On Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 3:19 AM, JW <[email protected]> wrote: > > I have followed SNL moderately closely since it began - I am far from an > > expert, but probably follow it more closely than most of the general > > population. I had not heard that Hammond had these issues, and given his > > long tenure with the show I might have guessed that he was one of the > more > > stable cast members over the years, instead of what, even for this show, > > must qualify as the least stable cast member (unless Andy Dick was ever > on > > the show). I have long thought that Hammond was one of the least talented > > of the cast members who have been on the show more than 3 seasons, and > this > > may now be explained by Lorne having a sense that the show was maybe the > > closest thing to a real home and family that he had. > > Hammond was always a solid impressionist, which was all they needed > from him. If he was sufficiently functional on Saturday nights, they > could (apparently) live with the stability issues that Brian says they > knew about. > > I wouldn't be so quick to anoint a "least stable cast member". With > competitors like Chevy, Belushi, and Farley, and probably others we > either don't know about or who disappeared quickly (or who don't leap > to mind), there's been a lot of instability to judge. Michael > O'Donoghue probably belongs somewhere in this conversation, too, as > does Hammond. >
I dispute the description of him as being "always a solid impressionist". In the Fresh Air interview he described himself as a caricaturist, which I think is right, and he also expressed some uncertainty as to how good they were, which I think was also right. His Clinton and Gore were funny because they highlighted and in part created certain cultural understandings, but he had as many bad impressions and caricatures as he had good ones, with a hit rate considerably lower (IMO) than people like Aykroyd (also not a real impressionist) or Hartman. I anoint him as the least stable cast member in the history of SNL in spite of the excesses of Belushi, Farley, and even O'Donoghue. Of course I can't take into account behavior we know nothing of, but if what Hammond describes in his book is true, he was even more unstable, while working on the show, as any of the more famous bad boys. Which is what I mean by saying Hammond's problems have more to do with underlying, severe mental health issues than substance abuse. He reports that he has been diagnosed with both bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia, that he regularly engaged in self-cutting behavior (which is symptomatic of several disorders, including borderline personality, which would be consistent with his reported history of severe childhood physical abuse) and that he had been in a psychiatric hospital for much of the week prior to the first skit he did with Farrell on the Bush-Gore debates. He also reports hallucinating during rehearsals for the show - probably not singular in the history of SNL, except these were not drug induced. ** -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
