NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Amid surrounding in February, one part of the show received little fanfare: the portraits of the host and musical guest that pop up before and after commercial breaks.
鈥淭he Art of the SNL Portrait鈥� rectifies that. Alongside essays and interviews, it gives a rare look at these images in print, gathering together 272 of them in a coffee table book format, many of which haven鈥檛 been seen other than the three seconds they appear on air. Despite their fleeting nature, many are memorable: Tina Fey as a group of synchronized swimmers, Alec Baldwin as The Godfather, Nate Bargatze as Jack Nicholson in 鈥淭he Shining,鈥� holding a teacup instead of an axe.
In his forward, SNL creator Lorne Michaels explains the portraits were used as 鈥渂umpers,鈥� adapted from the 鈥淭onight Show鈥� format that used video cards to signal the beginning of a commercial break to local affiliates. He kept them in the show even when that was no longer needed.
鈥淭he bumpers are probably the least appreciated part of the show, but anybody who knows the show knows how much they mean,鈥� he writes.
During the show鈥檚 50-year run, only two people have held the celebrity portrait role: Edie Baskin, who introduced the signature hand-tinted look of the portraits, and Mary Ellen Matthews, who was Baskin鈥檚 assistant and took over the main gig in 2000. She estimates about 3,872 of her images were shown during the show between 2000 and 2024. She modernized their look and made them more conceptual, adding props.
Matthews works at the same frenetic pace as the show, usually shooting celebrities on a Thursday and doing image selection and retouching in a 48-hour period before the show airs Saturday night. Sometimes they鈥檙e finished only shortly before the show ends.
In the book, Matthews recounts how the one-of-a-kind gig is a dream job despite the hectic pace of the show.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a miracle,鈥� she says in an interview in the book. 鈥淚t鈥檚 every week! As soon as you start to kind of take it for granted, all of a sudden, you realize, wait a minute, this is unbelievable.鈥�
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AP book reviews:
Mae Anderson, The Associated Press
