‘Sometimes, ‘Saturday Night’ Is Awful’: What Critics Said About the First Few Episodes of ‘SNL’

The New Yorker boarded Saturday Night Live's 50th birthday train early this week, posting its review of the show — then simply Saturday Night — from November 7, 1975, four shows into its epic run. While reviewer Michael J. Arlen would never have predicted the late-night show would run for 50 years, he did see its unsteady comedic potential.

“The truth is that it’s a funny show and has enough comic spirit behind it so that even an actress of no notable comic expertise, such as Candice Bergen, can work along easily with the program,” Arlen wrote. “Still, it’s not really the gross tonnage of jokes in the skits which makes Saturday Night worth looking at. What is attractive and unusual about the program is that it is an attempt, finally, to provide entertainment on television in a recognizable, human, non-celebrity voice — and in a voice, too, that tries to deal with the morass of media-induced show-business culture that increasingly pervades American life.” (Note that Arlen praises the show for breaking free of self-congratulatory show-biz culture, something that SNL virtually defines in 2024.)

A week later, The New York Times noted that the show took a few episodes to find its groove, a sentiment with which Lorne Michaels and his cast would have agreed. “The future of Saturday Night is uncertain — intentionally so. Mr. Michaels and company are especially anxious about avoiding the pitfalls of being slick, coy or predictably routine. Mr. (Chevy) Chase is already wondering if the ‘Weekend Update’ has run its course. The modus operandi seems to be that if it works, drop it, try to develop something else. For however long it lasts, Saturday Night is the most creative and encouraging thing to happen in American TV comedy since Your Show of Shows.

Other early reviews continued along the lines of “raggedy and weird but potentially good.” Time seemed to believe this was a feature, not a bug. “Sometimes (Saturday Night) is awful. Comedian Albert Brooks’ taped films were at first a regular feature, but offered only 10 minutes of boredom. The Muppets are cloying grotesques. ... SN’s most endearing and human quality is its unevenness.”

The Los Angeles Times suggested that NBC move its Not Ready for Prime Time Players into prime time. “Minus half its commercials, this bright and bouncy 90-minute outing could become the freshest and most imaginative comedy-variety hour on the air.”

“Sometimes the material is tastelessly juvenile,” spat Newsweek. “At its best, however, the show evokes the inspired lunacy of TV’s Sid Caesar-Imogene Coca era. ... NBC has granted Saturday Night a six-month commitment, but all signs point to a much longer run.”

“A much longer run” proved to be prophetic for a show that has been getting essentially the same reviews for 50 years. The show’s early critics saw SNL’s promise but lamented the show’s uneven comedy, with hilarious sketches stuffed in between juvenile bits that just weren’t working. 

Sound familiar, Lorne?