The momentum is gathering for the nostalgia-fest that will be the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. It’s crazy to think that my freshman year of college was the 15th anniversary. I, and many like-minded pop culture fiends, recorded the 15th anniversary special and watched it over-and-over.[1]
There will, of course, be an official NBC special. But VH1 Classic is getting into the act by airing a 19-day marathon of SNL’s, beginning with the most recent and working back to the original episodes. Cue many of you scrambling to see if your video content provider carries VH1 Classic.
VH1 Classic to run the ‘longest-ever’ TV marathon with 19 days of Saturday Night Live
The headline for this next piece is not accurate. They miss many of the best commercial parodies over the years. But it’s still a fine way to blow half an hour or so. “Dissing Your Dog” still makes me laugh like a lunatic. Also, after my admission last week of my current musical guilty pleasure, it’s clear I need some Swiftamine.
SNL’s Best Commercial Parodies
Finally, SNL-themed candies. Yep, there are Schweddy Balls.[2]
Do you want to read a thorough accounting of the history of the Bee Gees? Sure you do! I think a lot of people forget how many hits they wrote for other artists after people stopped buying their albums.
Next time you watch an action flick and roll your eyes about the hero constantly escaping mortal wounding, remember this story.
Adrian Carton de Wiart: The unkillable soldier
I did not follow Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson’s attempt to free climb El Capitan live, although I did pay attention to the daily updates that flitted around the Internet. If you want to know more about why their ascent was such a big deal, this is a fine, detailed overview.
Summiting Yosemite’s Dawn Wall, Climbers Make History
Finally, go check out these completely brilliant pictures of New York City, taken from 7500 feet above the city.
- “LORD AND LADY DOUCHEBAG!” “Who’s the barber here?” “T-I-T-I-A-N. Titian, honest to God.” Etc, etc, etc. ↩
- Late one evening last month I was watching the annual SNL Christmas special. I’ve seen the Schweddy Balls skit dozens of times. It still made me laugh so hard that my wife, who was asleep upstairs, sent me a text that said, “What are you watching?” The classics never get old. ↩