Want to see complete Saturday Night Live episodes on DVD?

Spurred on by something that Manigrasso mentioned over on the "Films You fear won't make it to DVD" thread, I went poking around on the website for Broadway Video, the company Lorne Michaels set up to put out old SNL episodes on video. Turns out the contact link sets you up with the email for the CEO of the company, Jack Sullivan.

Drop him a line at jsulliavn@broadwayvideo.com and let him know how you feel.

Here's a copy of what I sent him-

Hello,

I was wondering if there was any plans on releasing complete episodes of Saturday Night Live on DVD. Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of the "Best of..." collections that are currently out on the market. Myself, and I'm sure many other fans would love to see complete episodes (perhaps available in season box sets?) going all the way back to the very first episode with guest host George Carlin.

I understand there may be several issues involved in such a release- the least of which is the ongoing urban legend that Lorne Michaels doesn't want the Louise Lasser and Milton Berle episodes ever seen again. (I also wouldn't be surprised if he was reticent in releasing the episode where Charles Rocket accidentally used the "F-Word" in the air.) However, I think that given SNL's place in television history and American pop culture warrant such a release. And given that both "MASH" and "All In The Family" are both getting such treatment, it's definitely the time.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Rich Drees

[tripps]

Season box sets'll never happen. SNL is far too huge: Broadway wouldn't want to spend the time preparing all of them (clearing music rights would be a nightmare alone), and I don't see many people interested in having a complete 526-episode collection. Plus: SNL eps are plain uneven. I normally hate "Best Of" sets, but I think this is one case where I'd prefer it. Twenty-seven 2-disc "Best of Season X" sets would rule: condense all of the skits that really worked into a few hours of goodness.

Hehe... if Fox owned SNL, 27 seasons of SNL would take them 14 years to release! By that time, there'd be 14 more seasons to release, which would take another 7 years...

SNL Episode Guide

[stone88]

No Thanks, I'd rather see ABC's "Friday's" with Michael Richards and Mark Blankfield released on DVD.

[manigrasso]

Two things...

1: I would probably...crap, I'd save money and DEFINITELY buy whole season box sets of the first 5 years. At least the first four years, before Belushi & Aykroyd left, anyway. If the rights to the music performed on the show is a hassle, I'd hate to lose it, but would deal with it as long as the rest of the show were intact. Not just for the sake of comedy; the show really is significant historically. At a time when nobody between the ages of 16-35 were really watching anything on TV with any passion, at a time when the networks really thought late-night television would never really make any big profits, and at a time when sex drugs and poltics were still highly verboten, SNL flaunted every conceivable rule. They fought the battles so many of the shows you love today wouldn't have to. There's an evolution in the history of television to be sure, and no one show is responsible for everything that came after it, but SNL was a major stepping stone, and at the ridk of sounding like Willy Loman's wife, attention must be paid to this series. If season box-sets are not feasible, I'd still like to see complete episodes on disc, no best of an entire season compilation. Take the 3 or six epsiodes that were the best of any season, and release those on single or double disc sets...

Oh, yeah, and 2: Charles Rocket saying "fuck" didn't happen on Lorne's watch. That was produced by his first replacement & former-best-friend-of-Woody-Allen, Jean Doumanian. I'm guessing Lorne controls anything SNL-related, including these eps and the season produced by Dick Ebersol with or without Miuchael O'Doghnahue (sp?) and Bob Tischler. But don't blame Lorne. SOmewhat related note: Paul Shaffer said "fuckin'" on the fifth season of SNL. It was a sketch about a medieval band having troubles with rehearsals. Paul Shaffer kept saying "floggin'" like "it floggin' don't sound floggin' right! You're floggin' off the floggin' beat." That kind of thing, but he slipped once, said "fuckin'" and you can see him do a minor double take, as if he knew he singlehandedly ruined live TV. That episode was on E! a few months ago...and the "fuckin'" was still in there! That was cool! I mean, they've only had...what...TWENTY-TWO YEARS to get the "fuckin'" out of there...they must be tired, poor rascals...