SNL Hall of Fame

This is what we've been building up to! Now is the time to announce the newest inductees into the SNL Hall of Fame. Bill Kenney and Kirstin Rajala join Thomas Sena to reveal the inductees and breakdown the ballot as a whole. Who got in? Are there any snubs? Join us in discussion and celebration as we chat about the Class of Season 5.

This week on the SNL Hall of Fame podcast we welcome back one of the SNN's Super-Fans, Sammy Kay! He's visiting the Hall to discuss writer Julio Torres with our very own Thomas Sena.

Transcript:

[0:42] All right. Thank you, Doug DeNance. It is great to be here in the SNL Hall of Fame.

[0:50] Welcome to the SNL Hall of Fame podcast, A Weekly Affair.

Each episode, we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest, or writer, and add them to the ballot for your consideration.

Once the nominees have been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote Vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity in the hall.

That's right. That's how we play the game. It's really quite simple.

And we're thrilled to have you here with us.

This has been a great season so far, and it's about to get that much better as we invite S&N correspondent, super fan, Sammy K, into the conversation room with Thomas Senna to todiscuss the career of writer Julio Torres.

This should be a good one. I'm looking very forward to this.

Will Julio be rewarded or will he be punished for being a writer?

We shall see when voting commences.

I'm getting way ahead of myself, though. Before you get into this building, you gotta wipe those feet. That's all there is to it. it.

Let's walk down the hallway to my friend Matt Ardill in his Matt's Minutia Minute corner and get to know a little bit more about Julio.

What do you say? Matt!

Track 3:

[2:13] Matt! Julio Torres! Yeah, JB! I can't wait.

This is another one of my picks from the draft and I am looking forward to this one.

I'm looking forward to all of them, but this one in particular.

No, this is your pick. Yeah, I understand that. That's great. Yeah.

So talk to me, because I know precious little about Julio Torres.

Yeah, he's pretty private, to be honest. Julio Torres, I don't know his height.

One of the few people I've not been able to track that down.

So when I do the chart, he's going to be a big question mark. Oh, man.

He makes me feel very old. He is born February 11th, 1987. Jeez, Louise.

[2:57] He co-created Los Espookys with Fred Armisen and Anna Fabergia, as well as working on The Chris Gethard Show as a writer.

[3:11] Oh, did not know that. Yeah, yeah. So he got his start on Gethard and then went on to SNL and then all sorts of stuff followed.

Um he is born he was born in el salvador to a civil engineer uh who is his father and an architect slash fashion designer mother uh his mother has collaborated uh with him and his sisteruh on comedy projects um they he picked up some skills from his mom um and his mom and his sister actually make a lot of his clothes or have them made his quote i have of him is mymother and sister noah taylor in el salvador who can make anything i sketch with their assistance so when you see him doing shows it's often outfits that he his mom and his sister havemade together oh that's cool yeah so he took literary studies at the new york school or excuse me he took literary studies at the new school in new york okay um even as a student his goalout of the gate was to become a comedy writer which a lot of times you don't start that way you kind of fall into comedy writing yeah but uh yeah it was his goal um he has an hbo specialfrom 2019 called my favorite shapes and is credited with nine writing credits and 25 acting credits as well for producer credits.

[4:39] He starts his Comedy Central stand-up special by introducing himself as Julio and Aquarius.

His favorite color is clear and starts all of his emails well, well, well.

[4:54] Um, his special is named I'm a vegan and I'm so sorry, uh, where he takes the stage with his best friend, crystal, a four foot tall talking crystal.

Uh, so this sort of sets the tone of what to expect.

Um, I think he and Sarah Sherman would get along very well, um, or fight to the death as they both seem to have very similar sentiments around comedy.

Um he appeared on the tonight show eight times as a correspondent and has appeared three times on late night uh appeared on the former snl writing team chris kelly and sarah schneider'sshow the other two in the episode chase turns 14 and has also been in an episode of bob's burgers he deliberately avoids political comedy preferring to focus on his personal experiencesand viewpoints, which, you know, is probably good because those are so surreal and wild and awesome.

[6:01] It's great to hear a unique voice like his. Yeah.

Well, I'm excited to hear a couple other unique voices. Sammy Kaye back in the SNL Hall of Fame talking with our friend Thomas Senna.

You ready to hear that conversation, Matt? I am ready. Can't wait. Let's go downstairs.

Track 5:

[6:50] Alrigh...

This week on the program, Thomas, Matt, and jD welcome back Darin Patterson to the show. You can find his work at SNL Nerds where ever you get your podcasts.

Transcript:

Track 4:

[0:42] Thank you so much, Doug DeNance. It is a thrill to be back here with you on the SNL Hall of Fame podcast. Before you come inside, if you would do me a favor, please wipe your feet. The SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair where each episode we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest, or writer, and add them to the ballot for your consideration. Consideration once the nominees have been announced we turn to you the listener to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity inside the hall and that is how we play the game it's just that simple a little 411 for you we have a new email address it is the snl hall of fame at gmail.com that's the snl hall of fame at gmail.com shoot Shoot us an email if you have any questions about the show or would like to guest on this show or the SNL Hall of Fame Water Cooler with Joe and Shari.

Track 4:

[1:43] So there's that. This week we are joined by our friend Darren Patterson of the SNL Nerds podcast. You can check that out wherever you find your quality podcasts. Podcasts and uh darren has quite the track record of uh nominating people in episodes he joined us for the first time on season two where he nominated tom hanks who got in then in season three he kicked off the season by nominating dana carvey who also got in that year uh he took the year off in season four and didn't visit us in season five either but this year he's back and uh i'm excited about this episode so there's that.

Track 5:

[2:32] Here we go with an original not ready for prime time player it is the often overlooked garrett morris matt what do you have to say about garrett morris wow uh garrett uh he five foot eight born february 1st 1937 in new orleans uh he is uh an incredible talent he studied drama at the hb studio and attended juilliard he's a triple threat raised by a baptist minister grandfather he got his first taste of performance in the church choir uh with 116 acting credits six soundtrack credits and one writer credit it, he worked as a soloist and arranger for Harry Belafonte.

Track 5:

[3:22] Yeah, so he was part of Belafonte's band. During his time as a singer for Harry Belafonte, he was performing in Los Angeles and decided to go for a walk. Police cuffed him and dragged them to jail when he tried to show his hotel keys to prove where he's staying. After a background check, it came back clean. And then they checked the itinerary in his pocket and saw that he was part of Harry Belafonte's band. And all of a sudden they were like oh i'm sorry i'm sorry mr garrett morris i mr morris like we're so he's he that kind of uh changed his life um he became very active uh he joined the black arts repertory theater and school a cornerstone of the black arts movement um um, in New York and ended up being surveilled by the FBI during that time. Yeah.

Track 5:

[4:23] So he has a file. Um, but you know, he's also done things like he released an album called South African Freedom Songs with Pete Seeger and Guy Carowan. Uh, he appeared in broadway in hallelujah baby and ain't supposed to die a natural death and uh he.

Track 5:

[4:44] Wrote a play called the secret place daddy piku and stagger lee uh which he penned for the brooklyn uh school kids as part of a new york program uh to write a play for school kids in their in your home borough and on top of all of that he released a comedy album called saturday night sweet um which has some pure disco tracks on there it is it is incredible um he survived a brush with death having been shot in the chest and arm while being mugged uh and got to be kidding me yeah like he's that was.

Track 5:

[5:28] In 1994 so not even that long ago did not go well for the shooter because there were some garrett morris fans in prison and let's just say he didn't leave the prison uh so yeah that got that you don't mess with a good with great comedians you know people don't like that so yeah so garrett morris garrett morris in a in a wrapped in a bow by our friend matt ardell and now we're going to check in with our other friend Thomas Senna as he digs in on Garrett Morris.

Track 2:

[6:31] Jamie and Matt, thank you so much. Welcome to another episode of the SNL Hall of Fame. Today we have a Heritage nominee from Season 1, an original Not Ready for Primetime player. So I'm really excited to talk about Mr. Garrett Morris.

Track 2:

[6:52] And with me to talk about Garrett and his time at SNL is Darren Patterson from the SNL Nerds podcast. Somebody who I haven't had on in like two or three seasons. It was long overdue. I knew I needed to get Darren back for Season 6 of the SNL Hall of Fame. Darren, how...

Hey there and welcome back to the SNL Hall of Fame podcast. On this week's program jD, Matt, and Thomas welcome back Matti Price to discuss Rosie Shuster being nominated in the writing category. Join us won't you?

Transcript:

[0:42] Thank you so much, Doug Donats. It is great.

No, it is fantastic to be here with you all this week inside the SNL Hall of Fame.

Before you come on inside, I've got the door wide open for you here.

Just take a look down at your feet. There's a mat there. Wipe them.

The SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair. Each episode, we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest, or writer and add them to the ballot foryour consideration.

That's how we play the game. It's really quite simple.

You tune in, you listen to who we're nominating, and then you decide whether or not they belong inside the Hall of Fame by voting when voting opens.

And voting will open in this case around the 11th of December when we get into the round table discussions and whatnot, but for now, I won't waste your time with that information.

I think we should get right into Matt's Minutiae Minute because I'm excited about this week's episode. In fact, when I first launched this podcast, this was one of the pilot episodes Irecorded.

It was with Maddie Price and it was covering Rosie Shuster.

[2:02] And that's what we're going to do again this week. We are going to have Thomas this time, though, sit in conversation with our friend, Maddie Price, and have a great conversationabout Rosie Shuster and whether or not she belongs inside the SNL Hall of Fame.

Like I said before, though, let me not give you any more information at this point, an information dump.

Let's go right into Matt's information dump in his minutiae minute corner.

Hey Matt, are you excited about this one? Let's go.

Track 3:

[2:38] Hey Jamie, oh, this is gonna be a fun one. I am so excited. I grew up watching her dad on TV and listening to his old radio programs.

Track 2:

[2:47] Yeah.

Track 3:

[2:49] Rosie Schuster is a comedy icon from a family of comedy icons, responsible for a lot of things I love.

Track 2:

[2:58] Okay, tell me about them.

Track 3:

[3:00] Hey, Rosie Schuster bit of a mystery height unknown born June 19th 1950 no height Rosie was born and raised in my town of Toronto She is the child of Canadian comedy royaltyFrank Schuster for whom there is a Toronto Street named after and Is one of my earliest comedy memories?

That said, she's not just a child of comedy royalty. She's also the cousin of Joe Shuster.

You know, the Joe Shuster, like the Superman Joe Shuster. Remember that Canadian Heritage Minute where Lois says, oh, find out what your cousin Frank thinks.

Well, that was Frank Schuster of Wayne and Schuster, father of Rosie.

Rosie was followed home by a strange little fellow during her junior high years named Lauren.

In order to meet her dad.

And I mean, really, for American listeners, these dudes were serious comedy royalty. I mean, you had a teenager following another teenager home just in the hopes to meet her father.

That's a little weird.

Track 2:

[4:21] Yeah, I would agree.

Track 3:

[4:22] Her aunt, Geraldine. This is my personal connection to the Schuster family, which I only found out about from my uncle last night.

Her aunt, Geraldine Schuster, went to Juilliard and as part of her exams, played my grandfather's Sonatina for piano as part of her exams.

I did not know that so technically I am within six degrees of separation not just from Rosie.

But Frank and Joe Shuster.

Track 2:

[4:53] Holy shit.

Track 3:

[4:54] I am having a nerd fantasy come true right now.

Track 2:

[4:57] And Lorne, you're close to Lorne, too.

Track 3:

[4:59] Before moving south to start a little project close to our hearts, she and Lorne started on the CBC with a show called Heart and Lorne, where they first worked with Dan and Gilda.

They followed this by a stint in L.A. writing for the Lily Tomlin show.

Track 2:

[5:16] Right. I remember that. OK.

Track 3:

[5:18] After leaving SNL, she wrote for Broadway, including a project for Gilda called Gilda Live that was at the Winter Garden Theatre.

She co-wrote that along with Michael O'Donohue, Marilyn Miller, Alan Zwiebel, and Annie Beetz.

The production was directed by one of the founding members of Second City, improv innovator and Oscar-winning director Mike Nichols.

Track ...

Meet Joe and Shari as they assemble around the SNL Hall of Fame watercooler to discuss a variety of things relating the SNL and its Hall of Fame.

Transcript:

Track 2

[0:22]All right. Welcome to the SNL Hall of Fame Water Cooler Podcast. I'm Joe Gannon and I'm sitting at the water cooler with...

Track 3

[0:30]Me, Shari Fasco. I'm very excited to be here. I've got my cup and I'm filling it up.

Track 2

[0:38]All right. And then there I go. All right. Let's get into it. All right. So on On this podcast, we're going to be talking about the SNL Hall of Fame and who we believe should and shouldn't be in it. But first, let's kind of just introduce ourselves. I'm Joe Gannon. I've been an SNL fan since, I guess, 1991. 91 and what I enjoyed about it was as I was watching it like as it was going on since 91 I got to watch the reruns like on Comedy Central E and whatnot so it's kind of cool seeing a show develop and then learn its history at the same time and I just found it absolutely fascinating about how important it is to our society about because the show makes fun of our society and politics, and everything. And the last thing is, I grew up in the central time zone, so the TV show was on at 10.30 to midnight. So to me, it was like a show that waited until the last hour and a half of the week to make fun of the previous week. And you, Sherry, introduce yourself.

Track 3

[2:00]Hi, I'm Shari, rhymes with Starry, as I tell everybody, and I am a Michigan native, and I have been into Saturday Night Live probably since I was about nine, since it started in 75. I was really, really young in 75, so I don't remember it that young, but I definitely, definitely remember watching it at like eight, nine, ten. I was really into Mr. Bill. I vaguely remember having a Mr. Bill t-shirt. I just always loved the show and it's always been like a rock for me. It's been something that I've always come back to when things are good and when things are not so good. My husband is also into it. He's been watching a lot of sketches with me lately, getting ready for this podcast. And it's just, it's really just, it's comfort food. Just like what Joe's saying, it's comfort food. It's something that's always been there. and now it's going into its 50th year. I'm 54. It's kind of incredible. It's kind of crazy to think that it's been around. So I'm really excited to be here with Joe. I think both of us are super excited to be talking about these incredible people. I think we're ready to get into it. Are we ready, Joe?

Track 2

[3:15]I believe so.

Track 3

[3:16]We're going to talk about the season six draft. We're each going to do the two people we would like to see get in. And then the two that we don't think really have much of a chance of getting in possibly. I will let you go ahead and go first, Joe, and then I'll go after you.

Track 2

[3:33]Okay. So the first person I think should get in is Lorraine Newman. I believe that the only reason why she hasn't gotten in sooner is there's just a series of people that are a little bit more obvious. Uh you know that just i feel like should be uh you know people that just feel like they should be in uh like will ferrell but um as far as the original cast like obviously everyone from the original five years should be in um as far as where lorraine is in that uh group she's not She's not really a household name. She wasn't a Ghostbuster. She wasn't a Blues Brother. She didn't have a sitcom afterward. Everyone knows Aykroyd, Murray, Jane Curtin, Chevy Chase, John Belushi. And I feel like Lorraine Newman, who is extremely talented, just doesn't have that star power name. So when people are voting and they see her name... It just doesn't connect, or they don't immediately remember all of the great sketches that she was a part of. Or, if they do, they remember someone else that was in that sketch.

Track 2

[5:01]So that's why I chose Lorraine Newman. All right, and who's your pick?

Track 3

[5:06]My pick, I just stuck to strictly the season six draft. So I went with one, two of the draftees for this coming season that I would like to seek it in that I'm not really hopeful about. But my first is Sherry O'Terry. For all of the reasons you just said about Lorraine, I think Sherry is very, very, very, very, very underappreciated. She is absolutely hilarious. hilarious she stands up against the likes of will freaking farrell and holds her own yes even though she's this diminutive little she can't be more than five two but against will farrell who's like i don't know six four she still holds her own her comedic chops are that strong that she can hold her own and i feel that way in the zimmermans with chris katan i i watched her playing against Sylve...