Search - Saturday Night Live - The Best of Saturday TV Funhouse on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 5/1/2022...

A must for SNL fans! A bit crude humor with this but some cartoons were pretty funny and they hit both sides of politics!

Kendrick H. from SAN JOSE, CA
Reviewed on 9/28/2012...

The wrap-around episode for the Best of Saturday TV Funhouse is hilarious - it's a collection of SNL at its funniest, especially the endless fun of Ace and Gary. It's a little weird seeing an episode of SNL based on non-real characters. In addition, it's real treat to see Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell playing Ace and Gary before they would get the plum roles that would define their comedy.

There are a lot of cartoons that do fail in retrospect. Part of the problem is, that while these cartoons were pretty decent at the time, most animators online with less than a college degree can probably make a much better looking Flash movie (and do). While the Peanuts gang cartoon is something you cannot miss, a lot of the cartoons feel incredibly dated watching them. It is a weekly show, so that makes sense that they have a lot of topical cartoons, but some of them were probably just as forgettable the week they came out. That Ace and Gary joke was unintentional.

Just sit back and laugh! Enjoy the biggest set of Ace and Gary you will find anywhere, as well as a few gems you might have forgotten!

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Better Than Your Average SNL Special.

tvtv3 | Sorento, IL United States | 01/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The comedy at Saturday Night Live comes and goes in spurts and currently (Jan. 2007) it is rare for an episode, let alone an entire season, to be all that funny. However, for over a decade there is one portion of the show that has remained consistently funny and that is when one of Robert Smigel's Saturday TV Funhouse cartoons air. The Saturday TV Funhouse cartoon first began showing up on SNL in the mid-1990s. The cartoons have always been a welcome break in the usual format of the show and when first seen brought a new dimension of comedy to the famed sketch-comedy series, the type of witty satire that first made SNL a staple of American culture.

THE BEST OF SATURDAY TV FUNHOUSE was a special that aired on SNL in spring of 2006. The special was a collection of some of the best Saturday TV Funhouse cartoons ever. From the Award-winning (I think it was even nominated for an Emmy) "Saddam and Osama" to the Ambiguously Gay Due and X-Presidents cartoon, THE BEST OF SATURDAY TV FUNHOUSE DVD is filled with hilarious, short snippets of satirical animation that both critique and comment on our society and culture. Some of the cartoons are nothing more than teasing nostalgia, such as the "Globetrotters Christmas" episode (found on the special features) or "The New Adventures of Mr. T." Others are clearly aimed at ridiculing powerful corporations in attempt to awaken public awareness, such as the many Disney parodies found on the disc--"Inside the Disney Vault" and "Titey" are the best of these--and the Schoolhouse Rock spoof, "Conspiracy Theory Rock" that shows the corruption of powerful media companies such as NBC. Other gems on the disc include "Smurfette" and "The Narrator That Ruined Christmas" and the delightful "Santa and the States" found on the special features.

There are many, many, many funny cartoons found on this disc. It's something that anyone whom is a fan of good SNL or satirical animation, e.g. THE SIMPSONS, SOUTH PARK, or ROBOT CHICKEN, will probably enjoy. I enjoyed almost all of the cartoons on the disc. However, I only purchased the disc because of one cartoon that is contained: "Fun With Real Audio Christmas". As Robert Smigel points out on the commentary, this is the most popular Saturday TV Funhouse cartoon of them all. The cartoon involves Jesus and the Peanuts, but its message is universal and isn't just limited to Christians are Charles Schultz fans. I remember watching the cartoon the first time it aired. Watching SNL was a rare occurrence for me then, but for whatever reason I saw the "Fun With Real Audio Christmas" and it stuck to me. Like the images from certain television specials, lines from popular movies, are snippets of overplayed songs, the cartoon has always remained with me. This DVD is worth owning for that one little cartoon alone and everything else is just bonus.

The DVD includes over an hour of extra cartoons, some of which are even better than the ones in the main feature. The entire main feature has a commentary mostly with Smigel and his chief animators. However, other guests, such as Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert, also comment at parts. Surprisingly, most of the extra cartoons also include commentary."

Really, the best of SNL over the past few years

Adam Dukovich | 10/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Robert Smigel was one of the new writers brought on board when SNL was retaken-over by Lorne Michaels in the mid-80s. Even though he left for Conan a few years afterward, he continued to write cartoons for the show, and in recent years, these cartoons have often been the funniest part of the show. This disc is definitely worth buying since it contains a pretty good sampling of the various cartoons Smigel created: the X-Presidents has the four former presidents as wisecracking superheroes; Mr. T is back, and he's looking for work; Fun with Real Audio takes shots at not-so-beloved celebrities; and, of course, there's the Ambiguously Gay Duo (voiced by Daily Show alums Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert), who fight crime while spreading innuendo as regards the nature of their real relationship. All in all, if The Best of Jimmy Fallon isn't up your alley, it's worth checking out."

Mostly hilarious and a great value

A. J. Thomas | Ohio | 12/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While Saturday Night Live certainly seems to have its periods of peaks and lows, a segment that is always a highlight when it is included on the program is the Saturday TV Funhouse cartoon shorts written by Robert Smigel. Short and subversive, every cartoon is guaranteed at least one laugh (and often many more).

This disc features a "Best Of" special that aired on television last season that runs for about an hour and a half, as well as about another hour of "bonus" cartoons. Highlights include the Ambiguously Gay Duo, X-Presidents, and Fun with Real Audio shorts as a whole, as well as the "Saddam and Osama" and "Inside the Disney Vault" segments. Also of note is the commentary by Smigel who is accompanied by guests pertaining to which short is being aired, ranging from Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert (the Ambiguously Gay Duo) to Al Franken and Mr. T. This runs throughout the entire feature segment and--to my surprise and delight--many of the "bonus" cartoons are also accompanied by commentary.

Some shorts are funnier than others, and some of the "extra" cartoons were better than ones included in the featured program, but all in all you are paying $15 for over two and a half hours of hilarious content PLUS a good two hours of commentary. I wish a little more had been included regarding the production process of the cartoons themselves, but I'm a film buff and that kind of thing interests me.

Not a perfect set by any means, but apart from buying a full season of the better television comedies (South Park, Arrested Development, Seinfeld, The Simpsons) you're not likely to find more laughs or variety of jokes in a single purchase. For the price of the latest lame "rom-com" that's been dumped on the public this year, you can have a truly worthwhile collection of comedy.

Very highly recommended."