Jane Curtin gets honest about early 'SNL' sketches

Saturday Night Live is one of the longest-running shows on US television and, in the run, netted dozens of laurels for its rib-tickling sketches. But in the early days of the show, 'It was anything but funny' according to Jane Curtin, who was part of the earlier batches of the comedians on the hit show.

Looking back on her initial work on the award-winning show, the Kate and Allie actress told PEOPLE, "We were sent the five-year compilation video of Saturday Night Live's first five years a few years ago, and I gave one to my daughter."

Adding, "We were out visiting her daughter one Christmas, and her husband said, 'Have you ever watched any of these? And I said, 'God, I haven't seen them in a long time.'"

The 75-year-old continued, "He said, would you mind if we watch one? And I said, 'No, great! Pick one!' So we sat around the TV, and I had that sort of anticipatory, open-mouth grin that people have when they're waiting for something to happen, that they know is going to be really great. And … it never happened. It wasn't funny. Not one thing was funny. There was not one utterance of a laugh or a giggle."

Due to the NBC show's topical nature, the veteran actor added that previous sketches 'funnines' became "dated."

"Remember, this was almost 50 years ago. But after we rewatched, I was like, 'That really wasn't a very good show. It was terrible!'"

Created by Lorne Michaels in 1975, Curtin was one of the team members in the inaugural season.