For almost 50 years now, Saturday Night Live has delighted generations of TV viewers, employing various sketches, comedic actors and memorable musical guests . The long-running NBC series may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it remains an impactful piece of pop culture even today. Why the show has and continues to appeal to so many can certainly vary by person.
Interestingly, though, it turns out that when the show first started, OG cast member Jane Curtin had some pointed assumptions about those tuning in. She even went so far as to use the term “stupid” when recalling her sentiments. Jane Curtin – alongside the likes of Dan Aykroyd , Gilda Radner and John Belushi – were ultimately a part of TV history when SNL (or NBC’s Saturday Night , at that point) debuted back in October 1975.
At the time, series creator Lorne Michaels – who’s still yet to retire – and his colleagues were experimenting from a creative standpoint, and the work ultimately struck a chord with audiences. Curtin, for her part, didn’t pay them much mind and recently admitted that she wasn’t so sure that those who were watching were all that bright: I never really paid much attention to the audience. I thought, well, anybody that’s watching this must be really stupid.
It gave me a lot of angst. So the way I dealt with it was, I was in this bubble, and we had a job to do within the bubble. That “stupid” assertion may sound a bit harsh, but it makes sense.
For one, the series was som.