List of Saturday Night Live short films

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Throughout Saturday Night Live's history, the show has featured short films from a wide range of comedy filmmakers, both unknown and revered. Filmmakers like Albert Brooks, Christopher Guest, and Adam McKay had regular slots to make shorts on the show before they became successful feature directors. [1] Famed filmmakers like Robert Altman, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Noah Baumbach have swooped in to direct one-offs for the show after establishing themselves already in Hollywood. The show has also featured animated shorts from the likes of Robert Smigel and Mike Judge. Many feature films have developed from shorts that aired on SNL, including Office Space , A Mighty Wind , Bob Roberts , and Harold . [2] [3] The short film slot eventually evolved into the SNL Digital Short slot on the show, when Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone arrived at the show in 2005.

Contents

History

Origins

In 1974, when Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol were developing Saturday Night Live, they asked comedian Albert Brooks to be the permanent host. [4] He turned the job down and instead suggested he make short films for the show, having recently made his first show, called "Albert Brooks' Famous School For Comedians." They agreed, and Brooks was the first person hired to SNL, agreeing to write and direct a new short film for the show every week. Penelope Spheeris produced and served as a director of photography on Brooks's short films, and Monica Johnson and Harry Shearer collaborated with Brooks on most of them. [5] [6] Michaels wanted the films to be three minutes, Brooks wanted them to be five, so they came to an agreement that they would be three-to-five minutes. For the third episode, which was hosted by his friend Rob Reiner, Brooks submitted a 13-minute short, which Michaels refused to air until Reiner insisted that it be shown. The film was so long that it necessitated a commercial break in the middle, thus taking the audience away from the live show for 20 minutes. [5] Michaels and Brooks continued to have conflict over the length of the films, and Brooks felt his films were resented by the SNL team and felt distant from them, being the only person working on the show living in LA. He left SNL with bitterness in early 1976. [7] Spheeris tried pitching scripts for her own short films to Michaels, but he turned her down. [8]

Michaels's friend Gary Weis, who had worked with him on a series of Lily Tomlin specials, replaced Brooks as the show's official filmmaker. [7] His short films varied wildly from Brooks's, they were often documentaries and mood pieces. Also in 1976, the show put out a series of calls for "home movies" during the show, asking viewers to send comedy videos for no compensation. These segments aired on the show, labeled "home movies." Walter Williams sent in a Claymation video called "Mr. Bill", which became a wildly popular segment, running on the show through 1981 and spinning off a TV movie and a series of videos. [9]

Starting with the third season, SNL writer Tom Schiller gradually took over the title of house filmmaker from Weis, who had become busy in Los Angeles making features. [7] Schiller's short films, which aired under the titles "Schiller's Reel" and "Schillervision," were often cinematic parodies. His most famous pieces were "La Dolce Gilda," a La Dolce Vita parody starring Gilda Radner, and "Don't Look Back In Anger," which ironically starred John Belushi as an elderly version of himself and the last living SNL cast member visiting and dancing on the rest of the cast's graves. Schiller left the show along with the original cast and writers at the end of the fifth season. [7] [10]

1980s

When Jean Doumanian took over the show in the 1980–81 season, she hired Mitchell Kriegman to the resident filmmaker position, only to fire him after five shows. [11] Doumanian also began licensing short films and music videos from different directors that were not made for the show, airing them under the label "Shorts Shots." Taxi star Andy Kaufman pitched Doumanian on making a weekly short film for the show in 1980, and she turned him down. [12] In 1981, Dick Ebersol assumed showrunner duties and commissioned one last "Mr. Bill" short and a series Andy Warhol written, directed by, and starring Andy Warhol called "Andy Warhol's T.V." Following that, Ebersol put out another call for "home movies." A few aired before he began to play short films on the show less frequently.

When Christopher Guest arrived in the 1984-1985 season, he wrote and directed a series of shorts, as well as voicing the title character in Jack Zander's animated series "Tippi Turtle."

Lorne Michaels returned to the show in the 1985-86 season. There were no short films that season because Michaels told the press that he intended to center the show more on live rather thn pretaped material after the previous season's abundance of live and animated films. [7] In the following season, he hired his old friend, British filmmaker John Head, [7] to be in charge of film acquisitions on the show. Head served in this position for two seasons,Sam Kinison/Lou Reed. Saturday Night Live . 15 Nov 1986. NBC. seeking out and obtaining the rights to short films that were made independently of the show from directors like Ben Stiller, Tim Robbins, and Douglas McGrath. Tom Schiller returned to the show as resident filmmaker in the 1988 season, making a new batch of "Schiller's Reel" videos featuring the cast. In 1993, he began segment directing regular segments for the show written by others instead of his own "Schiller's Reel" pieces, and he departed the show in 1995 amidst another mass overhaul of the cast and crew. [13]

1990s

In 1993, cast member David Spade introduced Michaels to Beavis and Butt-head creator Mike Judge. Michaels commissioned Judge to make a series of shorts for the show. He wrote, directed, and voiced three animated shorts about a put-upon office drone named Milton, which eventually became the movie Office Space . After Kids in the Hall ended, Bruce McCulloch served as SNL's resident filmmaker for the 1994-95 season, getting two films to air before departing. [14]

In 1996, writer Robert Smigel returned to the show to make a weekly cartoon for the show in the series "TV Funhouse." Notable "TV Funhouse" segments include "The Ambiguously Gay Duo," "Fun with Real Audio," and "The X-Presidents." "TV Funhouse" was adapted into a short-lived Comedy Central show in 2000, and the series of shorts ran regularly on SNL from 1996 to 2007 until they were discontinued due to budget cuts. [15]

When Adam McKay stepped down as head writer in 1999, he pitched Lorne Michaels on letting him make short films for the show. He was given a budget to make a series of films that featured the cast and actors like Ben Stiller and Steve Buscemi. For the films in his first season, he shot on 16mm film, but for his second season, he shot them on digital, making the first SNL digital shorts. [16]

2000s

In 2000, a pre- Jackass Johnny Knoxville was offered a regular slot to make videos on the show after SNL producers saw his "Self Defense" video made for the skateboarding magazine Big Brother . Knoxville turned the opportunity down in order ot focus on getting the Jackass MTV show on the air. [17]

When the sketch group The Lonely Island, consisting of Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer joined SNL in the 2005-06 season, they began writing and directing short films labeled "SNL Digital Short." They had a massive breakout hit with their second video, "Lazy Sunday," and the shorts became a regular part of the show for the rest of Samberg's tenure as a cast member. [18] Notable Digital Shorts, include "Dick in a Box," "I'm On A Boat," "Natalie's Rap," the "Laser Cats" series, and "Jizz In My Pants." The Lonely Island has returned sporadically over the years to make new Digital Shorts, most recently in 2024. [19]

Since The Lonely Island departed the show, SNL hasn't had a resident writer/director. Kyle Mooney, Mike O'Brien, Please Don't Destroy, writer Dan Bulla, have each had runs of digital shorts they've written and/or starred in on the show, but none of them have directed these films. Their digital shorts are always directed by the show's segment directors. [20] [21] [22] [23]

List of short films

The following is a list of short films that aired on SNL, organized by the date in which they first aired.

Writer/DirectorSeriesFilmTitleOriginal airdateNotes
Albert Brooks A Film by Albert Brooks"The Impossible Truth"10/11/75
Gary Weis A Film by Gary Weis"Show Us Your Guns"10/11/75
Albert BrooksA Film by Albert Brooks"Parent's Home Video"10/18/75
"Operation"10/25/75
"Super Season"11/8/75
"Sick in Bed"12/13/75
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Homeward Bound"12/20/75
Albert BrooksA Film by Albert Brooks"Audience Research"1/10/76
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Play Misty For Me"1/10/76
"Who's Funny?"1/17/76
"The Paramount Novelty Store"1/24/76
"Clothing Designer & Plastic Surgeon"1/31/76
Harry McDevittHome Movie"The Applie Follies"1/31/76
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Pledge Allegiance"2/14/76
Howard GrunwaldHome Movie"A Home Movie"2/14/76
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Pet Talk with Taylor Mead2/21/76
"Wegman"2/28/76
Walter Williams The Mr. Bill Show "The Mr. Bill Show"2/28/76
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Cats & Dogs"3/13/76
Phil Van De CarrHome Movie"P-Nut Fever"3/13/76
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Garbage"4/17/76
David MassarHome Movie"Men's Room Urinal"4/17/76
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Raquel"4/24/76
"No Reason to Leave New York"5/8/76
"Niagara Falls"5/15/76
"Toilet Seats"5/22/76
"Uncle Charlie's School"5/29/76
"Taylor Mead"9/18/76
"Sight Gag"9/25/76
John BristerHome Movie"Spanish Peanuts"9/25/76
Eric Idle "The Rutles"10/2/76
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Goes to a Party"10/16/76
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Pips"10/16/76
"Autumn in New York"10/23/76
"It's Halloween Tonight"10/30/76
Eric Idle"Crackerbox Palace"11/20/76
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Kids' Dreams"11/27/76
"Diana Nyad"12/11/76
"Night Moves1/22/77
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Goes to a Magic Show"1/22/77
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Small Worlds"1/29/77
"Cemeteries"2/20/77
"Gary Weis Down South"2/20/77
"New Orleans Soul Food Restaurant"2/26/77
"Baton"3/12/77
Robert Altman "Sissy's Roles"3/12/77
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Broderick's Old Neighborhood"3/19/77
"Rocky"3/26/77
"Patti Smith"4/9/77
"Sport Violence"4/16/77
"Body Language"4/23/77
William Wegman"Dog in Bed"5/21/77
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Autumn in New York"10/8/77
Tom Schiller Schiller's Reel"The Acid Generation: Where Are They Now?"10/8/77
"Life After Death"11/19/77
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Hollywood Homes"1/21/78
"The Voice"2/18/78
Tom SchillerSchiller's Reel"Don't Look Back In Anger"3/11/78
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Cold As Ice"3/25/78
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill's Circus"3/25/78
"Mr. Bill Pays Taxes"4/8/78
Tom SchillerSchiller's ReelLa Dolce Gilda4/15/78
Gary WeisA Film by Gary Weis"Swan Lake Ballet"4/22/78
Tom SchillerSchiller's Reel"Sushi By The Pool"10/7/78
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Goes To New York"10/14/78
"Mr. Bill Moves In10/21/78
"Mr. Bill Goes Fishing"11/18/78
Tom SchillerSchiller's Reel"Roman Holiday"11/18/78
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Is Late"12/2/78
Aviva Slesin "The Canine Chorus" [24] 12/9/78
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Goes To Court"1/27/79
Tom SchillerSchiller's Reel"Picasso: The New York Years"2/17/79
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Shapes Up"2/24/79
Tom SchillerSchiller's Reel"Perchance To Dream"3/10/79
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Is Hiding"3/17/79
Aviva Slesin"A Bird For All Seasons"4/7/79
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Runs Away"5/12/79
"Mr. Bill Goes to the Movies"5/19/79
Tom SchillerSchiller's Reel"Clones Exist Now"5/26/79
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"The All New Mr. Bill Show"10/13/79
"Mr. Bill Stays Home"11/3/79
"Mr. Bill Builds a House"11/17/79
Aviva Slesin"First Love"12/8/79
"First Love II"12/15/79
Tom SchillerSchiller's Reel"Java Junkie"12/22/79
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Gets Help"1/26/80
Tom SchillerSchiller's Reel"Linden Palmer, Hollywood's Forgotten Director"2/9/80
"Mask of Fear"2/23/80
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Strikes Back!"4/5/80
Andy Aaron"Street Scene"4/12/80
Edie Baskin"Food"4/19/80
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Goes to Jail"5/10/80
Randall KleiserShort Shots"Foot Fetish"11/15/80
Mitchell Kriegman "Heart to Heart" [25] 11/15/80
Jonathan Demme Short Shots"Gidget Goes to Hell"11/15/80Not created for SNL originally. Music video for the band Suburban Lawns that aired on the show.
Ken Friedman"Showdown"11/22/80
Mitchell Kriegman"Someone Is Hiding In My Apartment" [26] 11/22/80
Bill Paxton "Fish Heads"12/6/80Not created for SNL originally, this is a music video for the novelty song "Fish Heads."
Leon Ichaso"Pepe Gonzales12/6/80
Martin Brest Short Shots"Hot Dogs for Gauguin 12/13/80Starring Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. Not created for SNL originally. This was Brest's 1972 student film. [27]
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill's Christmas Special"12/20/80
Mitchell Kriegman"Dancing Man" [28] 12/20/80
Michael Nesmith "The Man with the Black Hat"1/10/81
William Dear "The Foreign Film"1/24/81
Leon Ichaso"Sweet Hearts"2/14/81
Yoko Ono "Season of Glass"10/3/81
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol's T.V."Andy Warhol's T.V."10/3/81
"Andy Warhol's T.V."10/10/81
Walter WilliamsThe Mr. Bill Show"Mr. Bill Goes to L.A."10/17/81
Andy WarholAndy Warhol's T.V."Andy Warhol's T.V."10/31/81
Tom SchillerSchiller's Reel"Art Is Ficial"11/7/81
William Wegman"Man Ray and Mic"11/14/81
Timothy HittleHome Movie"Fracas"2/20/82
Gary Snegaroff"The Thing That Destroyed Tokyo"2/20/82
Timothy Hittle"Jay Clay Gets Depressed"4/17/82
Elbert Budin"Pumpkin10/30/82
Ed Bianchi "Babies In Makeup"2/11/84
Andy Breckman "The Bulge"10/6/84
Christopher Guest "Ballplayers"10/13/84
Jack Zander Tippi Turtle"Tippi Turtle"10/13/84
"Tippi Turtle"10/20/84
Christopher Guest"The Folksmen"11/3/84
Jack ZanderTippi Turtle"Tippi Turtle"11/17/84
Christopher Guest"Minkman Novelties"11/17/84
Andy Breckman"White Like Me12/15/84
Christopher Guest"Lifestyles of the Relatives of the Rich & Famous"12/15/84
"Minkman's Dream"2/9/85
"Tony Minetti's Comeback"4/13/85
Andy Breckman"Run, Throw & Catch Like A Girl Olympics"4/13/85
Steve Farrell"Pango, Giant Dog Of Tokyo!"11/8/86
William Wegman"Dog Baseball"11/8/86
Tim Robbins "Bob Roberts"12/13/86This short was developed into the 1992 feature film Bob Roberts .
Ben Stiller, Ralph Glenn Howard, and Steve Klayman"The Hustler of Money"3/28/87Starring Ben Stiller and John Mahoney
Richard Goldstone"Dave's Party"5/9/87
Lyndhall Hobbs"Hollywood Mom"5/16/87
Trina Mitchum"Out Of Gas"11/14/87Starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer
Douglas McGrath & Liz Welch"Laurie Has a Story"10/5/88Starring Laurie Metcalf and Catherine O'Hara
Tom SchillerSchiller's Reel"Love Is A Dream"12/17/88
"Broadway Story"3/25/89"Broadway Story" was a four-part series that Schiller made, but only two installments aired before the show pulled the plug on them. [29]
"Broadway Story II"4/15/89
"Falling In Love"10/28/89
"Dieter In Space"12/16/89
"Hooked On Sushi"2/24/00
"The Vision Of Van Gogh"10/20/90
"Sudden Pressure"11/17/90
"SchillerVision Theatre"12/15/90
"Hidden Camera Commercials"11/16/91
"Million Dollar Zombie"3/21/92
"Dieter's Dream"3/20/93
"While the City Sweeps"4/17/93
"Criminal Encounter"5/15/93
Mike Judge Office Space"Office Space"9/25/93Mike Judge's "Office Space" series of shorts were developed into the feature film Office Space .
Tom SchillerSchiller's Reel"Will Work For Food"11/13/93
Mike JudgeOffice Space"Office Space"3/19/94
"Office Space"10/22/94
Bruce McCulloch A Film by Bruce McCulloch"Stalking"12/17/94
"Snowbird"2/25/95
Robert Smigel and Company TV Funhouse (102 segments)9/28/96-3/1/08
Mark Alt Maakies "Drinky Crow Gets a Job"9/26/98Written by Tony Millionaire based on his comic strip Maakies.SNL head writer Adam McKay saw Millionaire's comic strip and reached out to him to make cartoons based on it for the show. Six animated shorts were produced, but only two aired. Millionaire says other cartoons were produced for the show from other creators, but they were deemed "not funny enough" and never aired. [30]
"Mermaid"10/3/98
Adam McKay A Short Film By Adam McKay"The Heat Is On"2/5/00
Paul Thomas Anderson "Fanatic"2/19/00
Adam McKayA Short Film By Adam McKay"Neil Armstrong: The Ohio Years"3/11/00
"Stavenhagens Pawn Shop"4/15/00
"The Pervert"1/13/01
"The Baby and the German Intellectual"2/10/01
"The Doberman!"3/17/01
T. Sean Shannon "The Adventures of Harold"5/15/04This short evolved into the feature film Harold .
T. Sean Shannon Bear City"Bear City"10/23/04
"Bear City"10/23/04
"Bear City"12/18/04
"Bear City"2/5/05
"Bathroom Blues"3/12/05
"Bear City"5/7/05
"Bear City"5/21/05
Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone SNL Digital Short (108 segments)10/3/05-5/19/12 + reprisalsCo-written by Schaffer, Taccone, and Andy Samberg
Jason Reitman Death By Chocolate (3 parts)4/12/08
Noah Baumbach New York Underground10/18/08Co-written by Baumbach, Fred Armisen, and Bill Hader
Noah BaumbachClearing the Air11/15/08Co-written by Baumbach, Fred Armisen, and Bill Hader

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References

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  2. ↑ Gaughan, Liam (2024-04-26). "We Wouldn't Have 'Office Space' Without These 'Saturday Night Live' Shorts". Collider. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
  3. ↑ "25 Years Later, Tim Robbins Look Back on His Cult Gem That Foresaw Donald Trump". EW.com. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
  4. ↑ "A school reunion for Albert Brooks and Rob Reiner - CBS News". CBS News . 24 December 2023.
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  6. ↑ "Interview -- Penelope Spheeris (Director)". 10 July 2017.
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  9. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/01/07/oooh-nooo-mr-bill/f51eb906-040b-4f2f-90db-f3e038d18c60/
  10. ↑ "» Some Things Last a Long Time".
  11. ↑ "Mitchell Kriegman Looks Back on His Brief Stint as an SNL Cast Member". 14 April 2022.
  12. ↑ "Mitchell Kriegman Looks Back on His Brief Stint as an SNL Cast Member". 14 April 2022.
  13. ↑ "Everything old is new again case file #65: The 1994-95 season of Saturday Night Live". The A.V. Club .
  14. ↑ "No Kid Anymore". Los Angeles Times . 7 October 1999.
  15. ↑ "Robert Smigel | Blocks Podcast w/ Neal Brennan". YouTube . 31 October 2024.
  16. ↑ "Dailymotion". 12 June 2012.
  17. ↑ "Johnny Knoxville Passed on This Long-Running TV Show to Star in 'Jackass'". Collider . 5 January 2024.
  18. ↑ "The Evolution of 'SNL's Pretaped Sketches and Digital Shorts". 23 January 2014.
  19. ↑ "Lonely Island Reunites on 'SNL' for First Digital Short in 6 Years". 6 October 2024.
  20. ↑ "Paul Briganti Interview: Crafting the Comedy of Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain". Screen Rant . 21 November 2023.
  21. ↑ "Dan Bulla Has Earned His SNL Vanity Card". 14 October 2024.
  22. ↑ "From SNL to the Director's Chair: Kyle Mooney Talks Nostalgia, Freestyle Raps & Y2K - the Watercooler". 7 December 2024.
  23. ↑ "SNL's Kyle Mooney and Dave McCary Tell Us What It's Like to Develop a Podcast". 20 July 2015.
  24. ↑ "A Look Back at the Filmmakers and Short Films of 'Saturday Night Live'". 30 August 2013.
  25. ↑ "Mitchell Kriegman Looks Back on His Brief Stint as an SNL Cast Member". 14 April 2022.
  26. ↑ "Mitchell Kriegman Looks Back on His Brief Stint as an SNL Cast Member". 14 April 2022.
  27. ↑ Grimes, William (17 January 1993). "FILM; So, You Wanna be a Director?". The New York Times.
  28. ↑ "Mitchell Kriegman Looks Back on His Brief Stint as an SNL Cast Member". 14 April 2022.
  29. ↑ "» Some Things Last a Long Time".
  30. ↑ ""I'm a Legendary Drunk, Right?": A (Sober) Interview with Tony Millionaire". 14 February 2022.

Bibliography

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