"SNL" reruns

[AKA]

What's going on with Saturday Night Live rerun rights? I know there was a big deal about E! getting exclusive rights to the entire run starting January of this year, but they don't seem the air the show.

What happened?

[Evan L]

Comedy Central had them and lost them, and they seem to have disappeared. It used to be that CC was the SNL channel! It's weird not seeing them all over cable TV anymore.

Evan

[bartels76]

I would buy SNL TV box sets of most of the seasons. I'm not too fond of the best of's that are out.

[JFS3]

From what I heard, E! got into hot water when they decided to make their own SNL compilation shows without the consent of Lorne Michaels and the SNL mafia, with the result being that the show was pulled from the air (I believe by E! in retaliation, but I might be wrong). As for E! making their own compilations, I don't blame them, as most of the "Best Of" shows seem to go out of their way to pick some of the least funny highlights of the respective careers they cover, and the editing of the regular shows is sometimes just as puzzling, with lousy skits and inferior musical performances in place of far better material. An example that comes to mind was the most recent musical appearance of the Foo Fighters, in which a totally killer version of "Times Like These", with a manic Jim Carrey jumping on stage halfway through, was edited out in favor of a completely forgettable performance of a completely forgettable song (which was so completely forgettable, that I completely forgot its name).

James

[ACK!]

Actually, E! wasn't putting together sketch compilations, but rather, they wanted to do a "101 Most Shocking Moments on SNL," where they would show excerpts from pivotal moments throughout the show's run with commentary by current and former SNL cast members as well as those celebrity commentators who show up on every one of those friggin' shows, whether they're on E!, VH1 or whatever.

They were set to air this special back in January when it got pulled from the schedule, along with the SNL reruns. I have no idea as to the status of the lawsuit.

[reechie]

Actually, E! wasn't putting together sketch compilations, but rather, they wanted to do a "101 Most Shocking Moments on SNL," where they would show excerpts from pivotal moments throughout the show's run with commentary by current and former SNL cast members as well as those celebrity commentators who show up on every one of those friggin' shows, whether they're on E!, VH1 or whatever.
Great, more Mo Rocca and Michael Ian Black. :rolleyes:

With E! basically becoming the trash tabloid TV network, I can imagine they have no real interest in just running the old SNL's anyway. I notice that after a month or two of showing the original classic 70's episodes, they reverted to running almost exclusively episodes from the 90's. We're probably better off with them not showing them at all.
:sigh:

[duse]

I agree. The Tim Kazurinsky/Terry Sweeney years were not the best, nor do I ever care to see them again, and that looked to be the direction E! was heading when I stopped watching it. I just can't get into MAD TV, though. Is that thread crapping? If so, I'm sorry and feel free to delete that line. I do miss SNL on Comedy Central, even though they OD'd on SNL. Truth be known, I usually do not get home before 5:30, so I missed E!'s reruns most of the time. (East Coast) I did not even know they weren't on anymore.

[JonUrban]

I agree. The Tim Kazurinsky/Terry Sweeney years were not the best, nor do I ever care to see them again, and that looked to be the direction E! was heading when I stopped watching it. I just can't get into MAD TV, though. Is that thread crapping? If so, I'm sorry and feel free to delete that line. I do miss SNL on Comedy Central, even though they OD'd on SNL. Truth be known, I usually do not get home before 5:30, so I missed E!'s reruns most of the time. (East Coast) I did not even know they weren't on anymore.

Those shows were pretty bad, but I really liked the Tim Kazurinsky WU bit where he would hold up the signs with "made up" words that sounded similar - I think the character was Jack Beatoffski, or something like that. Some of those were great, and you don't see them anymore.

[GuyDon]

Are there any plans to do season box sets on dvd? I would kill for 1975 - 1980.

[GregY]

I would imagine the music performance rights would make full seasons cost-prohibitive, no?

They can't even get the compilation DVDs right. They changed stuff in the Best of Eddie Murphy DVD from what was on the original VHS. They could have done a good 3 hours of Best of Will Ferrell but all we get is 72 minutes and some of the skits are not even the best of their kind (Harry Carey, Celebrity Jeopardy, etc.)

[ACK!]

Are there any plans to do season box sets on dvd? I would kill for 1975 - 1980.

I wouldn't hold your breath. In addition to music licensing rights for the musical acts, there are other factors that may prohibit something like this from happening. When they released SNL sketch compilations in the '80s and '90s (those poor quality tapes on the Starmaker label), some of the background music had to be changed (the Jaws theme on the Landshark skits, for example) because they didn't have the rights.

Also, I've read that in some instances on the syndicated reruns that dress-rehearsal sketches were substituted for the versions that actually aired on the live broadcasts.

In addition, because it's a 90-minute program, there is about 65-70 minutes of actual content per show, including opening and closing themes, commercial bumpers, etc. I have a feeling that to put this all together would result in costly box sets.

I also concur with GregY on how they've botched the DVD compilations. This goes back to the VHS tapes on Starmaker - their choice of sketches is baffling at times.

[czeskleba]

They could have done a good 3 hours of Best of Will Ferrell but all we get is 72 minutes and some of the skits are not even the best of their kind (Harry Carey, Celebrity Jeopardy, etc.)

The Will Ferrell compilation mystifies me. How could they leave off the Neil Diamond/Storytellers sketch? Or the sketch where the teleprompter breaks? Or the sketch where George Bush Sr. and George W go hunting (also featuring Dana Carvey). It's like they deliberately omitted all his best material, in favor of some really mediocre stuff.

[Xyzzy]

They can't even get the compilation DVDs right. They changed stuff in the Best of Eddie Murphy DVD from what was on the original VHS. This angers me to no end. The main reason I picked up the Eddie Murphy DVD was to see the Bill Cosby bit and it's not even on there. Not to mention "Tyrone & His Reggae Band". :realmad:

[Steve-oh]

The Will Ferrell compilation mystifies me. How could they leave off the Neil Diamond/Storytellers sketch? Or the sketch where the teleprompter breaks? Or the sketch where George Bush Sr. and George W go hunting (also featuring Dana Carvey). It's like they deliberately omitted all his best material, in favor of some really mediocre stuff.

Agreed. They were probably saving that stuff for the Best of Will Ferrell, Vol. 2, which I just saw a blurb for.

[Dan C]

Agreed. They were probably saving that stuff for the Best of Will Ferrell, Vol. 2, which I just saw a blurb for.

Cool that a Vol. 2 is on the way. Despite some mediocre sketches I've been enjoying the hell out of the Will Ferrell SNL disk.

NBC is running old shows after the "new" shows on Saturday (early Sunday morning). Some pretty obscure stuff has shown up over the last season, including a show from the underrated 83-84 season with Billy Crystal and Martin Short.

Dan C

[Evan L]

This angers me to no end. The main reason I picked up the Eddie Murphy DVD was to see the Bill Cosby bit and it's not even on there. Not to mention "Tyrone & His Reggae Band". :realmad:

"Kill all the white people...." :laugh:

Evan

[GregY]

"Tyrone & His Reggae Band"

Exactly! That was my favorite skit from the original comp.

I'm guessing that the current releases are just copies of the broadcast versions that air every once in a while, i.e. they're not even compiled with home video in mind.

[Drawer L]

"Kill all the white people...." :laugh:

Evan"But buy my record first..." :laugh: