I’ve been an SNL aficionado for a long time, ever since my mom let me stay up way past my bedroom as a pre-teen and catch some of my favorite celebrities uttering the iconic “live from New York” line. Saturday Night Live is currently adding hosts and musical guests for Season 51, which means it’s been around my entire life and, in fact, pre-dates my existence. So, I’ve always wondered, “What was it like to be an SNL viewer from the very beginning?”
Thankfully, SNL isn’t so old that hardly anyone can remember its beginnings. In fact, a lot of people still fondly recall the 1975 season that introduced us to such comedy greats as Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, John Belushi, Danny Aykroyd, Jane Curtain, Garrett Morris, and Laraine Newman (some of whom are still watching SNL years later). That year, the show was still finding its groove while becoming a cultural phenomenon, and TV watchers still remember a slew of beautiful and fun details about the first season of the show.
There Was A Lot Of Pot Involved When Fans Were Watching Those Early Episodes
In a Reddit thread, a current SNL fan asked some old timers what they thought about the series when it was first coming out. I would have expected a little bit more nostalgia in the responses, but a huge chunk of people admitted their main memory of those early episodes was watching the show whilst high.
- Early in 1976 the buzz was spreading (in Canada). Just started college and it brought us together like nothing else. Fabulous Saturday nights, high AF (Thai weed had just hit) –literally rotf laughing. Best of times.
- Omg SNL was so funny then. And yes we were stoned.
- We loved it and we were stoned 😊
- Very much so, and watching on a little black & white tv :). When the parody commercials came on, we’d look at each other and ask, was that a real commercial? Good times!
Later on, a bunch of fans admitted the early SNL audiences were oft college students, which differs a bit from today’s makeup, and that could help explain all of the comments related to partying on Saturday nights, then tuning in late night.
There Were Also Some Thoughtful Answers From Fans Who Were Around At The Beginning
I actually own the first season of SNL on DVD, so I’ve seen the Samurai sketch and Chevy Chase’s pratfalls and more. I also really loved the well-reviewed Saturday Night movie from Jason Reitman. However, I can only experience these moments without context. For those who lived through those times, the lens is more personalized and thoughtful.
One viewer answered the original question with a super thoughtful response that really helps younger fans to give context to what made the show “subversive.”
It was new, subversive, anti-establishment, funny. It was the TV version of National Lampoon (there was a lot of crossover) in that it mocked institutions and people who took themselves far too seriously. It was aimed squarely at a young, educated demographic, the hosts and musical guests were legendary. And the fact that it was done live made it all the edgier; it felt like we the TV audience were in a theatre or club watching it happen. To understand how revolutionary SNL was, you have to understand how straitlaced and formulaic network television was in the years and days before it started.
Another commenter admitted a lot of the jokes hold up, but that SNL was still embedded in pop culture back then in ways that younger audiences watching for the first time may not realize, due to not understanding things like 60 Minutes segments that were then-popular.
SNL broke all the rules, things like Father Guido Sarducci with his constant cigarettes saying shit the Catholic church did not appreciate, Aykroyd calling Jane an ignorant slut in their version of Point Counterpoint. Younger people will not have the context that made those things really funny, they would not know that back then 60 Minutes had a segment at the end of each show called Point Counterpoint. Without that context it loses some of its value as comedy.
Now, SNL feels like it tries to produce comedy in different buckets so the show is pretty much for everyone. I watch, my mother (who did watch at the beginning) watches, my friends college-aged kids watch. At the time, though, it was like Facebook before parents had access: Only the young adults watched (and sometimes they did so in a dorm common room, packed in and having a blast).
It was fresh and modern, the cast were all less than 10 years older than us, the guests, the great band; I loved the old comedians back then but SNL was like comedians and a show format for our generation not our parents, like a rock n roll comedy show,, not something our parents would watch at all either.
Decades later, Saturday Night Live can still be cool, it can still be subversive, and it can still connect to the zeitgeist of the times. However, sketches can go poorly, things can veer wildly off script, and sometimes even people get stabbed by Sarah Silverman. We take the good with the bad these days, but hearing about how people felt that first, glorious season does put a but of pep in my step.