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i have only ever watched saturday night live, but even i kinda feel like i crave the approval of lorne michaels at all times
i've been watching SNL since middle school. i remember seeing clips from season 35 (hamm and buble, some of betty white's episode), but the first full episode i remember watching live was the season 35 finale - host alec baldwin, musical guest tom petty and the heartbreakers. the cold open was about the bp oil spill. it was my first digital short (great day), my first stefon, and my first garth and kat. and soon enough it became one of my teenage hyperfixations, which fit pretty neatly into my existing late-night talk show hyperfixation
and honestly thats how i'm approaching this "review" (again more of a journal entry) bc i'm still a giant fucking network television nerd. SNL is such an important part of american television and pop culture and has been for such a long time, and reading into its long storied (and sometimes weed- and coke-fueled) history just had me so fascinated !
also really interesting rereading this at age 28 (i've owned the original book for a long time, this was my first time reading the expanded version) because i felt like i saw the nuance in people a lot easier. like i first read this book after conan's tonight show bullshit so at first i LOATHED every single NBC executive mentioned bc remember, NBC is evil!!! but now i see a little more nuance in people like Dick Ebersol. i can find the positives in what he did for SNL. fuck him and Jeff Zucker for being so pro-Leno though. fuck em forever for that
ANYWAY this show rules and i'm so glad i got to learn so much about it and god would i kill to be in the audience for a live show at least once in my life
i've been watching SNL since middle school. i remember seeing clips from season 35 (hamm and buble, some of betty white's episode), but the first full episode i remember watching live was the season 35 finale - host alec baldwin, musical guest tom petty and the heartbreakers. the cold open was about the bp oil spill. it was my first digital short (great day), my first stefon, and my first garth and kat. and soon enough it became one of my teenage hyperfixations, which fit pretty neatly into my existing late-night talk show hyperfixation
and honestly thats how i'm approaching this "review" (again more of a journal entry) bc i'm still a giant fucking network television nerd. SNL is such an important part of american television and pop culture and has been for such a long time, and reading into its long storied (and sometimes weed- and coke-fueled) history just had me so fascinated !
also really interesting rereading this at age 28 (i've owned the original book for a long time, this was my first time reading the expanded version) because i felt like i saw the nuance in people a lot easier. like i first read this book after conan's tonight show bullshit so at first i LOATHED every single NBC executive mentioned bc remember, NBC is evil!!! but now i see a little more nuance in people like Dick Ebersol. i can find the positives in what he did for SNL. fuck him and Jeff Zucker for being so pro-Leno though. fuck em forever for that
ANYWAY this show rules and i'm so glad i got to learn so much about it and god would i kill to be in the audience for a live show at least once in my life
funny
informative
fast-paced
I could cut 300 pages from this book and make it so much better. It was very entertaining to read all of the stories included, but the authors beat every single story to death before moving on to the next one.
What a ride. I need them to do another extension next year for the 50th anni.
So, yes: I primarily read this for my husband, Bill Hader, even though I knew he wouldn't show up until the last hundred pages of this 750+ page behemoth. But the whole book is pretty damn riveting. I would never identify as a huge SNL fan; however, it's been part of the comedy background of my life for my entire life. My parents introduced me to Landshark and Toonces, and everything after that seeped into my brain just...as a culturally conscious American, I guess.
SNL has been fairly good and very bad in my lifetime, but it's always been there. It's fascinating to get to know so many of the personalities behind the show, and to get a glimpse of the nitty-gritty of how it gets made.
This book fell into the trap of a lot of oral histories of hitting the same point over and over; the updated chapters were, unsurprisingly, the least well edited, actively full of typos and repetition. And yet I could not stop turning the pages. I stayed up way too late several nights because I was just having so much fun. There are just so many people in this book who seem like they'd be an absolute blast to hang out with. With, also, some extremely notable exceptions.
Chevy Chase. First and foremost, hoo boy, am I talking about Chevy Chase. Fun fact: I once got to shout "Go fuck yourself, Chevy!" to Chevy Chase's face. It was very satisfying. Even more so after reading this book.
Anyway, here are some random factoids that I learned:
--Chevy Chase: the worst. Also he was really, really cruel to tiny baby Robert Downey Jr. once. Gotta wonder if either of them ever still thinks about that.
--Baby Lorne Michaels was actually sort of hot? whaaaaaaaaat
--In the early years, everyone was fucking everyone else, all the time. Dan Ackroyd stole Lorne Michaels' wife (a writer on the show) and everyone seemed pretty cool about it?? Are all the stories about the '70s actually just based around what was happening at Rockefeller Plaza?
--Milton Berle, an early years host, had an absolutely enormous penis. This book is worth reading for the sequence about Milton Berle's penis alone.
--It's really weird to read a book written at a time (updated edition: 2014) when Rudy Guiliani was still someone people took relatively seriously. He's quoted in this book, mostly in reference to the first show after 9/11. He sounds vaguely sane. I mean, I still didn't like Guiliani in 2014, but could I have guessed what would transpire with him? No! A landshark appearance would have seemed more plausible. Oof.
--BUT ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE: everyone loves my husband, Bill Hader, and thinks he's incredibly talented. (Correct.) Bill also has lovely things to say about everyone he's ever worked with...except Justin Bieber. Man, he really does not like Bieber. He's a sensible man, our Bill.
--The description given about Milton Berle's penis is that it was "like a pepperoni." There, now you have suffer through that image with me. This has been my evil plan all along. Mwahahahaha
SNL has been fairly good and very bad in my lifetime, but it's always been there. It's fascinating to get to know so many of the personalities behind the show, and to get a glimpse of the nitty-gritty of how it gets made.
This book fell into the trap of a lot of oral histories of hitting the same point over and over; the updated chapters were, unsurprisingly, the least well edited, actively full of typos and repetition. And yet I could not stop turning the pages. I stayed up way too late several nights because I was just having so much fun. There are just so many people in this book who seem like they'd be an absolute blast to hang out with. With, also, some extremely notable exceptions.
Chevy Chase. First and foremost, hoo boy, am I talking about Chevy Chase. Fun fact: I once got to shout "Go fuck yourself, Chevy!" to Chevy Chase's face. It was very satisfying. Even more so after reading this book.
Anyway, here are some random factoids that I learned:
--Chevy Chase: the worst. Also he was really, really cruel to tiny baby Robert Downey Jr. once. Gotta wonder if either of them ever still thinks about that.
--Baby Lorne Michaels was actually sort of hot? whaaaaaaaaat
--In the early years, everyone was fucking everyone else, all the time. Dan Ackroyd stole Lorne Michaels' wife (a writer on the show) and everyone seemed pretty cool about it?? Are all the stories about the '70s actually just based around what was happening at Rockefeller Plaza?
--Milton Berle, an early years host, had an absolutely enormous penis. This book is worth reading for the sequence about Milton Berle's penis alone.
--It's really weird to read a book written at a time (updated edition: 2014) when Rudy Guiliani was still someone people took relatively seriously. He's quoted in this book, mostly in reference to the first show after 9/11. He sounds vaguely sane. I mean, I still didn't like Guiliani in 2014, but could I have guessed what would transpire with him? No! A landshark appearance would have seemed more plausible. Oof.
--BUT ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE: everyone loves my husband, Bill Hader, and thinks he's incredibly talented. (Correct.) Bill also has lovely things to say about everyone he's ever worked with...except Justin Bieber. Man, he really does not like Bieber. He's a sensible man, our Bill.
--The description given about Milton Berle's penis is that it was "like a pepperoni." There, now you have suffer through that image with me. This has been my evil plan all along. Mwahahahaha
Yeah this fucking book is a roller coaster. I loved every moment of it. I love SNL and hearing behind the scenes stuff about seasons I didn’t even know about was awesome!!! Bravo! I recommend it to anyone who likes comedy
Fun and naturally incomplete oral history that seems to touch some of the sharp edges of SNL’s story, despite having the blessing of a megacorp with assets to protect. Can only begin the imagine all of the crazy and delightful and horrifying shit was left out.
funny
informative
slow-paced
I really, really enjoyed this book. Only some characters were discussed, some movies. I would like more on the formulation of some of the iconic characters. I skipped the last chapter about Lorne because the whole book is about Lorne, not a page goes by without mentioning Lorne. I just remembered like Tim Meadows being a huge cast member when I was young and there so little about him. I think it also showed a nastier side to some people involved l, hosts, writers...
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves the show.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves the show.