And also, it should be pointed out that "Your Show of Shows" in particular had a lot more non-comedy material each week than "SNL," even considering that the former had less commercial time than "SNL" has ever had, being a late-night show. Caesar & Co. rarely did two sketches back-to-back, even if separated by commercials, since the show was filled with singers and production numbers--I would suspect that at least half the show each week was non-comedy, while "SNL" has the set-in-stone two segments for the musical guest.
A few weeks ago, I watched the first episode of "SNL" essentially uncut on NBC VOD (what got cut seemed to be the plug for the Marriott Essex House hotel, although the gag plug for the Blaine Hotel after Laraine Newman's Weekend Update "report" on the murder spree at the fictional hotel was left in). After getting out of the way George Carlin's multiple monologues, two musical guests each doing two songs (Billy Preston and Janis Ian), a monologue from Valeri Bromfield, Andy Kaufman's Mighty Mouse bit, the Albert Brooks film and the mucking Fuppets, there was not a heck of a lot of opportunities for the Not Ready for Prime Time Players to show off, except for the cold opening "The Wolverines," a typically Michael O'Donaghue-ian piece that screamed "THIS IS NOT YOUR MOTHER'S VARIETY SHOW!", and of course the first Weekend Update, that even minus most of the running gags of the Chevy Chase tenure still made him a star that night. (If we only knew the truth about how big a bastard he was...) And if only Jim Henson had demanded that his people write the Muppets sketch instead of Michaels' writers... Mark Jeffries Saints Spotlight Editor [email protected] On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 7:07 AM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > So, I’m going to push back on this.The fact that you have to go back to > Sid Caesar, who last ran a regular live television sketch show 61 years > ago, as an example of how not difficult it is to do a live show seems more > an argument for my side. > > > Plus, Caesar had a team of writers that is to this day unparalleled, > including: Mel Brooks, Selma Diamond, Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, Larry > Gelbart and Woody Allen (among others who were A-List, if somewhat less > well known today). Cesar himself was a unique comic talent, who was widely > credited with transforming and elevating the material he was given. I am > not as critical of Lorne Michaels as Dave is, but he is no Sid Caesar, and > it is unlikely that any television show since has ever had the writing > talent Caesar had to draw on. > > > Even so, Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour had their share of clunker > sketches, some of which went on way too long (though some of the long ones > were magical). I have seen a few excerpts in some special they had a long > time ago, but my main sources are my mother and grandfather, both of whom > were big fans (my grandfathers parents were from a town not far from > Caesar’s in Poland). When I talked with them the most about Caesar, mostly > in the years after SNL premiered, they both argued loudly that Show of > Shows was far superior to SNL, but also allowed that there were plenty > of duds. > > > Perhaps more to the point, between his two main series, Caesar did 7 > seasons, which even corrected for the greater number of episodes per season > is less than 11 seasons worth of content of SNL (and his second series was > only an hour). Caesar’s Wikipedia article includes this quote from Mel > Brooks: > > > “I know of no other comedian, including Chaplin, who could have done > nearly ten years of live television. Nobody's talent was ever more used up > than Sid's. He was one of the greatest artists ever born. But over a period > of years, television ground him into sausages." > > > SNL has been on for 45 seasons, most of them produced by the same person. > One of the ways it has survived as long as it has is by relying on > shortcuts, which lead to many of the characteristics Dave cites that make > it so often disappointing. Their topical and political humor is often > obvious and simplistic. Like a long running improv troupe they have a stock > of mad lib type templates that they mix and match and plug hosts and new > cast member into. This doesn’t just save work for the writers, but keeps > the demands on performing and production within well calibrated parameters > that the show knows they can hit every week, even with weak or problem > guests. > > > Most of these problems get solved or are easier to deal with if they add > more recorded material. They could take more chances, because they could > edit and re-do what doesn’t work. They could be more innovative because > they would have more time, and there would be less pressure because they > could have some evergreen sketches in the can on reserve. They could have > teams of writers and producers, and even cast members, rotating on separate > schedules, giving everyone both more time off and more time to work on > writing, production and post production. And yet, with a live host > “Monologue “, 2-3 musical performances, Weekend Update and maybe a featured > sketch, the show would still have the hook of being live that you > emphasize. I imagine about 50-60% of the content being pre-recorded. > > > > On Sun, Apr 26, 2020 at 10:35 PM 'Dave Sikula' wrote: > > Personal taste in cast members aside, I think the "live" aspect of it is > the only thing that's kept the show running--and why it now airs live on > the west coast. The nets are desperate to get eyeballs and--for now, > anyway--the best way to guarantee that is by going live (hence the > ever-increasing reliance on sports). > > > (Snip) I don't mind pre-taped material--I think the 1984-85 season was one > of the show's best, and that was packed with filmed stuff--but I don't > think the difficulty of creating 90 minutes of material 26 weeks a year is > that overwhelming with the right writing staff. Caesar's staffs did, what, > 39?, for years, as did every other variety show. Whether they were live or > live to tape wasn't much of a distinction. > > > The biggest problem with SNL (other than certain performers, of course) is > that the writing is toothless and predictable, with variations on the same > premises week after week and paper-thin political commentary. (I mean, is > Baldwin's Trump really anything? Tony Atamanuik's "President Show" was far > more devastating on a shoestring budget.) There are occasional gems--which > is why I keep watching the show, in vain hope--but, for the most part, the > sketches are just stupid, dull, and too long, rather than satirical or even > funny. I blame that consistent similarity on Lorne's sense of humor, and > assume the writers are working to his tastes, so while a change in that > chair might work wonders, given his total stranglehold on NBC's late night > lineup, I don't expect that any time soon. > -- > Sent from Gmail Mobile > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYJRAO7yu7S-5R4yc18DvqYkn4uC-tPXHvvszZ-VmufOuA%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYJRAO7yu7S-5R4yc18DvqYkn4uC-tPXHvvszZ-VmufOuA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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