Where are they now?

My adult self came together in the years 1975 to 1980, and in my recollection of those years, Saturday Night Live glitters, a gaudy thing, a huge but imperfect gem. On the one hand, it flashed with brilliance: SNL introduced me to Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Madeline Kahn; and oh, the musical guests, could they ever be eye-openers to a kid raised on AM radio. Through SNL I met the B-52s, Elvis Costello, Zappa, Leon Redbone, and David Bowie. (I knew Bowie’s music, of course, but seeing him perform was a revelation.) On the other hand, SNL could infuriate. Who can forget the dreaded Last Half Hour, graveyard of unfunny skits? And yet we would watch on, long past the point of fatigue, hoping for one last laugh.

The first season of SNL (1975-1976) is out on DVD. Yesterday, I rented two of the set. I wanted to see Peter Cook and Dudley Moore together, and I wanted to see Peter Boyle cut up for the camera, too. And of course I wanted to see Gilda, who died way too soon.

Before I get started, I have a question for the older crowd: what was the name of the program which followed SNL at 1 AM? It was a musical program, I remember that much. And while the theme of SNL is engraved on my brain, the musical intro to that program escapes me . . . and yet that, too, was once a shining point in my life, something a good deal more vivid than the rest of my day-to-day crap.

Below the cut: where are they now?

Gilda Radner, 1946-1989. I don’t want to get sidetracked, but that Life magazine header really pisses me off. If there ever existed a person with the humor, heart, and sheer vivacity to conquer cancer with her mind, it was surely Gilda. It’s an insidious myth, that a positive attitude will cure your cancer. Insidious in that failure becomes intensely personal: I could have cured myself if I had only believed a little harder.

You learn the wildest things at Wikipedia. I didn’t know that Gilda’s first husband was SNL band leader G. E. Smith, nor that she’d had an affair with Bill Murray. When I think of Gilda, I think of her with her second husband Gene Wilder, another comic with similar sparkle (think of his work in The Producers, or Young Frankenstein). But mostly I think of her as innocent Emily Litella, the little old lady who was always getting things wrong and would work herself into a frothy passion until, inevitably, Chevy Chase would point out her error. With an “Oh? Never mind,” she would become once again a kindly old lady.

Garrett Morris (b. 1937) is, according to Wikipedia, the oldest living member of the original SNL cast. He was certainly the most under-utilized talent back then, although he did occasionally get the opportunity to belt out a song. The man had one hell of a voice. Watching him last night, I was disturbed by the racist undertones of the old SNL writers — Morris, for example, shivering at the winter Olympics, griping about how he would rather have covered the Harlem Globetrotter’s tour of Africa. Not too many years later, Eddie Murphy would shred any remaining racism, latent or otherwise, with his sometimes startling performances . . . but that’s another story. Anyway, I’m delighted to see that Morris’s acting career is still hopping.

But how can Garrett Morris be the oldest living SNL cast member when Don Pardo (b. 1918) is still alive? Not to mention, I think he’s the only person who has stuck with SNL since the beginning. I remember Pardo as The Voice of Jeopardy, but after 31 years of service, I guess we should think of him as The Voice of SNL.

John Belushi (1949-1982). I was never much of a Belushi fan during his life, but considering his comic heirs (Chris Farley, Jack Black), I have to give Belushi credit. The man had intensity.

His death was drug-related, and you can read the Wiki for the sordid details. I’ve tried and failed to find a picture of Cathy Smith, the woman who later admitted to giving Belushi the fatal shot, and who apparently was some sort of professional groupie.

At the time of his death, he had a number of movie projects brewing. Did you know he was supposed to be in Ghostbusters and Spies Like Us?

Dan Ackroyd (b. 1952) has had, arguably, the most successful post-SNL career of the whole lot. (And once again you learn the damnedest things on Wikipedia. I didn’t know Ackroyd was born with syndactyly — webbed toes — or that he’d been engaged to Carrie Fisher. Hmm.) He seems softer, nowadays, definitely heavier, and his performances lack the manic fire of his SNL Bass-O-Matic days.

Our other computer just crashed . . . and I’m beginning to get tired of this post. In short order, then:

Chevy Chase‘s most recent appearance: on Law & Order, as a thinly disguised Mel Gibson, spewing antisemitic rants to his arresting officers. Fun performance. (Not surprisingly, Chevy isn’t his real name. It’s Cornelius.)

I thought Laraine Newman had fallen off the planet, but not at all: IMDB shows she’s been a busy woman, doing lots of TV, especially cartoon voices.

Jane Curtin had a long ride on Third Rock From the Sun. Recently, she had a small role in Tim Allen’s The Shaggy Dog, and this year she also appeared in the TV movie, The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines.

That’s it for me, folks. I’m wondering if all these cold meds are taking off my edge. Not much help for it, though, since otherwise I would keep Karen up with my coughing.

Time to brave the supermarket.

D.