oral histories often annoy me, but this one is brilliantly edited. it's a great story and full of gossipy details as well as really interesting analysis.

A solid, funny, and engrossing read. I'm a bit of a sucker for these "oral history" style books, and this one was no exception. Even if you're not necessarily a hardcore SNL aficionado (which I'm not), there's plenty here to keep the casual fan interested. Reading this book gave me a new appreciation for the show and its writers and performers. I stop just short of giving this five stars only because I found my interest waning a little during last hundred pages or so. This is mostly due to the fact that I was never a huge fan of the Will Ferrell years, and unlike the other weak seasons of the show, there isn't enough backstage dirt from this era to make up for it. However, I must say that I didn't find the final section on Lorne Michaels to be the pandering ass-kissing that other reviewers had me expecting. It's actually fairly even-handed and, I think, an appropriate way to wrap up the book.

Comprehensive overview of the past 35 years of SNL...but you have to really be into SNL to get through this, which I am but it still took me several months to get through it...still a fascinating story of how a program has evolved and kept current.

This book is phenomenal, and you really get swept up in the history of this show, which the authors love to refer to as "an American treasure." In an ideal world, though, the authors would have researched more, as many times they delegate the story-telling to the cast, writers, hosts, and executives without any context or clarification. A perfect example would be when someone discussed the episode in the mid-80s where a light fell as Madonna hosted, and they claimed that Damon Wayans shrieked in surprise. The cast member who actually screamed was Terry Sweeney.

I know that, as an oral history, there is only so much the authors can do to portray the show outside of the realm of those involved firsthand. That said, there were points where I grew frustrated with their approach. Throughout the text, female cast members and writers mentioned that SNL was a toxic environment and a boys club, from Jane Curtin to Nora Dunn to Janeane Garafolo to even, sometimes, Tina Fey. Almost always, the authors would follow with people discrediting these claims in a hyperbolic fashion. Perhaps worst off was Garafolo, as her cast mates and other writers castigated her as an ingrate who spent most of her time calling the press rather than writing sketches.

Again, I loved this book and worship this show, but there were pieces of this text that really left a bad taste in my mouth.

Book is super for reals bonkers, y'all.

It reads a little disjointedly because it's told almost completely anecdotedly. (I like adverbs!) But the bits about the drugs are fun, and there's very little Jimmy Fallon. Also, the part where David Spade talks about Chris Farley's death made me tear up a little. I recommend reading the first part while watching the first season or two of SNL, available through Netflix.

Basically, the first cast all slept around, did drugs because they didn't know any better, and became famous overnight without expecting it. No one understands Lorne. Everyone loves Gilda, Chevy was a pompous jerk, and Jane was just a normal lady with a husband and cat. Later they adopted Bill Murray.

The next cast all expected to get famous, and hardly any of them did. Lorne left the show, and so did the rest of America. Eddie Murphy gets discovered, Joe Piscopo becomes creepily possessive of his Sinatra impersonation, and no one else has a clue about what's going on or who's supposed to be doing what.

Lorne comes back. New cast is hired, and again, expecting to get famous, they pretty much suck. Really famous people get hired, like Billy Crystal and Martin Short, and all the writers get jealous because they have to keep writing the same characters over and over again. Still no one understands Lorne. We realize that Lorne kind of likes it this way, and is probably doing it on purpose.

Most of the famous people leave, and Lorne assembles another new cast. People rotate in and out until you get to the era of Chris Farley. Things stay the same for a while, then eventually you get the era of Will Ferrell. People still can't figure Lorne out.


Aside from the clinical nature of what I just wrote, I did really enjoy the book. It's almost all interviews, so it reads pretty fast. You often get multiple people's takes on a given situation, including actors, writers, producers and, rarely, Lorne himself. Obviously there are a lot of recurrent themes, and it does get repetitive in parts because comedians, for the most part, share a lot of the same neuroses about things. There's quite a bit of he-said-she-said-he-said-he-said (because there are way more men than women), and some backbiting and hurt feelings even after 30some years, but there are also some really touching moments about lost cast members like John Belushi, Gilda Radner, and Chris Farley from the people who probably knew them the best. No, not you, Michael O'Donoghue. You were just crazy.