This second season set is like owning a little piece of history.
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Live from New York, it´s Saturday Night.
Nowadays, "Saturday Night Live" is a television institution and it´s hard to imagine NBC´s Saturday night line-up without it. It´s become renowned as a launching pad for little-known talent to become movie stars and hot commodities. Thirty years ago, "SNL" was a fledgling idea from a bunch of neophytes who had no idea the impact they´d have on pop culture in the decades to come. When NBC needed to fill a hole in their Saturday night programming, exec Dick Ebersole turned to young Canadian producer Lorne Michaels who was charged with putting together a 90-minute variety show. Michaels knew he wanted to break the mold that was set by previous variety shows and appeal to a younger, hipper audience. One of his first steps to achieving this goal was to mine the comedy troupes of Second City and National Lampoon to assemble his team of writers and performers.
Dubbed the "Not Ready For Primetime Players," the original cast of unknowns is now a who´s who of comedy. Chevy Chase was undoubtedly the show´s first breakout star. Chase became known for his pratfalls and anchoring Weekend Update, the prototype for future fake news programs like "The Daily Show." Chase was also a part of the series´ political humor, which became another staple of "SNL," by playing then-President Gerald Ford as bumbling and easily confused. It wasn´t exactly an uncanny impression and no attempt was even made to make Chase look like Ford. On the other hand, his castmate Dan Aykroyd pulled off great impressions of Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon, along with talk show host Tom Snyder. Though his star has dimmed in recent years, Chase would go on to star in several classic comedies such as "Caddyshack", "Fletch", and "National Lampoon´s Vacation." Not be outdone, Aykroyd would be apart of "Ghostbusters" and "The Blues Brothers", the first of many spin-offs starring "SNL" characters. Aykroyd´s co-star John Belushi had plenty of memorable moments on the show with his portrayal of Henry Kissinger and the Samurai character. I still contend that if you don´t find the Samurai funny, then you have no soul. Unfortunately, Belushi´s drug habits got the better of him and he would pass away in 1982, three years after leaving the show. Also taken before her time was the ultra-talented Gilda Radner who would succumb to ovarian cancer. Radner was always entertaining as Barbara Walters (or Baba Wawa) and Emily Litella, whose poor hearing led her to be confused about the hot-button topics of the day before uttering her signature, "Never mind." Completing the cast were Jane Curtain who would go on to star in the hit sitcom "3rd Rock From the Sun", Larraine Newman who would go on to have a long career in cartoon voice-over work, and Garrett Morris who would go on to be…ah…Garrett Morris.
In its infancy, "SNL" was still being fine tuned by Michaels. The focus had originally been on the revolving guest hosts and musical performers before the standard formula of sketch comedy was set in stone. By the second season, "SNL" was one of the hottest shows on television thanks to its irreverent humor, wacky recurring characters, and instantly quotable catch phrases. The show also changed its name officially to "Saturday Night Live" after originally being titled, "NBC´s Saturday Night" as ABC had a rival, short-lived variety show named "Saturday Night Live" with Howard Cosell as host. Chevy Chase would injure himself in the season opener and miss the the next two episodes though he´d make appearances via phone from his hospital bed. His return was very brief as he´d leave for Hollywood. Chase was replaced by a fella some of you might have heard named Bill Murray who switched over from the cancelled Cosell show. Murray took a couple episodes to find his groove, but would eventually adapt his trademark smart-aleck delivery in no time. Curtain would take over Chase´s anchor spot on Weekend Update and had a much-funnier dynamic with Radner´s Emily Litella character.
It´s amazing watching the content on some of these episodes as they get away with lines that would never fly in today´s climate. One skit finds Garrett Morris agreeing with Minnesota Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton about how whites are scientifically proven that they are smarter than blacks. If Don Imus got fired for making one ill-advised comment, you can only imagine the uproar a sketch like this would cause now. "SNL" also innovated the way political humor was done on television. They made no qualms about their relentless ridicule of government officials and any other politicos. Come the second season, the nation was in the midst of the 1976 Presidential Election and both Ford and Carter were frequent targets. In a clever move, during a Weekend Update segment, rather than make jokes or do do a skit about Ford, they simply replayed his speech pardoning Nixon. However, not everything was a high point. After thirty years, some segments definitely feel out-of-date due to jokes about Walter Mondale and Morris the Cat. Some segments are downright head-scratchers such as Jim Henson´s Muppets segments.
The episodes included on this second season set include:
-Disc 1-
Guest Host: Lily Tomlin w/ Musical Guest: James Taylor – Highlights include Tomlin as Ernestine in a message from the phone company ("We don´t care. We don´t have to. We´re the phone company.") and a debate between Ford & Carter that save Chase tumble over his podium and bruise a testicle.
Guest Host: Norman Lear w/ Musical Guest: Boz Scaggs – Highlights are Kissinger mediating peace talks in Rhodesia and a look at Lear´s newest show the Snakehandling O´Sheas.
Guest Host: Eric Idle w/ Musical Guests: Joe Cocker & Stuff – The first two episodes fell a bit flat, but this is the season´s first homerun due to the energy brought by Idle. Best sketches include Idle as a doctor asking parents to choose the DNA of their baby and a duet between Cocker and Belushi.
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