Every now and then, something happens to remind me of the time long, long ago, when Saturday Night Live was actually funny more often than twice a season. Today, it was the death of former president Gerald Ford. I heard about it on the television news first, not from Fark.com, but still, the instant thought that sprang to my mind was an image of Dana Carvey, Brokaw-ing: "dead today at the senseless age of 83." (Well, 93, as it turned out.)
Part of me wonders if Saturday Night Live, like The Black Hole, is something that I just enjoyed when I was younger, and doesn't stand up to scrutiny now. But then I watched that clip of Dana Carvey again, and I was rolling.
And then there's the wave of critics' reviews for the recent DVD release of the complete first season of SNL, with the original cast. We're talking nothing but A+, 5-star, must-buy reviews.
Sure, every once in a long while, SNL shows a hint of brilliance. (Everyone and their brother is posting YouTube links to Justin Timberlake's special "holiday gift," so it would be redundant for me to do so.) But I've long since given up watching the show on a regular basis. It's still in the TiVo Season Pass list. I figure I'll hear by Monday or Tuesday if there was anything worth seeing in the most recent episode, and then backtrack and catch it before it gets automatically deleted.
If you thought this was going to actually be a post about former president Gerald Ford, I'm sorry to disappoint. But what do I know about him? I wasn't really speaking intelligible words when he was president. I know Chevy Chase did a memorable impression of him, much-praised for the prat falls, despite no attempt whatsoever to actually sound like Ford.
You know, from back in the days when SNL was relevant and funny.
1 comment:
The most recent appearance by Alec Baldwin was funny all the way through. He invented a new smarmy character Rick Corman, once again delivered an excellent Tony Bennett impression with the real Tony Bennett next to him, and also delivered a great (brief!) Saddam Hussein impression.
Going back to that "brief" comment, what impressed me about the episode was that no skit ran too long, except for the carpool sketch, but even that one had some memorable lines like "Bobby McFerrin raped my grandmother."
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