The first season of “Saturday Night Live” found The Not Ready For Prime Time Players (as they were called back then) still discovering what the show could be about. It was a very good season that had a lot of great shows but, truly, for me the second season is where the show hit gold. Featuring guest host such as Dick Cavett, Paul Simon, a very young Jodie Foster, Steve Martin (who hosted some of the best episodes and infused them with his comic spirit), Eric Idle (ditto) and musical guests such as George Harrison (performing with Paul Simon and “appearing” in response to producer Lorne Michaels challenge (he offered The Beatles $5,000 to appear on the show to be split up however they wanted as a joke on the show. Ironically, Paul McCartney later recalled that he and Lennon who were on good terms at the time were watching the show live and almost took a cab down there to appear on THAT episode), Ry Cooder and other terrific musical guests, the show continued to get better (it was never bad just had its off moments) as the writers, cast and guest sharpened tuned their comedic edge. Add to that the supervise Mr. Bill shorts and improved filmed shorts by director Gary Weis, and SNL hit the bullseye more often than not (and when they missed sometimes they missed gloriously). ***

As you watch these episodes even the dated political satires will be fun just to watch the late, great Gilda Radner, Jane Curtain, Dan Ackroyd, the late, great John Belushi, Chevy Chase (was the initial “break out” star on the show and already was shooting movies and planning his departure from the show), Garrett Morris (always underused and a terrific actor) and Larraine Newman tear up the stage. As much as Belushi was the next break out star, the most talented performer on the second season of SNL truly was later addition Bill Murray. Murray was brought in to replace Chevy Chase and it turned out that Chase leaving was the best possible thing that could have happened to SNL. Murray added considerably to the strength of the performers and the writing continued to improve giving him a bigger showcase. ---

Image & Sound:

The second season looks better than the first but still shows the ravages of time and the fact that it was videotaped. Colors tend to bleed, clarity isn’t the best but it looks decent. There’s no doubt that Broadway Video did the best they could in providing the best source tapes for the show. Audio sounds fine with dialogue coming through clearly and the mono presentation is more than adequate for the musical performances as well. ---

We get Andy Kaufman’s screen test. Like many screen tests, it only hints at the potential there. We get two dress rehearsal sketches included in audio form only (I suspect the video was in very poor shape or may no longer exist). ***

“SNL Mardi Gras Special” the 1977 prime time special that the cast did as its ratings soared is included as well. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time it has been seen in its entirety since it original aired 30 years ago. ***

We also get a 37 page scrapbook that has behind-the-scenes photos and production notes/memos and postcards(!) about the show. It’s a nice extra for fans of the show. The packaging is very good in a nice solid cardboard box.

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