50 YEARS OF SNL

 SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

has been with us for fifty years!

I wonder if Lorn Michaels knew back then what a gem he had.

We can all probably remember a skit or twenty that we loved.

We can also argue about which was the best cast.

For me, SNL has followed me throughout periods of my life.

My first glimpse of it was as a very young girl,

staying up way past my bedtime as my older

sister prepared for their Saturday night ritual.

Usually it consisted of Chef Boyardi Pizza from a box.

My Daddy hated pizza and the smell of it 

so I didn't even know it existed until my teen sister

started making it on Saturday nights long after my Daddy was in bed.

SNL would come on and there was always a lot of laughing

and imitating. I didn't get the jokes back then but I am sure I laughed anyway.

Once I became a teenager, it became a part of my own Saturday night lineup.

We had Bill Murray, John Belushi, Gilda Radner...

some of them I didn't even know by these names but by their character names.

Hence, why my poor sister Roseanna started calling herself Rosie.

She was tired of everyone calling her Roseanna, Roseanna Danna.

When I did go out with friends on a Saturday night, 

it was usually not until I first saw who the musical guest would be.

Then I had my children.... 

and they began to watch SNL with me.

We had all their Nickelodeon shows...

ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK, Clarrisa, etc.

We watched them all but we also knew that

when 10:30 came around, it was going to be

buttered crackers and Saturday Night Live.

My children grew up with their own cast, that soon became mine:

Will Ferrel, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler... so many great ones.

"A van down by the river" was said a lot back then.

I remember when Chris Farley died not only I but my children were sad.

They were now old enough to understand the lifestyle of a comedian

was not always filled with laughter.

Laying with my kiddo's on the sofa many Saturday nights

still remain some of my favorite memories.

Like all children, they grew up but often there would

be a memory shared or reenacted  from the skits they grew up watching.

Now it is the grandgirls turn. While they may not sit and watch

all of SNL, they watch clips of the new and old.

When JoJo came to the Cottage one day singing

Adam Sandlers, Lunch lady song I knew her Dad was showing them clips.

When I began to tell her about Sandler's Hanukkah song,

she must have watched the clip ten times to learn it and

surprise her Daddy that she knew it.

I no longer sit beside a television on Saturday nights

waiting for 10:30 to come around.

You can bet though, that I will have clips on my phone of this show,

new and old. 

Whenever I smell Chef Boyardi Pizza 

or hear one of the girls say

"In a Van down by the River" 

I am brought back to a place I love.... in my heart.

Happy Birthday, SNL