SNL Season 1 on 12/5/06 (and season sets in general) (1 Viewer)

[Ethan Riley]

I guess there's no harm in pasting the ad copy:

Rating:
Number of Discs: 1
Running Time: 24:00
Color: COLOR

Here it is. After years of waiting and compilation videos, the incredible Season One of the groundbreaking late night sketch comedy series. Everything you could possibly want is featured in this 8-disc set including all of the episodes in their entirety and as they appeared when they first aired, all of the musical numbers and much more. And don't forget the amazing cast of young soon-to-be superstars that included Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtain and more. Guest host the inaugural season include Rob Reiner, George Carlin, Candice Bergen, Lily Tomlin, Anthony Perkins, Raquel Welch and, in a major coup, Richard Pryor. Musical guests were abound as well with a line-up that includes Paul Simon, Joe Cocker, ABBA, Anne Murray, Jimmy Cliff, Toni Basil, Patti Smith, Gordon Lightfoot and more. This was the season where anything went and the amazing cast set the standard for years to come. Whether you are watching a commercial for the Bass-O-Matic or laughing at Belushi's Samurai Deli, this set is sure to be one you watch over and over.

Um...notice it says ONE DISC??? Uh...that must be a mistake. But notice it does say complete with ALL the musical numbers. That utterly amazes me. We have heard from people from Broadway Video who have stated that it is a huge nightmare clearing the music rights from that show. If they actually managed to clear it all, then god bless them for doing all that work. I wonder if somehow Columbia House has it easier, because they cleared the music for all those episodes of Carol Burnett. And Carol used far more songs per episode, because of all those medleys they would do. Well, it's just an amazing amount of work. And I would like to hear from Gord what he knows. I tell you, if they've actually managed to do a complete SNL, after I faint, I will immediately join Columbia House.

 

[AnthonyC]

It says eight discs in the description.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Yep. It does. Maybe they didn't actually fill out those statistics at the beginning. Maybe in that case, the running time is a little off. I have a book called "Saturday Night Live: The First 20 Years" and it lists 24 episodes for the first season, including the infamous Louise Lasser turn. However, it's weird because the season seemed to wrap in May and they came back in July to do the Louise Lasser and one more. Then they wrapped again and didn't come back till September. I'm not sure if the Louise episode is really part of season one or season two. Very, very strange to reassemble the cast for two weeks during their hiatus and then send them back again. Other SNL books don't even mention the matter. Could the July date have been a rerun date? Or was that the original date?? Lorne Michaels supposedly never wanted to rerun it, but I certainly wasn't up at 11:30 back in those days to figure it out (I was 11). At any rate, if it is considered part of the first season, then the first season is hardly complete without it. I hope it's in there. I think a complete SNL boxed set needs to be "warts and all."

 

[Sam Favate]

TSOD has an item up on this. No word on whether all the music is intact, and what I really want to know is whether this is a Columbia House exclusive?

http://tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=6503

 

[mickeyTOR]

The Louise Lasser episode was controversial - but the one I'd be curious to see if they include - which wouldn't be until the 4th season - is the Milton Berle episode. Apparently he clashed with Lorne Michaels and some cast members to the point where Michaels pulled it from all possible reruns out of spite.

 

[Gord Lacey]

No, it's not an exclusive, CH just posted the ordering info first.

Gord

 

[RoryR]

Is the CH description provided by the studio? It mentions music intact and I somehow doubt they managed to get every single song, is it possible they just typed that up themselves and don't really know?

 

[David Deeb]

In 30 years from now, will people be as excited about getting full seasons from SNL's 2000-2006 years? I seriously doubt it.

These first few years were really interesting & fun. This first season set will probably be a big seller.

 

[Gord Lacey]

Alright, Universal just released artwork, and an ad for the set:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=6503

They say that this will include all the musical guests, but I'm going to keep digging to make sure they don't mean "you see the musical guests" and omit the actual music I think many of my contacts are overseas at an event, so I likely won't hear anything back until next week.

Gord

 

[Craig S]

Good to hear confirmation that it's NOT a CH exclusive! With a $70 list Amazon should have this in the $50-$55 range.

But I gotta say, I really didn't need anything else to buy on 12/5...

 

[MarkHastings]

I wonder if the music rights are different for live performances? Does SNL pay rights to have these bands on? I would imagine that the bands would be willing to do this for free (for the publicity) which would give SNL the rights to the performances.

Or what about these live performances that aired over 30 years ago? Do the rights still apply in this case? I know SCTV had music issues, but they didn't with the performances, right? It was only with the music used in the skits, so I would think the acts are a different beast...

but I'm just guessing here.

 

[Gord Lacey]

Alright guys.....heard back from Broadway Video....

COMPLETELY UNEDITED!

The exact quote is:


This comes from someone I've known for about 4 years, and worked closely with on the Kids in the Hall sets, so I trust the info.

Gord

 

[Mike Frezon]

Did Bill Murray make ANY appearances during Season 1?

 

[Seth Thrasher]

I'm floored. Simply floored. This is a set I've ALWAYS wanted to own, but NEVER thought I'd see. At best I thought maybe hacked up episodes with the sketches but no music.

But unedited SNL Season 1....holy cow.

 

[GuruAskew]

No.

He replaced Chevy Chase when he left at the end of Season 1.

During season 1 of the SNL we all know and love Bill Murray was a castmember on the other "Saturday Night Live", the Howard Cosell version that initially prohibited Lorne Michaels from calling his show "Saturday Night Live".

 

[AnthonyC]

BTW, that ad shown at the bottom of the TVShowsOnDVD item confirms that we'll have the Louise Lasser episode.

Wow, this is amazing. I'd actually resigned myself to the best-ofs and had enjoyed them...until I read a fan's list of the top 20 Will Ferrell moments. Some of them sounded hysterical, yet about a third of them were excluded from both Ferrell best-ofs. I can't wait for this.

 

[Zoe]

This is great news. Hopefully future season sets will also be uncut. It occurs to me that clearances for the first season could be easier than most because it had fewer superstars among its musical guests. (And one of the best known, Paul Simon, is a close friend of Lorne Michaels.)

 

[Derek Miner]

I think you're on the right track. When a movie or TV show negotiates for a song, they have to consider both the rights to the song AND recording. Sometimes a re-recorded version can be used and save money. I'm guessing that Broadway Video owns the rights to all the recordings/performances and they just had to deal with the publishers. Even so, they know the demand for such a product and I'm guessing the music costs will probably be covered by higher volume rather than a higher price point.

I'm totally in for early SNL season sets! Will we get to see the infamous New Orleans show?

 

[Sam Favate]

Great news, Gord! Thanks for the info. This is the set that I felt SNL always should have released. I could see complete seasons of the first 5 years being done (music rights notwithstanding, these probably have the biggest audience). It's hard to explain to folks brought up on the lame SNL that, in the 70s, this was groundbreaking work - every bit as subversive as the best rock and roll.

There's going to be serious competition for box set of the year, between this, Get Smart: The Complete Series and the Ultimate Superman Collection.

 

[Marty M]

Thanks for the info. I will look for news from Amazon and DeepDiscount before I order from CH. CH has a decent price, but they really over-charge for shipping and handling.