Live from New York… ‘Saturday Night Live’ turns 50: How the variety show has impacted TV
Live from New York…
As the landmark 50th season of “Saturday Night Live” approaches, its impact on television is indelible.
But, a half-century after Lorne Michaels’ brainchild made its debut in 1975, as Season 50 is about to premiere (on Saturday, Sept. 28 on NBC), does the show still have the juice – and what is its legacy?
Nicole, 28, a 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 endless, like I will always say ‘I need more cowbell‘ if I want the music louder, or that I live in ‘a van down by the river’ when someone asks me where I live,” she said, referring to the iconic sketches featuring Will Ferrell, Christoper Walken and Chris Farley.
“Moments like that, where everyone knows what you are talking about are golden,” she added. “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 look forward to hearing about it and watching the skits.”
But, not everyone agreed. Brooklyn resident Michael, 52, told The Post that he thinks “SNL” has grown stale.
“Let’s say Donald Trump’s running. Every week, it’s stupid already. Every single week, Alec Baldwin. It’s too much. I’m like, ‘Again?’ Opening up 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’s Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and a Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture, told The Post that the first season of the show “really was extraordinary.”
In the current TV landscape, however, the sketches blend into all the comedy that’s available “all over the place” on streaming, cable, YouTube and TikTok.
When it first premiered, it’s only competition was “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” he explained. “It had a cultural universe all to itself [in the ‘70s], and now it’s overpopulated.”
Thompson, who has also written and edited several books about television history, including “Television’s Second Golden Age” and “Adventures on Prime Time” – was in high school when “SNL” premiered. He recalled going to friends’ houses to watch.
“There was the sense that when you got to school on Monday, there was that population of people who had discovered ‘SNL,’ and there was everybody else who hadn’t.”
As far as shows that “SNL” influenced, Thompson cited “Fridays,” which ran on ABC as an attempt to duplicate “SNL,” but it was short-lived, airing between 1980 and 1982. Larry David was in the cast, and it even featured “SNL’s” first host, George Carlin, as its inaugural guest host.
But, “SNL” didn’t invent variety shows, or sketch shows; the format predates it.
Of course, “SNL” also influenced shows such as former “SNL” star Tina Fey’s Emmy-winning sitcom “30 Rock,” which aired from 2006-2013, following the cast and crew of a show similar to “SNL” through their behind-the-scenes antics.
Thompson joked that it might be “blasphemy” to say, but “30 Rock” was better than “SNL” on an “episode to episode basis.”
He added, “Take every single one of the great talents that got their launch on ‘SNL’ and I could always point to things they did in their careers that I liked better than what they did on ‘SNL.’”
And there lies “SNL’s” true cultural impact.
“For whatever one says about [Lorne Michaels], he has been able to consistently use ‘Saturday Night Live’ as this factory to churn out people who then go on to do really interesting work elsewhere,” said Thompson, adding that the show is “unparalleled” as a “college for future comic actors…because it’s been doing it for 50 years.”
Daniel, a viewer from Manhattan, agreed. “It’s like the same playbook throughout the season, so it’s like a comforting mediocre jokes,” he told The Post. “You know what you’re gonna get. But then, they have great talent that comes out of it. So there’s that benefit.”
Not only did the show groom, launch, and give a platform to stars such as Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Farley, John Belushi, Chris Rock, Fey, Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig – but it also gave a platform to comedians such as Steve Martin, who wasn’t a cast member, but hosted the show 16 times and appeared in it over 30 times.
“By the time he got to ‘SNL,’ he already had a presence, but ‘SNL’ introduced an awful lot of people to Steve Martin who had never heard of him before,” said Thompson.
“While ‘SNL’ never really revolutionized comedy style-wise, it certainly helped revolutionize it by giving a big forum to people like Steve Martin and Andy Kaufman, who would revolutionize comedy,” he went on. “‘Saturday Night Live’s’ greatest legacy, I think, is less the collection of their best sketches, and more the collection of careers that they launched or accelerated in significant ways.”
Thompson isn’t surprised that “SNL” has lasted a half-century. After all, with a rotating cast and musical guests, it can keep current to pop culture and change for various generations, he said.
But, he added, “I am surprised that so much of that 50 years has been done under one emperor, that being Lorne Michaels.”
Michaels isn’t irreplaceable, he explained, but if someone else took over the job of steering the ship after Michaels retires, their success would depend on “all kinds of other variables.”
“Up until not that long ago, ‘SNL’s’ title described it. It was something we watched on Saturday night, and we watched it live,” said Thompson.
“When that show started, you couldn’t even record it on a video cassette to watch it… In the early years, you had to watch it Saturday night, or you missed it. With streaming, we’ve completely changed the notion of what that timely late night television is all about.”
Today, he said, audiences consume “SNL” and other late night shows by mining them “throughout the week in little bits and pieces.”
Sure enough, Diego, a fan, told The Post about his viewing habits, “I look more for the clips than the whole show. I like that it’s sometimes edgy, and sometimes it has that comfort level of jokes and familiar faces.”
Thompson said that when Michaels, 79, steps down, the big question is whether “SNL” will wrap up, or try to keep going “even in this environment, when late night broadcast television is showing some real strains.”
He pointed to examples such as Seth Meyers losing his band amid budget cuts, James Corden not getting replaced by another late-night talk show host (but rather, by the quiz show “After Midnight”), and Jimmy Fallon scaling back from five nights a week to four.
“SNL” has adapted to this shifting landscape by having fewer live sketches and more pre- filmed segments, such as Samberg’s iconic and viral “Dick in a Box” sketch.
But, is it enough for the future?
“Is launching [‘SNL’] from a broadcast network mothership the way to do it? Or do you take that part out entirely? I think all of late-night [television] is thinking about this, now,” said Thompson, adding that whenever Michaels steps down, “there are some natural thresholds coming, to rethink that.”
But, when the show evaluates its future, “One would also have to think about what an extraordinary brand it is.”
“‘SNL’ is something that everyone knows,” he continued. “It may not be McDonalds or CocaCola, but it’s up there, with brand recognition.”
Courtney, an “SNL” viewer from Brooklyn, told The Post, “I think the show is still relevant. I think it’s really funny. My friends still allude to it in conversation.”
Thompson said that if the show is able to navigate the current shrinking late-night landscape, “It’s a pretty versatile format that can technically go on forever.”
