When it comes to parodies, it’s hard to imagine anything more hyper-specific than Saturday Morning All-Star Hits! (A.K.A. S.M.A.S.H.), the hybrid animation/live-action series created by Ben Jones, Dave McCary, and Kyle Mooney.
With Mooney starring as many roles, including twin co-hosts Skip and Treybor, the Netflix comedy spotlights a fictional late ’80s/early ’90s cartoon block, through the framework of “found” VHS tapes.
“Yes, if you were actively watching cartoons in 1989 and 1990, it’ll probably mean something slightly different to you than if you weren’t,” Mooney tells Consequence by phone.
But, he adds, he hopes that it still has some universality to it. “I love, for instance, Robert Smigel’s TV Funhouse clips, where he was doing, I would imagine, ’60s, ’70s Hanna-Barbera type stuff. Even though I wasn’t alive to see the cartoons being referenced per se, they still hit me in a fun way. So I hope it’s possible that everybody could still get something from it.”
In the interview below, transcribed and edited for clarity, Mooney walks us through the show’s journey from idea to production to the final product, as well as what future seasons of S.M.A.S.H. could look like. He also explains why his day job at Saturday Night Live doesn’t feature a ton of animation, and why he still loves the process of making that show every week.
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Tagged: Alternative Music, FEATURES, INTERVIEWS, Kyle Mooney, music blog, Saturday Night Live, TV