Thee will never be another Gilda Radner & how fortunate we are to have some of her funniest moments captured on DVD. I'd be hard pressed to name my favorite sketch, but the one with her as Baba Wawa interviewing "Marweena Detrick," played hysterically by Madeline Kahn (yet another comic genius who left this life too early) brings tears of laughter to my eyes.
More should have been available
I loved Gilda Radner when she was alive and I love her now! My only complaint about this DVD is that I thought that more clips should have been included. To see this funny young lady going eye-ball to eye-ball with a beautifully cool Jane Curtin was enough to bring tears to my eyes - tears of laughter. Gilda was obviously enjoying herself in the skits that were selected and eveyone's favorites are represented but, for my money, there could never be too much Gilda!
A few amusing moments ... could have been much better
I agree with some of the other reviewers that the selection of sketches here is not as good as it could have been. Gilda Radner was a very talented comedy actress but this DVD does not showcase enough of her best work. Sure, the dance number with Steve Martin is a classic, as are a couple of the commercials such as "Hey, You," but too many of these sketches show her playing a little girl, Lisa Loopner or the usually gross Roseanne Roseannadanna. It focuses too much on her as an individual, not the integral part of the SNL ensemble that she was. One of the major mistakes the producers of this and the other SNL videos I have seen is that when they take the sketches out of context they are much less funny in isolation than in the flow of a regular show. I was disappointed with this, I didn't chuckle as much as I thought I would and had to skip through many of the sketches because they either rapidly got boring, or gross. I won't be getting any more of these SNL compilation DVDs because they simply don't know how to produce them so that they are funny. I noticed a similar problem with an SNL 25th anniversary compilation. I think perhaps these are written and produced by the same people who write and produce the current SNL show -- which is very rarely even amusing and usually just a waste of time.
Few "Saturday Night Live" castmembers have carved a greater niche in the show's history than Dan Aykroyd. His four years on the show gave us some of the most hilarious moments ever to grace our television screens. From his zany charatcers to his dead on impresions, Aykroyd was a force to be reckoned with.
On September 6th, 2005, "The Best Of Dan Aykroyd" was one of four new "SNL" dvds from the show's first five years released on dvd. It features 22 sketches and has a decent run time of 93 minutes. How does it hold up. Read on for the positives and the negatives.
Positives:
-You get most of Aykroyd's popular recurring characters on here. Beldar Conehead, Leonard Pinth Garnell, Elwood Blues and others are all on this dvd.
-They included the Nerds sketch... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Dan Aykroyd DVD Release Date: Released the 06 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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John Belushi could say more with an eyebrow than most performers can with their entire body. Yet he wasn't a minimalist. Far from it, he could go over the top in a way that’s never been surpassed. Spanning 1975-1979, this collection includes his bemused Beethoven, who speaks through his fingers rather than his mouth--until he morphs into Ray Charles. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there's "Samurai Delicatessen," in which his Toshiro Mifune-styled chef grunts and slices with abandon, or those "Weekend Update" commentaries, where he implodes at the end of a deranged tirade. Then there's his nimble-footed "Joliet" Jake Blues and the poignant "Don't Look Back in Anger," in which an aged Belushi visits the graves of his cast mates. In these skits, spoofs, and musical performances,... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 06 September 2005 Usually ships in 6 to 11 days
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No other person has been a guest on Saturday Night Live as many times as the inimitable Steve Martin, which is what makes SNL's Best of Steve Martin compilation the finest of the series. This collection gives us not only clips of some of the show's funniest moments, but also a sense of how the show has evolved from the 1970s. Earlier monologues were rougher, less staged, but absolutely out of control in the best way, as Martin is given free rein to unleash his "happy feet," play the banjo, and generally explore his zaniness. The earliest clip dates from 1976 and the latest from the mid-'90s, showcasing the program's greatest players throughout the seasons--Chevy Chase, Laraine Newman, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Mike Meyers, Dana Carvey, Nora Dunn, David Spade, Jon... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Dave Wilson - A.D. Miles - Christopher Guest - Mike Judge - Tom Schiller DVD Release Date: Released the 25 April 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Perhaps one of the greatest lights ever to shine on late-night television, Eddie Murphy has gone on to well-deserved international superstardom. Check out his earliest television work on Saturday Night Live: The Best of Eddie Murphy, a collection of his greatest roles, from Gumby to Stevie Wonder to Buckwheat. Of course, some would argue that his best role was as himself, and there is plenty of evidence for that--many of the skits feature Murphy au naturel and the opening sequence is taken from his monologue when he returned to the show triumphantly after leaving for Hollywood. Exploring the world around him and finding laughs everywhere, Murphy can take a simple idea (such as the "James Brown Hot Tub Party") and run wild with it, leaving the audience hysterically begging for... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 24 February 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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WHAT A RIP OFF!!! I expected my favorite skits and got unofficial history and gossip!!! It will be returned to the store. These people need to get a job. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Kenneth Bowser DVD Release Date: Released the 06 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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