By John Pluntze

NBC's "Saturday Night Live In the 2000s" two-hour restrospective that aired last night from 8-10 p.m. provided a lot of very good (and much-needed) Tax Deadline Day laughs, fond and insightful reminiscences from cast and crew members (current and past) ... and also some geninely heartbreaking moments as well -- namely, when (then New York City) mayor Rudolph Guiliani took the stage there on September 29, 2001 to open that uncharacteristically somber "SNL" show, alongside close to a hundred fire fighters, EMT personnel, policemen, and others who had been working, in various capacities, during the ongoing rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center.

"SNL" cast newcomer Horatio Sanz recalled a truly poignant moment when he reached across, as the show was closing that night, to pat on the back one of the firemen who were once again sharing the stage there, and a "cloud of dust" suddenly arose from the fireman's coat as he did so.

Sanz knew exactly where the dust was from...

That September 29th, 2001 show was the very first live one "SNL" aired since those horrific, brazen and unapologetically cowardly mid-morning attacks in New York City (my hometown, incidentally) and elsewhere, and there was obviously a lot of debate about whether it was "too soon" to start re-airing the show live again, or what kinds of skits would be "appropriate" under those seemingly insurmountable grim circumstances, and also when they finally did again, what audience members' reaction (both in the studio and from those watching at home) would be.

Paul SImon was the guest musician that night, and it seemed very appropriate indeed -- and also rather quietly beautiful -- for him to just take the stage with a simple acoustic guitar and sing, while scores of city personnel watched in the wings and from their seats ... arguably one of the most powerful, iconic and poetic bonding moments in television history -- millions of people around the country (and around the world as well) being reassured th rough song and through laughter that New York really was "still open for business" (as Guiliani famously said that night during the show's opening, which, for the very first time in its 25-year history, didn't open with any sort of comedic monologue from a guest host -- for very obvious reasons).

But there were plenty of laughs to be had at "SNL" -- both that night (which proved to be a huge and resilient rallying cry for the nation in general and for New Yorkers in particular in many ways), and for subsequent weeks and months and years afterward ... as that wonderful two-hour restrospective last night vividly and repeatedly reminded people.

Alec Baldwin, who said during one of the 2010 interviews with him, that "I don't know how we could've negotiated the absurdity of that (post-"9/11") time WITHOUT 'Saturday Night Live'", soon found himself playing a very nervous-looking Saddam Hussein, who was being told by his Iraqi lawyers that "his beloved" people "definitely are intent" on hanging him.

And there was that famous (infamous???) musical dance skit with Beyonce Knowles, where they had Justin Timberlake (and also two male "SNL" cast members) as her backup singers and dancers -- all of them wearing tight, form-fitting leotards and high heels -- while an understandably baffled and exasperated Beyonce kept looking behind her (and also into the monitor in front of her), clearly doubting that these guys were seriously bringing it!!! (LOL)

Evidently, Beyonce in real life had some major reservations about how the skit would go over with viewers and almost didn't do it, until Timberlake eventually convinced her at the 11th hour that it would be hilarious -- and, of course, it was!!
 
Lots of great music to savor there at "SNL" in the subsequent months and years as well -- everything from Carrie Underwood ("Flat On the Floor") and Foo Fighters ("Best Of You"), to The Black-Eyed Peas ("I Got a Feeling") and Mick Jagger ("God's Given Me What I Want").

And, of course, the additions to the "SNL" cast in the 2000s of unceasingly creative and energetic people such Tina Fey, Kenan Thompson, Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler (whose "Yeahhh, I'm rockin' one leg!!!" skit, involving a single amputee/wannabe dating game show winner, still seems equal parts tasteless, appalling and absolutely hysterical to me years after I first saw it), Bobby Monihan, Molly Shannon, Darrell Hammond (a never-better Bill Clinton impersonator!!), Chris Parnell, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Jimmy Fallon, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers (whose Civil War-oriented "Colonel Lingus" skit was one that I heard people here in Ketchum frequently talking -- and laughing -- about weeks after that broadcast first aired) seemed to genuinely solidify "SNL's" chances going forward as well.

Calling them the "trained assassins of comedy," Emmy-winning executive producer Lorne Michaels (who's been with "SNL" from the very beginning, starting back in the mid-1970s -- except for a two-year absence from the show at one point, during which the show, by most estimates, took a serious nose dive, save for some often verrry funny and memorable skits featuring Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo and Martin Short), said during the retrospective last night that "SNL" has stood the test of time because it constantly finds great material from a seemingly inexhaustible supply of headline-grabbers out there -- frequently corrupt and/or grossly incompetent politicians whose real-life antics often don't need much, if any, comedic tweaking, they're such inbridled buffoons already!!!   

In that regard, especially, I think "Saturday Night Live" will always, always find delightfully new, admirably inspired, and consistently hilarious ways to keep itself fresh, funny and, yes, even genuinely remarkable at times.

See past episodes of "SNL" at:
www.nbc.com
www.slashcontrol.com/free-tv-shows  or www.hulu.com
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Questions of comments regarding this new "After The Fact" (media watch) column can be sent to John at: WriteStuffIdahho@gmail.com