I know Sunday morning is supposed to be about the radio, but while I was flicking through the television channels trying to find Radio 4, (a 21st century space age idea if ever there was one-radio on telly?), I noticed that Sky Arts 1 were showing an episode of Saturday Night Live. This is an iconic show in America, one of those television shows that becomes an event, something we don't have anymore in this country. It seems funny that a programme broadcast from New York, the city that never sleeps, can command such a high audience on a Saturday night when you would think that all the cool people were down at the discotheque. 

Of all the American comedy shows that we have had broadcast over here over the years, from Bilko in the 1950s to Friends and everything in between, we have never had a proper run of Saturday Night Live. Considering how many comedians from the show's alumni are well known here, this is a little strange. There have been clip shows, so we are all aware of pre-movie success sketches that Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi did as The Blues Brothers for example. BBC2 also broadcast a short compilation run of the Wayne's World sketches to jump on the first film bandwagon. But apart from the occasional filler late at night, we haven't formed a relationship, if that is the right word, with the show in the same way we do with others.

I have a video tape that I bought years ago, called SNL: The Best Of John Belushi, which showcases his comedic talents in such classic sketches, (that we all know) as Samurai Delicatessen, or his spot on impression of Joe Cocker. Having seen the career trajectory of his co-stars, with the exception of Bill Murray, it is probably a good thing that he died young. Not to wish anyone dead, but John Belushi left behind a legacy of work of which there isn't a duff moment. After the success of The Blues Brothers, and Ghostbusters, Dan Ackroyd's career has been very hit and miss. Chevy Chase should in my opinion be one of the biggest comedians in the world, but his work really dried up and now we hardly ever see him. Would John Belushi too be trading on past glory if he had survived?