With respect to the repertory players, if you watch any Saturday Night Live episode between 1985 and 1995, it’s clear that the person with the most dazzling stage presence is G.E. Smith. The show’s bandleader — Lenny Pickett’s predecessor — presided over anything related to music during that decade, whether it meant joining musical guests as backup on guitar or treating commercial breaks as his personal shredding time. His hair? Well-coiffed. Bone structure? Chiseled. Smith was always there when a sketch ended, instrument in hand, serving as the sonic bridge between the Studio 8H absurdity and our less fun reality. “I’ve been so lucky because there’s a zillion great guitar players,” he says now. “This is the United States, it’s lousy with great guitar players. I just happened to be a

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