Original Cast, a.k.a 'Not Ready For Primetime Players'
Dan Aykroyd
John Belushi
Chevy Chase
George Coe
Jane Curtin
Garrett Morris
Laraine Newman
Michael O'Donoghue
Gilda Radner
Episode List:
- October 11, 1975
Host: George Carlin
Musical Guest(s): Billy Preston & Janis Ian - October 18, 1975
Host: Paul Simon
Musical Guest(s): Simon & Garfunkel, Phoebe Snow, Randy Newman & The Jesse Dixon Singers - October 25, 1975
Host: Rob Reiner
Musical Guest(s): Joe Cocker w/ John Belushi - November 8, 1975
Host: Candice Bergen
Musical Guest(s): Esther Phillips - November 15, 1975
Host: Robert Klein
Musical Guest(s): Abba, Loudon Wainwright III - November 22, 1975
Host: Lily Tomlin
Musical Guest(s): Howard Shore's All Nurse Band - December 13, 1975
Host: Richard Pryor
Musical Guest(s): Gil Scott-Heron - December 20, 1975
Host: Candice Bergen
Musical Guest(s): Martha Reeves & The Stylistics - January 10, 1976
Host: Elliot Gould
Musical Guest(s): Anne Murray - January 17, 1976
Host: Buck Henry
Musical Guest(s): Bill Withers & Toni Basil - January 24, 1976
Host: Peter Cook & Dudley Moore
Musical Guest(s): Neil Sedaka - January 31, 1976
Host: Dick Cavett
Musical Guest(s): Jimmy Cliff - February 14, 1976
Host: Peter Boyle
Musical Guest(s): Al Jarreau - February 21, 1976
Host: Desi Arnaz
Musical Guest(s): Desi Arnaz - February 28, 1976
Host: Jill Clayburgh
Musical Guest(s): Leon Redbone - March 13, 1976
Host: Anthony Perkins
Musical Guest(s): Betty Carter - April 17, 1976
Host: Ron Nessen
Musical Guest(s): Patti Smith Group - April 24, 1976
Host: Raquel Welch
Musical Guest(s): Phoebe Snow & John Sebastian - May 8, 1976
Host: Madeline Kahn
Musical Guest(s): Carly Simon - May 15, 1976
Host: Dyan Cannon
Musical Guest(s): Leon & Mary Russell - May 22, 1976
Host: Buck Henry
Musical Guest(s): Gordon Lightfoot - May 29, 1976
Host: Elliot Gould
Musical Guest(s): Leon Redbone, Harlan Collins & Joyce Everson - July 24, 1976
Host: Louise Lasser
Musical Guest(s): Preservation Hall Jazz Band - July 31, 1976
Host: Kris Kristofferson
Musical Guest(s): Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge
No. of discs: 8
Special Features:
- Original Screen Tests
- 1975 Interview with Cast
- Box-set includes Collector's Booklet*
This box-set boasts the 'complete first season' of one of the most influential television shows in America, one that has led the way in alternative comedy for many years. You will often hear, of SNL, that it's not as good as it once was and this is true to some extent - the golden age will always be 1975-1980. You don't really need to wonder why. Glancing at the repertory cast members for the first season (the 'Not Ready for Primetime Players') you will note myriad comedic talent and presence. Ackroyd, Belushi and Chase honed their craft on SNL in this first season with the former two having Second City pedigree and Chase making his breakthrough acting after previously being a talented writer. The other names on the bill are slightly overshadowed in retrospect, with so much being made of the 'big three' in this era. Gilda Radner is a favourite of mine, with many notable characters in the first season alone, but they all had something to contribute and that's what made this an exciting, but more importantly - funny, 90-minutes of variety performance. Enough of that, on to the review...
The DVD is wonderfully presented, but like most box-sets it's not built for a repeat viewing. What I mean by this is the presentation is excellent, the main box in a simple book style with the spine opening out to reveal the collector's booklet (more on that later) and the folded set of DVDs. This is built to be opened and re-opened again and again, and rightly so. The presentation box, however, has the same problems one would have with a book. If you open it repeatedly a noticeable crease begins to appear on the spine and the box begins to show signs of wear. This may just be my neuroses picking up on this fact but if you plan to dip into this collection often you might have to consider whether or not you want to keep it pristine and looking new; the two quickly become mutually exclusive. *The collector's booklet is a nice collection of early photographs of the stars from the 1975-76 era. And that's it. This doesn't annoy me, but it does make me question the purpose of advertising a "collector's booklet" in the special features and on promotional material - it seems like something you'd expect out of a boxed set like this, maybe not in 'booklet' form but in other ways. It just seems like they had very little impetus to search for other material to include in the special features so they needed to put a lot of emphasis on what little they do have. This is a confused marketting ploy. You don't need a gimmick to sell SNL. SNL sells SNL. That may sound cheesey but it's true. What you are getting here is 8 discs, 24 episodes and a running-time of over 25 hours worth of material. You don't need a fancy booklet to shift that sort of quality. That being said, some more genuine special features would have been appreciated - but you can't have everything.
One issue I had while doing research for buying this set, and writing this review, is of the misnomer in the title: "The Complete First Season". Namely that it is 'complete', nay 'unedited'. Several reviews have commented on early promises by the studios that this would be a complete edition, an unedited retrospect on the season that was first-aired. This is not the case. It's mainly small things: the bumpers in between cuts being the biggest of the more trivial changes. However, there have been some big edits, TVshowsonDVD.com note: A few episodes have things missing from them, like the Wrigley's Gum commercial from the Rob Reiner episode, or the Ambassador Training Institute and New Dad commercials from the Peter Boyle episode. Those last two were rerun commercials (something they did quite often), but the Wrigley Gum commercial is missing from its original airing, and its rerun (in the Buck Henry episode). These weren't changes that completely dismayed me but it does pique my curiosity as to why they were removed completely, or why reruns were cut when others were left it. One saving grace, as noted by that review, is that all the musical acts remain in-tact.*
*It's a rather faulty comparison but I was half-expecting to find the same as Lucas/Walliams' Rock Profile set; just the sketches and none of the musical material etc. Luckily that's not the case.
All in all it's a very worthwhile look back on a show that I still enjoy today and getting to see much of the early material in it's intended form rather than in bits and pieces on the internet. You can watch the show evolve in front of you, get a bit of the history and a sense of the period. A live variety show will always have problems but over the 24 episodes you see the actors and the comedy itself grow into the institution that exists today. More to the point, releasing this set has piqued my interest for more of the same from the golden age and I look forward to any and all information concerning the R2 release of the next few seasons - although they may be far off yet.
8/10 - An excellent collection, flawed but overwhelmingly interesting and funny. Highlights include Chevy Chase's Weekend Update, and Land-Shark to name but a few, Gilda Radner performing Emily Litella and Babwa Wawa (and generally just being hilarious to watch), John Belushi's Marlon Brando impressions and everything Ackroyd.
Goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow
