Saturday Night Live, Hollywood Comedy, and American Culture
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Saturday Night Live, Hollywood Comedy, and American Culture From Chevy Chase to Tina Fey Jim Whalley
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, HOLLYWOOD COMEDY, AND AMERICAN CULTURE Copyright Jim Whalley, 2010. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-10358-0 All rights reserved. First published in 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-28793-2 ISBN 978-0-230-10794-6 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230107946 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: June 2010 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS List of Figures Acknowledgments vii ix Introduction 1 One I m Chevy Chase and You, You re Merely a Statistic : Self-reference and Stardom on Saturday Night Live 19 Two I ll Write You a Note Saying You re Too Well to Attend : National Lampoon s Animal House Takes Saturday Night Live to Hollywood 41 Three But the Kids Love Us : The Development of Bill Murray s Star Persona from Saturday Night Live to Ghostbusters 63 Four I Don t Even Like Myself : The Revision and Retreat of Saturday Night Live Stars after Ghostbusters 91 Five Age Is a Tough One for Me : Selling Saturday Night Live in the 1980s 115 Six I Still Know How to Party : Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, and Generational Change on Saturday Night Live 139 Seven A Colourful, Emotional, Working Class Hero? The Development of Adam Sandler s Fictional and Extra-fictional Personas 161
vi Contents Conclusion 187 Notes 197 Bibliography 221 Index 227
FIGURES 1.1 Host Paul Simon with Not Ready for Primetime Players Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin and John Belushi on Saturday Night Live 31 2.1 Bluto (John Belushi) announces a food fight direct to camera in National Lampoon s Animal House (1978) 51 2.2 Theatrical poster for National Lampoon s Animal House (1978) 56 3.1 Theatrical poster for Meatballs (1979) 73 3.2 Theatrical poster for Stripes (1981) 80 6.1 Chris Farley, Norm MacDonald, and Adam Sandler get covered in Tim Meadows blood on Saturday Night Live 152
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book marks the end of almost a decade spent at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in various capacities. I would like to thank all the staff and students I ve encountered in that time for making it a thoroughly pleasant experience. More specifically: The book would never have been completed without the tireless enthusiasm, guidance and wisdom of Peter Krämer. Across two continents, he has been a constant source of ideas, constructive criticism, and good humor. Truly, he has put the super in supervisor. Thanks to Mark Jancovich and Diane Negra for invaluable advice and encouragement in the planning and early stages of the project. Thanks to UEA s brilliant Film and Television postgraduate community for questions, comments, and the occasional drink. Of these fine people, Timothy Snelson and Daniel Martin must be singled out for their warm friendship and biting sarcasm. Away from UEA: I am extremely grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for funding my study. It would not have been possible without their support. Frank Krutnik, Brett Mills, and Palgrave s anonymous reader each offered insightful comments and corrections that improved the final manuscript. Thanks to Brigitte Shull and Lee Norton at Palgrave Macmillan for turning that manuscript into a book. Thanks to my family for love, laughs and letting me get away with academia for so very, very long. Finally, thanks to Kathryn Hinchliff. I m fairly sure she talked me into studying for a PhD, and I m absolutely certain she got me through to the end. The book is dedicated, with love, to her.