My 40 Years of SNL

February 2015 finds cable station VH1 Classic running 40 years of Saturday Night Live Shows in marathon form. I caught a few of the 2000 shows last week. Today I'm watching shows from the early 1990s. Several times during the marathon, I've been shaken by a case of cold chills, making me realize how much the show and players have meant to me for the past 40 years.

When SNL began in the 1970's I was in college. I grew up with the show, clung to my favorite players, even after their deaths, and I spun my years with a heavy measure of Saturday Night Live woven in--for laughs and poignant memories. I just turned 60. I feel content with my age. If SNL has been around 40 years, I'll be glad to admit I was there from start to present. Single, dating, married, divorced, broke, struggling, determined to succeed in life, lost and floundering for stability, SNL has always given me a reason to laugh and feel good about life. Saturday Night Live presents skits that make us laugh at ourselves and our precious American cultural history.