Season 2, Episode 1; Host:Lily Tomlin with James Taylor

Aired September 18, 1976.

Cold opening:"The host is running late"
It's 11:30, time for Saturday Night to begin and there's no sign of this week's host, Lily Tomlin.  She hasn't even bothered to show up for rehearsals during the week leading up to the show.  Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner believe Tomlin's recent Oscar nomination (for her role in the movie Nashville) might have gone to her head.

When Tomlin finally arrives, she's surrounded by an entourage and acts like an aloof movie star.  Tomlin doesn't remember any of the cast's names.  Her entourage includes a man named Pepe who's sole job is supplying Lily with champagne.

Tomlin makes her way to her dressing room and Chevy waits outside for her.  Pepe asks Chase what he does on the show.

Chevy says he normally opens SNL normally by taking a fall, but he needs some kind of "motivation" to set up the fall.  When Chase walks away, Pepe trips him, which sends Chevy falling over a folding chair.  He then turns to the camera and announces "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

Monologue:
Lily Tomlin praises the Not Ready For Prime Time players and says they wanted to bring something "happy and fulfilling" to the viewers and audience and thanks them for bringing them into their lives.

When the audience applauds, she asks the stage manager if the audience "bought" her schmaltzy showbiz talk.

"Debate '76":
Written by Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Al Franken and Tom Davis.
Pres. Gerald Ford and his challenger Jimmy Carter (Dan Aykroyd) debate the issues in the first Presidential debate of 1976.

The candidates wind up inadvertently wrestling with each other on the floor.

James Taylor:"Shower The People"
Musical guest James Taylor performs "Shower The People,", the lead track of Taylor's June 1976 album In The Pocket.  "Shower The People" peaked at #22 on the US Billboard Pop chart.

"Weekend Update":
Anchor Chevy Chase reports on the days headlines, which include:

Mao Tse Tung, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party has died and will be replaced by "Imitation Mao."

Correspondent Laraine Newman reports on an outbreak of "Foreign Legionnaires Disease," which causes victims to suddenly become silent, then start speaking in a foreign language before dropping dead.

Plus, editorial commentator Emily Litella (Radner) calls in to comment on the recent hijacking of an airplane by "five crustaceans!"

Commercial:"The Phone Company"
Written by Al Franken and Tom Davis.
Telephone operator Ernestine (Tomlin) talks about all the horrible ways the phone company treats its customers and how their monopoly means they can continue to do so with impunity.

Lily Tomlin and The Muppets:"I Whistle A Happy Tune"
SNL's Muppets wake up and find themselves in a file cabinet.  Their spiritual guru Mighty Favog (Frank Oz) tells the Muppets they must do whatever they're told if they want to get back on Saturday Night.

Lily Tomlin shows up and recalls working with them the last time she hosted.  She then leads the Muppets in a performance of the song "I Whistle A Happy Tune."

"I Whistle A Happy Tune" was written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein for their 1951 musical The King And I.

James Taylor:"(I'm a) Road Runner"
Taylor tells Tomlin that his next song will be "(I'm a) Road Runner" and introduces saxophonist David Sanborn as his accompanist for the song.

"(I'm a) Road Runner" was written by Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland (AKA Holland-Dozier-Holland) and first recorded by Junior Walker and his All Stars and released on their 1966 album Road Runner.  Taylor released a studio recording of "(I'm a) Road Runner" 32 years after this episode on his 2008 album Covers.

"Tess and Ralph":
Written by Marilyn Suzanne Miller.
A lonely widow named Tess DiSenzo (Tomlin) gets a visit from a vacation-home salesman named Ralph Hopkins (Garrett Morris).

Ralph soon realizes that Tess called him to her apartment because she's desperate for human interaction.

James Taylor:"Sweet Baby James"
Taylor performs one of his signature songs "Sweet Baby James," the title track from his 1970 album of the same name.

Commercial:"Mrs. Judith Beasley"

A commercial pitch-man (Aykroyd) asks housewife Mrs. Judith Beasley (Tomlin) to perform a series of bizarre tasks, which include waxing a gym floor, shopping for groceries while wearing a hamster head, and reenacting a scene from Gone With The Wind in a parking lot and going to a strange hotel with strange man, taking off her clothes and "do the Antler Dance."

"Woman In Literature Part 10:The Journals Of Elna Sullivan"
A profile of writer Elna Sullivan (Newman), who kept a journal of her time spent in Paris while surrounded by such luminaries as Pablo Picasso, Marcel Proust and Ernest Hemingway.

Film by Gary Weis:"Taylor Mead"
Actor/writer Taylor Mead discusses his TV viewing habits and reads some letters he's received.

Lily Tomlin:"The Antler Dance"
Written by Michael O'Donoghue, Marilyn Suzanne Miller and Paul Shaffer.
Tomlin says that she recently learned how to do the Antler Dance (which was featured earlier during the "Mrs. Judith Beasley" sketch) and will now teach it to the viewers and audience.  She sings a song about how to perform the dance and the SNL band dances along with Tomlin.

During the second verse, pianist Paul Shaffer takes over lead vocals while Tomlin is joined onstage by the cast, James Taylor, Saturday Night's writers and the Muppets!  Eventually the studio audience starts doing the Antler Dance as well.

Goodnights:
Tomlin asks the audience watching at home join her and do the Antler Dance.  The host, cast and studio audience keep dancing as the credits roll.

Notes about this episode:
During dress rehearsal for this episode, Chevy Chase suffered a serious injury when he fell over the podium in the "Debate '76" sketch.  Which means he performed the opening fall and the fall in the debate sketch after the injury (that's dedication!).  The injury kept Chase off the show for the next three episodes.

John Belushi plays a Rolling Stone reporter named Tom Burke in the "Debate '76" sketch.  Tom Burke was an actual Rolling Stone writer who wrote the a profile of Lorne Michaels and The Not Ready For Prime Time Players that appeared in the July 15, 1976 issue of Rolling Stone.

Emily Litella's "five crustaceans" commentary is a reference to the hijacking of TWA Flight 355 by five Croatians.  The hijackers called themselves Fighters for Free Croatia and advocated for Croatia to be granted independence from Yugoslavia.

Regarding the "Phone Company" commercial parody, younger folks might be surprised to learn that AT&T's Bell System had a monopoly on phone service in the United States until it was broken up in 1982.

For those unfamiliar with Lily Tomlin's career, Ernestine and Judith Beasley are characters created by Tomlin.  She played those characters on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and they've been featured in many of Tomlin's stage and TV appearances.

The hamster head worn by Lily Tomlin during the Judith Beasley sketch was previously used in the "Fashion Don'ts" sketch from the third episode of Season 1.

This episode features the final appearance of SNL's Muppet characters.  I have to say that while watching and reviewing Season 1, I generally enjoyed the Muppet sketches.  The very last time we see the Muppets is when Ploobis performs the Antler Dance during the closing credits:

Classic moment:
"Debate '76"-Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase are hilarious as Carter and Ford.  Chase's line about "math" is one of the funniest moments in SNL history.  Saturday Night has satirized Presidential Debates in almost every election since 1976 and this sketch is where that "tradition" began.

What stands out:
"Tess and Ralph"-a wonderful and touching "slice of life" sketch that features great acting from Lily Tomlin and Garrett Morris.

"The Antler Dance"-the dance and the song are lots of fun and ending the show with this dance, instead of the usual goodnights, was a great way to end the episode.

Writer Michael O'Donoghue (in the above photo, up front, wearing sunglasses) wrote the lyrics for "The Antler Dance."

J.A. Morris' rating:
This is a great way for Saturday Night to begin its second season.  Tomlin, the cast and the musical guest are all great and the sketches are very strong and it gets my highest rating.

4 stars!