Remember when SNL was actually funny?

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Platypus

Platypus

Lifer
Apr 26, 2001
31,046
321
136
Yep, consistently between 1975-1980.

After that, they've certainly had funny moments but the overall feeling of the show changed and they lost a lot of their balls.
 
MikeyIs4Dcats

MikeyIs4Dcats

Lifer
Nov 5, 2001
18,366
3
0
Fritzo said:
People that say any popular show is "not funny" are people that don't watch it and want to jump on some kind of "people like this so I will therefore hate it" bandwagon.

SNL has had some hit and miss shows. It had a LOT of them in the period the OP posted. It was even worse during the early and mid 80s.

The last few years have had some of the best SNL skits actually. Zach Galifianakis's opening last week was an instant classic (skip ahead to 3 minutes if you're impatient)
http://www.hulu.com/watch/132871/saturday-night-live-zach-monologue

or Lawrence Welk gets creepy:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/37752/saturday-night-live-the-lawrence-welk-show

or Christopher Walken and the census taker:

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/census-taker/274571/?__cid=thefilter

Alec Baldwin is always win:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/4156/saturday-night-live-nprs-delicious-dish-schweddy-balls

and countless others. The problem with today's viewing audience is they watch too many 2 minute YouTube clips that they can turn on and off instantly. The result is a short attention span, and if every single show is not top notch, the show becomes "Not as funny as it used to be." There are plenty of classic things on SNL still being made, it's just that it somehow became fashionable to say "it's not funny".
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but even at that, if you assume they had a 100 memorable funny sketches over the last 10 years, that's out of at least a thousand sketches.
 
N

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
I think people get rose-colored glasses via watching SNL eps in syndication -- which tend to only be an hour, as opposed to the hour and a half live episodes, allowing them to substantially trim out the worst sketches.

it's funny frequently enough that I find it to be worth dvr'ing (and watching, if I'm home on a saturday night with nothing else to do)
 
Nitemare

Nitemare

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
35,461
4
81
It had it's moments back in the day, but since Sandler, Hartman, Myers, Carvey left it has been an absolute pile of steaming horse poo. Ferrel was a brief reprise from the doldrums, but it was few and far between.

It was still the best back in the beginning when Murray, Chase, Akroyd, Radner and Belushi were on. Hell, Steve Martin was not an official cast member, but was 100% better than anybody on the show today
 
HannibalX

HannibalX

Diamond Member
May 12, 2000
9,359
2
0
ElFenix said:
it's never been funny, it's that you've forgotten most of the bad skits from years ago and you're left with just the funny ones.
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The show was consistently funny for a looong time, since the mid 90s though it has been consistently horrible.
 
Regs

Regs

Lifer
Aug 9, 2002
16,666
21
81
you'll be living in a van down by the river!

Last time I remember it being funny.
 
T

TheNinja

Lifer
Jan 22, 2003
12,207
1
0
I thought it was WAAAY funnier with Farley, Ferrell, Sandler, Hartman, Myers, etc. However it might partly b/c of my age at the time, and party b/c we always remember things more favorably when we look back on them. However I still maintain that it was funnier then.
This season has been somewhat hit or miss. Some of the sketches are so horrible I don't even crack a smile. I always like weekend update. At least they have some decent looking girls again...Abby Elliot.
 
T

trmiv

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
14,670
18
81
There were times when it was consistently funnier than it is now. But even the worsts casts (including the horrible 85-86 cast) has had their funny sketches mixed in. And even during the years where it was consistently funny there were still a ton of bad sketches. With a show that long, with that many people writing, with that many actors it's not always going to work.

I saw a sketch a few weeks ago on hulu that I thought was pretty funny. The one where the dad gets the old band together to sing at his daughters wedding, and it turns out they were a hardcore band and start tearing shit up.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/126479/saturday-night-live-band-reunion-at-the-wedding
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,864
31,359
146
It still has its moments, but I don't go out of my way to watch it anymore. The worst funk was probably the turnover after Hartman left--the completely new cast, with Farrel, Hammond, Chris Elliot, et al. As much as I actually like Chris Eliot, he sucked balls on SNL. Will Farrell ended up being great for the show, but those 2 or so years with that cast sucked hard.


Even the Hartman, Carvey, Lovitz, Farly/Sandler, Nealon, Myers years had some horrible moments, but overall quite good.
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,864
31,359
146
TheNinja said:
I thought it was WAAAY funnier with Farley, Ferrell, Sandler, Hartman, Myers, etc. However it might partly b/c of my age at the time, and party b/c we always remember things more favorably when we look back on them. However I still maintain that it was funnier then.
This season has been somewhat hit or miss. Some of the sketches are so horrible I don't even crack a smile. I always like weekend update. At least they have some decent looking girls again...Abby Elliot.
Click to expand...
:wub:

at the very least, she's much easier on the eyes than her...father? Can't remember if she's Chris's daughter, or very young sister....
 
sandorski

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,789
6,349
126
gimmewhitecastles said:
SNL has always been hit or miss (a lot) for me. For every good skit there were 5-6 terrible skits. To his credit Will Ferrell had the best success rate in skits.

I can always go back to Celebrity Jeopardy when I need a pick me up.
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This. There is always something funny on SNL. Occasionally you'll get an episode that's consistently funny or a series of skits that are always funny. I've been watching it for the better part of 30 years and still enjoy it.
 
J

joeboggs

Member
Mar 13, 2010
32
0
0
sandorski said:
There is always something funny on SNL.
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Untrue. There was absolutely NOTHING funny about Chris Katan, Molly Shannon, Ana Gasteyer, Will Ferrell etc., pretty much the entire group except token black guy Tim Meadows, when they fired the entire cast in the bomb seasons after they let most of the writers go in the mid/late 90's.
 
R

Rastus

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
4,704
3
0
Ronstang said:
I'm assuming you are talking about the real SNL...from the late 70s? Killer Bees!!!!!!!!!!!! Cheezborger, cheeps, and Pepsi...No Coke!!! Pepsi!!
Click to expand...
That stuff was funny, but they overdid it and the popular skits were on every week. I guess it shows how hard it is to come up with fresh material for a weekly show.
 
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