Season 3, episode 9;Host:Steve Martin, with the Dirt Band and Randy Newman

 Aired January 21, 1978.

Network announcement:
Don Pardo tells viewers “Bruce Jenner Wins The Javelin Catch” will not be seen tonight, so that NBC may present the following special program."

Cold opening:"1978 State of the Union Address"
Pres. Jimmy Carter (Dan Aykroyd) arrives at the Capitol to deliver the annual State of the Union address. 

The Senators and Representatives in attendance seem to be bored by his speech. The same goes for Vice President Walter Mondale (Bill Murray) and House Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neil (John Belushi), who play "Paper, Scissors, Rock" behind Carter. 

During the speech, captions appear onscreen that comment on the appearances of various politicians.

At the end of his speech, Carter says, "thank you very much, I have nothing else to say but live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

Monologue:"Belushi stole my money, two simple words"

Host Steve Martin notices that $50 of his money is missing. He always puts his money in the same pocket, but it's not there. He remembers John Belushi being alone with the money and accuses him of stealing it. Steve then checks the other pocket...

...and finds the $50.

Steve then spills some water on his microphone and touches it and accidently electrocutes himself.

Martin then explains to viewers how they can be millionaires without paying taxes by telling the judge "two simple words."

Commercial:"Swill Mineral Water"
Repeat from Season 3, episode 2.

"Bigfoot evacuation"

Park Ranger McConnell (Martin) visits a remote cabin where a couple (Belushi, Gilda Radner) lives. He informs them he is evacuating the area due to a recent Bigfoot sighting. The ranger wants to find, tranquilize and capture Bigfoot, but he can never get close to the creature.

"Bigfoot" may be much closer to McConnell than he realizes.

"The Festrunk's computer dates"

Georg Festrunk (Martin) and his brother Yortuk (Aykroyd) have been matched with two "swinging American foxes" by a computer dating service. They are disappointed when their dates arrive. 

Much to the Festrunks' chagrin, their computer dates are not Americans, but instead are Croatian sisters named Bodka (Jane Curtin) and Vobsina Cherbu (Laraine Newman). They escaped from a Soviet fishing boat and swam to America for freedom.

The sisters decide they're more interested in the Festrunk's friend Cliff (Garrett Morris).

The Dirt Band:"On The Loose"
The Dirt Band performs "On The Loose," which was written by Dirt Band member Jeff Hanna. This song appeared on the Dirt Band's self-titled 1978 album.

Commercial:"Body floss"
A pitchman (Martin) promotes the newest evolution in cleaning:body floss. 

The commercial then cuts to a "floss party" where body-flossing techniques are demonstrated.

"Weekend Update"
Anchors Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd report on the top stories of the day:

The King of Saudi Arabia and the Emir of Kuwait, last week, had their beards epoxied together. 

Buick recalled 12,000 cars that were mistakenly equipped with bedspreads, which were too long for the engine.

Consumer reporter Roseanne Roseannadanna answers a letter from "Richard Fader of New York City," who writes in to ask: "I’ve got no heat. What should I do?” Roseanne tells of a time she had no heat, so she went to a restaurant get some soup, which had a hair in it. 

Her commentary descends into a series of disgusting stories about food and she asks the question:"if they can make a coffee you like, without caffeine, why can’t they make a hamburger you like with no toenail?!” Jane interrupts the commentary says it's making her "nauseous." 

Randy Newman:"Short People" and "Rider In The Rain"
Randy Newman performs "Short People," which appeared on Newman's 1977 album Little Criminals. "Short People" was issued as a single in November of '77 and peaked at #2 on Billboard's Hot 100. 

Members of the Dirt Band provide backup vocals.

Newman follows that up by singing "Rider In The Rain," another song from Little Criminals.

Game show:"Family Feud"
Richard Dawson (Murray) hosts Family Feud, which pits the Joe Mel Family...

...against the Beldar Conehead Family!

The  Coneheads do better than expected until Beldar reaches the "Fast Money" portion of the game.

Talk show:"What if?"
Written by Jim Downey.
Joan Cage (Curtin) hosts a talk show where she asks a historian (Morris) and an Air Force Colonel (Murray) the question:"What if Napoleon had a B-52 bomber at the Battle of Waterloo?"

We then see the portrayal of the hypothetical scenario, where Napolean himself (Belushi) presses the button that bombs his opponents.

Film by Gary Weis:"Hollywood Homes"
SNL filmmaker Gary Weis follows Martin around Hollywood while he knocks on doors of Hollywood stars hoping they'll let him in. 

The Dirt Band with Steve Martin:"White Russia"
This instrumental was composed by the Dirt Band's John McEuen and his brother William. It also appeared on their self-titled album. Steve accompanies the Dirt Band on banjo. In his introduction, Martin says "White Russia" was written while the Dirt Band was touring Russia.

Goodnights:
Martin says "that's our comedy gags, good night!" and he thanks the cast and musical guests. 

Notes about this episode:
On a personal note, this was one of the episodes that was officially released on VHS in the 1980s. The tape contained everything from the episode except the musical guests. Since I had copy back then, I've seen this many times over the years and for a long time, I've considered it my favorite episode.

On "Weekend Update," Roseanne Roseannadanna reponds to a letter from "Richard Fader in New York City." In her subsequent commentaries, Richard Fader's letters would identify him as a resident of Fort Lee, New Jersey. In real life, Fader was the brother-in-law of SNL writer Alan Zweibel, who co-wrote this piece with Radner. 

Classic moment:
Roseanne Roseannadanna's first commentary-Roseanne's first appearance on "Weekend Update" is hilarious and "it's always something" would become a national catchphrase. She would deliver fourteen more commentaries over the next two seasons and become one of SNL's most popular characters. 

What stands out:
Pretty much everything. In addition to Roseannadanna's debut, this episode has Aykroyd's Jimmy Carter impression, the Festrunk Brothers wild-and-crazy second appearance (which is stronger than their first sketch), a great Coneheads sketch, an enjoyable Gary Weis film and Steve Martin's brilliant monologue. The debut of "What If," which would become a recurring sketch, is also solid. This episode almost feels like a classic clip show.

What doesn't work:
Too much music-The Dirt Band gets one song and then closes the show with Steve Martin joining them to perform the "White Russia" instrumental. That's fine. There was no need to also have Randy Newman perform two songs. On a positive musical note, I appreciated that the Dirt Band collaborated with both Newman and Martin, which made the musical performances feel more unified and connected to the show. Still, Newman's two songs were at least one too many. 

J.A. Morris' rating:
This is a great episode and it's still my all-time favorite, in spite of it containing too many musical performances.

4 stars!