Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1995–1996 Oscar winner "Raging Bull", the first movie to star both De Niro and Pesci), and "Li'l bit" (a shortened version of a line from "Goodfellas" (where De Niro accuses another mobster of being a "little bit out of line" for insulting Pesci's character), another film starring the two actors). The real Pesci and De Niro appeared on one episode, criticizing Breuer for playing caricatures of their film characters. Quinn suddenly says he is not De Niro, but "Colin Quinn from "Remote Control"." Breuer's and Quinn's weak defense of themselves insults Pesci, who asks De Niro if they were just insulted,
Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro was not released until 1969. The two reunited for the 1968 film "Greetings", which was De Niro's official film debut. In 1973, De Niro had been praised for his role in "Bang the Drum Slowly" while Scorsese had been working as an editor on the movie "Woodstock". The same year, Scorsese and De Niro collaborated for the first time on the gangster film "Mean Streets". Scorsese had been taught that entertaining films can be shot with little money by Roger Corman, who had helped prepare Scorsese for the difficulties of making "Mean Streets". The film, about a small-time gangster living