That Week In SNL (A Vintage Saturday Night Live Podcast)

We're finally getting around to reviewing one of the episodes hosted by everyone's favorite big ol' lummox, Dwayne Johnson and it turns out that this episode means a little something to us and the history of the show! Sound interesting, right? Well, it probably isn't but hey, at least we had fun talking about it.

What happens when you take a chaotic live sketch show and decide to plop it in the middle of Mardi Gras just for the hell of it? You guessed it. More chaos than you can handle. And potentially more Randy Newman than you can handle.

You know, it's like they always say: just shut up and enjoy the Fraser. Brendan Fraser, that is. We explore the second (and to this day, last) hosting gig of this incredibly charming fellow and all the intensely 1999 baggage it carries!

Join us for the most chaotic, slap-happy, improv-filled episode the show has ever had! It's the kind of pure, unfiltered and unscripted joy you so rarely see on television anymore and we bask in every insane moment.

Everyone's favorite coach/commentator/screamy-man John Madden takes to the SNL stages for another typically atypical Ebersol era episode! Moments of intrigue include what is quite possibly the weirdest Andy Kaufman appearance on the show, a chill train trip with John and one of the best musical performances on the show ever.

Two years after it all went down, Al Gore arrives on the SNL stage to exorcise the demons of the 2000 election. The mighty Ian Abramson returns to help us uncover the many mysteries of this strange Holiday episode!

We're finally tackling the last of the Five Infamous Episodes of S20: the Christmas show with ol' George Foreman! Get ready for a very normal conversation about a very normal episode of SNL!

This week, Arthur Meyer drops by the show once again to help us untangle the glorious derangement that is THIS episode. It's simultaneously the most Mr. Mike of the Ebersol era, the most musical of any era and the most unsettling sketch comedy has possibly ever been. God, it's beautiful.

Our ol' pal Jon Schneider of the SNL Network returns to break down an entry from his favorite era of the show. It's the last episode before the 2007 writer's strike went down, the last episode for Maya Rudolph in the cast and it's even got a famous cameo from Barack Obama...and Horatio Sanz. And that's not even getting into Brian.

It's spooky Halloween times again with another one of those rare episodes that actually ran ON Halloween night! We've got a few stamp classics, a somewhat troubling theme of "those darn women" and a cameo by Cassandra Peterson as Elvira!

What could be better than a weirdo variety/sketch show presented by Dr. Demento and featuring such fine folks as Weird Al Yankovic, Howie Mandel, Marc Weiner, Bozo the Clown, John Paragon and others? Turns out, a lot of things. Join us as we dig into the lost wonders of the Doctor's failed SNL summertime replacement series!

It's Steve Martin's first outing with the show and Chevy's second-to-last episode as a cast member. We're not in studio 8H, we're somewhere in Brooklyn. It's a joyfully chaotic episode so it would only make sense that our recording (with special guest William Ham) would be just as chaotic!

It's been five long years since Lorne left the show. Now the prodigal son returns to take back what was once his, with a premiere for a new era that defies expectations and sometimes, explanation. Ian Abramson joins us once again to explore the madness.

We're back again with our usual preseason chatter and babble but this time, we've got Ian Abramson in tow! Weddings, Norm, Andy Kaufman, questions from the audience! It's guaranteed to take up an hour of your life!

We return to our podcasting roots by talking some Albert Pyun directed B-movie schlock starring Andrew Dice Clay, Teri Hatcher and featuring Charlie Rocket. We expected trash. What we actually got was much different.

This week, we're keeping it mellow as we discuss our thoughts on S46 so far and take some questions from you, the audience!

Ah, yes. Good ol' MADtv. Much like last year, we're digging into a Christmas episode from SNL's most ardent rivals and this time around, it's S2 with host Harry Connick Jr.! We talk about some of the small changes and speed bumps the show had seen since it's first season and then bask in the dark glory that is the episode itself.

This week, with the help of Jon Schneider of SNL Stats, we're celebrating the 45th anniversary of one of the most weirdest, wildest and possibly completely misunderstood episodes in the show's long history!

This week, Washington natives Mario Lanza and William Ham join us to talk about America's best regional sketch show: Almost Live. We discuss the history of the show, it's long, 15 season run and the Viewer's Choice best-of special from 1992!

We return to the cinematic realm of the 'Royd for Dan's misbegotten 1991 horror-comedy, Nothing But Trouble. It's a film that mostly defies explanation and yet, here we are. What a beautiful and fascinating mess to uncover.

We're taking a little break from SNL to discuss some formative late night programming! We dig up a couple of Late World episodes, one of our favorite episode's of Space Ghost: Coast To Coast and a very important Sifl and Olly!

We're taking it easier than previous seasons with our yearly wrap up special (hint: we're tired) but that doesn't mean we aren't gonna take a few questions from the audience about S46 and lay out our podcast plans for the summer months.

It's the end of season 4 and we're celebrating it with the Mayor of New York, Ed Koch! As far as season finales go, it's the usual grab bag of returning characters and assorted gassed-out weirdness but it does allow us to add a new wrinkle to our rating system!

Welp...I guess it's time to finally dig into what is quietly one the worst seasons of the show: season 30. No one made much of a fuss back in the day but the product speaks for itself. It ain't good. Here we rip into Paula Abdul during a low point in her life WHILE she's in the building, run through a litany of awful lolgay and trans jokes, almost get saved by the efforts of Forte and more!

This week, we're joining forces with Justin Hart of the Telehell podcast to cover one of the rarer pieces of the SNL ephemera: the ABC made-for-TV movie, Gilda Rander - It's Always Something! Be sure to find Telehell everywhere podcasts can be found and follow them on either Twitter or Facebook!

Every so often, SNL decides to book a host that is seemingly guaranteed to be an absolute dud. This is definitely one of those times. Let's kick back with the mumbling, bumbling non-charm of Kung Fu Fraud: Steven Seagal in one of the most infamous episodes of the show ever!

This week, we're exploring one of the most well-loved episodes of the original era. You got your Steve Martin. You got your Blues Brothers. You got your Dancing In The Dark, Nerds and Festrunk Brothers. It got them an Emmy. And now we're talking about it.

Alright, let's get a do-over on the whole "sports guy/American Idol gal" thing. How about one of the most well remembered Sports Guy episodes ever? That'll do it! Is it as classic as people say it is? Tune in to find out!

Hot off the heals of the surprise popularity of The Crying Game, it's Miranda Richardson! She takes us through a perfectly competent episode of SNL alongside a band who is just on the cusp of releasing their biggest hit. Stephen Rea and Marv Albert cameo because why not?

The early 2000s. Big stuff going down. Suddenly, there was Jon Stewart: smart, comfy, political comedy done right, at a time when that's what the people needed. And here he is hosting SNL...in an episode with a dancing ass-faced man, George Plimpton and Beavis & Butthead. We dig in.

We return to the not-so-distant past with our pal Mike Bloom in tow to explore something a LITTLE more modern than usual. We discuss Larry, Bernie, hungry guys, needless Zoolander cameos, Jon Rudnitsky and Ted Cruz's one moment in the sun and more!

It's Rob Morrow! That guy from that show you swear you've seen a couple of episodes of! He's here, hosting SNL! Also, there's some no name rabble-rousers named Nirvana here to play what the kids today call "music". Pay no attention to them. We've got Rob Morrow, baby!

This week, Arthur Meyer (Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon) joins us to take a deep dive on one of the more important episodes in the show's history. First outing for Elliott, first episode to win an Emmy, first time we see Lorne. Big stuff going down in this one. Not only that but also we get to learn about Arthur's audition for SNL and a lost Elliott Gould-themed sketch for the Tonight Show.

Sometimes you just pick an episode at random thinking you'll have a good time. Sometimes you end up with the Charles Barkley episode from S37. We watched it. We talked about it.

It's time for our big Holiday extravaganza yet again! Returning champion John Murray of the SNL Afterparty joins us to discuss what is arguably one of the most important episodes in the show's entire history. You might have seen some of these sketches before...also Neil Young performs??

This week, Darin Patterson of the SNL Nerds podcast joins us to talk about the very first of John Goodman's many, many hosting stints! We discuss the casual homophobia of the late 80's/early 90s, bungled monologues, K.D. Lang's intensely good live performances and more!

Gail Matthius spent only thirteen episodes on SNL but left an left quite an indelible impression on us here at That Week In SNL. Here we finally get to chat with Gail on her journey to SNL, her experiences during the ever hectic S6, Laugh Trax, her time in the voice acting industry and beyond!

Like a fun-house mirror version of the Charles Grodin show, it's the fascinating, unholy mess that is Tom Green/David Gray! We've somehow wrangled Justin Hart of Telehell to join us in unraveling the screaming chaos that is this episode. Is there a method to it's madness or is it all just a trainwreck? The answer may not exist.

We've again returned to the ever infamous season 20 to cover one of it's legendarily disastrous episodes and this time, we're dragging Mario Lanza along with us! Join us as we explore an episode that's less comedy show and more living funeral, with a healthy dose of ethnic stereotypes for good measure!

Our ol' chum William Ham drops by the show to discuss one of the most gleefully meta episodes of the show, one that is STILL somehow confused to be actually real events. Gilda also debuts two of her most fondly remembered characters: Judy Miller and Roseanne Roseannadanna.

Fresh off Almost Famous, Kate Hudson stops by the show to continue the family tradition of sketch comedy. She's joined by this little underground band called Radiohead. I'm sure you've never heard of them but they're pretty cool. We also learn about the waxing habits of old men in my neighborhood!

Season 4 BEGINS! This week, Ian Abramson (SNQ, Gary Busey: Pet Judge) joins us to break down the first TRUE episode of the Dick Ebersol era. We get some classic Eddie Murphy material, a somewhat distasteful Yoko Ono short, juggling antics from Michael Davis and more!

A few scheduling announcements and jibber-jabber about the upcoming season!

This week, Ian Fermaglich (of Ian Talks Comedy) joins us for an interview with the one and only: Gary Kroeger! We discuss his journey to the show, his various roles on SNL and elsewhere and just what Harry Shearer smells like.

Released in 2008 (but filmed in 2004? 2000? 1998?), Wieners stars SNL alums Kenan Thompson and Darrell Hammond in a gross-out road trip film that has a surprisingly impressive cast list and more than a few decent laughs in it.

This week, we do battle with one of the most confounding motion pictures we've seen in quite some time: Neighbors from 1981. Featuring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi playing against type and directed by John G. Avildsen of Rocky and Karate Kid fame, Neighbors is a dark comedy that ALMOST comes together...but mostly serves to destroy our brains.

With it's mix of vulgar humor, topless ladies and Bob Einstein's Super Dave character, Bizarre was an early hit for Showtime, landing six seasons and even a spin-off show. It's a fascinating document of early cable TV sketch comedy. But...we're not watching that today. No, we've decided to go back to see what the show looked like when it was being potentially produced for ABC, with host Richard Dawson in place of John Byner. Mistakes might have been made.

This week we're having a little free form discussion about the Eddie Murphy Christmas episode and our thoughts on season 45 so far. Also, some small corrections and additions to our MADtv episode.

We're taking a look at one of SNL's longest surviving competitors, MADtv and it's first Christmas episode! We discuss the history of the show, it's cast members and the rather weird Holiday episode they put together in '95 that features both Pauly Shore and a whole lotta of sadness.

In April of 1980, ABC launched their own live sketch to compete with SNL entitled Fridays. Despite lasting only three seasons, the show was able to build a voice of it's own and knock out a number of memorable episodes. None were more infamous than this one, with guest host Andy Kaufman deciding to implode the entire episode. Was it real? Was it fake? We dive deep on one of the most fascinating moments in live television.