Although Steve Martin never was a fulltime cast member of TV's Saturday Night Live, his skyrocketing celebrity in the late Seventies was due in large part to his frequent appearances on the sketch comedy series.

With his signature white suit and thatch of prematurely grey hair, Martin unleashed his ironically ridiculous, and often hilarious, brand of comedy in a number of SNL gigs. He hosted the show 14 times, a record that the NBC program has had some fun with by concocting a supposed feud between him and Alec Baldwin, who -- at last count -- has hosted SNL a meager 13 times.

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Steve Martin collects 149 minutes of Steve's finest SNL appearances, updating the DVD's previous release from 2000. Some of it is very funny, but, like the series itself, the compilation tends to run out of steam the longer it goes.

Nevertheless, fans of Martin and Saturday Night Live won't be disappointed, as there are no glaring omissions here. In the mid-Seventies, Martin and a young Dan Aykroyd were the swinging Festrunk brothers, two "wild and crazy" Czechs out to score with "sexy American foxes." As they explain to their bemused neighbor (Garrett Morris), "We cruise for them with our tight slacks which give us great bulges."

Martin also makes two nifty appearances as the steadfastly unenlightened Theodoric of York, first as a medieval barber/physician ("Well, let's give her another bloodletting!") and once as a medieval judge who determines defendants' guilt by whether they float on water -- if they drown, they're innocent. Other disc highlights include Steve performing at a Hamas rally and, of course, his 1978 hit novelty song, "King Tut" ("got a condo made o' stone-a!")

Hands down, the DVD shines most when it showcases Martin's standup comedy of yesteryear, complete with banjo, a fake arrow through the head and bursts of uncontrollable "happy feet" (back before that phrase was co-opted by do-gooder penguins). Interestingly, the "best of" compilation reveals a metamorphosis of Martin's persona, from his decidedly absurdist shtick in the Seventies to recent SNL appearances, where he is content to lampoon himself as a money-grubbing, insufferably arrogant movie star.

In fact, one of the funniest bits on Saturday Night Live: The Best of Steve Martin comes at the end. Martin, with the SNL cast as backup, launches into a Broadway-styled song in which he promises not to simply phone in his performance. The sketch comes with an edge of irony; as a good deal of this compilation confirms, there were extended periods where Steve Martin -- and all of SNL, for that matter -- worked on autopilot.

Presented in 1.33:1 full-frame, the picture quality depends on the age of the episodes. Older sketches tend to be soft and smeared, but these are minor distractions. The newer material, while not presented in anamorphic widescreen, is generally sharp and detailed.

Again, the quality of the Dolby Digital 5.1 track varies according to the age of the clips. Even so, the sound throughout is adequate and easily audible.

So-so. Three additional skits are included. "Women, Art & Change" (5:12) is a tepid Festrunk brothers vignette, while "Mystery Dinner Theater" (6:36) is a far-too-long dress rehearsal sketch. Both clips are trumped by the more recent "Alec & Steve Backstage," (5:12), in which the SNL-hosting rivalry between Martin and Baldwin descends into attempted murder. It's a hoot that includes cameos by Paul McCartney and Martin Short. Rounding out the extras is a completely superfluous photo gallery.

Like most of SNL's "best of" DVDs, some great sketch comedy is tempered by eye-rolling filler. Interestingly, The Best of Steve Martin is at its funniest when Steve Martin isn't even in the skits, but rather when he's doing the early standup that put him on the proverbial map. Now, if that's not worth a paltry 10 bucks ... well, exxcuuuuuzze meeeee!