Saturday Night Live is one of the longest-running shows on American television, and over the course of its time it has received dozens of laurels for its rib-tickling sketches. But in the early days of the show: ‘It was anything but funny’, according to Jane Curtin, who was part of the former group of comedians on the hit show.
Looking back on her first work on the award-winning show, the Kate and Allie actress told PEOPLE“We were sent the five-year compilation video of Saturday Night Live’s first five years a few years ago, and I gave one to my daughter.”
Added: “We were out visiting her daughter one Christmas and her husband said, ‘Have you ever seen any of these? And I said, ‘God, I haven’t seen them in a long time’.”
The 75-year-old continued: “He said would you mind if we see one? And I said, ‘No, great! Pick one!’ So we sat around the TV and I had the kind of expectant open-mouthed grin that people have when they’re waiting for something to happen that they know is going to be really good. And… it never happened. It wasn’t It isn’t funny. Not one thing was funny. There wasn’t a single expression of a laugh or a giggle.”
Due to the topical nature of the NBC show, the veteran actor added that past skits’ funnines became “dated.”
“Remember, it was almost 50 years ago. But after we watched again, I thought, ‘It really wasn’t a very good show. It was terrible!'”
Created by Lorne Michaels in 1975, Curtin was one of the team members in the inaugural season.
