Saturday Night Lost

This is all that was left of 25 years of Saturday Night Live sets during a recent visit to the Navy Yard. Faced with (still) hotter-than-Tina-Fey Brooklyn real estate values, long-time SNL set builders Stiegelbauer Associates had the treasure trove of pop-Americana that's been stashed away for years in Building 280, literally jackhammered to bits last month.

Our source told us the warehouse was a veritable encyclopedia of scenic goodness: "when they needed a waterfall for a sketch, the set shop would say, 'Which one? We have three." We're not sure who made the call to purge the place - Stiegelbauer or NBC - but we're sad we found out so late in the game. One of our all-time favorite Seinfeld episodes is the one where Kramer rescues the old Dick Cavett Show set from the trash, and rebuilds it in his apartment, forcing Jerry and other guests to sit for 'interviews' when visiting his place.

Alas, dashed visions of 'Weekend Update' or 'Coffee Talk' in our living room...