12 Jun 2007

Missing the 90s

NBC did a "Saturday Night Live in the 90's" show a month or so ago, and we're just now getting around to watching it.  We've only watched the first half, and so far I'm left with two impressions, both surprising.  One, even though most of what I remember from the 90s is everyone saying SNL wasn't as good as it used to be, that's totally not true.  Two - and this is the real surprise to me - I miss the 90s. We'll deal with the first impression, uh, first.  SNL was a freaking powerhouse through parts - though not all - of the 90s.  Think about these names: Rock, Sandler, Farley, Spade, Hartman, Ferrell, Meyers, Carvey.  Unreal.  Most of these folks went on to unbelievable box office success.  Many of them where all on the same cast at the same time.  This special opened up with some guy saying that SNL in the early 90s was kinda like the Yankees of the late 90s.  You really can't argue with that.  In many seasons, it was just a murderers' row of comics.  I'm not even including people like Norm MacDonald, Colin Quinn, and Rob Schneider, and Molly Shannon.  Say what you will, but these people all really added something to the show and gave it some of its most memorable characters. As surprised as I was to remember how good those SNL casts were, I was even more surprised to realize how seeing this special made me nostalgic - for the first time - for the 90s.  SNL is such a reflection of the culture, and seeing all the skits about cultural events and people in addition to plain silly skits, not to mention the musical acts - from the first Gulf War to the Dave Matthews Band to the Church Lady to O.J. to Blues Traveler to Wayne's World to Bill Clinton to Opera Man - made me stop and think about that whole era and how lucky I was to be the age I was (15-25) during that decade. The 90s in many ways were a time of blissful ignorance for both me and the country at large.  After the short-lived first Gulf War at the start of the decade, the U.S. enjoyed an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity.  We weren't worried about terrorists or taking off our shoes to get on airplanes or bird flu or any of the crazy shit that everyone obsesses about now.  It was all grunge music and Michael Jordan, and the Internet and eventually dot-com madness. I'm not going to try to argue that the 90s were some kind of cultural high point or the best times of our lives or whatever.  All I'll say is that they sure were fun for me, and whether it's a Chris Farley "Van Down by The River" SNL skit or a cheezy Gin Blossoms song playing on the radio, I'll be thankful for the memories of what truly were simpler times.