50 Years of SNL’s Graphic Parodies

October 13, 2024 6:15 AM

Marlene Weisman: "So, as you can imagine, this “think fast” boot camp was amazing training for my creative thinking up to this day. As the famous SNL adage goes: The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30."
posted by cupcakeninja (8 comments total)

(Quick note--it's 'graphic' in the sense of 'graphic design', which I'm finding interesting as I dig into the article.)
posted by gimonca at 7:08 AM on October 13

"Crystal Gravy"!

*chef's kiss*
posted by chavenet at 7:14 AM on October 13 [5 favorites]

Dream job.
posted by chrisglass at 7:27 AM on October 13

Colon Blow for you-oo-oo-oo-OOO in the morning!
posted by mefireader at 8:32 AM on October 13 [3 favorites]

Reading several memoirs of working on SNL, it was a rather toxic workplace...but perhaps it didn't extend to the graphics dept.
posted by Czjewel at 8:47 AM on October 13

That crystal gravy lives rent free in my head; comes out for thanksgiving and Christmas.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 11:09 AM on October 13

Loved this article! As a guy who became an art director/graphic designer in 1999 (Macs were is by then, but were way lo-fi) I remember the DIY nature of so much of that kind of thing. Google Images didn't even exist! You had to find books and magazines and scan them.

I know I'm gonna sound like an old fart, but I miss the DIY nature and less-slick graphics for a comedy show like SNL. Today, they can do a CNN parody for instance, and (somewhat) easily create perfect motion graphics and do the slick, HD style of "real" TV, and create five or six other perfect graphics for other sketches.

I guess I miss when SNL still felt a little like you were sitting in a comedy club watching the players, versus the massive and ultra-slick production that it is today. Some of the plucky charm is gone. (and I still contend the main issue with the show is that the casts are ar too large the last ten years!).

Still watch it, not as regularly as I used to, and I even remember the first episode and all the buzz it produced.
posted by SoberHighland at 11:34 AM on October 13 [7 favorites]

It's ironic that the article mentions Macs because one of the ad parodies that I remember well is the one about Apple computers being for the cool kids, and the tagline being "Apple: the power to crush the other kids." I also sometimes think of a, uh, particularly productive bowel movement as a "Super Colon Blow."
posted by Halloween Jack at 3:21 PM on October 13