Questlove's documentary, Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music, airs tonight on NBC. It highlights some of the show's most iconic musical performances and comedy sketches — from break-out stars to lip-syncing controversy. Our TV critic David Bianculli reflects on the documentary, and then Questlove joins Terry Gross to talk about some of the highlights. Also, Ken Tucker reviews Ringo Starr's new country album, Look Up.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. As part of Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary celebration this year, tonight NBC will premiere a documentary highlighting the music guests and music comedy sketches that the show has featured over the decades. It's called Ladies and Gentlemen, 50 Years of SNL Music.
It was co-directed by my guest, Grammy-winning musician and Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Amir Questlove Thompson. He's the co-founder, leader, and drummer of the hip-hop band The Roots. It's the house band for another late-night show, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Before Questlove talks about the movie and how SNL has influenced him as a musician and
and late-night band leader, our TV critic David Bianculli is going to review the film, along with a documentary series that's also part of the 50th anniversary celebration. That series is streaming on Peacock.
The two new Saturday Night Live documentaries come from filmmakers who bring their own interests and perspectives. NBC's Ladies and Gentlemen, 50 Years of SNL Music comes from Amir Questlove-Thompson, who's both a musician and a music historian.
And the four-part SNL 50 Beyond Saturday Night, now streaming on Peacock, comes from Morgan Neville, who's as interested in the creative process as he is in letting people tell their own stories. Questlove, in his movie-length study, mines the archive of a half-century of musical performances, as well as the emergence of hip-hop and other genres, into the show and the culture.
Some classic performances are run full length. Others are sampled in cleverly compiled montages and mashups. It's such a solid, well-selected overview that I can think of only one SNL music performance I really wish had been included. Paul Simon, backed by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, on their thrilling 1986 rendition of Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes. But Questlove covers a lot.
Not only infamous appearances by Elvis Costello, Sinead O'Connor, Ashley Simpson, and Kanye, but even comedy sketches and videos built around music. The infamous Dick in a Box Christmas song, with Justin Timberlake and SNL cast member Andy Samberg, is deconstructed. So is another classic SNL musical moment, featuring guest host Paul Rudd and musical guest Beyoncé.
Timberlake tells how that got on the air, with Timberlake, Samberg, and cast member Bobby Moynihan as her music video backup dancers. Partway through Timberlake's account, we hear the start of the actual single lady's sketch.
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