Where else could you see the Plasmatics, the Clash, Devo, Jim Carroll, and the Pretenders? Some of the best music on network TV at the time after Don Kirschner.
But as comedy it deserved its rep as a cheap knock off of SNL. The low point was Ganja Man, a guy whose idea of a joke was to yell "Yah yah yah!" and light a joint. Really, any drug reference was always a cheap way to get the juvenile studio audience to yell "Woo hoo!"
There were a few bright spots, Michael Richards in his early years and a staged fight by Andy Kaufman. Mostly it was the desperately bored teen nerds who had nowhere to go on the weekends who were its audience.
But as comedy it deserved its rep as a cheap knock off of SNL. The low point was Ganja Man, a guy whose idea of a joke was to yell "Yah yah yah!" and light a joint. Really, any drug reference was always a cheap way to get the juvenile studio audience to yell "Woo hoo!"
There were a few bright spots, Michael Richards in his early years and a staged fight by Andy Kaufman. Mostly it was the desperately bored teen nerds who had nowhere to go on the weekends who were its audience.