Saturday Night Live and American TV [Hardcover]

For over 35 years, Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! has greeted late nightTV viewers looking for the best in sketch comedy and popular music. SNL is the variety show that launched the careers of a mass of comedians including Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Chris Farley, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Adam Sandler, among others. Week after week, SNL has produced unforgettable sketches and provocative political satire, adapting to changing times while staying true to its original vision of performing timely topical humor. With essays that address issues ranging from race and gender to authorship and comedic performance, Saturday Night Live and American TV follows the history of this 36-time Emmy-winning show and its place in the shifting social and media landscape of American television.

Nick Marx is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Colorado State University.

Matt Sienkiewicz is Assistant Professor of Communication and International Studies at Boston College.

Ron Becker is Associate Professor of Media Studies at Miami University of Ohio where he is also an affiliate of the American Studies, Film Studies, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies programs. He is the author of Gay TV and Straight America.

If you like the variety show that weekly brings us outstanding sketch comedy and popular music, you'll find this book worthy.The editors of this volume have produced a book that is not just important but vital. 'Saturday Night Live' and American TV offers a diversity of perspectives, and the essays are strong from start to finish. It stands out as distinctive.Readers looking for a more analytical approach to SNL will want to check out this interesting collection of essays. . . . The book is undeniably interesting as it explores the show from angles that many readers probably havent encountered previously.

1. Introduction: Situating Saturday Night Live within American Television Culture / Nickl�