Time flies when you’re having fun. For 50 years Saturday Night Live has been a mainstay on NBC airing at 11:30 pm. When it began, most homes lacked the equipment to tape the program. So, whatever your plans were for Saturday night, you made sure to be home in time to watch it...Live!

Watching that show on Saturday night became my weekly ritual. When I watched the original cast, I started thinking that maybe I could write some sketches for them. This is before I had a computer, so I broke out my IBM Selectric typewriter and wrote two sketches. The first one was for John Belushi who played the samurai in many sketches. I made him a bonsai gardener lopping off the head of a little pine tree and jamming it in a pot of soil. But the sketch I was most proud of was the takeoff of the old World War 2 paratrooper movies where they’re lined up inside the dimly lit plane. There’s always one nervous guy, one seasoned veteran and everybody else trembling. You heard the drone of the engines as the seasoned veteran tries to make sure that the rookie is going to be OK. Suddenly the green light starts blinking and the men stand up and hook up to the exit ramp. They start leaping off the ramp one by one. A reverse cut reveals they’re in Central Park and running to their hotdog vending carts to work a concert.

I made some copies, put them in an envelope and headed up to 30 Rockefeller Plaza where they filmed Saturday Night Live. Near the elevators there was a security guard, and I told them I wanted to drop a package off to Lorne Michaels. He asked me if I had an appointment. He said no one gets up there unless he gets an appointment. I asked for a favor and handed him the envelope saying, “can you please somehow get this up to him.” Weeks went by and my hopes of hearing from somebody from SNL grew dim. Out of the blue, I got a phone call from somebody at 30 Rock. They wanted to see me.

The next day at 30 Rock the security guard remembered me. Checking that I had an appointment he walked me to the elevator. When I exited the elevator there was the reception desk. Checking her list, she escorted me to the writer’s room. The head writers Tom Davis and Al Franken interviewed me. They told me they read my sketches and liked the paratrooper one very much but it’s a tough room to break into. They said keep sending us stuff and we’ll let you know if we could use you. Tom Davis walked me to the elevator and who should be exiting the elevator but John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. Tom introduced me and told them I’m trying to get into the writer’s room. Tom even told Belushi of my sketch of a bonsai samurai. Belushi looked at me with those crazy eyes and said with his Japanese accent, it better be very funny then he slapped me on the back.

Unfortunately, nothing ever came of that meeting except for having that memorable moment with Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi.

I still watch every original episode of SNL. There is one thing about the current show that bothers me. Up until about five years ago I knew the guest hosts and the music performers. That is no longer the case. 

Now when the music segment begins, I reach for my remote control and fast forward. For the most part they sing a song that will probably be forgotten in a few years.

Here’s a little quiz.

 GUEST HOSTS: Jacob Elordi, Ayo Edebiri, Jack Harlow, Zeldin Lee, Kate Stiller, Simu Liu

MUSIC PERFORMERS: Lil Baby, Saweetie, Charli XCX, Crossfire Tubes, Niall Horan, Shaboozey

I gave you the name of six guest hosts and six music performers who have appeared recently on SNL. However, in each group there is one name I invented. See if you can find the imposters.

In the list of guest hosts, Zeldin Lee is the imposter. Lee Zeldin is Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

Regarding the music guests, all have appeared on SNL with the exception of Crossfire Tubes, which are devices used in airplane engines.

I still watch the show because the “Weekend Update” segment is consistently funny!

Hudson Cooper is a resident of Sullivan County, a writer, comedian and actor.