That Week In SNL (A Vintage Saturday Night Live Podcast)
205 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★★ - 32 ratingsJoin us as we explore vintage episodes of SNL, analyzing the show and the bizarre pop culture ephemera that surrounded it. Tangents are had. Jokes are made.
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Episodes
Off Week 53: Fridays - Tab Hunter/KISS (Jan. 15, 1982)
April 19, 2024 04:00 - 2 hours - 119 MBIt's time for Fridays once again and this time, we've got William in tow! To get the full scope of this one, we needed two separate versions of the episode but it's all worth it just to see that magical moment when Rich Hall bombs harder than anyone has ever bombed in sketch comedy history. Elsewhere, we really run the gamut with this one: some classics and some outright duds (some possibly never seen since they originally aired). It's Fridays and we wouldn't have it any other way.
Episode 126: John Goodman/Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (April 10, 1999)
April 05, 2024 04:00 - 1 hour - 86.4 MBNo, this isn't a rerun. This is just the tenth time John Goodman is hosting the show in as many years but thankfully, it just may be his finest outing ever. Join us as we explore this intensely dark outing from the last few months of Adam McKay's reign over the show and maybe, just maybe, learn a little something about family.
Episode 125: Nancy Kerrigan/Aretha Franklin (March 12, 1994)
March 22, 2024 04:00 - 2 hours - 113 MBIt's time for another infamous episode and thus we'll need the combined forces of both Arthur Meyer AND Jon Schneider to help us get through this one. Despite being a huge ratings boost for the show at the time, this one has long been since viewed as one of the worst episodes of SNL...but is it ALL bad? Join us as we see if there's anything to salvage from this notorious bomb.
Episode 124: Willie Nelson (Feb. 21, 1987)
March 08, 2024 05:00 - 1 hour - 97.2 MBFor the first time in a long time, we're jumping to the next episode in chronological order from our last one and why not? It's Willie Nelson doing double-duty with some backup from special guest Danny DeVito! Join us as we untangle this mellow, laid back entry into the annals of sketch comedy history.
Episode 123: Bronson Pinchot/Paul Young (Feb. 14, 1987)
February 23, 2024 05:00 - 2 hours - 121 MBIt's Valentine's Day over at the ol' SNL factory and that means we gotta break out the big guns. Not only do we get a host way out of his depth with Bronson Pinchot and the middling musical stylings of a one Paul Young but we've also got model Paulina Porizkova in tow and of course, because it's S12, a little smattering of Buster Poindexter as well. It don't add to much at all so thankfully, we've got a live copy from Hawaii to give us a little bit of something to dive into.
Episode 122: Jon Hamm/Michael Buble (Jan. 30, 2010)
February 09, 2024 05:00 - 2 hours - 138 MBWhat's this? William Ham and Eddie Ham appearing on the show to discuss an episode hosted by Jon Hamm?! That certainly sounds whimsical indeed! Join us as we struggle to sort the present from the past with an episode that is good but is also kinda bad and misses a few key moments and we rant and rave. It's fun!
Episode 121: Sam Rockwell/Halsey (Jan. 13, 2018)
January 26, 2024 05:00 - 1 hour - 106 MBWe're back for the first episode of 2024 and finally getting around to one that we've had on the back burner for awhile now. Yes, we did slightly cover this one all the way back at the birth of the show on an early Off Week but now we're digging full bore into one of our favorite modern SNL outings! Get ready for fun, adventure and bracing Tim Cicali monologues!
Off Week 52: Z-Axis & Wild, Wild South
January 12, 2024 05:00 - 1 hour - 86.7 MBIt's time to go deeper, weirder and more esoteric than we've ever gone before: we're going local. Charlotte, NC to be specific. Join us as we uncover the sweaty, disturbing mysteries of public access perennial, Z-Axis and Wild Wild South, the birthplace of Charlotte's own disgraced local legend, Unknown Hinson.
Episode 120: Martin Short/Paul McCartney (Dec. 15, 2012)
December 22, 2023 05:00 - 1 hour - 101 MBAs the wise Beach Boys once said, "Christmas comes this time each year" and following those sage words, we've decided this would be the best time to drop our Christmas episode! Jon Schneider is back aboard the ship to discuss Martin Short's cameo packed S38 outing as we hack it up about canonical vs. non-canonical moments, tearing ass, fateful bus trips and much more!
Episode 119: The Smothers Brothers/Laura Branigan (Dec. 4, 1982)
December 08, 2023 05:00 - 2 hours - 129 MBIt's the Smother Brothers! Hosting SNL during the Ebersol era! Now that's some cozy, down-home holiday fun if I do say so myself. William Ham joins us as we break down the history of the mighty Brothers and how it runs up against a cancelled SNL special, live commercials tell the tale of the pre-crash video game market, more Airplane 2 discussion than you'd expect and more!
Episode 118: Pee-Wee Herman/Queen Ida & the Bon Temps Zydeco Band (Nov. 23, 1985)
November 24, 2023 00:27 - 1 hour - 87.3 MBWe've got a true oddity on our hands this time around: one of the few episodes to hosted by someone completely in character. We're talking dominant hands, audience cameos, fluctuating ages, Swartzwelder, Father Guido Sarducci AGAIN, and more!
Episode 117: Brittany Murphy/Nelly (Nov. 16, 2002)
November 10, 2023 05:00 - 1 hour - 85 MBWe don't visit season 28 of the show much, mostly for good reason, but this one has so much going on that we just had to do it. You've got Brittany arguably at the height of her popularity post-8 Mile, cameos from beloved alum like Adam Sandler and Garrett Morris (also, Rob Schneider shows up), and your usual smattering of SNL sketch offerings, mostly re-occuring. And along the way, Andy learns some things!
Episode 116: Frank Zappa (Oct. 21, 1978)
October 27, 2023 12:34 - 1 hour - 99.7 MBWhat a match made in heaven this should have been. You've got one of rock's greatest satirists hosting America's premiere late night sketch show (a show that he's already been on and crushed it, mind you) for the HALLOWEEN episode and yet, nearly the whole damn thing is just rotten. Frank tries to torpedo already questionable material, no one seems to want to be on stage with anyone else. It's just bad vibes all around. William Ham joins us to slog through one of the show's saddest misfires.
Episode 115: John C. Reilly/My Chemical Romance (Oct. 21, 2006)
October 13, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 104 MBAh, now here's a real oddity. You've got technical difficulties, feverish non-endings to sketches, a brutal runner about family strife, and a host giving scenes more honest realism than may have even been on the page. It's just our kind of show. Let's dig in (digging in may not be recommended if you're a My Chemical Romance fan)!
Episode 114: Lily Tomlin/James Taylor (Sept. 18, 1976)
September 29, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 95.9 MBHot damn, we're BACK, baby! It's the premiere of the seventh season of That Week and this time we're hitting up the first episode of the second season of SNL for what turns out to be an important episode in a number of fashions. You get the final Land of Gorch sketch, a greasy Dan Aykroyd, the origins of the Antler Dance, three, count 'em, THREE James Taylor performances and hell, even Taylor Mead too. The gangs all here, man. Let's go!
Off Week 51: Ken Shapiro and The Groove Tube (Part 2)
September 22, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 71.4 MBWe rejoin our podcast already in progress as we break down the last half of The Groove Tube, discuss the final part of Ken's Hollywood career and how it intersects with SNL and William lays down an explanation for one of the strangest moments in the show's first season.
Off Week 50: Ken Shapiro and The Groove Tube (Part 1)
September 15, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 85.4 MBJoin us for part one of two scholarly deep dives into the man that was Ken Shapiro and what he meant to the early 70s underground sketch comedy movement. Here we discuss Ken's earliest showbiz days, the Channel One Theater and the first half of the film it was all leading up to: 1974's The Groove Tube.
Off Week 49: SCTV (Janitor's Strike/CBC - Syndicated Edit)
September 01, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 108 MBWhen you've got something as strange as two syndicated episodes of SCTV that aired in Pittsburgh, PA that pull together two-thirds of the S5 premiere from NBC, you know you gotta call in the big guns. That's why William Ham is back again to explore this wild night of sketch comedy, which includes some of SCTV's finest work and also some of the most harrowing local commercials we've ever seen.
A Conversation With Jason Klamm, author of We're Not Worthy
August 25, 2023 04:00 - 51 minutes - 46.9 MBToday we're chatting with Jason Klamm, author of the new upcoming book (Sept. 12th to be exact) all about sketch comedy in the 90s, We're Not Worthy! We discuss the hardships of putting the book together, various bombshells dropped during the making of it and more!
Off Week 48: The New Show Episode 3
August 18, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 64.7 MBWe're kicking off our Summer Off Week episodes with what we thought would be a mellow, easy way to get into the swing of things. But then the New Show decided we were idiots for not understanding their bizarre cast lineup and delivered us some of the most insipid sketch material we've seen and it was then that we knew...it doesn't get any easier, kids. (Originally published Jun. 3, 2022)
Off Week 47: The Kids In The Hall pilot (Oct. 16, 1988)
August 04, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 78.2 MBIn celebration of the grand return of the Kids In The Hall to sketch comedy, we're going back to their pilot episode for HBO to see just how the whole empire got off the ground. We discuss our own history with the show and then proceed to dig into one of the best pilot episodes in television history.
Off Week 46: In Living Color Season 1 (Part 2)
July 21, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 62.6 MBWe wrap up our journey through the first season of In Living Color with the fifth episode and the season finale, touching on such classics as Homey D. Clown, Black World, Benita Butrell...and the Buttmans.
Off Week 45: In Living Color Season 1 (Part 1)
July 07, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 76.9 MBIt's time. It's finally time to talk about In Living Color! In this first (of two) part, we discuss our own personal history with the show, how it to came to be and break down the very first episode...and also talk about an aborted journey to see The Batman!
Off Week 44: You Can't Do That On Television: The Early Years
June 23, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 83.1 MBAs one of the most defining shows of the early years of Nickelodeon, You Can't Do That On Television has a fascinating history behind it and so, we're exploring some episodes from the first two pre-Nick (kinda) seasons and find ourselves in an Ottawan nightmare landscape of insanity, pie, slime and the dastardly Jim Johnson.
Off Week 43: Cheeseball Presents (1984)
June 09, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 79.1 MBUnbeknownst to most people, there was once a raunchy Showtime Groundlings special featuring the talents of such comedy legends as Phil Hartman, Tress MacNeille, Elvira, Pee-Wee Herman and more! How could such a jam-packed comedy extravaganza be so lost to time? We find out. Oh, we find out.
Episode 113: Fred Armisen/Courtney Barnett (May 21, 2016)
May 26, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 103 MBWe're wrapping up the main portion of season six of the show with an episode with some fond memories attached to it...and some new, not-so-fond memories as well. It's your classic end of season cameo clusterfuck with Jason Sudeikis, Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg all stopping by for some shenanigans but ya know what? It doesn't really matter because it's all pretty darn fun!
Episode 112: Shelley Duvall/Joan Armatrading (May 14, 1977)
May 12, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours - 132 MBIt's been awhile since we've hit up the second season of the show and so, we've got this odd little outing of the show to shift through. It's got some doozies in it, both good and bad, including two of the more confounding sketches we've ever tried (and failed) to parse out but there's a mysterious charm to this one. Plus, we get to hear about William's run-ins with the Moonies!
Episode 111: Sofia Vergara/One Direction (April 7, 2012)
April 28, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 103 MBWe're again joined by our friend Jon "Schmitty" Schneider to unravel the mysteries of a subtly game changing episode of SNL. Oh sure, we've got some Hunger Games references to comb through, some duds, some boom stamps and some truly insane bombshells from Schmitty...but the REAL focus of the evening is the arrival of Kate McKinnon and a new era of the show silently setting itself up.
Episode 110: Milton Berle/Ornette Coleman (April 14, 1979)
April 14, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours - 126 MBYou know you've got a special one on your hands when even Lorne Michaels himself considers it to be one of the absolute worst the show has ever done. Unseen for multiple decades after it's initial airing, ol' Uncle Milty comes in to crash the party in so many unique and harrowing ways that there certainly can't be any redeeming qualities to massive bomb, right? And yet...
Off Week 42: Down Twisted (1987)
April 07, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 75.7 MBWe again return to the Albert Pyun-iverse for a Cannon Group take on Romancing The Stone starring Charles Rocket and Carey Lowell! Will it have the same subtle, goofball charms as Brain Smasher...or are we in for some more Cyborg manhole-ing?
Episode 109: Griffin Dunne/Rosanne Cash (March 15, 1986)
March 24, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 106 MBThis week we take aim at a quietly controversial episode of the show, one that spells the end for Damon Wayans as a featured player and is seemingly a sacrifice to the sketch gods while they shore up defenses for what could be the last rodeo. Come for the discussion of Damon going off the grid, stay for the attempts to make anything else out of this episode.
Episode 108: Conan O'Brien/Don Henley (March 10, 2001)
March 10, 2023 05:00 - 1 hour - 93.9 MBOh hey, look! It's that guy from Late Night who used to write for SNL and The Simpsons! This should be fun! That's right, we're finally digging into the Conan episode, complete with our remembrances of Conan's Late Night tenure, fuzzy memories of early file sharing days and more Don Henley talk than you can shake a stick at! Zibbity Bop!
Episode 107: Pamela Sue Martin/Power Station (Feb. 16, 1985)
February 24, 2023 05:00 - 2 hours - 134 MBWe've got one of the weirdest and more experimental Ebersol era episodes at hand today (and honestly, that's really saying something) and so we brought in some new folks to break it all down: Eddie Ham and Mattalamode! We discuss one of Jim Belushi's most recognizable sketches, Turk-182, Christopher Guest VS Brian Doyle Murray and much more!
Episode 106: Chevy Chase/Marianne Faithfull & Tom Scott (Feb. 9, 1980)
February 10, 2023 05:00 - 2 hours - 115 MBIt's time. We're finally gonna tackle one of the most infamous episodes of the show's original run. Ol' Chevy Chase drops by for his second hosting gig and...somethings wrong. Even more wrong than season five usually is. William Ham joins us as we unravel one of the sweatiest, most coked out, face-down-in-the-toilet disasters the show has possibly ever seen. But is it ALL bad?
Episode 105: Sarah Michelle Gellar/Portishead (Jan. 17, 1998)
January 27, 2023 05:00 - 1 hour - 96.7 MBWe're back with our first mainline episode of 2023 and it's the first of Sarah Michelle Gellar's three hosting gigs! We discuss an unruly Norm, the unbeatable physique Tim Meadows, that gerbil show (??), debate the sleepy charms of Portishead and more! This podcast drives a Dodge Stratus!
Off Week 41: MADtv's Third Christmas Episode
January 20, 2023 05:00 - 1 hour - 65.4 MBAs is tradition, we look to MAD's Christmas episode to chart the evolution of the show and what an evolution it's taken since we last covered it. We see the show slowly transitioning into the cast it would be most known for, kicking back with a cozy little Holiday special that is a bunch of fun. And, as an added bonus, we get some primo Karn Facts!
Episode 104: Bill Murray/The Spinners & The Yale Whiffenpoofs (Dec. 12, 1981)
December 23, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 90 MBThe threat of apocalypse hangs over every moment of this decidedly chilly Christmas episode of SNL so we've called upon the dual forces of Tim Barnes and Ian Abramson to lighten things up a bit. It's the last stand of Michael O'Donoghue's vision for the show and as usual he never fails to bring the goods, with forces both internal and external colliding for the darkest holiday outing ever.
Off Week 40: Tush - Pilot/Christmas Special (Dec. 8, 1980)
December 16, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 89.8 MBBefore SNL, before the movies, before the sitcoms, Jan Hooks and Bonnie & Terry Turner found themselves working on an obscure Atlanta based sketch show called Tush. Who was Bill Tush? Where did he come from? Why did he have a sketch show? We dive deep into the fascinating history of the man and his show.
Episode 103: Richard Pryor/Gil Scott-Heron (Dec. 13, 1975)
December 09, 2022 05:00 - 2 hours - 114 MBFever and sickness grips the studio as we boldly attempt to cover one of the most influential and well-known episodes of the show's history. Will Andy's cough medicine gag crash against the rocks of Timmy's all consuming chaotic energy? Will William ever get a word in edge-wise? Is this SNL episode actually any good? All these questions are asked (and more!) and maybe - just maybe - some might be answered.
Episode 102: Drew Barrymore/Squeeze (Nov. 20, 1982)
November 25, 2022 05:00 - 2 hours - 110 MBJon Schneider of Saturday Night Network drops by yet again to cover a momentous episode of SNL! At only 7 years of age, Drew Barrymore grabs claim to the youngest host ever and a live call-in vote was conducted to see if Andy Kaufman would ever appear on the show again. We try to place our own vote, share some scary stories of house break-ins, get a remembrance from Gary Kroeger and more!
Episode 101: Kevin Bacon/INXS (Feb. 9, 1991)
November 11, 2022 05:00 - 2 hours - 118 MBWe're going all the way back to the subject of our very first test episode we recorded for the show to give it another go, this time minus a Timmy but adding a William. And really, it's an episode with a lot of firsts: the first Stuart Smalley, the first credited episode for Tim Meadows & Adam Sandler and the whole thing just generally points to the future of the show. It's up to you to decide if that's a good or a bad thing.
The Self-Indulgent 100th Episode Anniversary Spectacular!
November 04, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 91.7 MBJoin us for a long, winding tale of the podcasting origins that brought us to That Week and 100 episodes thereof! Correspondence from the audience! Questions! Answers! It's all here as we kick back and celebrate the podcast for a bit.
Episode 100: James Taylor & Paul Simon/David Sanborn (March 15, 1980)
October 28, 2022 04:00 - 2 hours - 110 MBBy god, we made it. 100 episodes of this mess! And to celebrate, we're breaking our usual cover-an-episode-from-the-same-month-the-podcast-gets-released format to jump ahead to March 1980 to cover SNL's own 100th episode! Kinda host-less, kinda not, and nowhere near as celebratory as you'd think, this one nevertheless delivers some odd moments worth digging into, including the show's first ever f-bomb.
Episode 99: Paul Simon/Randy Newman & Phoebe Snow (Oct. 18, 1975)
October 14, 2022 04:00 - 2 hours - 131 MBIt's time we finally dive into SNL's second ever episode, one that has a vibe and format the show would never replicate. It's basically a Paul Simon concert show with a few sketches thrown in, including a rare reunion of Simon and Garfunkel. Thankfully, we've got a live copy to really get the full scope of the night...and somehow, it all adds up to one of the biggest episodes we've ever recorded. We need help.
Episode 98: Sigourney Weaver/No Musical Guest (Oct. 11, 1986)
September 30, 2022 04:00 - 2 hours - 126 MBWe're kicking off our sixth season of the show with special guest Tim Barnes to explore the beginning of the show's Silver Age, Lorne's second attempt to reboot the show after returning. It's the first episode for Phil, Dana, Jan, Kevin and Victoria and somehow, with no REAL credited musical guest, also manages to pack in four musical segments. It's got some bangers. It's got some clangers. It's got a format the show wouldn't ever really try again. SNL. It's back, baby.
Off Week 39: The New Show Episode 2
September 16, 2022 04:00 - 51 minutes - 47.5 MBWe return to the New Show, possibly for the last time. Seemingly nothing has defeated us as much as this episode did, which mostly squanders the talents of John Candy, Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon. We do finally get to talk about Roy's Food Repair...but at what cost?
Off Week 38: Vampire In Brooklyn (1995)
September 02, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 62.1 MBIt's 1995. We've got Eddie Murphy right before the Nutty Professor. We've got Wes Craven right before the Scream films. We've got them coming together to make a modern vampire horror-comedy. That all doesn't matter though because John Witherspoon and Kadeem Hardison are the real stars of the show.
Off Week 37: The New Show Episode 1
August 19, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 71.4 MBBefore his return to SNL, Lorne Michaels made a small, rather inauspicious sketch comedy pit stop with 1984's The New Show. Lasting only a scant 9 weeks as one of the lowest rated shows of the season, the show nevertheless pointed towards the future of SNL itself, though no one knew it at the time. We dig into the first episode.
Episode 97: Kris Kristofferson/Rita Coolidge (July 31, 1976)
August 05, 2022 04:00 - 2 hours - 124 MBJon Schneider is back again to help us knock out the *other* Summer '76 episode of SNL! This one is hosted by a clearly boozy Kris Kristofferson so we try our best to get on his level as we muse on if he tanks the episode or not and debate the satirical worth of one of the show's most damning take on the cops.
Off Week 36: Things We Did Last Summer
July 22, 2022 04:43 - 1 hour - 86.4 MBBack in the early days of S4, during an off week for the show, a very peculiar special aired in the SNL time slot. It was Things We Did Last Summer, a nearly feature-length mockumentary following the exploits of the SNL cast over the summer and while it was eventually released on video/DVD, large chunks were cut due to music rights and other issues. We break down the whole shebang from it's original airing.