European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 17, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Chevy Chase was the first of the not ready for prime time players to reach stardom. Live from new York it s c i by Beverly Bundy Magazine editor what s All this i hear about saturday night Jive i knew most of these kids on the show. Most of them were of. Jane Curtin and i had our problems on weekend update but that was just because she was a preppie snob from Boston and what do those unzip people know about humor but Jive never. Of you said saturday night live. Never  Emily lit Ella saturday night live was the to generation s show of shows. It was a show that brought America s baby Boomers Back to the television set. It was the program that ultimately had some of the Best demographics in the business. In their Book saturday night a backstage history of saturday night live Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad Beech tree books Morrow $17.95 chronicle the life and time of a television phenomenon. Both authors Are writers about the Trade and the background knowledge is apparent. The research is exhaustive and the text is packed with statistics and the creative drive of the show s performers. When saturday night live went on the air oct. 11, 1975, it was an attempt by Abc to go after the late night weekend youth Market that was so far ignoring television. Nothing until that time with the exception of smothers Brothers comedy hour in the late 1960s had tapped the hip Market. The hippies were growing into yuppies and the networks knew there was Money to be made. Lome Michaels was hired to produce the show and he became the pied Piper for the group of underground writers and performers who were to become the nucleus of the show. Right away there was a new smell at Abc. For one thing the Halls of 30 Rockefeller Center where the show had its offices reeked of marijuana. The performers were different looking. The Only one who had any claim to Normal Good looks was Chevy Chase. The comedy was offbeat and often off color. Grownups dressed As bees singing the blues was different late night fare from Johnny Carson s reruns. It did t matter. America s youth fell in love. By the second year Abc affiliates were signing up in droves to carry the show. For five years the show was Strong making stars first of Chevy Chase then John Belushi Jim Aykroyd and Gilda Radner. Later a different version of the show was to do the same for 19-year-old Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo. The stars were hungry performers who Felt that they were finally being recognized. They were the beatles of comedy. They partied with Paul Mccartney the rolling stones Jack Nicholson and the Allman Brothers. But As saturday night writer Anne Beatts said you can Only be Avant Garde so Long before you become Garde. In the end it was the numbers games in its various guises that destroyed the original show and Many of its stars. By the second season the ratings were Strong and they were consistent. The Abc Hierarchy was willing to give the kids anything. In the beginning Laraine Newman Jane Curtin and Gilda Radner left As Emily lit Ella aggravating Jane Curtin on weekend update. John Belushi in his role As a Samurai. Radner had shared the same dressing room. Now All the stars had their own dressing rooms Complete with refrigerators to sets and telephones. In the first year the not ready for prime time players were making Between $25,000 and $30,000 a year not a lot of Money in new York City and certainly not a lot by television standards. By the fifth year their salaries had jumped to $500,000 each. Money was not the Only thing that was Bountiful. Drugs and alcohol abuse were everywhere. It was a College Beer bust gone amok. When the rolling stones appeared on the show alcohol and cocaine were everywhere on the set despite the presence of Abc Security guards. This crazy cast was bringing in the numbers by this Point clients were lining up for the 30-second commercial spots that Cost $50,000 and $60,000 each and the network did t care How this magic was accomplished. It was common knowledge on the show that Garrett Morris was freebasing cocaine in his stripes Magazine april 17,1986