Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season – DVD Review

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Available at Amazon.com

Creator:
Lorne Michaels

Cast:

Dan Aykroyd ………. Himself
John Belushi ………. Himself
Chevy Chase ………. Himself
Jane Curtin ………. Herself
Garrett Morris ………. Himself
Laraine Newman ………. Herself
Gilda Radner ………. Herself

The Show

What do Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Jim Belushi, Will Ferrell, Dennis Miller, David Spade, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Martin Short, and Billy Crystal all have in common? They have all had regular roles on Saturday Night Live over the past 30 years. Not all at the same time, of course, but them along with many, many more have used SNL as their launching pad. They quickly learned that if wanted to end up being a successful comedian, you had to get your start on Saturday Night Live. There were other ways to launch a comedy career, but Saturday nights on NBC, starting in late 1975, was the place to be seen by people around the world.

The first season of Saturday Night Live featured the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players”. That group included Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner. At the time they were basically “unknown”. Thirty years later, most of them are still household names.

The format for the first season of the show is relatively the same as the run today. All the episodes were 90 minutes long. You had various guest hosts for each episode, and these hosts usually got involved with the “NRFPTP” members and participated in sketches with them. You saw wild (and crazy) characters and topical humor as expected. In addition to regular sketches, the first season also featured the “Weekend Update” with Chevy Chase. He commented on various news stories of the time. In between all of the laughter, there were musical guests. Star musicians of the time played a few songs during the show. That should all sound familiar.

However, there were a few differences between the first season and later seasons. First, the first season featured one segment called “A Film by Albert Brooks”. These were short segments or short films that was starred and directed by Albert Brooks. Another major difference was another segment in the show that featured Jim Henson and his “Muppets”. Yes, they regularly appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1975 and 1976. These two segments didn’t last too much longer in later seasons, though. There is a reason for that. They weren’t as funny as the rest of the episodes and didn’t add a whole lot. However, if you like Albert Brooks and/or Muppets talking about drugs without talking about drugs, then you will find something to enjoy in those segments.

In the early seasons, the cast of the show were not the “stars”. The guest hosts were supposed to be the “stars” of the show. That has changed over time. Yes, the hosts are supposed to “hook” viewers into watching the show. But really it’s the regular cast of each show that ends up shining the brightest. The first season was no exception. Chevy Chase is really the highlight in every single episode. Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi are fantastic as well, but Chevy is on the top of his game here. Garrett, Gilda, Jane, and Laraine are a good way to round off this cast, and it’s certainly a great way to start off this show. They paved the way for the future.

As I mentioned earlier, the guest hosts are supposed to be the “stars” of the show as they have plenty of time on screen. The first season featured less sketches with the hosts participating in them. That’s good and bad. If the host is a great comedian like George Carlin or Richard Pryor, then that host can “carry” the show by himself or herself. However, if the host seems out of place on a comedy show like Paul Simon, then that can bring that episode down. Most of the time a non-comedian needs the regular funny cast to help provide the laughs for the audience on Saturday Night Live. As a result, there were lots of time in this season where music was a much bigger part of the show than in later seasons. The musical guests were some of the “big” names during that time and they played more songs on the show than you might expect. Again that’s good and bad when you compare the various musical acts. Most have heard of Joe Cocker, Simon & Garfunkel, ABBA, and Carly Simon. But what about Leon Redbone, Al Jarreau, Phoebe Snow, and Howard Shore’s All-Nurse Band? Not so much.

SNL can’t help but be “dated”. The strong part about the show is topical humor that is smart and often a little “snarky”. Even if you saw the original season back in 1975 and 1976, you may not remember every reference on every episode today. Therefore, you won’t be laughing non-stop as about 20% of the jokes will probably go “over your head”, especially for people born after 1970. However, the 80% you do “get” it enough to crack a laugh it is solely credited to the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players”. Chase, Aykroyd, Belushi, Curtin, Morris, Newman, and Radner were put together by Lorne Michaels, and they created a show that has stood the test of time. It’s a show that was unique and fresh at the time, and has ended up having a long-lasting impact on American culture and comedy on your television sets. It’s always nice to see how great things got its start.

Episodes:

Disc One:

Episode 1:
Host – George Carlin
Musical Guests – Billy Preston & Janis Ian

Episode 2:
Host – Paul Simon
Musical Guests – Simon & Garfunkel, Phoebe Snow, Randy Newman, and The Jesse Dixon Singers

Episode 3:
Host – Rob Reiner
Musical Guest – Joe Cocker with John Belushi

Disc Two:

Episode 4:
Host – Candice Bergen
Musical Guest – Esther Phillips

Episode 5:
Host – Robert Klein
Musical Guests – Abba, and London Wainwright III

Episode 6:
Host – Lily Tomlin
Musical Guest – Howard Shore’s All-Nurse Band

Disc Three:

Episode 7:
Host – Richard Pryor
Musical Guest – Gil Scott-Heron

Episode 8:
Host – Candice Bergen
Musical Guests – Martha Reeves & The Stylistics

Episode 9:
Host – Elliott Gould
Musical Guest – Anne Murray

Disc Four:

Episode 10:
Host – Buck Henry
Musical Guests – Bill Withers & Toni Basil

Episode 11:
Host – Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
Musical Guest – Neil Sedaka

Episode 12:
Host – Dick Cavett
Musical Guest – Jimmy Cliff

Disc Five:

Episode 13:
Host – Peter Boyle
Musical Guest – All Jarreau

Episode 14:
Host – Desi Arnaz
Musical Guest – Desi Arnaz

Episode 15:
Host – Jill Clayburgh
Musical Guest – Leon Redbone

Disc Six:

Episode 16:
Host – Anthony Perkins
Musical Guest – Betty Carter

Episode 17:
Host – Ron Nessen
Musical Guest – Patty Smith Group

Episode 18:
Host – Raquel Welch
Musical Guest – Phoebe Snow and John Sebastian

Disc Seven:

Episode 19:
Host – Madeline Kahn
Musical Guest – Carly Simon

Episode 20:
Host – Dyan Cannon
Musical Guests – Leon & Mary Russell

Episode 21:
Host – Buck Henry
Musical Guest – Gordon Lightfoot

Disc Eight:

Episode 22:
Host – Elliott Gould
Musical Guests – Leon Redbone, Harlan Collins, and Joyce Everson

Episode 23
Host – Louise Lasser
Musical Guests – Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Episode 24:
Host – Kris Kristofferson
Musical Guests – Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge

The Video:

The video is presented in fullscreen with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Transfer is good with minimal distortion. In fact, the video quality has been digitally remastered so it’s better than when you may have first saw it 30 years ago. Still it’s the 1970’s, so you can only make them look so good.

The Audio:

The audio included is available in English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. There are subtitles available in English SDH. No problems with the sound either as it has been digitally remastered for your enjoyment. You’ll have to judge the music featured on the show for yourself, though.

The Extras:

Original Screen Tests
These are basically the audition tapes of the seven cast members. These show you how each person got picked to be on the show. Very interesting to watch.

Interview with the Cast
This is an original interview with the cast of the first season from 1975. Again, a great history lesson here.

Collector’s Booklet
This is an additional booklet that has tons of pictures of the cast, hosts, and musical guests taken in 1975 and 1976. This is very interesting to look at as you see how these people looked 30 years ago. Dan Aykroyd is the most shocking to see.

THE INSIDE PULSE

I wouldn’t go as far as saying this season is a “classic” as far as non-stop laughing is concerned. There are some segments on each episode that are not that funny at all. Then again, there are some that are still hilarious today. Saturday Night Live went through some growing pains in this first season. They saw what worked and what didn’t work. The stuff that did work was the original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players”. If nothing else, you will want to at least rent this season to see how these comedians were before they were “stars”. Any long-time fan of the show will no doubt want to buy this set as this is the first time you can buy the complete first season on DVD. Just don’t expect to be laughing for 36 straight hours.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Saturday Night Live – The Complete First Season
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

7
THE EXTRAS

7
REPLAY VALUE

8
OVERALL
7
(NOT AN AVERAGE)

I'm not embarrassed to say that my favorite television show of all-time is The O.C. I live by the motto "you can't fight fate!" More importantly, I watch WAY too much television, but I do so for the benefit of everyone reading this now. So to my mom and my wife, I say thanks for reading! To everyone else that might stumble across this, remember TiVo should be your best friend!