Jim Whalley - Saturday Night Live, Hollywood Comedy, and American Culture [2010][A]

Book Description
Saturday Night Live, Hollywood Comedy, and American Culture sheds new light on the ways in which Saturday Night Live’s confrontational, boundary-pushing approach spilled over into film production, contributing to some of the biggest hits in Hollywood history, such as National Lampoon’s Animal House, Ghostbusters, and Beverly Hills Cop. Jim Whalley also considers how SNL has adapted to meet the needs of subsequent generations, launching the film careers of Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell and others in the process. Supported by extensive archival research, some of Hollywood’s most popular comedians are placed into the contexts of film and television comic traditions and social and cultural trends in American life.

Reviews
“This book presents an important study of the historical development of Saturday Night Live and its place in contemporary American cinema and television. It reinvigorates the area of comedian comedy by revisiting existing accounts as well as offering us fresh perspectives on film and television comedy.”—Philip Drake, University of Stirling

“In this stimulating and agenda-setting book, Whalley reveals a formidable knowledge of Saturday Night Live and its relevant media and cultural contexts, as well as providing an acute and thoughtful analysis of its dynamics, its history, its influence, and its significance. He looks critically at established interpretations of the series and offers an original and convincing discussion that undeniably plugs a gap in scholarly work on contemporary U.S. media comedy.”—Frank Krutnik, Reader in Film Studies, University of Sussex

About the Author
Jim Whalley has a PhD in Film and Television Studies from the University of East Anglia. He has taught Film Studies at the University of Salford, Liverpool John Moores University, and the University of East Anglia.