Live from New York…
As “Saturday Night Live” approaches its historic 50th season, its impact on television is indelible.
But, a half-century later, the brainchild of Lorne Michaels debuted in 1975. Season 50 is about to premiere (Saturday, September 28 on NBC), does the show still have juice – and what’s its legacy?
Nicole, a 28-year-old New York City resident, told The Post that the show “has always been a staple in her life” “when humor was needed.”
“The references are infinite, as I’ll always say’i need more cowbell‘If I want the music to be louder, or that I live ‘in a van by the river’ when someone asks me where I live,” she said of the iconic sketches featuring Will Ferrell, Christopher Walken and Referring said. chris farley,
“Moments like that, where everyone knows what you’re talking about, are golden,” he said. “Humor can be universal, and in many ways, ‘SNL’ is universal, almost immortal.”
Elizabeth, a fan from Texas, told The Post that the show, “is a New York institution. I’m looking forward to hearing about it and watching the drama.”
But, not everyone agreed. Michael, a 52-year-old Brooklyn resident, told The Post he thinks “SNL” has become stale.
“Let’s say Donald Trump is running. Every week, it’s already stupid. Every single week, Alec Baldwin. it’s too much. I’m like, ‘Again?’ Starting with Alec Baldwin.”
While New York native Olivia, 25, quipped: “New Yorkers miss the old ‘Saturday Night Live’.”
bob thompson, who is the founding director of Syracuse University Blair Center for Television and Popular Culture And a trustee professor of television and popular culture told The Post that the show’s first season was “truly extraordinary.”
However, in the current TV landscape, sketches get mixed into all the comedy that is available “everywhere” on streaming, cable, YouTube, and TikTok.
When it first premiered, its only competition was “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson”, he explained. “It was a cultural universe in itself [in the ‘70s]And now it’s overpopulated.”
Thompson, who has also written and edited several books about television history, including “The second golden age of television” And “thrill on prime time– He was in high school when “SNL” premiered. He remembered going to friends’ houses to see them.
“There was this feeling that when you got to school on Monday, there was a crowd of people who had discovered ‘SNL,’ and everyone else who hadn’t.”
As far as shows that “SNL” influenced, Thompson cites “Fridays”, which ran on ABC as an attempt to imitate “SNL”, but it was short-lived, between 1980 and 1982. aired. Larry David was in the cast, and even featured the first host of “SNL”, George Carlin, as its inaugural guest host.
But, “SNL” didn’t invent the variety show, or the sketch show; The format is earlier than this.
Of course, “SNL” also influenced shows like former “SNL” star Tina Fey’s Emmy-winning sitcom “30 Rock,” which aired from 2006–2013, featuring the cast and crew of shows such as “SNL” through their behind-the-scenes antics.
Thompson joked that it might be “blasphemous” to say, but “30 Rock” was better than “SNL” on an “episode by episode basis.”
He continued, “Take every one of those great talents that was launched on ‘SNL,’ and I can always point to things that they did in their careers that I love about what they did on ‘SNL.’ Looked better than.”
And therein lies the true cultural impact of “SNL.”
“Whatever anyone says about [Lorne Michaels]Thompson said, he’s able to constantly use ‘Saturday Night Live’ as this factory to prepare people to do really interesting work elsewhere. He said the show is “unique” as a college for future comics. Actors…because they’ve been doing it for 50 years.”
Daniels, a spectator in Manhattan, agreed. “It’s kind of the same playbook throughout the season, so it’s like a comfortable average joke,” he told The Post. “You know what you’re going to get. But still, he has great talent that comes out. So that’s the benefit.”
Not only did the show create, launch, and give a platform to stars like Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Farley, John Belushi, Chris Rock, Fey, Andy Samberg, and Kristen Wiig — it also gave a platform to comedians. steve martinwho was not a cast member, but He hosted the show 16 times and appeared on it more than 30 times.,
Thompson said, “By the time he got to ‘SNL’ he already had a presence, but ‘SNL’ introduced Steve Martin to a lot of people who had never heard of him before.”
“Although ‘SNL’ never really revolutionized the comedy genre, it certainly helped revolutionize it by giving a bigger platform to people like Steve Martin and Andy Kaufman, who would like Revolutionize comedy,” he added. “The greatest legacy of ‘Saturday Night Live,’ I think, is less a collection of their best sketches, and more a collection of the careers they launched or accelerated in important ways.”
Thompson isn’t surprised that “SNL” has survived a half-century. Ultimately, he said, with changing artists and musical guests, it can keep pop culture going and bring change to different generations.
But, he added, “I forenoon Surprisingly, most of those 50 years have been done under the same emperor, Lorne Michaels.
Michaels is not irreplaceable, he explained, but if someone else took over steering the ship after Michaels retired, their success would depend on “all kinds of other variables”.
“Until recently, the title ‘SNL’ described it. It was something we saw on Saturday night, and we saw it live,” Thompson said.
“When that show started, you couldn’t even record it on video cassette to watch… In the early years, you had to watch it on a Saturday night, or you’d miss seeing it. “With streaming, we have completely changed the perception of what timely late-night television means.”
Today, he said, audiences mine “SNL” and other late-night shows “in little bits and pieces throughout the week.”
Certainly, Diego, a fan, told The Post about his viewing habits, “I watch the clips more than the entire show. I love that it’s sometimes edgy, and sometimes has a comforting level of jokes and familiar faces.
Thompson said that when the 79-year-old Michaels steps down, the big question is whether “SNL” will end, or try to continue “even in this environment, when late-night broadcast television is showing some real strain.”
He pointed to examples like Seth Meyers is losing his band Amid budget cuts, James Corden is not being replaced by another late-night talk show host (rather, the quiz show “After Midnight”), and Jimmy Fallon is holding back From five nights a week to four.
“SNL” has adapted to this changing landscape with fewer live sketches and more pre-filmed segments, such as Samberg’s iconic and viral “Dick in a Box” sketch.
But, is this enough for the future?
“Launching [‘SNL’] What’s the way to do it from a broadcast network mothership? Or do you remove that part completely? all i think about late at night [television] Thinking about it now,” Thompson said, adding that whenever Michaels steps down, “there are going to be some natural limits to reconsider.”
But, as the show evaluates its future, “one also has to think about what an extraordinary brand it is.”
“‘SNL’ is something that everyone knows,” he added. “It may not be McDonald’s or Coca-Cola, but it’s up there with brand recognition.”
“I think the show is still relevant. I think it’s really fun. My friends still bring it up in conversation,” Courtney, an “SNL” viewer from Brooklyn, told The Post.
Thompson said that if the show is able to navigate the current shrinking late-night landscape, “it’s a very versatile format that could technically go on forever.”
