Latest news with #Ladies&Gentlemen…50YearsofSNLMusic
Los Angeles Times
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
How Questlove uncovered those culture-shifting moments in his ‘SNL' music doc
Like the DJ he is, Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson is highly adept at keeping a lot of things spinning. Before the pandemic, he juggled '14 to 16 jobs,' most notably as the drummer and focal performer for the Roots, the house band for 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.' But since then, Thompson says he's stopped using 'work, and overworking, as an excuse not to do the life work.' He discovered he likes naps and going to the movies with his girlfriend. And trimming his résumé. 'Now I'm sitting at six [jobs]. My goal is by the end of this year … that I get down to four.' One of those will continue to be as an Oscar-winning filmmaker, thanks to his 2021 documentary debut, 'Summer of Soul.' The prolific artist already dropped two new docs this year. 'Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music' is a compendium of culture-shaking highlights and behind-the-scenes revelations from 'Saturday Night Live,' while 'Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)' explores funk pioneer Sly Stone's 1970s descent from the top of the charts into a druggy twilight zone, and its broader cultural implications. Thompson is checking in over Zoom from a Los Angeles hotel room, visiting the city during a short 'Tonight Show' hiatus to spend some time with Stevie Wonder as he works on his next feature project, about 1970s R&B supergroup Earth, Wind & Fire. As he explains it, he's obsessed with the idea of 'penultimates,' the moment right before an artist's breakthrough. It was the key that helped Thompson resolve the task of compressing a half-century of archival 'SNL' footage into a two-hour history that's a lot more than a greatest-hits reel. 'Each story that's told starts with an obstacle … and kind of either getting over a fear of failure or [artists] getting over themselves, and then taking a step forward, doing it, only to realize that that's going to be a paradigm shift, game-changing moment,' he says. 'I can't imagine Eddie Murphy saying, 'No way I'm going to do James Brown, I'll look like a fool.' Or Jimmy Fallon being afraid to knock on Mick Jagger's door. Or, the reluctance of having John Belushi invite these people called slam dancers to a gig. Should we have Rage Against the Machine with Steve Forbes together? Like every story has a connecting resistance or fear. Hopefully, that's what I want people to learn.' Thompson and fellow director Oz Rodriguez miraculously touch on dozens of the music-related moments — not just the celebrated (and controversial) live performances that became pivotal for everything from hip-hop to punk but sketches, guest appearances by stars and the cast's own formidable inventions like the Blues Brothers — while mining anecdotal gold from the NBC archives and interviews. The film leads off with a nod to 'SNL's' signature cold open with a seven-minute blowout of clips that mashes up artists in surprising juxtapositions, most sensationally a sequence that features Queen, Vanilla Ice, the Dave Matthews Band, Fine Young Cannibals and Michael Bolton. 'I wish the world could see our 'CSI' outline — literally, like a yarn — trying to figure it out,' Thompson says. 'For me, the rule of DJing is knowing five songs that go perfectly with the song you're playing right now.' The montage took 10 months to create and one more, according to the filmmaker, to convince 14 holdouts to be part of it. 'I had to physically go, iPhone in hand, and be like, 'Come on, you don't want to get left out of history now, do you?'' Thompson's fascination with Sly Stone began as a 2-year-old. 'I'm probably the one person who didn't salivate over the arrival of 'There's a Riot Goin' on,'' he says, referencing the 1971 bummer classic. 'I'm almost certain it's because 'Riot' was possibly my first memory in life.' It's a very traumatic one. He was getting a shampoo from his mother and sister when a container of bathroom cleanser spilled and some of it got into his eyes. 'I'm in screaming pain. Four people are trying to 'Clockwork Orange' my eyes out, and 'Just Like a Baby' by Sly and the Family Stone was playing in the background. Why is this the second song on that album? I'll never get it, like, it's just the scariest, most mournful haunting sound ever.' Thompson made the documentary to explore those feelings and solve a riddle that the music posed. 'Soul music is releasing a demon that turns into a beautiful, cathartic exercise,' he says. 'We never just see it as 'I'm watching someone go through therapy.'' The process led to a personal revelation. 'My mom joked that, 'You say you're making this for Lauryn [Hill], and D'Angelo, and Frank Ocean and Kanye and whoever right now is sort of the modern version of Sly. You made that for you.' And when I thought about it, I was like, 'You're right.' 'Only time will tell,' he says 'if I had to make the Sly story to save my own life.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Questlove on Why His ‘SNL' Music Doc Couldn't Get a Clearance From Pavarotti, but How Eminem Saved the Day
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Since its beginning in 1975, 'Saturday Night Live' made a point of showcasing as many music superstars and rising talents as possible made it inside Studio 8H. The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Tupac, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Jack White, Radiohead, Lenny Kravitz, Tom Waits, Coldplay, Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, Mary J. Blige, Donald Glover, U2, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Billy Joel, No Doubt, Tom Petty, Elton John, Olivia Rodrigo, Bruno Mars and Prince are just a few of the artists who have appeared on the show. And that's why they're all also seen at some point in the three-hour music doc 'Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music.' More from Variety 'The Roots' superstar Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson, who in recent years has also become a prolific and award-winning documentarian, was the co-director mastermind behind the three-hour documentary. The special will perhaps be best remembered for an epic intro montage mixing in performances from the show's 50-year history. He and music montage editor John MacDonald put together a master list of every song that had ever been on 'Saturday Night Live.' Says Questlove: 'We watched every episode and compartmentalized it.' He pulls out his phone to show that list: fast songs, slow songs, jazz songs, gospel songs. The list goes on, as does the scroll – it's long and comprehensive. 'We were like a Michelin star restaurant, and we just analyzed each song,' he tells Variety's Awards Circuit Podcast. 'This is in E minor, and the bridge is in G. So then that could connect to this song.' Their vision board looked like an episode of 'CSI' breaking down how a Hanson song could fit into eight other songs. His other challenge was clearing songs. Sometimes it was a matter of making a call, but there was one he couldn't get. 'It was the end of Mariah Carey's 'Vision of Love,' with Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful' with [Luciano] Pavarotti doing the same thing, all these singers hitting the same note. I couldn't clear the Pavarotti song because I would have to physically go over there [to Italy] just to beg for two seconds of a clearance and show them like what I'm trying to do, and it just wasn't worth the fight. So I had to lose the Pavarotti moment.' His challenge didn't end there, at the last minute, he got clearance from Marshall Mathers and Paul Rosenberg to include Eminem's 'Stan.' That clearance allowed him to seamlessly connect 'Stan' to Destiny Child's 'Survivor' and *NSYNC's 'Bye Bye Bye.' He laughs as he recalls the challenge: 'You don't know how hard and how difficult those 12 seconds were!' Ultimately, that whole montage took 11 months to put together. Questlove could find himself landing two Emmy nominations; his other show, 'Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius),' also earned a Gotham TV nomination. He recalls a moment shortly after winning his BAFTA for 2021's 'Summer of Soul' when he went back to North London, and the Kentish Town apartment he lived in as a starving artist decades earlier, to look around and reflect. 'I made my driver go so that 50-year-old me could look at the 24-year-old disparaged, very discouraged version of myself in his apartment window, wondering if he had a future or not.' That younger version of himself was broke, but full of dreams. He wanted to show himself symbolically that he had made it. Ironically, the cops pulled up and wondered why this person was loitering outside an apartment. But dressed in a tux, holding a BAFTA, Questlove explained himself and the officer told him it was a nice story and went about their way. It's a great story. It's one he's proud to tell this fellow Londoner. Questlove has indeed made it. He won an Oscar and that BAFTA award for the 2022 documentary, Later, Questlove talks about how Spike Lee got him where he is today. The two have a mutual admiration for one another, but if it weren't for Lee's commercial, he might not be here. 'My best friend in high school saw a commercial one day by Spike Lee with a busking drummer on the street corner, and we looked at each other like, 'Hey, let's do that.'' Sure enough, they grabbed a white bucket and some drumsticks. The pact was to make at least $110 in three hours – and as cliched as it sounds, they did, and the rest is history. 'That led to a record deal, it led to living in London and it led to his first Grammy, and it led to this moment,' he says. So, what's next for the star? 'I'm a walking example of not knowing what's going to happen next. But I'm going to just take this next step.' Questlove is working on two undisclosed projects, and he says he's 80% done on his Earth, Wind and Fire documentary. 'I'm not making promises, but if this film does not come out on the 21st day of September, then I don't know what I'm doing,' he chuckles. On the roundtable, the new Oscar rules are discussed. And the lead actress drama race is examined. Variety's 'Awards Circuit' podcast, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta, Jenelle Riley and Michael Schneider, who also produces, is your one-stop source for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each episode, 'Awards Circuit' features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives, discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines, and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Chicago Tribune
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Column: 50 years of ‘Saturday Night Live,' half fascinating, half underwhelming
If it felt like 'Saturday Night Live' took to the airwaves in 1975 with a renegade spirit, 50 years later it's become not only a late-night tradition, but traditional. Hitting the half-century mark is a milestone. But a show doesn't stick around that long because it's willing to experiment or step on toes, but because it is fully embraced by the establishment. That's the likely unintended subtext throughout the various behind-the-scenes documentaries produced by NBC ahead of the show's 50th anniversary special airing Sunday. These are in-house projects that stay on-message — warm and laudatory — but they are not without their fascinating moments. All can be streamed on Peacock. An additional programming note: The first episode of 'Saturday Night Live,' which originally aired on Oct. 11, 1975, with host George Carlin and musical guests Billy Preston and Janis Ian, will air on NBC in 'SNL's' usual late-night timeslot this weekend, in place of a new episode. 'Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music' Co-directed by Oz Rodriguez and Ahmir Thompson (aka Questlove), the two-hour documentary includes a remarkable 7-minute montage of 'SNL's' musical performances that opens the film. But it also puts a long-overdue focus on the show's musical history, which tends to get sidelined, and it's a good reminder of the sheer variety of music that has been featured over the years. The opening montage blends clips in a way that segues brilliantly from one to the next, as if the songs were sonic cousins that should have been considered in tandem all along. It's the kind of creative musical gambit we rarely see on TV, put together people who clearly love all genres of music and see how they're interrelated. The show's opening theme song is instantly recognizable — and in no way hummable. And yet it works. Here's how Jack White describes it: There is no consistent melody, 'it's just a wailing saxophone of someone being taken out of the building playing saxophone, by the police, and the microphone's still connected.' As someone points out, the similarities between music and comedy are many: Timing, cadence and misdirection. Not mentioned: The prolific use of drugs, especially in the '70s. But this is a cleaned-up version of 'SNL's' past, so … In the show's first two decades, it was more likely to expose lesser-known bands to a wider audience. Devo in 1978. Talking Heads in 1979. The B-52s in 1980. Funky Four Plus One in 1981 (the first hip hop group to perform on the show, thanks to host Debbie Harry using her clout to get them on). An appearance on national TV used to have a big effect. I wonder if that's still true, but with fewer places for singers and musicians to perform on live TV, the show still holds relevance in that regard. As 'SNL' increasingly became mainstream, the documentary is a reminder that the musical acts retained an unpredictable and rebellious edge for a bit longer. 'SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night Live' The four-part docuseries is hit-and-miss, but maybe that's fitting since the unevenness mirrors the show itself. This should feel more momentous, especially in the streaming era when a long run might be seven seasons. (According to a recent report in Vulture, 'SNL' remains 'consistently profitable despite being incredibly expensive to produce' at $4 million an episode.) Episode 1: 'Five Minutes': The show's audition process is infamous by this point. Each person steps on an empty stage and performs for a small group of stone-faced decision-makers. The awkward silence is true in some cases, but other times you can hear off-camera guffaws. Cast members (mostly from the past 20 years) reminisce about the experience as they watch footage of their auditions. Some are cringe, but a handful are surprisingly good, including Will Ferrell, who was fully-formed from the start. There are the people who didn't make the cut but went on to significant careers anyway: Jim Carrey, Jennifer Coolidge, Mindy Kaling, Kevin Hart, Stephen Colbert. The Dick Ebersol years — when executive producer Lorne Michaels left the show from 1981 to 1984 — might as well not exist, and there are only brief snippets of the original Not Ready for Primetime Players, including Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtain. It's such a weirdly recent assemblage who are featured. The '70s, '80s and most of the '90s are elided, even though the whole point is that the show has been around for 50 years Of the show's casting and talent staff interviewed, you notice the dearth of Black people and other people of color and it makes you wonder in what ways — subconscious or otherwise — that's affected the show's lineup over the years. Ego Nwodim, who joined the cast in 2018, offers some insight into that, albeit indirectly: 'I felt like I could do the job in a way that would make it easier for the next Black woman. And I say this not to say that every day I'd go in thinking, 'This is for Black women!' — I wasn't. But I wanted the audience to have a point of reference of a Black woman they felt had the skill set to do the job and their brains could go, 'Oh yeah, she belongs.' And then the next Black woman who comes after me, my hope is her time is 5% easier because of the work I did there.' She says she benefits from the Black women who came before her. There were just five. In 50 years. In case you were wondering if nepotism is part of the 'SNL' fabric, of course it is! We learn that George Wendt called 'SNL' about considering his nephew Jason Sudeikis. Episode 2: 'More Cowbell': The weakest of the episodes, it functions as an anatomy of a sketch. Specifically the 'More Cowbell' sketch (technically called 'Recording Session') from 2000 starring Christopher Walken and envisioned by Will Ferrell as an absurdist version of Blue Öyster Cult recording the band's 1976 hit '(Don't Fear) The Reaper.' The sketch is fine. Funny even! I'm not sure it's interesting enough to warrant a one-hour, semi-tongue-in-cheek episode about the making of it. Surely there were other sketches with better backstories. Episode 3: 'Written By: A Week Inside the 'SNL' Writers Room': This would be compelling if James Franco hadn't already made a documentary called 'Saturday Night' documenting the same process. It's embarrassing how alike the two projects are. For a more comprehensive, warts-and-all look at the show, you can check out the nonfiction book 'Live from New York: An Uncensored Story of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests.' There's also a new biography about 80-year-old Michaels by Susan Morrison called 'Lorne: The Man Who Invented 'Saturday Night Live'' that broaches topics these documentaries studiously avoid, including staff pushback Michaels received when he booked Donald Trump to host during his campaign for president in 2015: Despite Michaels' insistence that the show was non-partisan, the writers felt he was putting his thumb on the scale and ''helping' Trump — a sentiment that was only bolstered amongst staff who recalled to Morrison that Michaels had wanted to 'tone down a harsh Trump sketch' and allow him to show 'some charm.'' The writers are droll about their second-tier status. 'I believe our names roll by extremely fast over shots of the castmates hugging and meeting the famous people,' says head writer Streeter Seidell. A lot of famous people were writers on the show — but only became famous once they left the show and found opportunities on camera, including Will Arnett, Larry David, John Mulaney, Sarah Silverman. The writers produce their own sketches, meaning they write the scripts but are also responsible for helping to shape the performances and working with the rest of the crew on the sets and costumes. Louie Zakarian, head of the makeup department, has been building prosthetics on the show for nearly 30 years. 'We did a 'Game of Thrones' sketch and we had one night to build a dragon,' he says. I would have loved an episode focusing on how these art departments actually function on such a short timeframe, creating everything from scratch each week. 'You are fully in charge of three to four minutes of live network television,' says Mulaney about the autonomy writers are given. 'NBC had nothing to say about it. Nothing. And when they did, we'd tell them no. We're like 25 and we'd go, 'We're doing it.'' It's a weird framing considering the show isn't in the business of controversy or boundary pushing. Writer Celeste Yim's path to the show: 'I went to NYU for playwriting and was like, 'Great, this is it, I'm going to be a playwright and write about things that really matter.' And then basically immediately got the most corporate comedy job in the world.' This is the first time someone actually names it instead of buying into the lore — 'SNL' may be desperate to style itself as bold, but at the end of the day, it's just corporate. More than anything, you feel a deep sympathy for the writers. They seem beaten down and miserable, in it for the rare adrenaline rush of a sketch getting big laughs, but also mostly because it's the kind of resume item that can lead to other jobs down the line. There's nothing easy about comedy and the pressure to write funny material on a short deadline is daunting. I think it's OK that a lot of it doesn't work. But you wonder if the environment fostered by Michaels is the only way to do it. (As the aforementioned Vulture piece points out: 'His age has added an undercurrent of queasiness to the 50th anniversary victory lap as Michaels's empire rolls on without a firm succession plan. For better or worse, the machinery of American comedy has built up around him, and no one knows how the laugh factory will function if Michaels retires — or what it means if he chooses to cling to the show into his twilight years.') Here's Tina Fey: 'The rewrite tables were tough. They were grouchy. People would take the rundown of the show and just go through it, sketch by sketch, and make fun of it. Make fun of the title. Goof on it, goof on it, goof on it. You would leave the room fully knowing that that writers room was taking a (dump) on it while you were gone, and it just was kind of the way it was.' 'I don't know if it's the same anymore,' she says (the documentary doesn't bother providing an answer). 'Maybe it should get that way again a little bit,' Fey adds, and it would have been enlightening to hear why she thinks that kind of backbiting is beneficial to creativity. The idea that people can only do their best work under those circumstances probably deserves to be challenged. Episode 4: 'Season 11: The Weird Year': Finally, Ebersol's existence is (barely!) acknowledged, if only because Season 11 marked Michaels' return to 'SNL' as executive producer, taking over for Ebersol. Michaels' eye for talent has always been one of his strengths, but you could say the same of Ebersol, who assembled casts that included Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal and Martin Short. Well, regardless, Michaels cleared house when he came back, hiring a number of performers — including Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr. — who had little or no previous sketch comedy experience. The episode is the only one that even vaguely criticizes Michaels, but you really have to read between the lines because he's portrayed as a godlike figure. (Even at this point, he was already living a certain lifestyle; people remember being called out for meetings by the pool at his house in the Hamptons.) That Michaels failed to create an environment in which a talent like Damon Wayans could thrive is such a big mark against him (Michaels fired him that season). There's a lot of emphasis that the show faltered during Season 11 (tensions between the writers and the cast is alluded to) but the documentary and its participants don't analyze more deeply the why of it all. At any rate, the season ended with a sketch that literally envisioned the cast set on fire. I had forgotten that Michaels brought Francis Ford Coppola on to direct an episode that season, with Coppola on camera for some of it. It's such a departure for the show and just the kind of experiment you wish the show had embraced in the years since. Jon Lovitz has the best observation about the show, then and now: 'We're live but we're not taking advantage of it.'
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
SNL's First Episode Will Re-Air on NBC to Celebrate Its 50th Anniversary
Everyone's favorite sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live, will celebrate its 50th anniversary by re-airing its first episode. On February 15, NBC will broadcast the first SNL episode a day after a three-hour special for the anniversary. Additionally, a special episode will air the next day with a multitude of special guests, some whom are already announced and others as surprises. SNL's first episode originally aired on October 11, 1975, hosted by comedian George Carlin. You may remember from his iconic comedy special about the seven forbidden words you cannot say on air. At the time the show was actually not SNL, but instead called NBC's Saturday Night. The recent film Saturday Night follows the hectic process of the show broadcasting live for the first time. It is not the best film in the world, but it definitely gives insight into that October night. In a similar fashion to today's SNL, there were musical guests, specifically Billy Preston and Janice Ian. NBC's Saturday Night had its own ensemble cast that included Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner. Just like present-day, they had special guests Andy Kaufman and Muppets creator Jim Henson. On February 14, before the re-airing of the first SNL episode, NBC is broadcasting a compilation of popular holiday sketches from the show's history. Right after the broadcasting of the first episode, the documentary directed by Questlove, Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music, will air. NBC is doing a slew of events for the 50th anniversary to lead up to 'SNL50: The Anniversary Episode' on February 16, which has a number of confirmed special guests, including Quinta Brunson, Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Miley Cyrus, Robert De Niro, Ayo Edebiri, Tom Hanks, Paul McCartney, and many more. For more information on all the guests coming back and what's airing when, head to SNL's Instagram.
CNN
27-01-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Questlove says upcoming ‘SNL' special is ‘love letter' to show's 50 years of musical performances
NBC's celebration of 'Saturday Night Live's' 50-year history will continues this week with a new 3-hour documentary titled 'Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music.' Nearly 1,000 artists have performed on the Studio 8H stage since 'SNL' debuted on October 11, 1975, according to the show, with the first being funk and soul musician Billy Preston. 'I remember when we come on the air, we're following Watergate, the last helicopter out of Vietnam, the city is broke, the church is being questioned and so everything seemed to be, if not crumbling, at least open to question,' the show's creator Lorne Michael said in a trailer for the doc, speaking of the series' debut. At that moment in time, Michaels added, 'we just came on and did a show that we would want to see and music was a big part of that.' According to an official synopsis, 'Ladies & Gentleman' will look back at the hundreds of performers who've taken the stage at 'SNL' and will reveal 'untold stories behind the culture-defining, groundbreaking, and news-making musical performances, sketches, and cameos of the past 50 years.' 'Ladies & Gentlemen' was co-produced by Oz Rodriguez and Roots drummer and Oscar-winning filmmaker Questlove, who wrote in an Instagram post over the weekend that 'every second of this doc is a love letter of sorts.' The doc will feature commentary from artists including Miley Cyrus, Mick Jagger, Dave Grohl, Billie Eilish and Paul Simon, among others, plus actors who've graced the 'SNL' stage like Maya Rudolph, Eddie Murphy, Bill Hader and more. 'SNL's' 50th anniversary will culminate with a special on February 16, airing on NBC. 'Ladies & Gentleman… 50 Years of SNL Music' will air on NBC on Monday at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT.
