What are the chances we will ever see season sets of SNL? (1 Viewer)

[Greg Z]

I would like season sets better than the 'Best of' sets we have been getting. Your thoughts?

 

[TravisR]

Sadly, I doubt they ever will release season sets. And even if they did, it will never be the complete episodes because they won't have all the musical performances.

 

[AnthonyC]

Slim to none. It's a shame because they wouldn't really be as big as people think; each episode is about one hour long without commercials, so a season could fit on six discs.

 

[David Lambert]

Zilch, zero, nada, none, butkus.


Source? The people who own the property. They say there are too many issues with licensing music and talent rights, just for starters.

Never gonna happen, my friend.

 

[RichardLoomis]

Back to the Hot Topic of the Year - music rights.

It is a shame that this issue is going to determine the fate of many of our favourite shows, be it the release or the content (i.e. altered soundtracks). Obviously, they can't just replace SNL stuff, so in the end we just miss out.

SNL has had some great music over the years, and that 'Best of the Music' was quite disappointing actually. I'm sure a better deal with the record companies could be brokered (e.g. a percentage of the profits), but until someone takes a stand, it looks like they have the studios - and the hungry consumers - over a barrell.

 

[GlennH]

Well, understanding the music rights problem, this may be one instance where a lot of fans would settle for season sets with all the skits but without the musical performances. As long as they are clear up front about it. Better than nothing.
Dave, Dick Butkus was a great middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears. I think the word you want is bupkus.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=bupkus

 

[Matthew Green]

I myself cannot stand the music acts and only watch for the skits...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

That's shocking to me - so many GREAT acts have played SNL over the years that I can't imagine unilaterally hating the concept. Some years the only good parts were the musical ones!

 

[AnthonyC]

I like some of the music acts (mostly the 70s/early 80s ones) but I certainly could do without them. But then you have to factor in that many of the sketches contain music as well.

I'm satisfied with the best-ofs but I do want to see some of the older cast members get them (Belushi, Gilda, Aykroyd).

 

[RichardLoomis]

It hadn't occured to me before, but I suppose that would be the best compromise. It is a shame, though. The 'Best ofs' serve that purpose in some ways though. Let's face it - SNL, like any sketch comedy show, is VERY hit and miss. It has had some truly classic pieces of comedy over the years, as well as some utter crud.

The music is just as hit and miss - the more recent "Top 40" people don't appeal to me at all, but there are some classic appearances on there (Bowie's 'Man Who Sold the World' and 'Young Americans' are both standouts for the right and wrong reasons - MWSTW has people singing "Oh no not him!" and cracks me up every time - as well as Radiohead's 'Kid A' - or was it Amnesiac? - stuff seem too good to miss out on a DVD release). I guess if I have a point in this rant, it is that SNL, both musically and comedy wise, has been hit and miss, but the whole SNL format is a combo of the two. It would be a shame to lose a part of that whole to some as frustrating as the legal/monetary issues.

I don't know if I could stand bits "missing". It is just the obsessive collector in me. Having said that, if a collection of all the sketches in order was release, sans music, there would be a definite appeal there, and I'll shell out for it I'm weak.

 

[John McM]

nowadays, I can live without the music on current SNL... even tho I suppose the Ashlee Simpson moment would be worth having on DVD

 

[Andrew Radke]

I would sincerely love complete season sets of SNL, but it's obvious it'll never happen because of the aforementioned reasons. Although much of the time, I usually skip the musical acts, I can't imagine season sets without them. There were some truly memorable performances. Not to mention controversial, as John had stated above regarding the Ashlee Simpson ordeal. The one that comes to mind for me however is Sinead O'Connor, ripping a picture of the Pope. Then there's Nirvana's performance in the early 90's which was the sole inspiration for his song, "Smells Like Nirvana".

You have to remember as well, a lot of music was used in the sketches. Take Dennis Miller's "Weekend Update". He always had a rock tune playing before and after the sketch. Releasing this show would be a music rights nightmare.

I still can't help but wish for it to happen. Although I've recently lost interest in the show, nothing beats the material from the 70's, mid-to-late 80's, and the early 90's. It would be excellent to be able to own it all. Good sketches......and bad.

 

[James Reader]

It's not just music. All the guest host's contracts (at least the early ones) would have been for single performances (or maybe performance and single rerun). It was called Saturday Night LIVE! for a reason.

I would imagine most of the host talent would need to have additional negotiations and payments just to allow the home video release.

 

[Matthew Green]

I am just one that never got into any music...I NEVER go to concerts. The music acts don't sound like the CD, so why bother?

 

[Brody Bergen]

it wouldn't make sense to release it on dvd, because most of the funniest acts were jokes about current situations in the news, no one would find jokes about "the gonzales boy" funny now, i like the best of dvd's because they have the best skits by my favorite comedians like jimmy fallon and will farrel, and of course the legendary chris farley.

 

[Claude North]

I wouldn't buy the episodes without the musical acts. Especially during the first five years, SNL featured a wide variety of performers who otherwise would not have been featured on network television. Those musical segments are as much a part of the cutting edge nature of the show as the comedy segments.

 

[MarkHastings]

Matthew, I'm with you. I never liked the idea of music on a comedy sketch show. That kind of stuff works on talk shows (like Letterman and Leno) and it works on "variety" shows (which aren't all about just comedy), but SNL (IMHO) is comedy and that's why I watch it.

Why break an hours worth of comedy with something unfunny? I don't get it. At least SCTV had enough sense to include the music into the comedy so it was less jarring, but still, the musical acts were always my "bathroom breaks".

But I digress....

If music rights were the issue, then how did THIS get produced?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Back in the mid '90s Time/Life released
BEST OF SNL Season Tapes.

Each 90 minute tape represented a year and its
best skits.

Was an extremely well-put-together tape set that
spanned nearly 20 years (if not more). There were
no music clips so that was never an issue.

Never saw it migrate to the laserdisc or DVD format
and the last time I talked with the folks at
Lions Gate, I was told that there are so many legal
issues surrounding these SNL releases.

I still have the Time/Life series amongst
what remains of my VHS collection.

 

[Jon Martin]

Complete shows, including the music guests, air following the current episode on my NBC station. So I don't think the contracts were only for one airing.

Currently, they are showing the 1982 season. For nostalgia factor, the musical guests are some of the most entertaining parts. Anyone remember Eddy Grant ("Romancing the Stone")? He was the musical guest last week.

And in the early days of video, several episodes were released by Warner Brothers, complete with musical guests. I have a few of them.

Even on E! and the Comedy Central, they would show edited hour long versions of the show, usually with one or two of the musical numbers.

But, I know there have been a couple of times over the years where Lorne has never allowed the show to air a second time. So, we would never see those on any season sets.

 

[PerryD]

I would love an expanded version of what Ron has mentioned, Best of SNL Season collections, expanded to perhaps 3 hours on one DVD, or even better over 5 hours on two discs for each season. As mentioned, there were a lot of bad segments, and if a good DVD producer was involved, editted season sets would have a much higher level of consistent comedy.