Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary
Trimark Home Video
Cast: Too many to mention
Extras: Promotional Materials
Rating:
If you were like me and missed “The Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary Special” when it originally aired on NBC, Trimark has done us a favor and released the extravaganza on DVD. Like every episode of “SNL”, the special is hit-or-miss, but it’s made up mostly of hits. The show offers clips from the 25 year history of “SNL” and offers to tributes to deceased cast members, like Chris Farley, John Belushi, and Gilda Radner. The highlight of the show comes at the very beginning where Bill Murray sings and wanders through the crowd teasing the celebrities. There is also a funny bit where Jon Lovitz hounds Tom Hanks. The only questionalbe part of the show are the musical guests; Eurythmics, The Beastie Boys with Elvis Costello (!?), and Al Green. Now that’s eclectic! But hey, they showed the Land Shark, so I was happy.
The Trimark DVD presents “The Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary Special” in its entirety. The show is presented full-frame and looks great — better than broadcast quality. It’s really amazing how clear this is. We can assume that this transfer came straight from the digital master. The audio is Dolby Digital Stereo and is adequate, as all of the dialogue is decipherable. The extra features on the DVD consist of promotional materials. The first is a segment from NBC’s “Today” show, featuring an overview of the special and interviews with the cast members. The second is a segment from “Access Hollywood” which shows what was going on outside when the celibrities were arriving for the taping of the show. The third is an interview with “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels by NBC’s Tim Russert. Overall, this is a very nice package. However, there weren’t any of Trimark’s famous hidden trailers.