That Show Hasn’t Been Funny In Years: an SNL podcast

Nick goes back to October 27, 1990 to revisit the only time Patrick Swayze hosted Saturday Night Live, and it turned out to be a great showcase for him. Fresh off the success of Ghost and in the middle of filming Point Break, Swayze came in ready to do a little bit of everything.

He opens with a memorable monologue dancing with his wife, Lisa Niemi, then jumps into a wide range of sketches, poking fun at his own image, playing a smooth Latin crooner, and even showing up alongside Hans and Franz. Of course, the night is best remembered for the now-legendary Chippendales sketch with Chris Farley, which still holds up as one of the funniest bits the show ever did.

Nick plays the key moments and shares stories from behind the scenes of a show that was a little weird, very funny, and a perfect example of how committed Swayze was to whatever he was asked to do. [Ep 169]

Nick tackles another listener request and spends the show digging into what he calls “SNL adjacent” movies. These aren’t the obvious ones based on sketches like Wayne’s World or The Blues Brothers. Instead, they’re films connected to Saturday Night Live through the people involved, the history of the show, or the overall spirit of it.

Among the movies discussed are Wired, the controversial film about John Belushi, Saturday Night from director Jason Reitman, Mr. Mike's Mondo Video created by Michael O'Donoghue, and the film version of Gilda Live starring Gilda Radner.

Nick plays clips, shares behind-the-scenes stories, and offers some very strong opinions about which of these movies work and which absolutely do not. You’ll even hear thoughts from Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert along the way. It’s a fun trip through a strange corner of SNL history filled with forgotten, fascinating, and sometimes very questionable movies. [Ep 168]