“The history of the show reads like an EKG,” said James Andrew Miller, co-author with Tom Shales of the 2002 book, “Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live.” “There are fantastic years, there are growing years, there are years to make you carsick, there are years to make you wonder if it should still be going on.”.
Tune into the Oct. 11, 1975 premiere episode of “Saturday Night Live” — then without “live” in its name — and you may be instantly surprised at some of the bones of the show that are still intact today.
The original cast surely would have mocked the display of showbiz excess, much like the actors in last year's fictional backstage depiction of opening night in the movie “Saturday Night” couldn't hide their disgust at Hollywood legend Milton Berle.
He recognized, as author Susan Morrison writes in the biography “Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live,” due to be released Tuesday, that “just about every person who has ever watched SNL believes that its funniest years were the ones when they were in high school.”.
At its end, Chevy Chase gingerly walks by the prone bodies of the two actors, playing dead, for the very first call of “Live from New York, it's Saturday night!”.
