Cold opening:
An old man bound to a wheelchair named Mr. Featherstone (Chevy Chase) suddenly regains the ability to walk...until he falls down. Featherstone then announces "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
Monologue:
Host Rob Reiner walks out, wearing a wig, adopting the manner of a smaltzy lounge singer. He explains to the audience that this is how he looks "live." Reiner then performs a Vegas-style arrangement of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind."
Commercial:"National Pancreas Association"
Written by Rosie Shuster.
In this parody of Public Service Announcements, a doctor (Dan Aykroyd) informs Ed (John Belushi) that his "pancreas is on the fritz."
Fashion Don'ts:
Reiner and his wife Penny Marshall MC a fashion show that features ridiculous clothes modeled by the Not Ready For Prime Time Players.
Commercial:"Golden Needles"
A new medical procedure that combines voodoo and acupuncture.
Andy Kaufman:
Kaufman plays a record of "Pop Goes The Weasel." This recording of the song features a father and son talking about the lyrics in between verses. Kaufman lip-synchs the father's portion of the record.
"Dangerous But Inept"
Jane Curtin interviews Manson cultist Squeaky Fromme (Laraine Newman), who attempted to shoot Pres. Gerald Ford.
Commercial:"Felinia Catfood"
Written by Al Franken and Tom Davis.
The cat food that tastes so good, you can't tell it's cat food!
The Lockers
The Lockers perform a "street dance" routine.
"Weekend Update":
Chevy Chase anchors the broadcast, which includes news about the 1976 Presidential campaign and Evel Knievel's latest stunt.
Plus, Laraine Newman reports on the series of violent crimes occurring at New York's Blaine Hotel. Terrorists take hostages at the Blaine and demand that SNL announcer Don Pardo read their list of demands.
Commercial:"Middle American Van Lines"
The moving company that moves people instead of furniture!
"Joe Cocker":
Reiner announcers that "super rock star" Joe Cocker (John Belushi) has just arrived from London. "Cocker" performs "With A Little Help From My Friends."
"Dregs and Vestiges" Featuring Jim Henson's Muppets.
King Ploobus' (Jim Henson) son Wisss (Richard Hunt) is caught "smoking craters." He tells his son that it will rot his brain. The king's sycophant Scred (Jerry Nelson) recommends that he talk to his son in "his own language." When this fails, Ploobus forces Scred to talk to Wisss.
Commercial:"Droolers AntiDefamation League"
A spokesman for the Droolers Anti-Defamation League (Chase) pleas for droolers to be accepted by society.
"Square Dance":
A square dance caller (Aykroyd) directs dancers to kick, punch and shoot their partners.
Mark Hampton & Denny Dillon:
A pair of nuns tells jokes and sings a medley of songs, tells jokes and performs magic tricks.
"What Gilda Ate":
Gilda Radner tells the audience everything she's eaten that day.
Film by Albert Brooks:
Brooks says that if he'd done better in school, he would've become a surgeon. So he took out a classified ad and said he'd perform surgery on anyone who would allow him to play surgeon for a day.
"Bees Restaurant":
A couple (Reiner and Marshall) is having a serious conversation in a restaurant run by bees.
The bees prove distracting to Reiner, who breaks character and says the bees are ruining the show. John Belushi has his own opinions about the bees and tells Reiner exactly how he feels!
Notes about this episode:
This is one of the few episodes I can recall with no "goodnights" at the end. The closing credits roll at the end of the last sketch.
Albert Brooks turned in a film that was thirteen minutes long and refused to cut its running time. Rob Reiner, a close friend of Brooks, refused to go on unless the whole film was run. This made the already-contentious relationship between Brooks and Lorne Michaels even more difficult. [1]
SNL writer Tom Davis says the "Felina Cat Food" commercial parody was inspired by news reports about poor, elderly Americans who ate cat food to survive. [2]
For those unfamiliar with Squeaky Fromme's story, she aimed a gun at Pres. Ford, but it didn't fire since it was not properly loaded. [3]
The Lockers were a pioneering dance troupe that featured some recognizable names. Fred Berry later gained fame as "Re-Run" in the series What's Happenin!!.
The lone woman in the Lockers was dancer/singer/choreographer Toni Basil, best known for her 1982 hit song "Mickey" and also for choreographing lots of movies and musicals.
Denny Dillon, who appears in the "nuns" sketch, was later an SNL cast member during the 1980-81 season.
Classic moments:
Belushi as Cocker-This Cocker impersonation was something Belushi had performed on stage as part of National Lampoon's Lemmings stage show. Belushi channels Cocker and gives an extremely energetic performance.
"Bees Restaurant"-Belushi gets another great scene at the end of the show. This marks the first time that an actor breaks character and comments about the show, something that would become a staple of SNL sketches (especially future bees sketches).
What stands out:
"Dangerous But Inept"-This is a one-joke sketch, but Newman is very convincing as the insane Squeaky Fromme. Curtin does a nice job ignoring the death threats in a deadpan manner.
"Weekend Update"-Chevy Chase delivers another strong performance and Garrett Morris debuts "News for the deaf, " which would become a recurring bit on "Update."
"What Gilda Ate"-This is Radner's first chance to shine and she's funny and charming while telling us what she ate.
"Fashion Don'ts"-This was a nice sketch that involved the entire cast (except Chase) wearing ridiculous clothes. Reiner has some funny lines as the fashion show MC, including "don't wear furniture."
What didn't work:
Mark Hampton & Denny Dillon-This feels like something that probably played better in person than on TV.
Albert Brooks' film was a bit too long.
J.A. Morris' rating:
This is the first time the cast, rather than the host had to carry the show. The Not Ready For Prime Time Players prove they were already talented enough to do that. This might not be a classic episode, but it's enjoyable from beginning to end.
3 stars.
Footnotes:
[1] Saturday Night, by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingard, p.78.
[2] 39 Years of Short Term Memory Loss, Tom Davis, p. 151.
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford_assassination_attempt_in_Sacramento
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