Channel One Theater

History of The Groove Tube: Comedy That Led to SNL

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The Groove Tube is a 1974 comedy film that gave both Chevy Chase and Richard Belzer their first screen roles. It’s also a film that laid the groundwork for the humor of early Saturday Night Live.

The low-budget movie, which satirizes TV and counterculture of the early 70s, began as an innovative theater show in NYC’s Lower East Side - with the Channel One Theater Company.

Directed by Ken Shapiro, The Groove Tube was the brainchild of the humor of the first generation of comedians coming to age in the TV generation.