When Saturday Night Live Ruled Television
Since it's inception in 1975, Saturday Night Live has been the gauge for all things culturally and politically significant. If SNL makes fun of you, then you must be important in some way, shape or form. The show has been around for 40 years now, and even with a few dips in quality and popularity, the show continues to be a breeding ground for up and coming comedy stars and other film and television performers. It has spawned bits and jokes that are ingrained in our cultural identity and, in my opinion it hit it's high point during the late 80's to the 2000's. It's my personal favorite eras of the show and what we'll be talking about today.
The late 80's- early 90's SNL cast was stacked. Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, John Lovitz, Chris Farley, David Spade, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Tim Meadows, Rob Schneider, Victoria Jackson, Julia Sweeney, Jan Hooks, Nora Dunn, Ellen Cleghorne, Kevin Nealon, and Dennis Miller.
As we tend to do with this site, I made a list of my favorite performers and some of their best moments.
Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman was the glue of the SNL cast. He could play any role, for any skit and was a consummate professional. He did incredible impersonations and had no problem playing second banana to some of the other big namers. Here are my favorite characters of his:
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer- It sounds like a stupid premise, and really it is. Hartman finds a way to make this one note character have staying power and make you want to see more of his adventures.
"Your honor, I'm just a caveman..." watch the video here
Frank Sinatra- Absolute gold. This is one of my favorite bits. I could watch it a million times. Click on the image for the video on NBC.com
Bill Clinton
Best line:
Secret Service Agent: Don't tell Mrs. Clinton (about stopping at McDonalds)
Clinton: Jim...there are a lot of things we won't be telling Mrs. Clinton
watch it here
SNL has a history of political satire, especially taking on our current and former presidents. Phil nails Clinton when the newly-elected, former Governor of Arkansas was moving into the White House and as we learned more about Slick Willy, Phil's impression only improved.
Best Team Up: John Lovitz doing the "one more mission" skit. When these two work together and do the 1940's Hollywood scene voice.
watch the video right here
Best Ensemble
Phil plays Burt Reynolds, Dana Carvey does Johnny Carson and Chris Farley as Dom Deluise in “Carson’s Outtakes.” I can not set this one up. It’s almost impossible to find this online, but if you can get your hands on the SNL DVD Best of Chris Farley, check it out there. But here’s a gif :)
Dana Carvey
Dana Carvey is an insanely funny person. He does impersonations that are caricatures of the subject but end up becoming the baseline for all others who try to do an impersonation. Think about George Bush; most people aren't doing an impersonation of him, they're doing an impersonation of Dana Carvey's impersonation.
George Bush- Wouldn't be prudent, not at this juncture.
“Choppin’ Broccoli”- any description would be silly. Just watch the video :)
Crotchety Old Man- Carvey is such a great performer that you can't describe his bits to those who haven't seen them. You can see this video right here
Dan Rather- what a funny premise: Dan Rather wants to take an extended vacation so he pre-records things that may happen while he is gone.
George Michael- It's essentially just Dana Carvey doing his British accent and shaking his butt...still funny though
Best Team Up: Mike Myers for Wayne’s World
The bits on SNL were great and so was the movie. Well...both movies for that matter.
Chris Farley
Chris Farley was a force of nature. Many people complain that he did the same thing in every skit he was in: be fat, be loud, fall and break stuff. I can appreciate high brow humor, biting satire, and all the rest of the "intelligent humor" people who hate Farley seem to love. Funny is funny, and to try to quantify it and diminish a man who's only goal was to make people laugh is sad. Chris Farley is one of the funniest people I've ever seen.
Matt Foley- This bit defines Farley. Whenever people do an impersonation of Farley, it's normally this.
I don't know anyone who hasn't seen this video before...but if you want to reminisce...here ya go Matt Foley fans
Chippendales w/ Patrick Swayze- This put Chris Farley on the map. He was in his first season on SNL when this one aired and it blew everyone away with how hilarious it was.
Japanese Game Show- If this doesn't make you laugh, I don't think we can be friends. Next to the Hartman/Carvey "Johnny Carson" skit mentioned above, this is the funniest thing I've ever seen.
Farley has too many great moments to limit it to just one best team up and one best ensemble. Here is another one of his funniest bits he was in with other stars.
Honorable Mentions: the Super Fans ("How many heart attacks does that make for ya?" "That would be a Baker's dozen, Bob.")
Chris went on to do some movies as well. All of Farley’s movies are dumb and simplistic in their humor, but that doesn’t make them any less funny. Tommy Boy has a life of it’s own. It has a heart and tenderness that none of his other movies achieve as he has to fill his father’s shoes after his death, saving both his family’s company and the city of Sandusky. I feel that is his ultimate legacy; being incredibly hilarious but doing it with heart as well.
Mike Myers
What was truly great about this SNL cast was they had a certain Voltron-esque quality: Individually they were strong performers, not unlike a robot lion. Together, they formed an unstoppable robot defender of the universe...of comedy. Mike Myers was one of those lions: he could carry an entire sketch on his own but also team up with others to make a hilarious ensemble. Here are some of his top hits.
Phillip the “hyper hypo”- This is a bit I don't think you could get away with in today's hyper-sensitive world. A hyperactive child wearing a helmet tied to a jungle gym...yeah...not happening. But still hilarious none the less.
Sprockets “Dieter’s Dream”- Not my favorite re-occuring character, but this particular sketch had all the best parts of Sprockets. The image below is the best part.
Mike Myers as Mick Jagger w/ Mick Jagger as Keith Richards-
You have to at least respect someone who is willing to sit next to someone who is making fun of them. Mike and Mick do a great job of using the SNL stylized Weekend Update editorial format. Click the image below and enjoy the whole Weekend Update.
Team Up: Dana Carvey “Wayne’s World”
The episode below is when the boys meet their musical heroes: Aerosmith. This is one of my favorite Wayne's World sketches as well because we get a guest star from Tom Hanks, too.
Myers’ best work came when he started making films. So I Married an Axe Murderer is by far his funniest movie. It sets the groundwork for all of his other successes (Austin Powers and Shrek) and has an amazing cameo from Phil Hartman.
So there you have it, the first part of the SNL Nostalgia November article. Hope you enjoyed it :) There were so many other eras that were hilarious in their own right, but none in this writer’s opinion that were as complete as this 80s-90s crew.
