A strange sketch helped save Saturday Night Live and kick off one of the shows fabled golden ages.
They say that the best era ofSaturday Night Liveis whatever era of the show you grew up with.
That often means that the worst eras of the show tend to be pretty much everything else.
The truth is thatSNLhas always been a show of extremes.
That is what makes the 1985 season ofSaturday Night Liveso special.
It is also the season that nearly led to the unthinkable: the cancellation of the seemingly immune show.
These are not serious people.
From around 1980 to 1984,Saturday Night Livewas in a nearly constant state of turmoil.
NBC was considering cancelingSaturday Night Liveat that time unless series creator Lorne Micheals returned as a producer.
Michaels decided to replace much of the old cast to give the show a fresh start.
It was a good idea seemingly made better by the actual casting choices.
Even now, that feels like a pretty special collection of stars.
Soon, though, the name value of that cast proved to be one of its biggest problems.
At one point, Damon Wayans essentially quit the show in real-time during a painfully bad Mr. ## The Benefits of Broccoli
NBCs renewal ofSaturday Night Livecame with a big catch.
For this experiment to work, the newSNLhad to be a hit out of the gate.
But that new era got off to a…mixed start.
The opening saw Madonna read a disclaimer explaining that the shows last season was just a dream.
It was funny, but the show was still wrestling with the ghosts of the past.
Conceptually, its probably the most bare-bones sketch on that episode.
Its just Carvey at a piano singing a silly song about a lady buying and preparing broccoli.
Even the dialog around the song is awkward and light on actual jokes.
Yet, Carvey wasnt very confident in the sketch when it aired.
Spade, like so many of us, loves the sketch, though.
Its so dumb and stupid, Dana, Spade explains.
Its not funny at all, so its funny.
Theres only room for one guest star a night.
The Choppin Broccoli sketch reminded everyone of that otherSaturday Night Livegolden rule: you cant force comedy.
And thats what happened with Choppin Broccoli.
Granted,Saturday Night Livehasnt exactly enjoyed a perpetual golden age since Choppin Broccoli aired.
The show is often a grab bag of hits that occasionally rises above an often painful series of misses.
