When it comes to older seasons of Saturday Night , I often think of when Eddie Murphy returned to the show to guest host after leaving the cast only a year earlier. It was the same airing when Murphy dressed up like a white guy called "Mr. White" and tried to blend into society to live life for a day as a Caucasian male in New York City. Although Murphy, as "Mr. White" during the sketch, discovered that white people apparently perfected their language by reading a lot of Hallmark cards, he also said something during his opening monologue that still rings true about SNL, "You’ll look at some sketches and go, ‘That’s not funny.’" To a large degree, that’s part and parcel of the magic of SNL - you never know what you’re going to see and whether it will work. But, as we’ve found out over the years, when the sketches work, they often go on to become some of the most memorable comedic moments on TV. Why do you think I remember Murphy’s opening monologue from an airing from so long ago? Hell, the memorable moments are still happening in today’s modern SNL era. D*ck in a Box, anyone?

After taking forever to arrive on DVD, it’s hard to believe the first two seasons of Saturday Night Live have already come and gone. Now the third season hits store shelves on May 13 and nostalgic fans can sink their teeth into a variety of classic characters and sketches, not to mention a number of classic musical performances.

In 1977-78, the original cast of John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner was still intact and also featured such future comedic greats as Bill Murray, Jane Curtain, Garrett Morris, and Laraine Newman. Rounding out the supporting players were longtime SNL regulars Al Franken, Tom Davis, and Don Novello, aka - "Father Guido Sarducci". Throw in a guest host line-up that included Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Hugh Hefner, Charles Grodin, Ray Charles, Chevy Chase, Michael Palin, Buck Henry, Christopher Lee - even O.J. Simpson - and the junior season of SNL is one of the best ever. What the cast delivered in season three is now considered classic SNL, serving up some of the best comedic sketch comedy moments in the history of television pop-culture. I know that sounds tired and old, but it’s true.

Spread across seven discs, fans receive such memorable bits as Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin’s "Two Wild and Crazy Guys", "The Coneheads", Martin’s "King Tut", "The Nerds" with Bill Murray and Gilda Radner, and John Belushi’s "Samurai Warrior"... even a performance by Aykroyd and Belushi as "The Blues Brothers". Aside from Steve martin’s "King Tut", those don’t include any of the hilarious guest host sketches, like Charles Grodin trying but failing to sing "Sound of Silence" with Paul Simon.

As far as musical performances go, it depends a lot on your own personal tastes. Although I found the musical line-ups in the first two seasons to be a better variety of classic artists and bands, for me the season three standouts are Ray Charles, Meatloaf, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel, Eddie Money, The Blues Brothers, and Jimmy Buffett. If you’re still into Willie Nelson, Taj Mahal, and Jackson Browne, I guess there’s something for everyone. Although the entire set feels like one giant special features section, the set also includes two extras that round out the season three experiences in a great way. The first, an old sequence called "Things We Did Last Summer" features the cast as they reveal what they did during their break, like Gilda Radner charging people admission to tour her apartment and The Blues Brothers on stage in their prime. The second is a brief wardrobe test between Howard Shore and John Belushi, which older SNL will appreciate most. There’s not much, but I was surprised to see extras at all.

Like I mentioned earlier, SNL features a lot of great moments and many sketches that seem like filler. That’s always been the way with SNL, but The Complete Third Season is a must have if you grew up on during the show’s classic days or if you’re curious about the early days of some of your favorite comedians. Although you’ve undoubtedly seen the sketches a thousand times over, and younger fans might not be able to relate or even care, the SNL season sets are worth the bucks just to have all of the moments as they aired instead of the highlight discs that are also on the market.