When it comes to “Saturday Night Live” movies, there are two head honchos: “The Blues Brothers” and “Wayne’s World.”
The 1980 crime comedy classic starring John Belushi and Dan Akroyd and the 1992 Midwestern townie adventure with Mike Myers and Dana Carvey are both terrific. To this day.
And the flicks have grown far beyond their original sketches. At this point, they’re better known as films than old “SNL” chestnuts.
Then, um, there are the rest: “Coneheads,” “A Night at the Roxbury,” “Superstar,” “The Ladies Man,” “MacGruber.” Critically panned, forgotten by most, appreciated by some. Target bargain bin fare. Dollar Store detritus.
They proved that many sketches are best kept to five minutes — not 105.
But setting aside the stinkers, “SNL,” which begins its 50th season this weekend, has had a surprisingly rich cinematic history … only with movies that have nothing to do with “SNL.”
Because of gargantuan talent onstage and off, Lorne Michaels’ NBC series has had an outsize effect on film since its very first episodes.
Did you know one “SNL” performer has won an acting Oscar, and it happened just last year? That would be Robert Downey Jr. for “Oppenheimer.”
Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd have all been nominated at the Academy Awards.
Speaking of those latter two powerhouses, “Ghostbusters” certainly wouldn’t exist were it not for “SNL.”
Akroyd wrote the script with Harold Ramis originally for John Belushi to star as Peter Venkman. When Belushi died, he turned to another Not Ready For Primetime Player — his pal Murray.
Bill was bustin’ long before “Groundhog Day,” Wes Anderson’s films and “Lost In Translation” further cemented him as a Hollywood great.
Another early breakout, Chevy Chase, stayed for just one and half seasons, departing in 1976. Over the next 10 years, he became one of the hottest comedic actors in the world. “Caddyshack,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Fletch” and “Three Amigos” all happened inside a decade.
Chase jumpstarted a fortuitous trend: Our best leading funnymen of the past half century got their starts on “SNL.”
Eddie Murphy’s movies (“Coming To America,” “Beverly Hills Cop”) have grossed $6.7 billion worldwide.
Adam Sandler’s (“The Wedding Singer,” “Billy Madison,” “Happy Gilmore”)? More than $2 billion.
Thanks to “Elf,” “Barbie” and “The Lego Movie,” Will Ferrell’s big screen oeuvre has grossed about $6 billion.
At risk of sounding like an accountant, all I’ll say is Chris Rock, Mike Myers and Billy Crystal!
These days, top billing at the multiplex is being taken more and more by the show’s hilarious women, such as Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Maya Rudolph.
OK, that’s enough about actors. Less appreciated, but no less impactful, is the extraordinary quality of film writing that had its genesis at 30 Rock.
The scribe and director of the hysterical “Waiting for Guffman” and “Best In Show,” Christopher Guest, made a short, early-career pitstop at Studio 8H in 1984.
Tina Fey, one of “SNL”’s finest head writers, and Wiig, one of its funniest actresses, penned two of the standout comedy scripts of the past 20 years: “Mean Girls” and “Bridesmaids.”
And Adam MacKay, a longtime “SNL” head writer, initially wrote and directed some of the world’s favorite dumb comedies: “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” and “Step Brothers.”
But in 2015, MacKay shoved aside pratfalls and sex jokes and donned a tux.
His “The Big Short,” about the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
Whatever you may think of “Saturday Night Live” today, there is only one thing to be said about Lorne Michaels’ unmatched eye for talent.
We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!
