Customer Reviews

Saturday Night Live: Season 6

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Universal Pictures releases Saturday Night Live the Complete 5th Season (1979-1980) on December 1, 2009, I hope Saturday Night Live Season 6 (1980-1981), which was the first season, with an all-new cast, gets released sometime in 2010!

The Cast
Denny Dillon (Dream On)
Gilbert Gottfried (Disney's Aladdin Films, Cyberchase)
Tim Kazurinsky - (Hot to Trot)
Gail Matthius (Tiny Toon Adventures)
Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hill Cop, The Nutty Professor, Doctor Dolittle, Shrek)
Joe Piscopo
Ann Risley
Tony Rosato (The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World)
Charles Rocket (1949-2005) - who was fired the saying the F word on TV.

Feature Players
Yvonne Hudson - the first African-American female cast member
Matthew Laurance
Patrick Weathers

Season six started on November 15, 1980 and ended on April 11, 1981, with only 13 episodes.

Saturday Night Live - The Complete 6th Season (1980-1981) should released as a 5-disc set containing all 13 episodes

Disc 1
Elliott Gould (November 15, 1980)
Malcolm McDowell (November 22, 1980)
Ellen Burstyn (December 6, 1980)

Disc 2
Jamie Lee Curtis (December 13, 1980)
David Carradine (December 20, 1980)
Ray Sharkey (January 10, 1981)

Disc 3
Karen Black (January 17, 1981)
Robert Hays (Jaunary 24, 1981)
Sally Kellerman (February 7, 1981)

Disc 4
Deborah Harry (February 14, 1981)
Charlene Tilton (February 21, 1981)
Bill Murray (March 7, 1981)

Disc 5
Season Finale (April 11, 1981)

Please release Saturday Night Live Season 6 sometime in 2010!

Take those five stars above with a grain of salt. Heck, take 'em with a whole bloody lick of salt. This season of "SNL" is one ginormous train wreck. But hey, there can be heroes who emerge from train wrecks and sometimes they're all the more heroic for it. Anybody who would bother to find a page for this potential set of DVDs undoubtedly already knows the backstory: the mass defection of the original cast and staff, the ill-fated hiring of Jean Doumanian as producer, the struggles of a new cast to live up to their legendary predecessors, the on-air cursing, the plug being pulled, etc. Let's focus on the heroes.

Jean Doumanian -- Yes, it's true. There were few people less suited to produce a big time comedy show in 1980 than Jean Doumanian. But she did shine in one area. She brought in some of the greatest musical acts in the show's long history. If for no other reason, this season of "SNL" should see the light of day just so everybody can revisit stunning performances by James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Cheap Trick, Todd Rundgren, Prince, Captain Beefheart, Junior Walker and loads more.

Joe Piscopo -- Sure, he's become something of a punchline over the years, and not in a good way. But Joe Piscopo came out of the gate creating characters and bits and impressions and seemed determined to single-handedly keep this show afloat. Not every single one of his creations is a winner (I never much cared for the grating "Jersey Guy," for instance), but he stepped up in a big way at a time when most everyone was saying it wasn't worth it. He was the first to show that you didn't have to be part of the anointed original cast to succeed in this format. And he wouldn't have to do it single-handedly for long ...

Eddie Murphy -- Eddie Murphy debuts on the third show of this season and immediately blows the roof off the place. For anyone who only knows him as the family-friendly star of bland fare like the Doctor Doolittle remakes or tripe like Imagine That, seeing the young Eddie explode on the scene will be a true revelation. And he was very, very young. All of 19 years old when he first appeared. The music acts are a reason why this season set SHOULD see the light of day. Eddie Murphy's incendiary debut is why it MUST see the light of day.

So back to those five stars. I suppose they're not really reflective of the level of hilarity from episode to episode, from sketch to sketch. Some of these shows will be terribly painful to get through. But for the history, for the completeness, for the music, for "Joe Piscopo LIVE Saturday Night Sports!", and most of all, for Eddie, this is a five-star release all the way.

I have passed on buying seasons 1-5, as I have seen the classic bits 100s of times. I really want the 1980 and onward seasons. The early 80s, while not perfect, still had some great stuff (I grew up on it) that has pretty much been lost to the ages. If they keep releasing season sets I will def buy everything from Season 5 onward.... then I'd prob break down and buy 1-5 to complete the set ;)

This is not a review per se of season 5 as I didnt watch this particular season much. After coming off the first five years living through it in real time the original cast had gotten to a point they really gelled and gave stand out characters and had come into their own in their real lives as well With tv, movie , broadway and record deals that advanced their careers.
I feel that after the first five seasons that SNL was generally hit or miss in its sketches and overall look and feel. I know it did bring us Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley ,David Spade and several other super comedians it still fell flat at times. That said I hope it doesnt take 36 years to get these snl seasons on disc. There are some things I'd like to see again in their entirety from the Fernando sketches to Mr Robinson to Linda Richmond with out edits or someones screen name emblazioned on a you tube screen. So please Broadway video and Lorne Michales please put more SNL oout so we can all reevaluate seasons six to present day. Thanks so much for listening.

The 1980s and the new cast is when Saturday Night Live actually became "funny." The original cast, with the exception of Belushi and Morris, really kinda sucked. Despite their innovation over previous sketch comedy shows (which in fairness were worse) they material was mostly boring and drawn out way too long.

Some standouts such as Belushi's "Samurai" episodes, landshark and the later version of the Mr. Bill show held up well and were funny each time. But once Chase did Gerald Ford falling down it was over, sure wasn't funny the 23rd time in a row. Weekend Update had moments here and there but as often as not feel flat and the blatant political biases hurt the show then as it does now.

Not only that the hosts were boring. How many times did Buck Henry host that show? 100? And he was boring every time. He was Dick Cavett boring, and Dick was so boring he got to host a couple times. How about that snoozefest Louise Lasser? Only Steve Martin and a few other hosts actually improved the show with their participation. And the muppets?!? What was that? Late night sesame street? Let's not even talk about the musical guests.

But when Tom Franken did Limo for a Lamo, the NBC President decided to not let Franken take over for Michaels as the producer and as a consequence none of the original cast was asked to return either. And it was actually for the better. The Show got funny.

Enter Eddie Murphy who would change the show forever. Who can forget Joe Piscopo as Ted Koppel "Buckwheat is Dead"? SNL from Season Six until almost the end of the 1980s was the first time the show was laugh out loud funny.

There was also an excellent cast during much of the 90s so hopefully those seasons will be available as well. Bought the time Norm McDonald left the show started to hit the skids and when Tina Fey took over the show became even more pathetic than the first seasons.

I bought Seasons 1-5 simply for the moments, I hope I can get all the seasons from 1980-1999.