"Saturday Night Live Just Shorts" Special Airs This Sunday, May 17th

[BillBrasky]

For the first time since the "SNL Film Festival" in 1985 (blast from the past!), "Saturday Night Live" has put together some of its most popular short films from the past 34 years and will be airing them as part of a new prime time special, "Saturday Night Live Just Shorts". The special will be hosted by Andy Samberg and will air on Sunday, May 17th from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. EST on NBC.

I'm no psychic, but I predict we'll probably see two bearded gentlemen who like to place a certain part of their anatomy into a box; perhaps an ode to a lazy Sunday spent eating cupcakes and watching "The Chronicles of Narnia", and maybe even a touching tribute to the perils of premature ejaculation. However, Samberg has revealed in interviews that the special will not just feature the more recent 'digital shorts', but will also reach back into the SNL vaults for a look at some classic short films like Christopher Guest's "Synchronized Swimmers" and Eddie Murphy's "White Like Me". "It's great to be able to show all these great ones from the past to a generation that is not familiar with them," Samberg said recently. "For me to do hosting segments and be able to introduce 'Synchronized Swimmers,' this is not just something that influenced me heavily but influenced everybody in comedy."

[aenemaTron]

Maybe we'll see an old Albert Brooks film? Probably not. But Andy Breckman's genius "White Like Me" has never, ever, ever gotten old in my eyes. I certainly hope we'll see at least one McKay short. Those were so gleefully weird, and I have yet to see anything like them in his features.

[isoS]

I taped the "SNL Film Festival" on my parents' BetaMax when I was eleven, and I wore that tape out. It had White Like Me and Swimmers, along with some lesser stuff that is still burned into my brain ("My Name is Needleman" anyone?). Siskel & Ebert hosted it, and their oddly earnest critiques really only added to my enjoyment (IIRC they hated "Needleman," which was a parody of video dating services and music videos, both of which were new at the time). To me, the short films on SNL are great because they give you a glimpse into the true level of talent on the show: without the restrictions and foibles of a live broadcast, they created some really good comedy.

[Embiggen]

Will this include Tom Schiller's short films from the first decade or two of the show? Those are a lot different in tone from the other ones people have mentioned, and might seem out of place next to the punchier entries made by the Lonely Island crew, but they're still interesting, and I think I've only seen one or two -- there's a black and white Phil Hartman/Nora Dunn one I'm picturing, but I don't know what it's called.