It won’t be a cold open for SNL: The Experience, a brand-new exhibit at the Museum of Broadcast Communications (360 N. State Street), when the public gets its first glimpse tomorrow. We toured the place and found the must-see items for fans of the weekly comedy show and its many memorable characters.
Visitors will get to browse over 500 artifacts from the 43-year-old history of Saturday Night Live, including props, costumes, scripts, and set replicas. The show runs through December 2018 and you can buy tickets here. Here are our top picks.
Steve Martin’s King Tut costume
First seen on April 22, 1978, this costume helped Martin’s patented silliness reach new heights. The Tut display features the original collar from the costume used in 1978, in addition to the one worn by Martin during SNL's 40th anniversary special that aired on February 15, 2015.
Norm Macdonald's "Turd Ferguson" Celebrity Jeopardy costume
The outrageous Burt Reynolds disguise is even more glorious in person than it was on TV. Plus there's a Jeopardy photo opp for fans next to it. The hat is from SNL 40 and the rest of the costume is from December 7, 1996 (season 22).
Matt Foley’s jacket
On May 8, 1993, two parents (Phil Hartman and Julia Sweeney) hired motivational speaker Matt Foley (Chris Farley) to speak to their children (Christina Applegate and David Spade) about the dangers of drugs after the cleaning lady found pot in their house. The rest is history.
Actual Scripts and Episode Outlines
This includes the original outline for the first-ever episode on October 11, 1975 with host George Carlin. The cold opening is described as, "O'Donoghue is teaching John English, 'Let's boil the Wolverines.'" It's as close to a behind-the-scenes feel (or read) that you can get.
The Weekend Update desk
This very real "fake news" set was used during the Jimmy Fallon/Tina Fey/Amy Poehler era. It's also the best interactive feature of the SNL exhibit: Fans are able to sit behind the desk and get a high-resolution photo either on the spot at the museum, or emailed to them.