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Whistle Stopper - Saturday Night Live - The Complete First Season
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List Price: $69.98
Our Price: $33.25
Your Save: $ 36.73 ( 52% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Fran Brill, Richard Hunt
Directed By: Alice Tweedy, John Belushi, Garrett Morris, Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.
EAN: 0025193056528
Format: Box set
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 8
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2006-12-05
Running Time: 1593
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: 1975-10-11
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Golden Era of 'Saturday Night Live'!!!
Comment: I bought this 2 years ago, and I'm just now finishing it! These actors are extremely hilarious! Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris are awesome! I think Gilda Radner is so adorable, and very sexy! (It sucks that she's dead!) There are some pretty cool guest stars like Lily Tomlin, Candy Bergen, Desi Arnez, and much more! Chevy Chase is hilarious as always falling down and doing the news. If you love comedy, and these actors, you'll love SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A great trip back in time!
Comment: The original SNL players were amazing and this takes you right back in time.
Highly recomment.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Finally, season one! A mixed bag as entertainment. Problematic video quality.
Comment: Saturday Night's format was in flux during 1975 and 1976. The series was originally touted as a comedy/variety show (rather than a sketch comedy series). Today's viewers may find the amount of music surprising, but it was an essential part of the show. For a lot of people at the time, the rock music was the main attraction.
Yes, it all looks very 1970s, and yes, the topical jokes are now dated. But, of course, it WAS the '70s, so that's to be expected.
There are a few good episodes here, including a great early one hosted by Lily Tomlin and a fun broadcast hosted by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Also of interest is the show hosted by White House Press Secretary Ron Nessen (with brief specially filmed appearances by President Ford, a presidential skit featuring Nessen with Chevy Chase as Ford, the classic "Bass-o-Matic '76" sketch, and a send-up of Smuckers Jam commercials).
These DVDs are, however, a mixed bag as entertainment. There are memorable skits, but also a lot of humor that falls flat (especially some of the Albert Brooks films and anything involving people in bee costumes). Still, I'm having a great time watching even the weaker programs. The quality of the comedy improves as the season progresses.
My main complaint is the picture quality, which is rather smeary and suffers significant loss of color detail on a lot of the episodes. I can't help wondering whether some of these were mastered from copies instead of original tapes.
Among other issues, there's major "crushing" of the darker colors, with people's hair and dark clothing occasionally disappearing into the background. There are also image distortions and far too many cases of juddery movement (which are surely the result of poor DVD authoring rather than flaws on the source tape). The video problems are worse than I've seen on other 1970s series, and they add to the sense of datedness. Nonetheless, I'm thrilled to finally have the whole first season of this groundbreaking series, which redefined late-night TV.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The depths of 1975
Comment: If you want to remember--or learn about--how utterly rotten 1975 was, exhibit A is the first season of Saturday Night Live. The comedy is not up to the high school level; one after another of the sketches falls completely flat. And there should be a contest about who was the worst host. Rob Reiner was pathetic. Lily Tomlin was excruciatingly bad. And as for Louise Lasser.....Then there was the bad music. And the garrish clothes. And the stiflingly uniform political correctness (even before the term was invented), made to seem oh-so-daring. (It takes a lot of courage and smarts to make fun of Gerald Ford.) In short, drugs help make these programs funnier than they were. Which is surely one of the problems haunting the performers and the writers who concocted some of the lamest excuses for comedy to be seen anywhere.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Chuckles
Comment: Whew boy, I knew that the first season wouldn't be great, but I thought it'd be a lot better than it is. The majority of the skits aren't funny, and at best they produce a chuckle but never a full belly laugh. The worst part are the Albert Brooks and Muppet segments. I hate it when they do a Brooks skit, they are too long and not funny. The same goes for the muppet segments, but they are at least not as bad.
However, the cast is great. I enjoy watching John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and the rest. Too bad the writing just isn't good enough. The series does eventually get a lot better, but it is a slow ride through the first season
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Editorial Reviews:
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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.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 025193056528 Manufacturer No: 61030565
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