Saturday Night Live, Hollywood Comedy, and American Culture: From Chevy Chase to Tina Fey

239 Pages·2010·4.42 MB·English

by  Jim Whalley (auth.)

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
C O N T E N T S
List of Figures vii
Acknowledgments 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
F I G U R E S
1.1 H ost 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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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
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 thor-
oughly pleasant experience.
More specifically:
—The book would never have been completed without the tireless
e nthusiasm, guidance and wisdom of Peter Krämer. Across two con-
tinents, 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 com-
munity 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.