Tag: career

Method Acting and Improvisation

 

NBC’s “Not Ready For Primetime Players” after Chevy departed the show in [Fall] 1976
Photo: Courtesy Pinterest

One of the better television shows in the 1970s, in my opinion anyways, was Saturday Night Live. Especially when you consider it’s longevity and integrity over the years. Most, would argue that after 1975 it was really SCTV (‘77) in terms of the packaged [syndicated] comedic product. But for SNL, in regards to improvisation and method acting, it was more the ladies than the gentlemen, all of whom would not star on the big screen like their male counterparts (e.g. Belushi, Morris, Ackroyd, Murray, Martin, Kaufman). As some may recall, Steve Martin and Andy Kaufman weren’t even in the case named the Not Ready for Primetime Players. A play on words from a Howard Cosell network political roundtable experiment gone horribly wrong. Or at least it appears so, anyways.

Now it’s just what I’d call a lunchbox. Five years of work, boxed, syndicated, and available for DVD. But for historical purposes there’s still really good episodes, depending on your style preference, that still shine through regardless of who was on or what week they seemed to really like Buck Henry or Elliot Gould. Still a mystery… Unless you really liked M*A*S*H. And I mean, really liked it. Enough to remember to add the asterisks in between each word, bad.

Here’s a photo of the the three original female cast members of NBC’s Saturday Night, later redubbed Saturday Night Live the the network in spring of ‘77. I have no clue what year this was from but the Price is Right contestant [in me] would guess very late ‘74.

Jane Curtain,  Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner
honey-rider: Jane Curtain, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner When it was organ-twisting funny. Not as funny as NatLamp Radio Hour, of course, but very close.
Photo: Courtesy of Tumblr blog “Out of My Mind”

Barbara Walter’s give cooking lessons from Iceland. Method acting [and Chico] have been berry berry good to Hane through the years. Sad thing is that joke isn’t acceptable on TV anymore. Well, unless Garrett’s underwriting it or something. For now, let’s just watch the original’s on DVD. Shall we.

Good afternoon and have a pleasant evening.

Sources

New York Daily News, Bing News, Tumblr, Pinterest, Wikipedia, Wikia

More

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American Masters . Constantin Stanislavsky | PBS

An Evening at the Improv

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