If you’ve been clamoring for an encore performance of Billy Crystal’s SNL characters from the mid-’80s, your dreams are about to come true. FX’s upcoming Billy Crystal/Josh Gad show The Comedians – which follows a veteran comedian (Crystal) working on a late night talk show with an edgy young comedian (Gad) – is set to premiere in summer 2015, and according to Page Six, Crystal is bringing some of his SNL work with him to the new show.
“I grew up watching SNL religiously, so seeing [Crystal] re-create some of his characters on this show and doing some of that stuff is a dream come true,†Gad said at the FX upfronts. “He’ll bring up stories about old comedians, like random people that I will know nothing about, like, ‘One time I was hanging out with this guy in 1972,’ and it’s like exactly what’s happening right now.â€
Crystal’s recurring SNL characters included the fading Catskills comedian Buddy Young Jr., prank toy company owner Al Minkman, and a ton of impersonations that included Argentine talk show host Fernando Lamas and Sammy Davis Jr. in blackface, which Crystal revived in a pre-taped segment at the 2012 Oscars to much controversy. Click through to watch some clips of Crystal’s old SNL characters.