SNL: The Best of 06/07
Cast: Amy Poehler, Darrell Hammond, Andy Samberg
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release date: March 4, 2008
SNL in the ’80s: Lost And Found
Documentary (2005)
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release date: March 4, 2008
Directors sometimes follow good films with poor films. Sitcoms have great episodes, and episodes that should have been left in the can. Musicians follow up great albums with mediocre tracks. It happens in any creative environment.
Saturday Night Live is no exception.
It seems that in the long history of SNL, each season is either ‘good’ or ‘bad’. After the classic first “Not Ready For Prime Time Players” all left the SNL stage, each season that follows is remembered in whole, not for individual parts.
So when I received two DVDs regarding Saturday Night Live, one The Best of 06/07 and the other SNL in the ’80s: Lost And Found, it reinforced those notions.
SNL in the ’80s is a DVD of the documentary film shown on NBC regarding the most intriguing era of the groundbreaking late-night show. During that era, Lorne Michaels and NBC tried anything and everything to revive the SNL brand after the original cast left and one horrific season that was amongst the worst in the history of the show.
(Though, that season did produce Joe Piscopo and Gilbert Gottfried, and introduced us to Eddie Murphy, so there’s good and the bad.)
From the 1981 disaster, the show gradually improved until the magic year where Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Martin Short graced the stage. But after that season, it was a drop into the abyss again where performers like Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey, Jr. tried and failed to make it work. Only late in the ’80s, behind such stalwarts as Dennis Miller, Jon Lovitz, and Phil Hartman, did the show recover.
This documentary, featuring only glimpses of sketches and musical acts amongst the interviews, shows the highs and lows of that era, and makes you remember the good times. There’s a bonus feature as well, but it’s not that compelling. If you want the full sketches, save your money, but if you liked that documentary or like the history of SNL, then get this DVD.
By all rights, the 06-07 season of SNL was…not good. But even in its worst seasons, there are enough good bits to give you hope, and Saturday Night Live: The Best Of 06-07 has enough to keep you laughing for the most part.
Yet, there are only two truly memorable skits, and both are ‘filmed’ rather that on the SNL stage. The first is the infamous “Dick In A Box” song with Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg. As a bonus, you get the uncensored version. The second is the parody of the NFL United Way TV commercials featuring Peyton Manning. That’s absolutely hilarious, more so if you have spent any time watching the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts.
The rest of the skits are amusing, but not classic. Darrell Hammond does a great Donald Trump, but that’s really easy pickings for any good comic. (Really, all you need to do is get a bad wig, yell a lot, and say YOOOOOGE!) As for the bonus features, the two outtake skits are outtakes for a reason, and Weekend Update is always humorous and the outtakes from that can also be funny.
(Yes, it’s weird to see the word ‘outtake’ regarding a show that’s live, but those were filmed in dress rehearsal, which is also filmed and substituted just in case of calamity of some reason or another.)
If you’re a SNL zealot, and can’t get enough Seth Meyers, then buy this disc. Otherwise, just wait, because no doubt they’ll broadcast the highlights from this season soon enough on E!
