Here's a great parody of the MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW from SNL in the 80's. The guy doing Lou Grant is not as good as the others but the rest of the cast is dead on.
...who played Murray? The proto-ghost of Larry David maybe? But the Lou Grant actor must have been a shoo-in at casting, he looks more like Ed Asner than Ed Asner.
That's just crazy talk, Adam. What are the odds that a perfect double of Ed Asner would also, by sheer coincidence, just happen to be named "Ed Asner" and that they would both go into the acting profession? Do you honestly expect us to believe that?
Murray should look familiar: you might know the actor better as Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap.
You had to LOOK UP that it was Chris Guest as Murray? Even if you don't remember that one single, golden season, 1984-85, when Chris Guest, Rich Hall, Harry Shearer, Martin Short, Billy Crystal and beloved-in-England-forgotten-here Pamela Stephenson were all SNL regulars, the only replacement cast to truely rival the original cast, how could you not recognize Guest, or at least his voice? (The cast, as always, had some lead bells as well: Jim Belushi, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss - I am so not a fan of hers - and Gary Kroeger.)
That was a memorable season, so much so, that most all of them left at the end, rather than risk a second season that wasn't as good.
Christopher Guest is such an incredible talent. Possibly one of the reasons he was more difficult to spot. He completely transforms into the character he plays.
do they even bother to write funny for SNL anymore? Ken, you must apreciate this: When a sketch of SNL is over, most of the time I find myself saying "yeah, so what? Was that it?" Comedy with sketch characters is very very strange. Unless they are already pre-established, like in this MTM spoof, I find myself not caring enough or knowing enough of the characters or the situation to even laugh at them. I can think "Oh, that was funny", but, when the writting is good I shouldn't be analysing it, I should be laughing without thinking about it. That's why I gave up on SNL, because for several weeks I waited around for a laugh, and it seldom came.
"Christopher Guest is such an incredible talent. Possibly one of the reasons he was more difficult to spot. He completely transforms into the character he plays."
Wonder why nobody will ever admit that the funniest seasons of SNL (coming from someone who has watched the show religiously since 1975, sad as that is) are the ones helmed by Dick Ebersol.
The thing that strikes me is how good the impressions are. Some are exaggerated, but they all capture the essence of the characters. If the current SNL cast was doing, say, Murphy Brown, there's no way they'd bother to even attempt accurate imitations.
The funniest SNL seasons were the Ebersol years? Oh come on. That era was notable only for the 84-85 season (which was definitely one of the two or three best years in SNL history) and for Eddie Murphy, who was arguably the funniest cast member ever. There were some good cast members in that era (Julia, Tim Kazurinsky, Robin Duke, Piscopo) but they were rarely given anything really good to do.
To Crutnacker: I disagree that Ebersol's seasons were the best. They had many fine moments, but during the Murphy years, while he certainly had a lot of bright spots, as did Piscopo, there were quite a few flat ones. When Murphy left, he complained the show wasn't as funny and I agree. I contend that the early years had the hardest job, which was to establish the form that the subsequent seasons all used. While there were sketches that were not as successful, there was a consistency in the first three seasons that was amazing (save the Berle show, which by what I have read, was horrible).
To d. mcewan: I won't dictate your taste to you. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall usually were not very funny on Saturday Night Live, but Louis-Dreyfus has done much better in subsequent years. SNL has a knack of not being the best showcase for some, especially women. Denny Dillon was funny in "Dream On", Charles Rocket did a memorable turn in "Flying Blind", etc.
I certainly hope there is good Tony Rosato material. He was not used to good effect in SNL and he then went on to the American version of "Fawlty Towers" which was "Amanda's", starring Bea Arthur, which Arthur (last I heard) won't even discuss.
To Crutnacker: I disagree that Ebersol's seasons were the best. They had many fine moments, but during the Murphy years, while he certainly had a lot of bright spots, as did Piscopo, there were quite a few flat ones. When Murphy left, he complained the show wasn't as funny and I agree. I contend that the early years had the hardest job, which was to establish the form that the subsequent seasons all used. While there were sketches that were not as successful, there was a consistency in the first three seasons that was amazing (save the Berle show, which by what I have read, was horrible).
To d. mcewan: I won't dictate your taste to you. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall usually were not very funny on Saturday Night Live, but Louis-Dreyfus has done much better in subsequent years. SNL has a knack of not being the best showcase for some, especially women. Denny Dillon was funny in "Dream On", Charles Rocket did a memorable turn in "Flying Blind", etc.
I certainly hope there is good Tony Rosato material. He was not used to good effect in SNL and he then went on to the American version of "Fawlty Towers" which was "Amanda's", starring Bea Arthur, which Arthur (last I heard) won't even discuss.
i always thought Mary Gross was underestimated as an SNL performer.
sure, she didn't have the sizzle of excitement people like Belushi, Murray, or Murphy had, but she (to my eyes) always managed to wring the most laughs out of any possible line with a slight inflection or line reading.
...she's had little bits in other SNL'ers projects(A Mighty Wind, Old Christine) so it seems she's stayed friends with her old castmates, which is kinda nice!
Crutnacker - I'm a little late in responding, but I, too, have always thought the Ebersole years are the best. Yes, the original cast had to build the show from scratch, and broke ground, but in terms of sheer funny, laugh-out-loud viewing, the Ebersole years were the best. They also had some great gags, like the Buckwheat shooting and the call-in vote to kill or save Larry the Lobster. I also consider the first year or two of the Dana Carvey years to be a top-notch cast and don't know if they get the credit they deserve (they certainly saved the show from Lorne's disastrous first returning season the previous year).
Ken, by the way, I seem to recall that SNL did an earlier MTM sketch, in which Tony Rosato played Lou Grant -- so at first, I thought I'd be seeing that sketch. Great bait and switch!
This brought me so much joy, I watched it again and again. Mary Gross nailed Mary Richards' crazy, limber, expansive gestures and weirdly inflective voice. And I've never seen Christopher Guest in anything in which he wasn't genius.
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Okay, I recognized Mary Gross, Billy Crystal, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jim Belushi, but who played Murray?
ReplyDelete...who played Murray? The proto-ghost of Larry David maybe? But the Lou Grant actor must have been a shoo-in at casting, he looks more like Ed Asner than Ed Asner.
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason why "Lou Grant" looks like Lou Grant...because he is Lou Grant. I believe Ed Asner hosted that episode.
ReplyDeleteAccording to this site, Murray was played by Christopher Guest.
ReplyDeleteThat's just crazy talk, Adam. What are the odds that a perfect double of Ed Asner would also, by sheer coincidence, just happen to be named "Ed Asner" and that they would both go into the acting profession? Do you honestly expect us to believe that?
ReplyDeleteMurray should look familiar: you might know the actor better as Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap.
"Raymond",
ReplyDeleteYou had to LOOK UP that it was Chris Guest as Murray? Even if you don't remember that one single, golden season, 1984-85, when Chris Guest, Rich Hall, Harry Shearer, Martin Short, Billy Crystal and beloved-in-England-forgotten-here Pamela Stephenson were all SNL regulars, the only replacement cast to truely rival the original cast, how could you not recognize Guest, or at least his voice? (The cast, as always, had some lead bells as well: Jim Belushi, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss - I am so not a fan of hers - and Gary Kroeger.)
That was a memorable season, so much so, that most all of them left at the end, rather than risk a second season that wasn't as good.
The guy doing Lou Grant is not as good as the others...
ReplyDeleteFlawless deadpan: the mark of a true comic mind.
Mary Gross did a dead-on Mary Richards.
ReplyDelete"Promoted to pronucer" ??? What is a pronucer?
ReplyDeleteChristopher Guest is such an incredible talent. Possibly one of the reasons he was more difficult to spot. He completely transforms into the character he plays.
ReplyDeletedo they even bother to write funny for SNL anymore? Ken, you must apreciate this: When a sketch of SNL is over, most of the time I find myself saying "yeah, so what? Was that it?" Comedy with sketch characters is very very strange. Unless they are already pre-established, like in this MTM spoof, I find myself not caring enough or knowing enough of the characters or the situation to even laugh at them. I can think "Oh, that was funny", but, when the writting is good I shouldn't be analysing it, I should be laughing without thinking about it. That's why I gave up on SNL, because for several weeks I waited around for a laugh, and it seldom came.
ReplyDelete"Christopher Guest is such an incredible talent. Possibly one of the reasons he was more difficult to spot. He completely transforms into the character he plays."
ReplyDeleteAnd he gets to sleep with Jamie Lee Curtis.
That was the best season of SNL in its history.
ReplyDeleteWonder why nobody will ever admit that the funniest seasons of SNL (coming from someone who has watched the show religiously since 1975, sad as that is) are the ones helmed by Dick Ebersol.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that strikes me is how good the impressions are. Some are exaggerated, but they all capture the essence of the characters. If the current SNL cast was doing, say, Murphy Brown, there's no way they'd bother to even attempt accurate imitations.
ReplyDeleteThe funniest SNL seasons were the Ebersol years? Oh come on. That era was notable only for the 84-85 season (which was definitely one of the two or three best years in SNL history) and for Eddie Murphy, who was arguably the funniest cast member ever. There were some good cast members in that era (Julia, Tim Kazurinsky, Robin Duke, Piscopo) but they were rarely given anything really good to do.
ReplyDeleteA few comments:
ReplyDeleteTo Crutnacker: I disagree that Ebersol's seasons were the best. They had many fine moments, but during the Murphy years, while he certainly had a lot of bright spots, as did Piscopo, there were quite a few flat ones. When Murphy left, he complained the show wasn't as funny and I agree. I contend that the early years had the hardest job, which was to establish the form that the subsequent seasons all used. While there were sketches that were not as successful, there was a consistency in the first three seasons that was amazing (save the Berle show, which by what I have read, was horrible).
To d. mcewan: I won't dictate your taste to you. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall usually were not very funny on Saturday Night Live, but Louis-Dreyfus has done much better in subsequent years. SNL has a knack of not being the best showcase for some, especially women. Denny Dillon was funny in "Dream On", Charles Rocket did a memorable turn in "Flying Blind", etc.
I certainly hope there is good Tony Rosato material. He was not used to good effect in SNL and he then went on to the American version of "Fawlty Towers" which was "Amanda's", starring Bea Arthur, which Arthur (last I heard) won't even discuss.
A few comments:
ReplyDeleteTo Crutnacker: I disagree that Ebersol's seasons were the best. They had many fine moments, but during the Murphy years, while he certainly had a lot of bright spots, as did Piscopo, there were quite a few flat ones. When Murphy left, he complained the show wasn't as funny and I agree. I contend that the early years had the hardest job, which was to establish the form that the subsequent seasons all used. While there were sketches that were not as successful, there was a consistency in the first three seasons that was amazing (save the Berle show, which by what I have read, was horrible).
To d. mcewan: I won't dictate your taste to you. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall usually were not very funny on Saturday Night Live, but Louis-Dreyfus has done much better in subsequent years. SNL has a knack of not being the best showcase for some, especially women. Denny Dillon was funny in "Dream On", Charles Rocket did a memorable turn in "Flying Blind", etc.
I certainly hope there is good Tony Rosato material. He was not used to good effect in SNL and he then went on to the American version of "Fawlty Towers" which was "Amanda's", starring Bea Arthur, which Arthur (last I heard) won't even discuss.
i always thought Mary Gross was underestimated as an SNL performer.
ReplyDeletesure, she didn't have the sizzle of excitement people like Belushi, Murray, or Murphy had, but she (to my eyes) always managed to wring the most laughs out of any possible line with a slight inflection or line reading.
...she's had little bits in other SNL'ers projects(A Mighty Wind, Old Christine) so it seems she's stayed friends with her old castmates, which is kinda nice!
i read somewhere ed asner was the most difficult guest the show ever had to deal with.
ReplyDeleteCrutnacker - I'm a little late in responding, but I, too, have always thought the Ebersole years are the best. Yes, the original cast had to build the show from scratch, and broke ground, but in terms of sheer funny, laugh-out-loud viewing, the Ebersole years were the best. They also had some great gags, like the Buckwheat shooting and the call-in vote to kill or save Larry the Lobster. I also consider the first year or two of the Dana Carvey years to be a top-notch cast and don't know if they get the credit they deserve (they certainly saved the show from Lorne's disastrous first returning season the previous year).
ReplyDeleteKen, by the way, I seem to recall that SNL did an earlier MTM sketch, in which Tony Rosato played Lou Grant -- so at first, I thought I'd be seeing that sketch. Great bait and switch!
This brought me so much joy, I watched it again and again. Mary Gross nailed Mary Richards' crazy, limber, expansive gestures and weirdly inflective voice. And I've never seen Christopher Guest in anything in which he wasn't genius.
ReplyDelete