Saturday Night Live - The Complete First Season : 1975-1976
Description:
Nicknamed the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players," the original cast of Saturday Night Live ignited a comedy revolution with their mix of irreverent characters and satirical impressions of political figures and pop culture icons. From the premiere of this groundbreaking sketch comedy show on October 11, 1975, live from historic Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner launched themselves into instant stardom and were often referred to as "The Beatles of Comedy." Created by Lorne Michaels over three decades ago, Saturday Night Live has had the cultural impact and relevance that few shows can claim. Nowhere else can you see the complete first season of SNL, featuring hosts George Carlin, Rob Reiner, Lily Tomlin, Richard Pryor, Elliott Gould, Candice Bergen, or original musical performances by Simon & Garfunkel, ABBA, Patti Smith, Jimmy Cliff, and Carly Simon. And if you're curious as to how the original cast was hired, check out the DVD bonus features, which include the screen tests of each performer.
Product Details:
Actors:
Dan Aykroyd, Cheve Chase, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris
Director:
Dave Wilson
Format:
Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
It's target audience, was mainly the teen and twenty-something 70s baby-boomers. These viewers finally had a comedy show, that they could instantly relate to. It poked fun at everything their parent's generation tended to take too seriously; religion, politics, social proprieties, etc.
It goes without saying, that the splendidly talented Not Ready For Prime Time Players, were the centerpiece of the show. They included Chevy Chase, Dan Akroid, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Jane Kurtin, Garrett Morris, and Lorraine Newman. When they left the show after the first few seasons, it never quite regained it's comedic edge, that it had when they were regulars.
Saturday Night Live also had the hippest guest hosts every week. These various hosts, always seemed to mesh marvelously with the overall comedic hi-jinx of the show.
During it's early years, and even today, Saturday Night Live has featured some of the most cutting-edge musical performers; Patti Smith (the 'godmother' of Punk), Run DMC, Queen Latifah, The Talking Heads, Nirvana, etc. So the musical performance segment of the show, was always as much of a treat as the comedic sketches were.
In summation, Saturday Night Live was the original template, for all of the irreverent comedy sketch shows that came later; SCTV, The Kids In The Hall, Mad TV, etc. And though the first few seasons of the show were the best, it still holds its own, even after being on the air nearly 33 years now.
SNL 1st seasonNov 06, 2009 Loved these shows originally and they bring back lots of good memories and laughs. We'll enjoy these shows for many years to come. Great value.
3 of 17 found the following review helpful:
NOT - The Complete First SeasonApr 15, 2009 This is false advertising. This DVD set is missing many pieces. Do not support this weak effort! Also, video quantity is very poor.
3 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Bore meMar 07, 2009 This 1st season is real boring. Mostly music, and the live music bands will send shivers up your spine. (not from delight). Most of it is repeated sketches from the last show and I did fast forward a lot. It was not funny, maybe one part was with the killer shark knocking at the door, but that's about it. It's lame, I wouldn't waste my bucks on it. I only give it a 1 star, I pushed the wrong star.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
SNL the way it wasFeb 08, 2009 I was in high school when SNL was invented. The buzz at school was amazing about this show. I recall vividly watching these with the TV volume low as my parents were asleep. It was an incredible experience live. My wife has never seen SNL before and she was surprised at the quality of the performers the show attracted.
based on 150 reviews
