Aired October 11, 1975.
The first episode bears little resemblance to most episodes that follow. First of all, Lorne Michaels over-booked the show with guests so that the cast and crew wouldn't have to do any heavy lifting until they were more comfortable.
This episode also feels more like a George Carlin variety special with a few songs and comedy sketches on the side.
Cold opening:"Wolverines"
Written by Michael O'Donoghue.
A language instructor (Michaeol O'Donoghue) teaches English to an immigrant (John Belushi) by asking him to repeat odd phrases like "I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines." When the teacher has a heart attack and dies, his student follows his lead and also has one.
Written by Michael O'Donoghue.
A language instructor (Michaeol O'Donoghue) teaches English to an immigrant (John Belushi) by asking him to repeat odd phrases like "I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines." When the teacher has a heart attack and dies, his student follows his lead and also has one.
Chevy Chase (wearing a stage manager's headset and mic) then walks on stage, observes the two "dead" men" and announces "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
Opening Montage:
Some may be surprised to learn that at the beginning, SNL was actually known as "NBC's Saturday Night." They wanted to name it "Saturday Night Live," but that title was already being used by a short-lived ABC variety series hosted by Howard Cosell.
The ABC show featured a cast called the "Prime Time Players." Which is why Saturday Night's was known as the Not Ready For Prime Time Players. The cast in this episode is notable for two reasons. First off, the cast has usually been listed in alphabetical order. That's not the case in the premier episode:
It also contains two names that may be unfamiliar. In addition to the aforementioned O'Donoghue (who was also the show's head writer), George Coe is listed. See "Notes about this episode section" below for more info about Coe.
Don Pardo commits the only obvious on-air blunder in this episode when he stumbles over his words and calls the cast "The Not For Ready Prime Time Players."
Carlin's monologue #1:
Carlin thanks the viewers for watching this "live" show and then launches into his now-classic routine about the differences between baseball and football.
Commercial:"New Dad Insurance"
Written by Rosie Shuster.
SNL's first ever commercial parody features an ad for a life insurance company. When a woman's husband dies, she and her son are alone. New Dad Insurance sends a new husband and father to provide for their "emotional and physical needs."
Billy Preston:"Nothing From Nothing"
Billy Preston sings his #1 hit song, which appeared on his 1974 album The Kids & Me.
Andy Kaufman:
Kaufman plays a record of the "Mighty Mouse" theme song and lip-synchs Mighty Mouse's portion of the song, where the mouse hero sings "Here I come to save the day!"
"Trial":
Written by Rosie Shuster.
SNL's first ever commercial parody features an ad for a life insurance company. When a woman's husband dies, she and her son are alone. New Dad Insurance sends a new husband and father to provide for their "emotional and physical needs."
Billy Preston:"Nothing From Nothing"
Billy Preston sings his #1 hit song, which appeared on his 1974 album The Kids & Me.
Andy Kaufman:
Kaufman plays a record of the "Mighty Mouse" theme song and lip-synchs Mighty Mouse's portion of the song, where the mouse hero sings "Here I come to save the day!"
"Trial":
During a trial, a rape survivor (Jane Curtin) attempts to tell the court what the defendant said to her when he attacked her. When this proves too painful for her, the judge asks her to write it down on a note.
Carlin Monologue #2:
The host delivers a series of humorous observations, including:"What do dogs do on their day off? They can't lie around, that's their job, man!"
Janis Ian:"At Seventeen"
This Grammy Winning song appeared on Ian's 1974 album Between The Lines and it reached #3 on the Hot 100.
"Victims of Shark Bite":
Talk show host Phyllis Crawford (Curtin) interviews Martin Gresner (Belushi), who lost an arm in a shark attack. But it appears that Gresner has not been entirely truthful about the loss of his arm.
Commercial: "Jamitol"
Written by Michael O'Donoghue.
This parody of a Geritol commercial features a man (Chase) and his wife (O'Donoghue)...
...discussing the benefits of Jamitol vitamins.
Next week:
Singer/songwriter Paul Simon promotes his appearance on the following week's episode.
"Weekend Update":
Anchor Chevy Chase reports on the events of the day.
News items include: "Japan Emperor Hirohito met Mickey Mouse at Disneyland this week. The Emperor presented Mickey with a Hirohito wristwatch."
Janis Ian:"At Seventeen"
This Grammy Winning song appeared on Ian's 1974 album Between The Lines and it reached #3 on the Hot 100.
"Victims of Shark Bite":
Talk show host Phyllis Crawford (Curtin) interviews Martin Gresner (Belushi), who lost an arm in a shark attack. But it appears that Gresner has not been entirely truthful about the loss of his arm.
Commercial: "Jamitol"
Written by Michael O'Donoghue.
This parody of a Geritol commercial features a man (Chase) and his wife (O'Donoghue)...
...discussing the benefits of Jamitol vitamins.
Next week:
Singer/songwriter Paul Simon promotes his appearance on the following week's episode.
"Weekend Update":
Anchor Chevy Chase reports on the events of the day.
News items include: "Japan Emperor Hirohito met Mickey Mouse at Disneyland this week. The Emperor presented Mickey with a Hirohito wristwatch."
Plus, Pres. Gerald Ford announces the slogan of his reelection campaign:"If He's So Dumb, How Come He's President?"
And correspondent Laraine Newman reports on a series of violent crimes that have occurred at New York's Blaine Hotel.
Commercial:"Triopenin"
Written by Tom Schiller.
A parody of commercials for arthritis medicine.
Dregs and Vestiges, featuring Jim Henson's Muppets:
We are introduced to the land of Gorch, ruled by King Ploobis. His wife Queen Peuta (Alice Tweedie) is having difficulty releasing her darts. They aren't sure what to do about this, but Ploobis' toady Scred (Jerry Nelson) suggests that in order to understand what's causing Peuta's problem, they must consult their god, the living statue known as the Mighty Favog.
Carlin's monologue #3:
And correspondent Laraine Newman reports on a series of violent crimes that have occurred at New York's Blaine Hotel.
Commercial:"Triopenin"
Written by Tom Schiller.
A parody of commercials for arthritis medicine.
Dregs and Vestiges, featuring Jim Henson's Muppets:
We are introduced to the land of Gorch, ruled by King Ploobis. His wife Queen Peuta (Alice Tweedie) is having difficulty releasing her darts. They aren't sure what to do about this, but Ploobis' toady Scred (Jerry Nelson) suggests that in order to understand what's causing Peuta's problem, they must consult their god, the living statue known as the Mighty Favog.
Carlin's monologue #3:
Carlin wonders why there's no blue food!
Film by Albert Brooks:"The Impossible Truth:
The filmmaker "scans the globe looking for the events that will astound everybody; thereby bringing us all closer together."
"Bee Hospital":
Written by Rosie Shuster.
Bee fathers pace expectantly, waiting to see if their new babies will be drones or workers.
The filmmaker "scans the globe looking for the events that will astound everybody; thereby bringing us all closer together."
"Bee Hospital":
Written by Rosie Shuster.
Bee fathers pace expectantly, waiting to see if their new babies will be drones or workers.
Commercial:Academy of Better Careers
Written by Michael O'Donoghue.
"Did you know that the recent glut of late night TV ads for so-called training schools has created a demand for skilled phone answerers to take calls and write down messages?" The academy will train operators to answer such calls.
Valri Bromfield:
Bromfield performs a monologue about a high school gym class. She plays both the teacher and her students.
Film:"Show us your guns"
Written by Lorne Michaels.
Saturday Night's writers drive a truck around the country with a big sign that asks citizens to show them their guns. This satirizes a commercial for Lark cigarettes, which asked people to "show us your Lark."
Carlin monologue #4:
Preston sings "Fancy Lady," the single and lead-off track from Preston's 1975 album It's My Pleasure. This song reached #71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #23 on the R&B chart.
"Trojan Horse Home Security":
Written by Dan Aykroyd.
Kenny Vorstrather (Dan Aykroyd) and his partner Harvey Morgomaster (Garrett Morris) invade the home of a typical middle class family and hold them at gunpoint. It turns out that the point of the crime is to sell Vorstrather's home security system.
Commercial:Triple Trac Razor
Written by Chevy Chase.
A commercial for a razor that contains three blades and provides the smoothest shave yet.
Janis Ian:"In The Winter."
This was Ian's follow-up to "At Seventeen."
Goodnights:
Carlin says goodnight and plugs his new album, An Evening with Wally Londo Featuring Bill Slaszo.
Notes about this episode:
Billy Crystal, who was an unknown stand-up comedian at the time, was originally scheduled to appear on the this episode. That's why Crystal's name is listed in this ad for the premier episode, which appeared in TV Guide:
Since Michaels booked too many guests, Crystal and Valri Bromfield were asked to cut time from their comedy routines. Bromfield complied, Crystal, at the advice of his manager did not and walked off after dress rehearsal. [1]
Valri Bromfield might not be a familiar name, but she's had a respectable career in film and TV. Bromfield began her career as part of a comedy duo with Dan Aykroyd. She later joined the cast of SCTV during it's final season and Michaels later cast her in The New Show in 1984. Bromfield was also the supervising producer for Kids In The Hall.
The studio is still a work in progress. Longtime Saturday Night viewers might be surprised to see how small the main "home base" stage is in this episode. Which is likely why Carlin is not joined by the cast and musical guests when it's time for goodnights.
Before Lorne Michaels became the creative force behind SNL, NBC's Vice President of Late Night Programming Dick Ebersol hired Jim Henson to create new "adult" Muppet characters and Albert Brooks to make short films for the show. Problems occurred almost immediately, with Brooks turning in films that Michaels deemed too long and Henson clashed with SNL's writing staff. Both Henson and Brooks had a different comic sensibility than Michaels and they would be gone in a short time.
George Coe was a veteran character actor hired to play older characters whenever a sketch called for it. Coe disappeared from the show before the first season ended when the regular cast members showed they could fill those roles. He previously worked with many SNL writers and performers on the National Lampoon Radio Hour. Coe had a solid career on Broadway, film and TV that stretched from 1957 until his death in 2015.
Classic moments:
First edition of "Weekend Update", which has been part of nearly every episode of SNL to this day (though its named was changed to "Saturday Night News" and "SNL Newsbreak" for several years in the 1980s). Chevy Chase does a great job delivering the "news" and shows no signs of nervousness during his first live "newscast." Chase creates the template for not just every other WU anchor that followed him, but also paved the way for shows like The Daily Show.
What stands out:
"Wolverines"-Imagine turning on a television late at night in 1975 and hearing someone say "I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines." It's the sort of sketch that still feels ahead of its time today. It's a great way of announcing to viewers "this is NOT just another variety show!"
Carlin's monologues-I'm a big fan of Carlin's stand-up comedy. I saw him live four times, I own most of his comedy albums and all of his HBO specials. This episode features some of Carlin's best material from this era and his "religious" material is still provocative to this day.
Billy Preston-Both of Preston's performances are fun and it's nice to have live footage
of him and his band near the peak of Preston's popularity.
Andy Kaufman-His "Mighty Mouse" performance is hilarious. Kaufman's work still feels ahead of its time. While he was never an "official" member of the cast, Kaufman would go on to become a frequent guest on SNL, appearing ten more times during the first five seasons.
"Bee Hospital"-It's a silly sketch with a ridiculous premise, but it's always made me laugh. The Bees would remain a presence on the show for the next several seasons.
"Show Us Your Guns"-with multiple mass shootings in 2018, this film is (sadly) just as relevant this year as it was in 1975, if not more so (even if the displays of guns are obviously staged).
"Trojan Horse Home Security":
This was an older sketch Aykroyd had performed at Second City. [2] One of his specialties was sleazy commercial pitchmen and this sketch shows he mastered that from day one.
What didn't work:
Closing the show with "In The Winter"-The song is okay and I respect Janis Ian's place in the history of popular music. There's a lot of energy on display in this episode, from Carlin, the cast and all the other guest performers. But I felt like putting this song at the end wasn't a great choice and it drained a lot of energy out of an otherwise exciting episode.
J.A. Morris' rating:
This episode's historical importance can't be overstated. I enjoyed Carlin's monologues, some of the sketches and Billy Preston's songs. But the show is still a work in progress and Ian's last song felt out of place.
3 stars.
Footnotes:
[1] Saturday Night, Hill & Weingard p.71.
[2] Hill & Weingard p.74.
Written by Michael O'Donoghue.
"Did you know that the recent glut of late night TV ads for so-called training schools has created a demand for skilled phone answerers to take calls and write down messages?" The academy will train operators to answer such calls.
Valri Bromfield:
Bromfield performs a monologue about a high school gym class. She plays both the teacher and her students.
Film:"Show us your guns"
Written by Lorne Michaels.
Saturday Night's writers drive a truck around the country with a big sign that asks citizens to show them their guns. This satirizes a commercial for Lark cigarettes, which asked people to "show us your Lark."
Carlin monologue #4:
Carlin riffs on religion and wonders if God is subject to physical laws.
Billy Preston:"Fancy Lady"
Preston sings "Fancy Lady," the single and lead-off track from Preston's 1975 album It's My Pleasure. This song reached #71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #23 on the R&B chart.
"Trojan Horse Home Security":
Written by Dan Aykroyd.
Kenny Vorstrather (Dan Aykroyd) and his partner Harvey Morgomaster (Garrett Morris) invade the home of a typical middle class family and hold them at gunpoint. It turns out that the point of the crime is to sell Vorstrather's home security system.
Commercial:Triple Trac Razor
Written by Chevy Chase.
A commercial for a razor that contains three blades and provides the smoothest shave yet.
Janis Ian:"In The Winter."
This was Ian's follow-up to "At Seventeen."
Goodnights:
Carlin says goodnight and plugs his new album, An Evening with Wally Londo Featuring Bill Slaszo.
Notes about this episode:
Billy Crystal, who was an unknown stand-up comedian at the time, was originally scheduled to appear on the this episode. That's why Crystal's name is listed in this ad for the premier episode, which appeared in TV Guide:
Since Michaels booked too many guests, Crystal and Valri Bromfield were asked to cut time from their comedy routines. Bromfield complied, Crystal, at the advice of his manager did not and walked off after dress rehearsal. [1]
Valri Bromfield might not be a familiar name, but she's had a respectable career in film and TV. Bromfield began her career as part of a comedy duo with Dan Aykroyd. She later joined the cast of SCTV during it's final season and Michaels later cast her in The New Show in 1984. Bromfield was also the supervising producer for Kids In The Hall.
The studio is still a work in progress. Longtime Saturday Night viewers might be surprised to see how small the main "home base" stage is in this episode. Which is likely why Carlin is not joined by the cast and musical guests when it's time for goodnights.
Before Lorne Michaels became the creative force behind SNL, NBC's Vice President of Late Night Programming Dick Ebersol hired Jim Henson to create new "adult" Muppet characters and Albert Brooks to make short films for the show. Problems occurred almost immediately, with Brooks turning in films that Michaels deemed too long and Henson clashed with SNL's writing staff. Both Henson and Brooks had a different comic sensibility than Michaels and they would be gone in a short time.
George Coe was a veteran character actor hired to play older characters whenever a sketch called for it. Coe disappeared from the show before the first season ended when the regular cast members showed they could fill those roles. He previously worked with many SNL writers and performers on the National Lampoon Radio Hour. Coe had a solid career on Broadway, film and TV that stretched from 1957 until his death in 2015.
Classic moments:
First edition of "Weekend Update", which has been part of nearly every episode of SNL to this day (though its named was changed to "Saturday Night News" and "SNL Newsbreak" for several years in the 1980s). Chevy Chase does a great job delivering the "news" and shows no signs of nervousness during his first live "newscast." Chase creates the template for not just every other WU anchor that followed him, but also paved the way for shows like The Daily Show.
What stands out:
"Wolverines"-Imagine turning on a television late at night in 1975 and hearing someone say "I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines." It's the sort of sketch that still feels ahead of its time today. It's a great way of announcing to viewers "this is NOT just another variety show!"
Carlin's monologues-I'm a big fan of Carlin's stand-up comedy. I saw him live four times, I own most of his comedy albums and all of his HBO specials. This episode features some of Carlin's best material from this era and his "religious" material is still provocative to this day.
Billy Preston-Both of Preston's performances are fun and it's nice to have live footage
of him and his band near the peak of Preston's popularity.
Andy Kaufman-His "Mighty Mouse" performance is hilarious. Kaufman's work still feels ahead of its time. While he was never an "official" member of the cast, Kaufman would go on to become a frequent guest on SNL, appearing ten more times during the first five seasons.
"Bee Hospital"-It's a silly sketch with a ridiculous premise, but it's always made me laugh. The Bees would remain a presence on the show for the next several seasons.
"Show Us Your Guns"-with multiple mass shootings in 2018, this film is (sadly) just as relevant this year as it was in 1975, if not more so (even if the displays of guns are obviously staged).
"Trojan Horse Home Security":
This was an older sketch Aykroyd had performed at Second City. [2] One of his specialties was sleazy commercial pitchmen and this sketch shows he mastered that from day one.
What didn't work:
Closing the show with "In The Winter"-The song is okay and I respect Janis Ian's place in the history of popular music. There's a lot of energy on display in this episode, from Carlin, the cast and all the other guest performers. But I felt like putting this song at the end wasn't a great choice and it drained a lot of energy out of an otherwise exciting episode.
J.A. Morris' rating:
This episode's historical importance can't be overstated. I enjoyed Carlin's monologues, some of the sketches and Billy Preston's songs. But the show is still a work in progress and Ian's last song felt out of place.
3 stars.
Footnotes:
[1] Saturday Night, Hill & Weingard p.71.
[2] Hill & Weingard p.74.
No comments:
Post a Comment