Lately, I've been watching a lot of Saturday Night Live. Netflix did a great thing by making every season, including every episode, available for streaming play via internet connection either at Netflix.com or through Instant Queue on XBox 360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii. The episodes aren't exactly shown in their entirety. Some have been scaled down to as little as twenty five minutes and none of them show performances by the evening's musical guest. They do, however, announce in the intro who the musical guest that night was. It's actually very cool and in some cases quite nostalgic to see who was hosting the show and who the musical guest was at the time it aired. I made the decision to queue up the seasons from 1990-1999 to get started. That's the familiar era of SNL for me and I've wanted to relive those episodes for quite some time.
I've learned some interesting things about the show throughout my viewing. For instance, I had no idea that Robert Downey, Jr., Damon Wayans, and Anthony Michael Hall were cast members for one season in 1985. I didn't realize that Chris Farley predated players such as Tim Meadows, Adam Sandler, and David Spade. I'd always assumed they all showed up at the same time. I overlooked the brilliance of Phil Hartman as a kid, distracted by my delight in Adam Sandler's sophomoric humor. I have nothing against Adam Sandler, but let's face it, he isn't a thinking man's comedian. There was also a genuine sadness in seeing Chris Farley and Phil Hartman on the screen at the same time. Chris Farley was a standout performer. I remember that I loved him, but still, I'm sure that I never really appreciated how much this obese, yet spry man shined in the presence of so many comedic peformers that I and multitudes of fans considered great. Watching those two in their prime reminds us of how early and senselessly they were taken from us. Namely, Phil Hartman, who was murdered by his own wife.
I never appreciated how Dennis Miller delivered the news as ten year old kid and I'm glad I now have the opportunity to experience it as it was meant to be seen. He was sharp, witty, and sometimes delightfully scathing. Kevin Nealon's delivery was completely different from Miller's but equally entertaining. Nealon had a bit of a square persona and his jabs were subtle. His character, "Mr. Subliminal", was magnificent and I cannot believe I never recognized it until now. Norm MacDonald, possibly my favorite anchor in the nineties, had a painfully dry method for breaking the news. Nothing beats when MacDonald would strike out on a joke and stare at the audience, unflinching, until the crowd would break into laughter. That brings me to what I believe is the most precious treasure within this Netflix offering. SNL's Weekend Update is included in every episode. It's absolutely awesome to get a glimpse into the past and see what current events were rocking the headlines twenty years ago.
Through watching Weekend Update, I'm reminded of events such as the war in the Persian Gulf, the Clarence Thomas sexual harassment case, the OJ Simpson trial, the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, the 1992 election (in early campaigning for the democratic ticket, there was a sense of hopelessness and zero optimism that anyone stood a snowball's chance in hell of running against and defeating the incumbent George Bush), etc... Among the most amusing of topics, was Bill Clinton making the news for sexual misconduct well before the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He was catching flak for his weakness as far back as when he was still just the governer of Arkansas. There are also some amazing similarities when our world today is compared with the world in 1990. The economy was in terrible shape and on the verge of recession, there was war in the Middle East, the scapegoat was named Bush and a lot of the villains were the same.
Political correctness was barely existant. There was an installment of the famous, recurring sketch, "The Superfans", where Chris Farley (as Todd O'Connor) states, "Ya know, believe it or not Bob, according to the odds-makers, San Fransisco is favored to win the Super Bowl." To which George Wendt (as Bob Swerski) replies, "San Fransisco huh? Well, you know who's gonna be happy about that then. Da queers!" In unison, the superfans echo, "Da queers!" Phew. Activists would have a field day if that were to air today. At the very least, you'd hear the obligitory "Ohhh!" from a present day audience. This 1991 audience reacted with mirth. Also, cast members (especially Jan Hooks) and musicians would just light up a cigarette as if it were completey normal. No gasps from the audience and no looks of disgust from other cast members. Chris Rock even described a hypothetical scenario where if George Bush dropped Dan Quayle in favor of Colin Powell for his 1992 running mate, that would be bad for the president. He boldly announced, "As long as you live, you will never see a black vice president. You know why? Because some black guy would just kill the president. I'd do it. If Colin Powell was the vice president, I'd kill the president and tell his mother about it." Wow! He would never live saying that down on national television in 2011!
Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Phil Hartman, Kevin Nealon, Rob Schneider (derp de derp), David Spade, Chris Rock, Al Franken (now a senator), Conan O'Brien (writer), Mike Myers, Dennis Miller, Norm MacDonald, Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Cheri Oteri, Molly Shannon... those are all some great names and I'm certain I'm leaving some out. What a decade! Not only is it great to watch what I consider SNL's greatest decade (my parents always remind me that the SNL of the mid to late 70's was the best, which is a sturdy argument) because of the amazing sketch comedy that was produced, it's also a time machine. As I watch these episodes, sometimes I'll flash back to sitting on the edge of my bed with the lights off, my door shut, and the volume on the television down so low I'd have to sit right in front of the screen to hear it. We always went to church in the morning at that time and my mom and dad preferred that I would be sleeping rather than staying up until 1 a.m. watching SNL. I so love reliving the past in such a fun way.
I can't thank Netflix enough for doing this. I can only hope they'll keep them available long enough that I can watch them all! It's taken me two weeks just to get halfway through 1991. Speaking of... Netflix is calling me. I've gotta go.
(Side note: At the end of an episode in which Nirvana was the musical guest, watching Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic bounce around the stage as the host said goodbye was awesome! Grohl looked like a kid. Apparently Kurt Cobain wasn't up for the love fest that ends every SNL episode, as he was nowhere to be seen.)
