SNL’s success may have been possible without contributions from Northeast Ohio, but it definitely wouldn’t have been as vibrant without Cleveland. The show’s 50-year run owes a lot to the talent it discovered in the Greater Cleveland area.
CLEVELAND — Live from New York … it’s Saturday night!
And it’s largely thanks to Cleveland!
While it’s true that SNL might have survived without tapping into the wealth of talent from Cleveland, it would have faced significant challenges. The city has played a crucial role in shaping the show’s success over the past five decades.
And the final product certainly would have suffered had it not been for the invaluable contributions of entertainers who called Northeast Ohio home.
Admittedly, some of the Cleveland connections to SNL are more tenuous than others. For instance, although Tom Hanks honed his craft in Cleveland while performing with The Great Lakes Theater, he actually grew up in Concord, Calif. So, trying to claim him as solely Cleveland’s talent would be a stretch.
Or I could have really gotten cute with it and claimed people like 1988 host Corbin Bernson, who played the role of Cleveland Indian Roger Dorn in “Major League,” but that would make a mockery of this earnest analysis.
Besides, I don’t need to cheat anyway, because we have plenty of legitimate, non-Corbin Bernson connections to SNL, as will now be made clear.
Let’s start with cast members: the lifeblood of the sketch juggernaut that is “SNL.” Cleveland-Folks include:
Molly Shannon, Vanessa Bayer, Molly Kearney, Denny Dillon, Jane Wickline, Don Novello AKA Father Guido Sarducci and Marcello Hernandez, who’s actually from Florida but attended John Carol and trained in Cleveland’s comedy scene. He counts!
Cleveland’s also helped “SNL” keep the lights on by supplying an impressive array of guest hosts over the last half-century, and we were happy to be of service by lending you the talents of Travis Kelce, Teri Garr, LeBron James, Halle Berry, Ed O’Neill, Deborah Winger, Big John Lithgow and the incomparable Fred Willard.
One honorable mention here goes out to Dabney Coleman who hosted in October of 1987, because it just seems like Dabney Coleman should be from Cleveland even though he’s not. And I’m sorry, that’s the best I can explain it.
Wait. Now what are we still missing? Oh, that’s right. “Musical Guests!” …
Greater Cleveland has also helped provide the soundtrack for “SNL,” in more ways than you might know.
Northeast Ohioan and fellow Kent Stater Jeff Richmond served as the show’s music director from 2005 to 2018. He’d then go on to help produce the show “30 Rock,” created by his wife and former “SNL” Head Writer Tina Fey — a show that also leaned hard into the Cleveland motif.
Past musical guests from our area who have brought the noise to 30 Rock include:
The Black Keys, MGK, Macy Gray, Devo, Traci Chapman, Kid Cudi, The Pretenders and The Cars … who I AM counting because Lakewoodite Benjamin Orr heroically overcame being a bassist to sing lead on some of their best songs.
So, could “SNL” have made it this long without Northeast Ohio contributions? Yes. Definitely. We won’t traffic in delusions. But, that doesn’t change that fact that “Live from New York” would not have been nearly as lively without Cleveland.
