Jane Curtin Doesn’t Think Her Old ‘SNL’ Skits Are Funny Anymore
Jane Curtin was one of the original seven cast members of Saturday Night Live when it debuted in 1975 along with Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner, and Garrett Morris. While many have the opinion that SNL just isn’t funny anymore and they long for the early days, Curtin admitted that she recently watched some of her old clips and didn’t find them funny anymore.
She said that last Christmas, her daughter and son-in-law suggested that they watch a compilation of her time on SNL. She appeared on five seasons of the show and was best known for being the first female Weekend Update host and her Conehead character.
Curtin said about watching the old clips, “So we sat around the TV, and I had that sort of anticipatory, open-mouth grin that people have when they’re waiting for something to happen, that they know is going to be really great. And … it never happened. It wasn’t funny. Not one thing was funny. There was not one utterance of a laugh or a giggle.” She added, “I think it was just one of those, you had to be there in the moment things. That’s what happens with live TV, and with topical TV. It gets dated after a while. Remember, this was almost 50 years ago. But after we rewatched, I was like, ‘That really wasn’t a very good show. It was terrible!’”
NBC/Everett Collection
Curtin remained on the show until 1980 but has since talked about how it was more of a boy’s club. She also opened up about castmate John Belushi’s drug issue and how it caused problems for the rest of the cast and crew. She revealed, “I got along with everyone. But I did have problems with John. But that was because John wasn’t John. He was an addict.” She also shared that while many of the cast members would party after the show, she had a simpler and quiet life so she wasn’t always around.
NBC/Everett Collection
What do you think? Do you still find the early days of SNL funny?
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