There is exactly one amazing line in Roxbury
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Friday, 23 March 2012 16:29 (twelve years ago) link
they never got around to a Sprockets movie, which may be the greatest loss to Western Civilization since they burned down the Library of Alexandria ...
― kurwa mać (Polish for "long life") (Eisbaer), Friday, 23 March 2012 16:29 (twelve years ago) link
I think the thing with SNL is when it's not funny, there'll be something on in a few minutes that might be? Which is not the case with a lot of these movies.
― Andrew Farrell, Friday, 23 March 2012 16:30 (twelve years ago) link
But I am reasoning straight from "It's a sketch show", I've never actually seen a full episode.
― Andrew Farrell, Friday, 23 March 2012 16:31 (twelve years ago) link
Especially given the apocryphal story that the failed struggle of making it caused Mike Myers to say "fuck it" and start making shovels-full of cinematic shit.
― Henry David Thorough (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 23 March 2012 16:32 (twelve years ago) link
SNL is kind of shit tbh
― dies irate (loves laboured breathing), Friday, 23 March 2012 16:40 (twelve years ago) link
mr... mike's... mondo... video...?
― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Friday, 23 March 2012 16:41 (twelve years ago) link
I remember when that came out, played for a week, and disappeared
― diamanda ram dass (Edward III), Friday, 23 March 2012 16:45 (twelve years ago) link
Stuart Saves His Family is hella underrated
― action bronieson (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, March 23, 2012 11:46 AM (59 minutes ago)
ha, I was just repping for it in comedy poll thread
― diamanda ram dass (Edward III), Friday, 23 March 2012 16:46 (twelve years ago) link
Ladies Man and Roxbuy were cool but I voted WWI
Whiney's idea for a WUWT movie is brilliant - maybe like a mockumentury kind of thing
― Raymond Cummings, Friday, 23 March 2012 16:46 (twelve years ago) link
Narrated by Morgan Freeman
― Raymond Cummings, Friday, 23 March 2012 16:47 (twelve years ago) link
I mean, if the movie could be 60 minutes of backstory and then an actual 30 minute episode of What Up With That, it might be the funniest movie ever made
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Friday, March 23, 2012 12:27 PM (18 minutes ago)
I'm picturing the usual group of freaks growing larger and larger until they bust out of the studio and end up at a local stadium with parliament/funkadelic doing backup and 30 foot models of hitler and churchill having a light saber battle overhead also the entire audience is porpoises
― diamanda ram dass (Edward III), Friday, 23 March 2012 16:51 (twelve years ago) link
FUCK YES
― Raymond Cummings, Friday, 23 March 2012 16:51 (twelve years ago) link
Never seen an episode of SNL. Voting for Wayne's World
― Number None, Friday, 23 March 2012 16:52 (twelve years ago) link
Fuck. Everyone.
http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/sharonjoy666/carrie.jpg
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:29 (twelve years ago) link
voted Bob Roberts, wd accept either Wayne's World.
― red is hungry green is jawless (Noodle Vague), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:30 (twelve years ago) link
you know Carrie Fisher being all Princess Leia kind of obscured her smashability, but she is v ws in that pic tbh
― dies irate (loves laboured breathing), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:35 (twelve years ago) link
The amount of wrong itt so far is astounding.
SNL hasn't been funny (save for the odd sketch here or there) in decades.
― wolf kabob (ENBB), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:36 (twelve years ago) link
i have literally never heard of the first movie on this list
Fucking figures.
It was made as an NBC special, and bcz of Michael O'Donogue's assorted priorities (fetishism, weirdness, throwing cats into a swimming pool) the network refused to air it. MO'D was delighted when there was a report of a riot at the box office for the audience to get their money back.
ian still has my DVD of it.
http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/mr-mikes-mondo-video/3973
― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:37 (twelve years ago) link
Carrie Fisher being all Princess Leia kind of obscured her smashabilit
I thought Leia was like ultimate smash material for megadorks worldwide?
― wolf kabob (ENBB), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:37 (twelve years ago) link
yeah I hated the spiral braid cheese Danish bullshit
― dies irate (loves laboured breathing), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:47 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, I was surprised by the previously small amount of wrong in this thread, too. Thanks for rectifying that!
― Gregor Samsung (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:47 (twelve years ago) link
If ever. I watched 5th season eps with dad recently and he commented on how he remembered it being funnier at the time.
I need to finally watch that boot of Mr Mikes I got last year.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:49 (twelve years ago) link
in all honesty Morbs, I would never know who Michael O'Donoghue was if it weren't for you repping for him in some earlier SNL-related thread. Very cool stuff.
― dies irate (loves laboured breathing), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:53 (twelve years ago) link
Was being mildly facetious, obvs, but truth bomb: SNL has been spotty and occasionally awful right from the start. The writing is still pretty bleh a lot of the time (kinda feel like this is mostly due to Lorne's iron fist), but the current cast is top-notch and this season in particular has been up there with the best (albeit as undeniably spotty as ever).
― Gregor Samsung (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:54 (twelve years ago) link
― Gregor Samsung (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, March 23, 2012 1:47 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Nearly every time I've tuned in over the last 15 years or so I could barely watch more than 15 minutes. Unless something major has happened in the last couple years then I'm pretty certain it's still painfully unfunny.
― wolf kabob (ENBB), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:57 (twelve years ago) link
I watched 5th season eps with dad recently and he commented on how he remembered it being funnier at the time.
I challenge anyone hatin' on current SNL to sit through the entire first season.
― Gregor Samsung (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 23 March 2012 17:57 (twelve years ago) link
^completely otm
― dies irate (loves laboured breathing), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:00 (twelve years ago) link
they were TRYING to do DIFFERENT things which involves a lot of failure. I'm p sure the set of cultural references would also be a challenge. The OG cast/writers hit their stride in seasons 2 & 3.
xp
― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:01 (twelve years ago) link
Hint: if you only tune in to SNL occasionally, I'd advise switching over at 5 minutes to 1 AM. That seems to be the time that Lorne's iron grip slackens a bit and the more surprising material sneaks through.
― Gregor Samsung (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:01 (twelve years ago) link
also, the dirty Muppets didn't work at all. xp
Plus, they had to deal with Chevy's ego in S1.
Still, I think the current cast is one of the show's best.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:02 (twelve years ago) link
I watched season 3 not too long ago (bought the DVD for the Sun Ra appearance alone, and it was totally worth it); most of it lives up to its reputation, but parts of it really really do not (one episode -- surprisingly, with Madeline Kahn as host -- was among the worst SNL episodes I'd ever seen). The pace was a lot less frenetic then, and that takes a little getting used to.
― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:03 (twelve years ago) link
so glad there's finally a place on the internet where people can say SNL isnt as good as it used to be
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:04 (twelve years ago) link
Albert Brooks' short films were great, too. Nice little bizarre non-sequiturs.
― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:04 (twelve years ago) link
Whiney, don't you have some fat white men ripping off black rappers to fawn over somewhere
― THIS TRADE SERVES ZERO FOOTBALL PURPOSE (DJP), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:05 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, the whole culture was less Ritalinized. (and more coked) It is, of course, the pace I'm used to. Still, the recent years' sketches have always felt endllllesssss to me. xxxp
― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:06 (twelve years ago) link
I agree that current SNL would greatly benefit from tighter/shorter sketches, leaving room for some of the most oddball ideas to make it to air.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:08 (twelve years ago) link
the current cast is top-notch and this season in particular has been up there with the best (albeit as undeniably spotty as ever
This might very well be true. I haven't even attempted it this year.
IMO one of the major problems with SNL in recentish years (even with a lot of the funniER stuff) is that the writers don't seem to know when a skit should end and just keep them going and going and beating a dead horse until what might have been funny becomes the farthest thing from it.
Shut up Whiney.
― wolf kabob (ENBB), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:09 (twelve years ago) link
just kidding!
I wrote that 10 mins ago before it was a x-post but then my computer froze so I guess I should have said x-post.
― wolf kabob (ENBB), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:10 (twelve years ago) link
the first season of SNL was much more of a variety show than a sketch comedy show -- there's a whole episode which basically consists of a simon and garfunkel reunion. i get the sense that a lot of the freshness of the early seasons comes from the fact that they weren't being pressured to be 'funny' every second and come up with a new irritating character/catchphrase every episode.
there's also a pretty funny sketch called 'citizen kane 2' where the original cast do a bang-up job imitating joseph cotten, et al.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:13 (twelve years ago) link
they kind of parodied this tendency in the '90s with that "you like-a the juice, eh?" sketch. at least, i always assumed it was a parody...
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:14 (twelve years ago) link
MACGRUBERRRRRRR, though I haven't seen Wayne's World in a long time and I've never seen Stuart
― da croupier, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:17 (twelve years ago) link
Blues Brothers, not so much for the lol comedy as for the music and the spectacle.
― Aimless, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:18 (twelve years ago) link
there's a whole episode which basically consists of a simon and garfunkel reunion.
I think that's the third episode? I saw it this past Christmas. S&G's new single was huge at the time, and the cast were still unknowns, so obv they were biding their time in making it a full-bore sketch show for those reasons.
― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:20 (twelve years ago) link
John Landis's framing in Blue Brothers cuts off the dancers' feet. So much for musical spectacle.
― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:21 (twelve years ago) link
I don't think anyone would describe Blues Brothers as "a well-crafted film".
― Aimless, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:22 (twelve years ago) link
But the competition in this poll is pretty weak, I gotta say, and BB is at least entertaining.
― Aimless, Friday, 23 March 2012 18:23 (twelve years ago) link
Here's what should happen in an ideal world to tighten up SNL: Lorne Michaels continues to produce, but in a mostly hands-off role. The writers are given more leeway and allowed to generate material outside of the current insane hours they're expected to keep. Hosts (most of them, anyway) are allowed much less input into the creative process. No more rewriting or pulling sketches between dress and air (aside from anything improvisational/somewhat dependent upon surprise rewrites, like Stefon). Intense scrutiny is applied in deciding which bits can legitimately sustain recurrence. A broader range of material is brought into play (like the more dramatic film work they used to do)... And then the ratings plummet after Joe Lunchpail slowly realizes that the fart jokes have gone away.
― Gregor Samsung (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 23 March 2012 18:25 (twelve years ago) link
like KJB repping for it in the same breath as Stuart tempts me to watch it again, but, as it turns out, the thought of ever watching it again is itself a peculiar form of torture
― dies irate (loves laboured breathing), Thursday, 29 March 2012 15:48 (twelve years ago) link
xp A friend of mine grew up near that mall, which was vacant during his whole childhood...except for one night when it was mysteriously, and suddenly, completely lit-up and fully-stocked. A day or two later, it was back to being vacant. He thought he'd dreamed it or was otherwise going nuts until he saw the movie.
― Dancing with Mr. T (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 29 March 2012 16:04 (twelve years ago) link
Forget the movie, I kind of loathed the Mary Catherine Gallagher sketches.
― Calvin Coolranch (Deric W. Haircare), Thursday, 29 March 2012 16:21 (twelve years ago) link
Like, I might have to do a sequel to this poll: Worst SNL Sketch Upon Which a Movie Was Based. Roxbury would probably win. I honestly don't know what Lorne was smoking there for a while.
― Calvin Coolranch (Deric W. Haircare), Thursday, 29 March 2012 16:22 (twelve years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 30 March 2012 00:01 (twelve years ago) link
I guess not *everyone* hates the Blues Brothers. hmph
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 30 March 2012 00:04 (twelve years ago) link
I can live with that top three.
― The Itchy And Scratchy Glowbo Blow (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 30 March 2012 00:10 (twelve years ago) link
Coneheads should have been a great movie but wasn't at all
― everything else is secondary (Lee626), Friday, 30 March 2012 00:14 (twelve years ago) link
wayne's world deserves its place, but how many were attributable to "anything but the blues brothers" pseudo-challops?!?
― kurwa mać (Polish for "long life") (Eisbaer), Friday, 30 March 2012 00:15 (twelve years ago) link
also, i'm both happy and sad that a night at the roxbury got 3 pts.