Universal is soon to release the complete second season of Saturday Night Live on DVD and you know what that means: Huge profits for Universal and NBC, a few dimes (if that much) to the folks who wrote those shows. But never mind that for the moment.
TV Shows on DVD is reporting that the set will include the 1977 SNL prime-time special done from the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. You remember that? It was a broadcast widely hailed, especially by those involved in it, as a fiasco…at the time, the worst disaster ever in that fine city. Because of the crowds and tech problems, and also the fact that the cast and crew did a bit too much partying instead of prepping, darn near nothing went right. They had Randy Newman at a concert hall somewhere singing songs and they kept cutting to him for an extra number because the comedy sketches, which were being performed at various locations around town, weren't functional.
It was said that Lorne Michaels would never allow the show to be rebroadcast in any way…not that there was any clamor from the network to reair it. But ninth-generation tapes have made been seen on the trading circuit so there is some interest, and now it's apparently being included on this forthcoming set. You can order a copy here, though if the inclusion of that special will make a difference to you, you might want to wait for official confirmation that it'll be in there. Even without it, there's plenty of great material in that year.