40.

Chris Pratt and Ariana Grande for the season premiere

Sarah Silverman and Maroon 5 the next week

Grantland had SNL-week a few weeks ago: http://grantland.com/tags/saturday-night-live-at-40/

some pretty great pieces on the history of the show

RIP Don Pardo

9/11/2014 1:54:12 PM

So the Bill Murray speculation wasn't accurate?

9/11/2014 1:55:26 PM

@thegoodlife3

Thanks for posting that Grantland link. I just read the story on Phil Hartman... he was my favorite of any cast member.

Hartman was the best. He could take the lead or he could volley to others like Carvey, Myers, and of course, Farley.

The Anal Retentive Chef, Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, Old Bloated Frank Sinatra, Young Bloated Bill Clinton...

When he was on the Simpsons, it was the best years.

9/11/2014 3:24:21 PM

Cecily Strong no longer at weekend update desk

9/11/2014 9:47:50 PM

Michael Che is funny. hope he works

9/11/2014 10:05:53 PM

Wonder how much things like Netflix exclusives, and the best shows being on channels like AMC instead of network, has to do with SNL being so terrible nowadays, relative to older seasons.

9/11/2014 10:54:06 PM

it was fantastic up until last season, then a huge cast turnover happened

kind of like the exact way it's been for the past 40 years, before any of those things existed

[Edited on September 12, 2014 at 1:16 AM. Reason : sad for Cecily, but Che is great and In Lorne We Trust]

9/12/2014 12:59:34 AM

^^

The way the reports are written, Cecily wanted this so she can do more character stuff, which she's been slaying lately when she gets the chance.

9/12/2014 1:47:54 AM

Yeah, it was fantastic up until last season. Everybody agrees.



[Edited on September 12, 2014 at 9:02 PM. Reason : The last 40 years are basically a perfect sine wave]

9/12/2014 9:01:23 PM

You mean share and ratings went down from the time there were only three TV networks to the time there were 600?

I'll be damned.

9/12/2014 9:37:55 PM

What else are people watching from 11:30pm-1:00am on a Saturday night? Reruns of COPS? The local news? SNL isn't going up against anything good, yet their ratings still blow.

Better yet, name me one cast member on the show that could get their own movie. Because that's something that all the casts had when the show was actually good, unlike now.

[Edited on September 12, 2014 at 10:29 PM. Reason : How come the Super Bowl doesn't have low ratings. There are so many channels!]

9/12/2014 10:27:06 PM

Pac-12 football

[Edited on September 12, 2014 at 10:53 PM. Reason : lol @ comparing SNL to the super bowl tho]

9/12/2014 10:53:25 PM

vinylbandit is in denial. The show was generally forgettable last year.

9/12/2014 11:39:06 PM

9/13/2014 12:14:59 AM

I've been watching SNL for 20-25 years (plus reruns of the shows before that). I thought most people agreed that it's simply not as good as it used to be. Didn't know that would ruffle some peoples' panties.

9/13/2014 12:58:41 AM

Quote :

"I thought most people agreed that it's simply not as good as it used to be."

There are some people who think that, but nine times out of ten the people who say this do not watch the show regularly.

Quote :

"vinylbandit is in denial. The show was generally forgettable last year."

I wasn't arguing that the show was excellent last year, but TT said it's "terrible nowadays, relative to older seasons," which I just don't think is true.

There were a lot of misses this season, but there was a lot of fantastic stuff: "Kyle & Miley," "Twin Bed," "Dyke & Fats," "Black Jeopardy," "Detectives," "The Beygency," "The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders," "Baby Boss," the pre-tape with Mooney & Bayer in the apartment building, Cecily & Fallon doing "Baby, it's Cold Outside," the bizarre Outfield sketch with HAIM, and fucking "MORNIN' MIAMI." Also, I really liked the weird Fleetwood Mac sketch but I think everyone else hated it.

Kate McKinnon could get a movie right now. She was just nominated for a pair of Emmys for fuck's sake.

9/13/2014 12:20:55 PM

Maybe a lot of the people who don't watch the show regularly anymore do so because it's not as good as it used to be.

9/13/2014 1:59:05 PM

Well, every episode this season will be preceded by an episode from each of the previous seasons, so I guess we'll find out.

Spoiler alert: the first season of SNL is terrible.

9/13/2014 3:38:18 PM

Bill Hader hosting October 11th, with Hozier (someone who I literally had never heard of until I saw the announcement) as musical guest

9/17/2014 12:49:59 PM

See ya later Kenan

9/22/2014 3:21:08 PM

See ya later (after this season)

9/22/2014 3:52:29 PM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/22/kenan-thompson-leaving-snl_n_5862614.html

[Edited on September 22, 2014 at 6:55 PM. Reason : TT is trolling his nuts off ITT]

9/22/2014 6:55:00 PM

TT is speaking on behalf of the majority of people ITT

[Edited on September 22, 2014 at 7:04 PM. Reason : synapse is in denial]

9/22/2014 7:04:21 PM

Darrell Hammond replacing Don Pardo.

9/22/2014 7:26:16 PM

Quote :

"Hozier (someone who I literally had never heard of until I saw the announcement)"

you serious clark?

9/24/2014 10:30:37 AM

why wouldn't I be?

9/24/2014 11:28:18 AM

I also have no idea who/what Hozier is.

9/24/2014 12:13:58 PM

I hear that song everywhere, just surprised theres someone out there who hasnt heard it

9/24/2014 2:25:11 PM

prior to reading this thread today

Quote :

"I also have no idea who/what Hozier is."

gave him a goog, i still have no idea

9/24/2014 3:51:51 PM

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/09/25/kenan_thompson_on_saturday_night_live_after_11_seasons_cast_member_quietly.html

great read

9/25/2014 11:15:50 PM

no dick sucking in this thread yet? some good sketches and plenty that fell short

i was a big fan of the low budget 80's tv show one

9/28/2014 9:16:14 AM

Some good jokes here and there, but it was pretty much an awesome Update and then a bunch of stuff.

All of my OTA channels went out during the sketch where Aidy & Pratt were rapping at each other and only came back halfway through the low budget show sketch, so I missed the premise there.

9/28/2014 1:33:55 PM

what part of Update did you enjoy?

9/28/2014 2:22:21 PM

[Edited on September 28, 2014 at 3:09 PM. Reason : G]

9/28/2014 3:08:21 PM

Leslie Jones ruled again, Cecily is back to doing her strongest character, Davidson's bit was good, and I like Che's "call out bullshit" persona played against Jost's "Seth Meyers" persona.

Plus, I love when Kenan sings.

9/28/2014 3:08:21 PM

that Cecily character is annoying

and don't say "that's the point"

9/28/2014 3:20:20 PM

It was like a female drunk uncle, with less slurring.

9/28/2014 4:57:46 PM

it's a recurring character that should never recur

9/28/2014 5:21:55 PM

have there been enough new movies recently for there to be another Jebediah Atkinson

9/28/2014 7:10:27 PM

Different strokes for different folks but that was one of the worst SNLs in recent memory... and I like Chris Pratt. He didn't do too well live IMO.

9/28/2014 7:53:39 PM

^ Naw there were far worse episodes last season.

9/28/2014 8:14:26 PM

I didn't catch much of last season. I guess I didn't miss anything.

9/28/2014 8:38:15 PM

Oh, so you're one of those people

9/28/2014 9:00:55 PM

Pratt wasn't great, but no one could be as bad as Jim Parsons.

9/28/2014 10:14:27 PM

the fat chick is really horrible. not trolling, has she ever had a funny or noteworthy sketch?

Girlfriends Talk Show?

[Edited on September 28, 2014 at 11:14 PM. Reason : m]

9/28/2014 11:12:15 PM

She's one of the few people on the show who can pull laughs without having lines. She was also the best overall performer last night.

9/28/2014 11:33:36 PM

Quote :

"the fat chick is really horrible. "

Look I hate to back the hipster here, but you're out of your fucking mind. Aidy Bryant is one of the stars of this cast.

[Edited on September 28, 2014 at 11:52 PM. Reason : fucking TKEs]

9/28/2014 11:51:08 PM

If ever there was a time where I'm not a hipster (and I suppose they're few and far between), it's the time I'm the guy who stays home on Saturday nights to watch the 40th season of a variety show.

Regardless, Li'l Baby Aidy is the jam.

9/29/2014 2:53:26 AM

I too think Aidy Bryant is not very funny at all. She flubbed her liens multiple times in the opening skit. She seems to be the same character in most of her skits. She seems to rely on her fatness for humor. The channel went out on me during the silly rap skit where aidy kept talking about her huge butt, and I changed it and missed the low budget show sketch.

9/29/2014 12:02:38 PM

http://player.theplatform.com/p/NnzsPC/widget/select/LmFjYljk0_J9?carouselID=148621#

9/29/2014 12:21:54 PM