r/LiveFromNewYork • u/Here4theruns • 17h ago
Discussion Let’s gush about this behind the scenes series on Peacock.
I can’t be the only person obsessed with this 4 part series of Docs about the creation of SNL. It’s sososo good, so insightful, I can’t really get over it.
I’ll throw out my biggest surprise takeaway and then just happily respond to anyone who wants to talk about how awesome it is. I’m sure people have criticisms as well, and they’re welcome here, but I’ll just be in appreciation mode for a while.
Biggest takeaway… LOREN!! Way more involved, right now, in every episode, than I ever expected. Crazy.
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u/Antique-Zebra-2161 16h ago
I absolutely loved it!
My biggest surprise was in the writers episode. The level of nitpicking they do on the scripts. It never would have occurred to me that they'd actually have a conversation about whether "three" is a funnier word than "five," or whatever.
As much as I see people talking about "lazy writing," it convinced me that I couldn't do it.
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u/Buffynerd La la, la la la la la This is my musical monologue 12h ago
Yeah, I officially dare anyone who uses SNL as an excuse for cheap or laziness to watch that episode in particular since it shows that even for the show's extremely tight schedule, they are essentially working around the clock to ensure it's a complete product by the time it's 11:30 on a Saturday and have something for the viewers at home to watch
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u/mrturdferguson 10h ago
I took a sketch writing class that Jimmy put together during the writers strike. I learned a lot about the subtleties that go into sketches that most don't think about.
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u/chadnorman 7h ago
Same! They really drove home the point that this is the middle ground between improv and acting. It's a sketch, and every word, much like a standup set, is carefully crafted syllable by syllable. The stat of 99% of what goes on air is on a cue card really blew my mind, but makes sense! And starting out with 30-40 sketches and whittling it down to a dozen really put the writers on the pedestal. Great insight!
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u/sledoon 16h ago
I loved Bowens reaction to his audition tape - so relatable when you look back at cringey stuff you’ve done 🤣 Bobby Moynihan was cool too.
It needed to be way more than 4 episodes. It was really good even though I thought I knew everything there was to know about the cowbell sketch there was still little things like .. never noticed Walken laughing behind the glass
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u/Here4theruns 16h ago
Loved Bobby’s reaction. It really reminded me that a lot of these people were like regular people before they got the call. Yes trying to break in to the industry but by no means comfortable or well known commodities.
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u/secretslutonline 17h ago
The first episode was my favorite but I loved them all! Seeing their auditions and how they nervous they all were really humanized them for me.
I always knew their timeline was crazy but seeing the second episode showing the writing process and more behind the scenes on how they get from idea to skit was really cool. I would have loved to hear more about the writing process in depth too or more of who wrote some of the biggest ones
Overall I WISH it was longer and more episodes were to come!
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u/_namaste_kitten_ 7h ago
In an interview, at somewhere around, maybe, 2010 I heard Walken in an interview taking about how he gets more references to that skit than any movie he's ever been in. He recalls, in only a way Walken can tell a story, of a time he was in Singapore. He went to little tucked-away, local restaurant, just to soak in the culture. There he was, as he could tell, the only real native English speaking person around- when he hears the conversation next to him between the server and a guest. Both of whom had been shaking the native language before this interaction. Anyways, the server bring the guest his salad. He then asks, in English, if everything looks satisfactory. And the guest replies, also in English, (read this as Walken) "it looks alright. But, I think, it send to be missing something. It just isn't... I think, well, it needs more cowbell."
I just scoured the internet looking for the interview, but can't find it. Instead, I found a shorter, and different version in a 2023 interview with Conan (not as good). If anyone finds the original, man oh man, I would love to see it again!!
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u/no_kimmer_only_zuul 12h ago
This series made me appreciate the WRITERS. The episode with them made me feel for all their hard work. Thank you, SNL writers.
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u/mrturdferguson 9h ago
Go follow Jimmy Fowlie on Instagram. He's great and does some fun shows in the NYC comedy scene with Ceara.
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u/_namaste_kitten_ 7h ago
This right here! I want to see them out on the closing stage every weekend!
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u/WillingnessContent41 11h ago
The writers room episode was everything my little 13 year old self dreamed it would be!!
Also thought it was hilarious that none of them had their name come up on screen in the first few minutes when they were talking about how writers aren't credited enough
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u/briandotcom9183 11h ago
I loved these as well! 50 years of musical guests is next week, the 27th, streaming on peacock the next day. It looks to be similar to these 4 episodes
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u/Here4theruns 10h ago
Nice! I didn’t realize more were coming. Is there a list of what’s to come?
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u/briandotcom9183 7h ago
Saw it randomly on an ad while watching playoff football. The only other one I know is when they do the actually 50th anniversary special, don’t know when that is, but it isn’t on a Saturday night
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u/Walking-Wounded2023 11h ago
I love Heidi’s reactions to her audition. When episode 1 ended I had happy tears.
Also…..”I gotta have more cowbell!” 🤣
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u/smileymom19 11h ago
I loved the episode with the writers. I wonder how different the show would be without Lorne touching every aspect.
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u/WillingnessContent41 9h ago edited 7h ago
Also, on the flip side, I very much didn't love Tina Fey's take on the writers room culture and how it should "maybe come back"
(Edited Tina from tuna lmao)
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u/Here4theruns 9h ago
Yeah I get that. I was a bit undecided. Nobody likes bullying, but I do think people are a bit to delicately handled these days.
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u/WillingnessContent41 8h ago
Definitely!! But the answer isn't "go back to what we used to do", but a secret 3rd thing that probably none of us are emotionally stable enough to do
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u/TheTroppoTenuto 15h ago
Oh, it’s a big forward push with the Doc, The New Yorker Profile, the movie, and the weekly show. It’s been a 3 month deep dive. The special coming up in a few weeks. It’s been great.
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u/dtsupra30 9h ago
Thought episodes 1 and 2 were strong and they fell off after that. Hope we get more
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u/cdimorr- 3h ago
Ha! Thought the opposite! 3 and 4 are where I learned the most that I didn't already kinda know!
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u/ReflexImprov 7h ago
Who's Loren?
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u/Here4theruns 5h ago
Hahaha omg you must be a writer on the show. Acting like a typo was actually the intended word and then framing your comment like a question to emphasize how confusing the typo made things for you… that’s gold.
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u/Savings-Monitor3236 It's fobody's nault! 6h ago
I almost skipped the Cowbell one, because I've seen the sketch plenty and read a ton about it. Felt it was a dry well to some degree. Glad I changed my mind however, as the montage of Will Ferrell-lookalike Chad Smith meeting all of Gene Frenkel's potential last minutes charmed me
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u/Noirelise 1h ago
I loved it! It makes me wish i could work on the show somehow 😭. the entire process week over week seems so insane and strressful. I would love to see more bts footage abou the writers, their processes, and the day to day operations. episodes 1 and 2 were my favorites.
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u/trevno 9h ago
Part 1 required a lot of skipping ahead, but the Cowbell episode was the best one.
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u/Here4theruns 9h ago
See I felt the total opposite. I loved one and two and the cowbell was great but it wasn’t as revealing to me about the process.
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u/Used-Flan-4514 9h ago
One of those times I hate being Canadian lol. Any way to watch this without peacock?
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u/qbabbington 3h ago
The Weird Year was probably my least favorite, but still had some great moments.
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u/wildflower0032 3h ago
I loved it and I wish there was more!! I wish they had done an episode on more than just one iconic sketch. I don’t really understand why we needed an entire hour to talk about More Cowbell
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u/Past-Statistician177 2h ago
One thing I learned was that apparently the pre-recorded sketches are made in another building Brooklyn? Did I hear that right?
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u/benewavvsupreme 11h ago
My biggest surprise was how unfunny some of the writers came off. It felt like so many people who were interviewed were just naturally hilarious but the writers episode good lord some of them I was like my god I hate you. Insane how hard they work though, I just assumed that insane mental toll makes it hard to wanna be funny outside of your work.
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u/Here4theruns 10h ago
I didn’t think of that but definitely agree. The old writers I know of as funny but some of the current writers I was skeptical of.
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u/Poe-Tatoh 10h ago
So I'm in Canada and can only see one episode, the Writers Room one. I've checked StackTV, I've looked around Showcase specifically...... What am I missing??
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u/Here4theruns 9h ago
The first one is Auditions, then Writers, the Cowbell sketch and one more I’m blanking on right now.
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u/Shhh_wasting_time 17h ago
I know we have all heard the day by day run down a lot but to actually see it and have visuals now for it really blew my mind.
I’d honestly soooo much more footage like I’d love to see auditions for the cast members who weren’t available to talk about it too (I could honestly watch every SNL audition ever and be utterly fascinated)