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And I thought I'd made some rankings of each cast member and give some general reflections on them and what I thought of the first season-and-nearly-a-half:
1. A few episodes into the first season, every time a sketch started, I found myself hoping that Dan Aykroyd would make an appearance. He quickly became my favorite. He was also the only cast member I had any prior familiarity with, from the film Ghostbusters (childhood me loved the character he played in that, even back then I thought he was cute). So I was initially interested to see the work that made him famous, and I liked him so much more than I thought he would. Mostly because of how quickly he can deliver rapid-fire dialogue (a feat which frequently impresses me) and his affinity for different voices/accents and ability in bringing characters to life- I haven't been watching SNL for very long, but already I have my opinion that the best cast members are the ones gifted in character work, rather than, say, impressions or satire. I also love cast members who showcase a weird, off-beat sense of humor, and Aykroyd squarely fell into that territory, I thought. Bottom line, I like him a lot.
2. I found out recently that Gilda Radner shared my birthday, and that makes me happy because she's my second favorite of the original cast. She's pretty good with character work in her own right, although I must say, I have yet to see evidence of her being one of the greatest TV comediennes like I've heard so often, simply because nothing she's done has really made me laugh so far. What I like about her the most is simply that she's adorable and seems genuinely sweet, plus she commits so well to each role. Bottom line, I find her super endearing, and I've been chanting to myself throughout every show whenever a sketch starts, "please let Danny or Gilda be in this!"
3. Okay, I really didn't want to say this, but... I actually really liked Chevy Chase? I dunno, I'd heard negative things about him as a person and I thought that might reflect on the characters he played, but I genuinely found him to be charismatic and I looked forward to seeing him in each episode (although I do feel like too much emphasis was placed on him, especially when he had to miss a show and the women in the cast sang a tribute to him, i was like... you're really pushing this one guy, huh?). Plus he originated Weekend Update, which is my favorite thing about SNL. I wouldn't say he's the best anchorperson I've seen (I've very biased, given that it's what I remember from high school and also he was the anchorperson during the Stefon sketches which was my re-introduction to SNL, but for me personally it doesn't get better than Seth Meyers), given that sometimes he was really on fire but other times he stumbled over words and generally seemed awkward, but when the jokes were good, oh they were GOOD. I particularly loved when he would start a joke and then never give the punchline. Bottom line, Chevy Chase was much more enjoyable than I expected, although I won't feel any huge loss over the next few episodes without him.
4. I feel like Laraine Newman is probably very underrated (given that I had at least heard of every cast member except her and Garrett Morris before I started watching SNL), so I'm going to give her some love. I really like her character work, especially the vapid blonde character who speaks in such an entertaining voice. In fact, I think that Laraine is great precisely because she has so much range. Like, sure, Gilda created entertaining and memorable recurring characters (and I don't want this to sound like I'm pitting the actresses against each other, I'm just demonstrating how what Laraine did was different), but even though Laraine doesn't really have recurring characters, she plays her bit parts so damn well. I hope she gets more of a chance to shine later on though.
5. Everyone's always said great things about John Belushi, but honestly, he was the only cast member I couldn't figure out for a long time. I know I've said how much I love character work, but something about his characters hasn't clicked for me yet- maybe I just don't like them. I think he's a gifted impressionist though, and even when he's just being himself/playing the straight man, there's something very charming about him. My absolute favorite thing he's done on the show is his spot on Weekend Update, where he'll start off reading an editorial in a normal tone of voice, but progressively gets louder and angrier until he rages so hard he falls off the chair. That's always hilarious to me. I wish he'd do stuff like that more often.
6. This is going to sound cruel, but half the time I forget that Jane Curtin is even in the cast, given that she always plays the straight man roles. I'm really looking forward to seeing her come into her own as an anchorperson on Weekend Update, though.
7. Poor Garrett Morris, underutilized and overlooked and generally doing pieces that seem disconnected from the rest of the show. I feel like the writers just didn't know what kind of material to give him. He gets too many roles connected with his race. I wish I had more to say about him, but I feel like he has such little presence on the show, it's hard to form an opinion.
Thoughts on sketches: Confession time, no matter what "era" I'm watching, I hardly ever laugh at SNL (despite it being a comedy show). This isn't to say that it's never been funny, but just that I find the show more entertaining than amusing. That being said, the last episode I watched had a downright hysterical sketch that made me laugh multiple times and which has now become my favorite sketch out of all the original era episodes I've seen up to this point: "The Ointment," a parody of The Omen. There was SO MUCH going on in that sketch, it was great. (One thing I've noticed is that my favorite sketches, and really anything that I find hilarious, have multiple funny things over and over, like you can't catch your breath from laughing at the last thing before the next funny thing shows up.) My other favorite sketch that was an immediate standout was "The Decabet," a proposed new alphabet delivered by hyper pitchman Dan Aykroyd. As far as recurring sketches/characters go, I loved "Landshark" (which was actually Jaws II and then Jaws III, I was glad that they only brought it back a couple of times, otherwise it would lose its charm). Generally I really liked the movie parodies (including "Exorcist II" and the aforementioned "Ointment"). I also liked The Bees a lot, in all their various forms. Maybe the bee suits just looked really fun and made me happy, I dunno. The talk show bits like "Looks at Books" were just kind of there, and the Samurai sketches were just one okay joke put into different scenarios- it got old. Also, the only regular correspondent on Weekend Update, Emily Litella, was pretty much a one-joke character, but I liked Gilda's characterization so she gets a pass. What got REALLY old for me was "News For the Hard of Hearing-" I was glad when they started switching it up eventually.
Thoughts on hosts: The standout hosts to me so far have been Candice Bergen, Lily Tomlin, Madeline Kahn (you wanna talk about incredible comediennes... how about everyone I just mentioned?), Eric Idle (I forgot to mention above, another one of my favorite sketches was the very Pythonesque "cops in drag" one that he did, although I mostly only liked it for the callback in the film that immediately succeeded it), and Steve Martin (I had never seen Steve Martin doing standup, ever, and I was so surprised at how funny I thought he was... plus his persona is so amusing and likable, I see why he's considered so inspirational for many comedians). Otherwise the hosts ranged from being good to just okay, but the ones I just named were the absolute best in my eyes. Also, I gotta say, apparently Louise Lasser was a notorious host and that episode is kind of thought of as a trainwreck, but while I personally didn't find her that funny, I can't believe the same people who think that also love Andy Kaufman, because THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SHE WAS DOING. Did people actually fall for her act and think her mental breakdown onstage was real? Seriously?
Thoughts on films: That's certainly something different, to show short films as part of the episode. I kind of liked the first filmmaker, Albert Brooks- he made some decently humorous shorts. Gary Weis' films have been boring or incomprehensible to me so far. And I've been enjoying the real-life audience home movies, if only for their creativity- although I must say, while I know it's a classic of old SNL episodes, I actually really dislike the "Mr. Bill" shorts because I have high empathy and seeing that poor helpless clay figure who just wants to be friendly and have a good time get mutilated over and over again by his so-called friends is just depressing to me.
Thoughts on musical guests: Oh boy *rubs hands together* THIS is an absolute goldmine for me as a musician, even though I hadn't heard of a lot of the musicians, plus 70's music is not really my thing... But like, the second episode of the first season though, with the Simon and Garfunkel reunion? SOOOOO GOOD. That was the first time I really realized how impressive and mind-blowing their harmonies are. In general, it's been amazing seeing how many famous musicians played this show and being introduced to their work. Even the ones that I'm familiar with, they look SO YOUNG. I just can't believe they got the music licenses for all five seasons of the original era... wow.
Thoughts on other guests: I kind of wish SNL would do this nowadays, where they'd have other guests besides the musical guest (like Andy Kaufman, or like the dance troupe from one episode in season 1). One thing I won't miss, though, are the Muppets sketches... I was looking forward to them in theory but they ended up being just as mediocre as everyone said they were. Wasted opportunity really, if the regular iconic Muppets had been on the show instead of these strange adult-oriented ones, I know they'd have been a hit.
So, those are my scattered thoughts on SNL seasons 1-2 1/2. Looking forward to watching more eventually.
1. A few episodes into the first season, every time a sketch started, I found myself hoping that Dan Aykroyd would make an appearance. He quickly became my favorite. He was also the only cast member I had any prior familiarity with, from the film Ghostbusters (childhood me loved the character he played in that, even back then I thought he was cute). So I was initially interested to see the work that made him famous, and I liked him so much more than I thought he would. Mostly because of how quickly he can deliver rapid-fire dialogue (a feat which frequently impresses me) and his affinity for different voices/accents and ability in bringing characters to life- I haven't been watching SNL for very long, but already I have my opinion that the best cast members are the ones gifted in character work, rather than, say, impressions or satire. I also love cast members who showcase a weird, off-beat sense of humor, and Aykroyd squarely fell into that territory, I thought. Bottom line, I like him a lot.
2. I found out recently that Gilda Radner shared my birthday, and that makes me happy because she's my second favorite of the original cast. She's pretty good with character work in her own right, although I must say, I have yet to see evidence of her being one of the greatest TV comediennes like I've heard so often, simply because nothing she's done has really made me laugh so far. What I like about her the most is simply that she's adorable and seems genuinely sweet, plus she commits so well to each role. Bottom line, I find her super endearing, and I've been chanting to myself throughout every show whenever a sketch starts, "please let Danny or Gilda be in this!"
3. Okay, I really didn't want to say this, but... I actually really liked Chevy Chase? I dunno, I'd heard negative things about him as a person and I thought that might reflect on the characters he played, but I genuinely found him to be charismatic and I looked forward to seeing him in each episode (although I do feel like too much emphasis was placed on him, especially when he had to miss a show and the women in the cast sang a tribute to him, i was like... you're really pushing this one guy, huh?). Plus he originated Weekend Update, which is my favorite thing about SNL. I wouldn't say he's the best anchorperson I've seen (I've very biased, given that it's what I remember from high school and also he was the anchorperson during the Stefon sketches which was my re-introduction to SNL, but for me personally it doesn't get better than Seth Meyers), given that sometimes he was really on fire but other times he stumbled over words and generally seemed awkward, but when the jokes were good, oh they were GOOD. I particularly loved when he would start a joke and then never give the punchline. Bottom line, Chevy Chase was much more enjoyable than I expected, although I won't feel any huge loss over the next few episodes without him.
4. I feel like Laraine Newman is probably very underrated (given that I had at least heard of every cast member except her and Garrett Morris before I started watching SNL), so I'm going to give her some love. I really like her character work, especially the vapid blonde character who speaks in such an entertaining voice. In fact, I think that Laraine is great precisely because she has so much range. Like, sure, Gilda created entertaining and memorable recurring characters (and I don't want this to sound like I'm pitting the actresses against each other, I'm just demonstrating how what Laraine did was different), but even though Laraine doesn't really have recurring characters, she plays her bit parts so damn well. I hope she gets more of a chance to shine later on though.
5. Everyone's always said great things about John Belushi, but honestly, he was the only cast member I couldn't figure out for a long time. I know I've said how much I love character work, but something about his characters hasn't clicked for me yet- maybe I just don't like them. I think he's a gifted impressionist though, and even when he's just being himself/playing the straight man, there's something very charming about him. My absolute favorite thing he's done on the show is his spot on Weekend Update, where he'll start off reading an editorial in a normal tone of voice, but progressively gets louder and angrier until he rages so hard he falls off the chair. That's always hilarious to me. I wish he'd do stuff like that more often.
6. This is going to sound cruel, but half the time I forget that Jane Curtin is even in the cast, given that she always plays the straight man roles. I'm really looking forward to seeing her come into her own as an anchorperson on Weekend Update, though.
7. Poor Garrett Morris, underutilized and overlooked and generally doing pieces that seem disconnected from the rest of the show. I feel like the writers just didn't know what kind of material to give him. He gets too many roles connected with his race. I wish I had more to say about him, but I feel like he has such little presence on the show, it's hard to form an opinion.
Thoughts on sketches: Confession time, no matter what "era" I'm watching, I hardly ever laugh at SNL (despite it being a comedy show). This isn't to say that it's never been funny, but just that I find the show more entertaining than amusing. That being said, the last episode I watched had a downright hysterical sketch that made me laugh multiple times and which has now become my favorite sketch out of all the original era episodes I've seen up to this point: "The Ointment," a parody of The Omen. There was SO MUCH going on in that sketch, it was great. (One thing I've noticed is that my favorite sketches, and really anything that I find hilarious, have multiple funny things over and over, like you can't catch your breath from laughing at the last thing before the next funny thing shows up.) My other favorite sketch that was an immediate standout was "The Decabet," a proposed new alphabet delivered by hyper pitchman Dan Aykroyd. As far as recurring sketches/characters go, I loved "Landshark" (which was actually Jaws II and then Jaws III, I was glad that they only brought it back a couple of times, otherwise it would lose its charm). Generally I really liked the movie parodies (including "Exorcist II" and the aforementioned "Ointment"). I also liked The Bees a lot, in all their various forms. Maybe the bee suits just looked really fun and made me happy, I dunno. The talk show bits like "Looks at Books" were just kind of there, and the Samurai sketches were just one okay joke put into different scenarios- it got old. Also, the only regular correspondent on Weekend Update, Emily Litella, was pretty much a one-joke character, but I liked Gilda's characterization so she gets a pass. What got REALLY old for me was "News For the Hard of Hearing-" I was glad when they started switching it up eventually.
Thoughts on hosts: The standout hosts to me so far have been Candice Bergen, Lily Tomlin, Madeline Kahn (you wanna talk about incredible comediennes... how about everyone I just mentioned?), Eric Idle (I forgot to mention above, another one of my favorite sketches was the very Pythonesque "cops in drag" one that he did, although I mostly only liked it for the callback in the film that immediately succeeded it), and Steve Martin (I had never seen Steve Martin doing standup, ever, and I was so surprised at how funny I thought he was... plus his persona is so amusing and likable, I see why he's considered so inspirational for many comedians). Otherwise the hosts ranged from being good to just okay, but the ones I just named were the absolute best in my eyes. Also, I gotta say, apparently Louise Lasser was a notorious host and that episode is kind of thought of as a trainwreck, but while I personally didn't find her that funny, I can't believe the same people who think that also love Andy Kaufman, because THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SHE WAS DOING. Did people actually fall for her act and think her mental breakdown onstage was real? Seriously?
Thoughts on films: That's certainly something different, to show short films as part of the episode. I kind of liked the first filmmaker, Albert Brooks- he made some decently humorous shorts. Gary Weis' films have been boring or incomprehensible to me so far. And I've been enjoying the real-life audience home movies, if only for their creativity- although I must say, while I know it's a classic of old SNL episodes, I actually really dislike the "Mr. Bill" shorts because I have high empathy and seeing that poor helpless clay figure who just wants to be friendly and have a good time get mutilated over and over again by his so-called friends is just depressing to me.
Thoughts on musical guests: Oh boy *rubs hands together* THIS is an absolute goldmine for me as a musician, even though I hadn't heard of a lot of the musicians, plus 70's music is not really my thing... But like, the second episode of the first season though, with the Simon and Garfunkel reunion? SOOOOO GOOD. That was the first time I really realized how impressive and mind-blowing their harmonies are. In general, it's been amazing seeing how many famous musicians played this show and being introduced to their work. Even the ones that I'm familiar with, they look SO YOUNG. I just can't believe they got the music licenses for all five seasons of the original era... wow.
Thoughts on other guests: I kind of wish SNL would do this nowadays, where they'd have other guests besides the musical guest (like Andy Kaufman, or like the dance troupe from one episode in season 1). One thing I won't miss, though, are the Muppets sketches... I was looking forward to them in theory but they ended up being just as mediocre as everyone said they were. Wasted opportunity really, if the regular iconic Muppets had been on the show instead of these strange adult-oriented ones, I know they'd have been a hit.
So, those are my scattered thoughts on SNL seasons 1-2 1/2. Looking forward to watching more eventually.
