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‘SNL’ special gets ahead of the series

“Pop Culture Nation” may be the rare salute that is better than the show it’s saluting.

Certainly many can and will dispute the premise of this latest in NBC’s acclaimed series of SNL retrospectives: that the show was as good or better in the ’90s as it was in the decades before. But no one can say filmmaker Kenneth Bowser doesn’t make as strong a case as possible for that assertion — and an even stronger case for his own work.

Appealing individually, as a set Bowser’s three SNL decade-by-decade documentaries make up the best series ever about a TV show. By mixing well-chosen clips with insightful interviews, Bowser has created a smart, funny, critical look at an influential series that owns up to problems without letting them overshadow its achievements.

The ’90s may have been marked by a decline in SNL’s ratings and reviews, but as “Pop Culture” makes clear, it was far from a creative wasteland. It had stars aplenty, including Chris Rock, Julia Sweeney, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Adam Sandler and Chris Farley the first half, and Norm Macdonald, Molly Shannon, Darrell Hammond, Cheri Oteri and Will Ferrell the second.

It was also, Al Franken says, “as confident and happy a show as I’ve been on,” which becomes something of a recurring theme.

Problems arise, from a lack of racial balance to a battle for control over NBC’s desire to fire Macdonald (all sides, refreshingly enough, have a chance to defend themselves). But overall, the tone seems far less contentious than in earlier decades.

But “Pop Culture” also does more than just catalog what we’ve already seen or heard; it also explains how structural shifts in the show led to creative ones. We discover that producer Lorne Michaels’ decision to expand the cast to avoid the disruptive wholesale changes of earlier seasons had unintended consequences. To get more airtime, cast members began relying on recurring characters — some of which were wildly popular (think “Wayne’s World”), but many of which recurred more often than they deserved.

Overall, “Pop Culture” is inevitably hampered by its timing: We haven’t had enough time to grow nostalgic over these sketches or people.

Still, if you’re a fan, you’re likely to come away delighted. And even if you’re not, you may come away with a new appreciation for the show in its ‘90s variation.

You may even find yourself regretting that there’s only one more special to go. At least for now.