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Jan Hooks: Here Are Five Reasons Why Her SNL Tribute Was Absolutely Perfect

By Jonathan Franks
Published on: 18:27 PST, Oct 11, 2014

Jan Hooks was honored by a memorial tribute on Saturday Night Live during this weekend’s broadcast.

Since the news reports of Jan Hooks’ death were first confirmed on Thursday, many fans and critics of SNL wondered how the show would pay tribute to their recently deceased alum.

After watching the memorial tribute, many of them feel as if it was absolutely perfect – especially when you take a quick look at just a few of the responses and reactions to the Jan Hooks tribute that were posted on Twitter shortly after the original broadcast aired.

During her six-season run on Saturday Night Live, Jan Hooks had a number of memorable sketches, spot-on impersonations and other hilarious moments that force people to laugh hysterically even now – decades later. However, the clip that was chosen for the Jan Hooks tribute was not of an impersonation. It was not one of Jan Hooks’ most hilarious moments on the show.

As a matter of fact, the clip was not funny at all. The clip chosen for the tribute was actually a short film titled “Love is a Dream” which originally aired during the 9th episode of the 14th season of Saturday Night Live in December 1988. It truly is something that you have to see for yourself in order to fully appreciate its brilliance.

Here are five reasons why using the “Love is a Dream” short film as the Jan Hooks tribute on Saturday Night Live was absolutely perfect.

1. It paid tribute to another late SNL alum, Phil Hartman. Many longtime SNL fans might remember that the “Love is a Dream” short film was also used as the memorial tribute for the late Phil Hartman after his death in 1998. Since both Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks portrayed leading roles in this short film, however, it was a great way to pay tribute to Jan as well.

2. It was an original masterpiece of SNL nostalgia. Many of the people that stopped watching Saturday Night Live for one reason or another possibly watched this particular episode to see which clip of Jan Hooks would be played for her tribute in order to satisfy their cravings of late 80s-early 90s SNL nostalgia. As reported by Newsday, “Love is a Dream” was a departure for SNL back then and the show has “never quite ‘departed’ the same way since.”

3. It showed the deep layers of talent that Jan Hooks possessed. The Jan Hooks tribute showed that Jan did not need to be funny in order to captivate the attention of her audience. It was her versatility that made her such a success on such shows as Designing Women and 3rd Rock from the Sun long after her days at Saturday Night Live were over. “Love is a Dream” provided just a quick sampling of that versatility.

4. It wasn’t funny at all – and that was a good thing. It was clear the production team and writing staff at Saturday Night Live did not want to create a Jan Hooks tribute that allowed millions of people to laugh at her one last time. Instead, they focused on using perhaps her finest moment during her time at SNL to honor her without any humor attached whatsoever.

5. It was the perfect length of time. There are some memorial tributes that seem to go on forever and others that seem like they end as soon as they start. After a brief introduction by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, the 3 1/2 minute short film was truly the perfect length of time for an artistic tribute. As mentioned above, many of the fans that watched the Jan Hooks tribute on Saturday Night Live agree that it was just perfect – especially since the “Love is a Dream” short film was the selected clip.

What did you think about the Jan Hooks tribute on Saturday Night Live?

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