Live from New York, It's [More Custom Cards!]

Normally I try to come up with titles for these custom card blog posts that will give readers a small clue regarding the content they're about to see. 

 

This time, I think the title provided more than a small clue. But can you blame me for using it? "Live from New York, It's Saturday Night!" is just such a well-known catchphrase in popular culture. So let's get right to the cards, because there's more than one of them. 

 

And that was the idea from the outset. Saturday Night Live has boasted some incredible casts over the years, and I wanted to celebrate the major players. 

  

 

First up, we've got some of the big names from the early years. There's a little bit of an "overlap" with Eddie Murphy there, and I fully understand that Garrett Morris would have been a more accurate choice. He was the steady original cast member during that time compared with Eddie, who was more of a bridge to the next era. However, it was hard for me to keep Mr. Murphy off the card, considering some of his iconic appearances and characters on the program. And the cast of SNL during the years Eddie Murphy did appear on the show (early 1980s) was not as memorable. I don't know. I'm still second-guessing myself, so maybe I'll make a "variation" card with Mr. Morris in place of Mr. Murphy. 

 

Anyhow, here's the card back. 

 

 

I wanted to feature some "stats", and came up with three informative ones: Years Active, Total Seasons, and Total Episodes. Gilda Radner was the leader with 5 total seasons and 107 total episodes. On the other end of the scale, it was surprising to me that Chevy Chase only appeared in 29 episodes.

 

In addition to the cards, I also thought it would be fun to add a video clip to this post that featured a specific skit from each era. And since this is a trading card blog that focuses mostly on sports, let's go with the following advertisement for Little Chocolate Donuts.

 

 

  

 

 

Now let's get to the next era of SNL that I wanted to highlight.

  

 

Oh yeah. This is the generation I remember from my adolescent years. These guys really took the show to another level with their variety of characters, talents, and comedy styles. As just one example, I wonder if Dana Carvey and Mike Myers could have ever imagined that their "Wayne's World" skit would eventually generate two feature films!

 

Here's the card back.

 

 

Speaking of Mr. Carvey, he claims the top spot for total seasons and episodes, but all six players have impressive numbers. I still can't believe all the star power here. 

 

For the best example I can think of, here's the classic "Hub's Gyros" skit. 

 

 

 

Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Rob Schneider, Jason Alexander, and David Spade. Unreal. I couldn't even fit Rob Schneider on the card because there just wasn't enough space. The same goes for other excellent actors of the time period like Kevin Nealon, Phil Hartman, and Dennis Miller. So much star power.

 

But let's get to the third and final card in the set.

 

 

 

 

Look at Will Ferrell down there on the bottom left. Just look at him. How many of his characters does that face conjure up?

 

Similar to the previous card, the list of films, television shows, and stand-up comedy specials all of the guys on this card have taken part in over the years is both outrageous and impressive. 

 

Here's the back.

 

 

 

Tim Meadows was another "bridge" type of guy from the previous era of the show (he makes an appearance in the Hub's Gyro's skit above), and man, did he ever rack up a lot of seasons and episodes!  

 

The skit I'm adding here doesn't include Mr. Meadows, but there was no other choice for me.

 

 

It's always entertaining when one or two of the cast members have a hard time holding it together during a skit. 

 

And that's where I stopped the set, because that's around the time I stopped watching Saturday Night Live. It completely lost its luster. This could be just personal bias and nostalgia, but I can't imagine people in the future talking about any cast members of SNL from about 2006 through 2026 and putting them in such rarefied air as any of the actors on the cards above.

 

So to wrap things up, here are all 3 cards together:

 

 

Many of you knowledgeable collectors will have already recognized that the design is taken from the 1962 Topps Baseball "Rookie Parade" subset. I thought this was a nice choice, because it provided space for five players (which I modified to accommodate six).

 

Back in 1962, Topps only used the red color you see on the left-hand side for the subset, but I wanted to distinguish between the eras of SNL a little bit more. A standard green and cyan felt period correct to me. They seem like colors you would have come across in print during the early 1960s, right? And they're reminiscent of the RGB color and tint dials you'd find on a wood-grain television set at the time. Perfect match with the wood-grain borders on the cards!

 

So that's that. Another custom card set in the books. 

 

Now here are a few questions for you:

 

(1) Do you have a favorite era of Saturday Night Live?

(2) How about a favorite skit?

(3) Aside from a few of the actors I mentioned above who didn't make the final cut for this set, which other snubs would you add?

 

Share in the comment section. I'm looking forward to your answers!