive and on TV regularly, and lorne michaels was intentionally trying to get away from that mindset. so to have chase, belushi and the rest aiming all their jokes at the post-hippie crowd - on TELEVISION - NETWORK TELEVISION, mind - was very revolutionary for the day, hardly middle-of-the-road. this wasnt The Carol Burnett Show.
no she didnt either. one fluke hit single ("because the night"), and even that wasnt being played in a major city like chicago, where i grew up.
airplay wasnt the point either, cause we just got thru talking about how adventurous and under-the-radar their music bookings were. most of the time. patti, tom waits, randy newman, all those jazz acts (including sun ra) - none of them were donny osmond-big.
I remember KISS, The Clash and the Stray Cats being on Fridays
The Clash and Stray Cats seemed like totally new ideas to me at the time (tatoos and short hair!) that made a big impression on me.
The Kiss episode was horrific, devoted to several selections from their "concept album"....
I remember DEVO performing on treadmills or some such.
PS Gottfried was in one insane SNL sketch about a family that lived in a revolving door...
Having read it, I can understand why. Apparently at one point Garrett Morris pretty much lost his mind on coke.
I do get the drift that Garrett Morris was slightly out of his element on that show, given all the "token" roles he was given. Talented guy, but he never really came into his own on that program. Both of the SNL books kinda allege that for a variety of reasons, Morris (who was a good ten years older than everybody else) never fit in socially or otherwise with the rest of the cast.
Holy shit! I've seen a bootleg version of this footage, but I can get it on DVD!? I am copping now.
$29.99 new on amazon, btw.
KIMODO DRAGON, BITCHES!!!!
Uuuuhhh.....both Vacations? Fletch? Three Amigos? Anything he was in pre-1993 basically? Don't tell my sister you said that....she may never give you the keys!
I need to buy this DVD now. If all of the seasons were subsequently released, I think I would only but the first 5 seasons. The 86-90 seasons were cool but I don't think I would buy them.
My take on SNL:
- 1975-79: can do no wrong
- 1979-80: Belushi & Akroyd leave, and Radner, Murray, etc. seem to be phoning it in; wasn't terrible, but I seriously don't remember much from this season
- 1980-81: godawful!! it's like watching Fridays! the dope jokes are dumber and more gratuitous, although the musical guests were surprisingly hot (Capt. Beefheart)
- 1981-85: Eddie Murphy was killin' it. And even after he left in '84, they had one more surprisingly good season
- 1985-present: this is where I get off the train...not really into it these days
One-and-a-half - he actually quit midway through season two (which I pray will be released soon).
I've been immersing myself in the first season DVD lately, and even though Chase protests that he was just another player doing his gig, it really does look like they intentionally made him the breakout superstar from the gitgo. Just about every opening skit starts out with him falling down and announcing "LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!" (although the seriously underused Garrett Morris gets to do the honors on the Richard Pryor ep). The man is always mugging, looking like he's trying to hijack the show from the rest of the cast, and even when Carly Simon is shown (via videotape) singing "You're So Vain," there he is in the background chorus! He was funny as all hell, but you can understand why John Belushi wasn't sorry to see him go.
edit - if you don't like rapidshare, try this one: the lockers.avi (36.26 MB)