From Digital Bits

So... you want some cool news to make the end of your week a happy one? This should do nicely then: Universal has just officially announced the DVD release of Saturday Night Live 1975-1976: The Complete First Season for 12/5! The 8-disc set (SRP $69.98) will include all 24 90-minute episodes complete with their original hosts and all the original musical guests. You also get a 32-page book of liner notes and rare case photos. I'll tell you, we were wondering if this would EVER happen. How cool will it be to be able to go back and enjoy vintage SNL just as it was originally broadcast? Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman. Can you imagine? Frickin' awesome, man. AWESOME!

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[bigred]Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season 1975-1976[/bigred]
[lilred]December 5, 2006[/lilred]



Amazon.com
Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season boxed set is much more than the sum of its parts, in fact it's one of the most significant TV DVD releases yet. This isn't just an 8-disc set featuring 24 episodes of live sketch comedy, it's a big box of zeitgeist. This really is the complete first season, mostly uncut and complete with every musical act and short film intact (a few bumpers and transitions were removed to make it flow better on DVD). The first broadcast aired on October 11, 1975, hosted by George Carlin and featured musical guests Billy Preston and Janis Ian. At first, things seem a little raw: Carlin's opening monologue is painfully unfunny, Chase's first shot at the seminal "Weekend Update" is amusing but sloppy, and much of the cast seem to be holding back. But the groundwork is all there, and soon in subsequent episodes you can see it all start to come together (especially with John Belushi who lets his simmering intensity out to tremendous effect), proving that the first episode simply belies the historic impact the show would come to have on popular culture. Here you'll find the first airing of some of the many skits that stayed famous over the years: the Land Shark, Samurai Hotel, Chevy Chase's opening pratfalls and the impersonations of Gerald Ford which would spin off into the proud SNL tradition of presidential parodies.

The set is a very entertaining look at a significant point in TV and American cultural history. It is so 1975, but that's a major part of its appeal: did Chevy Chase really used to look that young? Did a young George Carlin really used to look so old? Check out Abba in those disco jumpsuits. And if you're a fan of The Muppets, seeing them here on late-night TV making jokes about getting drunk will blow your mind. Younger fans may not fully understand just how groundbreaking this show was at the time. For example, Richard Pryor hosting the seventh episode, which includes the famous "Word Association" sketch. Back then, to have a comedian of Pryor's reputation joking about drugs, sex, and race on live TV was a tremendous risk (it's also gratifying to see the obvious effect he had on the next generation of comics like Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock), and it helped established the show's cache as unpredictable and edgy. The DVD set is full of moments like this and, like the show itself, it has its ups and downs. Watching hosts like Rob Reiner (back when he was still in his "Meathead" days from All in the Family), Madeleine Kahn, and Desi Arnaz work their comedy chops with the cast are high points. Whereas the infamous Louise Lasser episode, which is known for being among the worst episodes in the show's history… not so much. Still, it's entirely to Executive Producer Lorne Michaels's credit that it's included here. It's a tremendous collection of everything that gave birth to Saturday Night Live, and the seed of what SNL would become, spawning many movies (not to mention a few catch-phrases), launching the careers of many great comedians, and providing TV viewers with some of the most famous, and infamous, moments in broadcast history. And it all started right here.

The set is packaged in a well-designed, sleek fold-out digi-pack with every episode listed on the sleeves, with hosts, musical guests, and the original air date. The special features include a rare look at the cast members' original screen tests, and a 1975 TV interview with the cast.

Product Description
Nicknamed the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players," the original cast of Saturday Night Live ignited a comedy revolution with their mix of irreverent characters and satirical impressions of political figures and pop culture icons. From the premiere of this groundbreaking sketch comedy show on October 11, 1975, live from historic Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner launched themselves into instant stardom and were often referred to as "The Beatles of Comedy." Created by Lorne Michaels over three decades ago, Saturday Night Live has had the cultural impact and relevance that few shows can claim. Nowhere else can you see the complete first season of SNL, featuring hosts George Carlin, Rob Reiner, Lily Tomlin, Richard Pryor, Elliott Gould, Candice Bergen, or original musical performances by Simon & Garfunkel, ABBA, Patti Smith, Jimmy Cliff, and Carly Simon. And if you're curious as to how the original cast was hired, check out the DVD bonus features, which include the screen tests of each performer.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JLQPYK/?tag=imwan-20

Oh my God, AWESOME scarcely begins to characterize this! I always thought I would be long dead before this occurred. Now instead I think I may have just died and gone to heaven.

I can well remember nearly pissing in my pants as a result of uncontrolled laughter when I first watched these episodes. At the time it was like nothing that had ever been seen before.

This is strange. I was on Lorne Michaels' website (one of the most boring websites I've ever been on) and on the FAQ list was whether or not they'd release complete seasons of SNL on DVD.

The answer was highly unlikely due to the costs of music rights' clearance.

I hope this set does well - I would love to get a complete collection of the first five seasons.

Our local NBC affiliate here in Charlottesville runs a complete older SNL every Saturday night after the regular broadcast version. A couple of years back we got a DVD recorder and I started building a collection of SNL epsiodes. I've got about half of the first season and there are maybe 6 seasons that I don't have at least one episode from. Personally, I hope they release every season, even the crappy ones!

It's probably too early to ask, but if/when they get around to the appropriate seasons, will they include un-edited, un-censored versions of:

1) the episode where Charles Rocket said the "F" word?
2) the episode where Sinead O'Connor rips up the picture of the Pope?

I hope that it isn't one of those cases where it isn't as funny now as you remember it being then.

Talk about a must own for fans of that era!

I missed lot of those shows when they first ran because I always worked Saturday nights at a Country Club (my high school years).

I picked this up at my local indie cd store for $49. I'm watching episode 3 right now. This stuff is absolutely fascinating to me. I have seen a few scattered sketches over the years, but I didn't really start watching the show until sometime in the 80's. I haven't watched regularly since Phil Hartman left. The musical performances are fascinating as well.

I picked this up this past weekend, and I am amazed at the following:

- How little the cast was used in Episode 1, and how they were virtually absent from Episode 2 (where Lorne basically gave the show to his buddy Paul Simon)

- How vastly different the sound quality was between the first and second episodes. Episode 1, with Billy Preston and Janis Ian as musical guests is a horrid mix. Then one week later, it was as if they had the sound guys drawn and quartered so Paul Simon's musical revue could sound good!

I just completed the final episode of the final disc last night. All in all for me it was a weird experience. I will like the next season set better because by then, the cast and format is much more established than in this set. This season was fascinating, but just strange.

Incidentally, this set was supposed to be uncut, but apparently that is not the case. I know that the still shots of the hosts that air after commercials were cut out because they thought the dvd would flow better, and that's fine with me. However, I read on the tvondvd website and they mention a few sketches and commercials that were cut and no reason was given for the cuts.

I still feel as though the set is worth buying and I want other seasons to be released. The difficulty will be getting clearances for all the music.

I might be wrong, but I think the content cuts were sketches that were repeated in the first season. If an SNL "commercial" was aired in an earlier episode, it was cut from any further episode on the DVD.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/sitereviews ... aseID=6254


They mention a couple of things that were not included at all. Actually I saw many duplicate commercials throughout the set, which is fine but according to this article, some were cut out.

Incidentally, Best Buy has a special offer this week which nets you one free SNL "Best of" DVD if you buy the Season 1 set... see the website for more details.

Also, there are two different packaging options out there - the standard box and a "limited edition" oversize box.

Better deal (money wise, anyway):

Barnes and Noble are offering all TV show DVD boxed sets (2 DVDs or more) buy one get one free! It runs till the end of the month, and I think it's in-store and online.

I got the SNL set, Seinfeld Season 7, and Seasons 2 and 3 of Taxi for around $85!

I went with a friend of mine (who is a B&N employee at a different store) and he was wanting to get a couple of Mystery Science Theater sets he had not bought yet. We couldn't find them anywhere and we ended up going to several of the stores in the area and all of them were out. Another friend called me and we got on that subject and he told me he tried to do the same thing and the B&N employee there (Ohio) said that Rhino wouldn't allow it to be part of their sale so they took it off the shelves until the sale is over in order to avoid conflicts.

That's a shame about MST3K. My wife and I spent many a Saturday morning giggling at them when they were still showing them on Sci-Fi. I would love to get them on DVD, but I think they are just flat-out overpriced.

I agree. It would be nice to get a gift card around Christmas or a birthday and buy one then. As for me, that is too much to spend for something I will probably only watch once. Well....maybe once every couple of years.

Starbucks to Sell 'Best of SNL' DVD
Aug 27, 5:42 PM EST

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- "Saturday Night Live," which has made a living poking convention and corporate America in the eye, is cozying up with Starbucks. The show's "The Best of `06/`07" DVD will only be available for sale at the giant coffee chain.

"The world where you went to a store and bought a DVD, those stores are not there anymore," "SNL" creator-producer Lorne Michaels told The Associated Press, adding that Starbucks does "a really good job of marketing" CDs and DVDs.

"As long as the show itself is good, I'm perfectly happy however it comes out," he said.

Starbucks draws 40 million customers a week into its 14,000 worldwide locations, said Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment.

The "SNL" DVD features "standout performances or great moments" from the past season, Michaels said, along with backstage footage and cast commentaries.

"Last season was one of my favorite seasons ever in the series," Michaels said. "I really love this cast and they seem to genuinely care about each other and root for each other, and that shows up on screen."

The DVD will be available starting Tuesday. The 33rd season of "SNL" premieres Sept. 29, with host LeBron James and musical guest Amy Winehouse, Michaels said. Seth Rogen is set to host the following week, with musical guest Kanye West.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Couldn't they have Seth host with Amy singing so I can skip the other two?

Has the first season box sold well enough to warrant the second season box? As I grew up with the first group of NRFPTP's I would really love box sets for all of those years.

Rich

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7974

I couldn't copy and paste the text into this post, so you'll have to click on the above link yerself to read about it, but it does say the all the musical performances will be included. Should be a fun set.

Stand back ~ I'm a librarian.

Saturday Night Live - Studio Announces 2nd Season, with 'All Original Musical Performances'

Bill Murray joins the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players on December 4th

Posted by David Lambert 8/31/2007

A month ago, we had the scoop that Saturday Night Live - The Complete 2nd Season WOULD see a DVD release in the final month of this year. Now Universal has made it official!

This morning the studio announced an 8-disc set, due to be released on December 4th. Video is in the original full-frame, audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, and there are English subtitles available, too. Join new cast member Bill Murray, and you can expect a season's worth of sketches, skits and - per the studio - "all the original musical performances." Cost is $69.98 SRP. Stay tuned for cover art, and any additional information we can get.

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[December 4, 2007]

[bigred]Saturday Night Live - The Complete Second Season[/bigred]



For over three decades, Saturday Night Live has been the source of young comedic talent and helped to launch the careers of countless performers, making them household names.

Still considered iconic for their live performances from Studio 8H in New York, the original cast of SNL (including Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner and John Belushi) set the tone for years to follow with their irreverent, edgy humor. They combined anti-establishment political satire with rock-and-roll attitude for a show that spoke to the youth of the 1970's, turning it into an instant sensation.

Although only the second year on the air, the 1976-1977 season turned out to be the last for Chevy Chase, but the first for a young comedian named Bill Murray.

The complete second season of SNL contains legendary musical performances by artists Joe Cocker, The Band, Brian Wilson, Paul Simon, George Harrison, Frank Zappa, Chuck Berry, The Kinks, Santana and Tom Waits and classic appearances by hosts Lily Tomlin, Norman Lear, Steve Martin, Dick Cavett, Jodie Foster, Candice Bergen, Ralph Nader, Fran Tarkenton, Sissy Spacek, Elliott Gould and Shelly Duvall.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VNMMVG/?tag=imwan-20

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