Swanni's HDTV Show Review
It's Saturday Night Live in HDTV!
The late night comedy show makes its high-def debut.
By Phillip Swann

Washington D.C. (October 2, 2005) -- During last night's opening monologue, Saturday Night Live guest host Steve Carell began sweating profusely above his upper lip. In 'regular' analog TV, you didn't even notice it.

But in High-Definition TV?

Carell, the star of NBC's The Office, looked like the glandularly-challenged Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential debate against John Kennedy. As the monologue progressed, you half expected (and hoped) that Carell would pull out a white hanky and begin dabbing at his lip.

So began the first episode ever of SNL in HDTV. After last night, it will never be the same.

Saturday Night Live, which premiered in 1975, is the latest NBC late night show to go high-def. Conan O'Brien began broadcasting in high-def last spring and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno has been in HDTV for several years.

SNL's debut in high-def was a true eye-opener. It was like seeing the show for the first time. The set designs looked more colorful; the cast members seemed more life-life (more about that later); and the live show sparkled with more energy than usual, as if the cast's normal anxiety was heightened by the knowledge that HDTV viewers would see them as they really look. (The HDTV picture, which can be up to six times clearer than a regular TV, has been compared to looking through a window.)

However, SNL's HDTV production team is not yet ready for primetime, or late night, for that matter. For instance:

*The picture was sometimes a little soft and went downright fuzzy during some close-ups;

* During rapper Kanye West's opening song, the picture consistently broke up in pixels and featured blurry colors in the background. (What a mess!);

Hopefully, the show's technical team will learn from its opening night mistakes and improve the look and feel as the season continues. (Plus, as a longtime SNL viewer, I hope that the comedy improves as well. The cast, which includes several new members, showed promise, but the writing was weak. One bright spot: Newcomer Bill Hader, whose did some very funny impressions of Al Pacino and other celebs.)

Here are some other observations from the first SNL in HDTV:

* The cast members are far more ordinary looking than they are in 'regular' TV. And, I'm being kinder here than normal. This is not a great looking troupe. One female cast member, who looks fetching in regular TV, appears to have a bad acne problem in high-def. Seth Meyers, who had a few bit roles last night, looked like he hadn't shaved since the morning (if then). And Horatio Sanz? Well...

Comedy is not pretty, of course. But it  will be interesting to see if Executive Producer Lorne Michaels adds some better-looking people in future seasons. Or, at least, ask Meyers to shave before the show.

* Surprisingly, SNL's writing team ignored the fact that the show was in high-def; the only mention was in Carell's opening monologue in which he announced the show was in HDTV.

* The picture was so clear during the "Debbie Downer" sketch that you could see the outlines of Rachel Dratch's contact lenses during close-ups. You could also see how bloodshot Steve Carell's eyes were; one of the disadvantages of having a HDTV close-up at nearly one in the morning.

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Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The Chicago Tribune, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com or at 703-505-3064.

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