Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years

by Michael Cader (Editor), Edie Baskin (Photographer)

Saturday Night Live - the official book of the show's twentieth anniversary, to be celebrated in September 1995 in an hour-long prime-time Sunday special - is a jam-packed, heavily illustrated look at the first twenty years of the show through the voices and memories of all those who made it happen. The book is a lively romp through time, recalling breakthrough comedy moments and characters etched in our national memory. The breeding ground and showcase of much of the best comedic talent of our time, from Gilda Radner to Eddie Murphy, from Dana Carvey and Mike Myers, SNL remains the most highly rated and influential late-night show, reaching eleven million viewers in the United States and twenty million viewers worldwide each week. Various cast members, feature players, writers, and hosts recall their favorite sketches, moments, and characters. Summaries of every sketch from "Killer Bees" to "Coffee Talk," interviews with the creators, and a treasure of trivia in a special "SNL by the

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Tv, Comedy, History, Biography, Pop Culture

264 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 1994

Reviews

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years by Edie Baskin (Houghton Miflin 1994)(791.4572) is full of great SNL trivia from the glory days of the show. The show is split into periods when the cast basically turned over. The first section is from the period 1975-1980; the best sketches from this period include the Killer Bees, Landshark, Judy Miller (Gilda Radner), Samurai, Mr. Bill, the Widettes, the Coneheads, Nick the Lounge Singer, the Festrunk Brothers ("Two Wild and Crazy Guys" - Georg (Dan Ackroyd) and Yortuk (Steve Martin)), the Olympia Restaurant ("cheeseburger cheeseburger - no coke, Pepsi"), Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello), Chico Escuela (Garrett Morris - "Beesboll been berry berry gud to me"), Point Counterpoint ("Jane, you ignorant slut..."), Roseanne Roseannadana and Emily Litella (Gilda Radner), and Andy Kaufman appearing twelve times. From the period 1980-1985, the best sketches were Ed Grimley (Martin Short), Fernando (Billy Crystal - "You look mahvelous"), The Whiners (Joe Piscapo and Robin Duke), Larry the Lobster, Gumby, Buckwheat, and Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood (Eddie Murphy). Finally, from the period 1985-1994, the best sketches were the Liar (Jon Lovitz - "That's the ticket"), the Church Lady (Dana Carvey - "Well isn't that special"), Hans and Franz (Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon - "We just want to pump...you up"), Wayne's World (Mike Myers (Wayne) and Dana Carvey (Garth)), Pat (Julia Sweeney), and Da Bearsss (Superfans). This book jogged lots of pleasant memories that were thirty-five years old. My rating: 7.5/10; finished 9/19/11.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't stress enough how important this book was to my middle school years. I bought it at an outlet bookstore, brought it to school and my friends immediately began passing it around, learning all the skits and catchphrases by heart. This was before YouTube, when the only way to see the SNL skits you most wanted to see was by renting "Best Of" certain performer tapes from the library. This book was YouTube before YouTube for me and my friends, and I can't hear certain sketches or jokes now without thinking of the time we would spend in homeroom or around the lunch table.

[Joe Prats · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much sketch scripts and not enough behind the scenes stuff. But still decent

[Bruce Kirby · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a SNL fan, you'll love this 20 year anniversary book. The good, the bad and the ugly of an iconic show.

[Scot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Dana Carvey, but should there have been 2 photos of him on the cover? Maybe Eddie Murphy could have been put on there instead of 1 of them? Eddie did save the show after the original cast left.

[Jennifer Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fun overall but the exact dialoge from skits just wastn't that funny to read verbatim. I think a bit of trivia about how that skit or character was developed would have been more enjoyable reading. And they could have just skipped most of the 90's. Terrible! You know those "commedians" who were in the cast then have gone on to work a lucrative carreer in the food service industry.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

great insight into the show

[Fangirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with pictures that bring back memories about the early days of SNL.