Saturday Night Live, Hollywood Comedy, and American Culture: From Chevy Chase to Tina Fey

by J. Whalley

Overview

Saturday Night Live, Hollywood Comedy, and American Culture sheds new light on the ways in which Saturday Night Live s confrontational, boundary-pushing approach spilled over into film production, contributing to some of the biggest hits in Hollywood history, such as National Lampoon s Animal House, Ghostbusters, and Beverly Hills Cop. Jim Whalley also considers how SNL has adapted to meet the needs of subsequent generations, launching the film careers of Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell and others in the process. Supported by extensive archival research, some of Hollywood s most popular comedians are placed into the contexts of film and television comic traditions and social and cultural trends in American life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349287932
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	07/21/2010
Edition description:	1st ed. 2010
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

JIM WHALLEY has taught Film Studies at the University of Salford, Liverpool John Moores University, UK, and the University of East Anglia.

Table of Contents

Introduction 'I'm Chevy Chase and you, you're merely a statistic': Self-reference and Stardom on Saturday Night Live 'I'll write you a note saying you're too well to attend': National Lampoon's Animal House Takes Saturday Night Live to Hollywood 'But the Kids Love Us': The Development of Bill Murray's Star Persona from Saturday Night Live to Ghostbusters 'I Don't Even Like Myself': The Revision and Retreat of Saturday Night Live Stars after Ghostbusters 'Age is a Tough One for Me': Selling Saturday Night Live in the 1980s 'I Still Know How to Party': Mike Myers, Adam Sandler and Generational Change on Saturday Night Live 'A Colorful, Emotional, Working Class Hero'? The Development of Adam Sandler's Fictional and Extra-fictional Personas Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"This book presents an important study of the historical development of Saturday Night Live and its place in contemporary American cinema and television.It reinvigorates the area of comedian comedy by revisiting existing accounts as well as offering us fresh perspectives on film and television comedy." - Philip Drake, University of Stirling

"In this stimulating and agenda-setting book, Whalley reveals a formidable knowledge of Saturday Night Live and its relevant media and cultural contexts, as well as providing an acute and thoughtful analysis of its dynamics, its history, its influence, and its significance. He looks critically at established interpretations of the series and offers an original and convincing discussion that undeniably plugs a gap in scholarly work on contemporary U.S. media comedy." - Frank Krutnik, Reader in Film Studies, University of Sussex

From the Publisher