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This Eddie Murphy SNL sketch might seem familiar to old-school Svengoolie fans
Saturday Night... DEAD?!
This is not a formal indictment of the long-running sketch-comedy series Saturday Night Live. There are plenty of examples throughout the history of comedy wherein "parallel thinking" explains away similar jokes by different acts. There are, after all, a finite number of things that will make us laugh. There's a limit on the amount of universal set-ups and satisfying punchlines. So, the more relatable a premise is, the more likely the bit already exists elsewhere.
However, if this were a formal accusation, it wouldn't be the first. Saturday Night Live, in its 50+ years of weekly shows, has touched on everything and shared jokes with a ton of other great sources of comedy. It's important to note how many reputable sources have reported on claims of plagiarism from the industry titan. So while this is not, in any way, a condemnation of NBC's celebrity-hosted, musical-guest-featuring ready-for-primetime show, it is compelling to consider just how many "coincidences" have occurred throughout its lengthy run.
In 1981, SNL superstar Eddie Murphy found a hit with his recurring "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood" sketch. The setup is simple: What if the familiar setting of TV's Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was transplanted into a much grittier locale? It's funny, and it works, because of our built-in associations with Mr. Rogers. The soft-spoken, positive host teaches kids lessons in a friendly way. Now, we take those traits and map them to a bad neighborhood, and hilarity ensues. Mr. Robinson admits to all sorts of petty crimes, mostly involving stealing.
Now, it may be the case that nobody holds exclusive rights to a Mr. Rogers parody, but it is interesting how many similarities this sketch shares with another sketch that appeared on WCIU's Son of Svengoolie in 1980.
For more, here's a segment from a 2000 article in the Bloomington, Illinois Pantagraph:
"Over the years, Sven's influences appear to have spread far and wide.
"One of the show's most popular routines was a bit in which Fred Rogers of TV's Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was depicted as a thief who broke into houses in the 'hood.' Two years later, recalls [Rich "Svengoolie"] Koz, one of Eddie Murphy's most popular routines on Saturday Night Live became 'Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood,' featuring a similar scenario."
While there's no telling where the idea originated, and again, this is not an allegation, the resemblance was noted in a newspaper all the way back in 2000!
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