Aired November 8, 1975.
Cold opening:"Ford speech"
Pres. Gerald Ford (Chevy Chase) delivers a televised address to the nation. Ford falls behind a podium several times and eventually trips over a folding chair and falls to the floor.
He turns to the camera and exclaims "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
Monologue:
Candice Bergman's opening monologue is interrupted when Chevy Chase informs her that there's a bee (John Belushi) on her hand. She asks him to get rid of the bee without hurting him.
Commercial:"Ambassador Training Institute"
Parody of commercials at the time that pushed products that (alledgedly) taught new skills that would lead to a new job.
"CIA office of records":
Garrett Morris visits the Central Intelligence Agency to view files they've kept on him.
"Jaws II":
Written by Chevy Chase, Michael O'Donoghue, Anne Beatts and Lorne Michaels.
In a "sequel" to Jaws, Sherriff Brady (Dan Aykroyd) and Matt Cooper (Belushi) investigate a series of shark attacks by a "Land Shark, the cleverest species of them all!"
Esther Phillips:"What A Diff'rence A Day Makes"
Phillips' recording of this standard was a hit on the Pop and R&B charts in 1975. "What A Diff'rence A Day Makes" was originally performed with Spanish lyrics as "Cuando vuelva a tu lado." It was written by Maria Grever, Dinah Washington made the English version of the song popular when she recorded it in 1959.
Commercial:"Polaroid cameras"
Chevy Chase takes photos of Bergen in a bee costume.
"Weekend Update":
Chevy Chase's newscast includes an editorial reply from "Congresswoman" Jane Curtin.
Commercial:"Long Distance":
"Remember when you were a little boy and mother would dress you up in her prettiest things? Mother is only seconds away when you dial long distance."
Commercial:"Chanel"
French movie star Catherine Deneuve (Bergen) plugs Chanel perfume...and gets her face stuck to the bottle!
"Land Of Gorch" featuring Jim Henson's Muppets.
King Ploobis worries that Gligs will soon be extinct, so he visits the Mighty Favog (Frank Oz) for advice on how to save the species.
"Interview":
Candice Bergen is extremely rude to a king she is interviewing.
"Candice and Gilda dialogue":
They discuss the recent referendum on the Equal Rights Amendment and talk about how society makes them feel "unfeminine."
Film by Albert Brooks:"Super Season"
NBC has three "Super Replacements" for cancelled series.
"Midnight Probe":
Bergen interviews kiwi hunters named Dennis X (Aykroyd) and Anthony Q (Belushi).
"Call To Trans American Airlines"
Written by Michael O'Donoghue.
A deranged man (Michael O'Donoghue) calls Trans American Airlines and tells their operator (Laraine Newman) all the acts of violence and hostility he wants to do to inflict upon her.
Andy Kaufman:"Foreign Man"
Kaufman's Foreign Man character tries to impersonate famous people and fails miserably.
"Black Perspective":
Host Garrett Morris interviews "soul sister" Jane Curtin, who claims to be an expert on black history in the United States despite being white and growing up in a predominantly white community.
"Pong":
Written by Alan Zweibel.
Two college students (Al Franken and Tom Davis) play video pong while one talks about bringing his girlfriend home with him for Thanksgiving.
Esther Phillips:"I Can Stand A Little Rain."
This song was written by Jim Price and originally recorded by Joe Cocker. It was recorded by Phillips in 1975.
Goodnights:
Bergen is joined at "home base" by the cast, who present her with roses.
Notes about this episode:
In just about every book and documentary about SNL's origin, Lorne Michaels cites this episode as the blueprint for the show as we know it today. However, it would take a while before this format became the norm for Saturday Night. [1]
When this episode was broadcast, Bergen was the commercial spokeswoman for Polaroid and for a short time after this, the Not Ready For Prime Time Players promoted Polaroid on the show in live commercials. This was due to the show's desperate need for ad revenue. Lorne Michaels and the cast considered this a compromise of their artistic integrity, but they had little choice at the time. [2]
Bergen and Gilda Radner discuss the rejection of the Equal Rights Amendment, which was voted down by New York and New Jersey voters four days prior to this episode. [3]
The pitchman in the Ambassador Training Institute commercial is played by character actor Andrew Duncan.
Classic moments:
Jaws II-The first appearance of the Land Shark. Chevy Chase is hilarious as the shark, John Belushi is equally good imitating Richard Dreyfuss' character from Jaws.
The women who play the Land Shark's victims also deliver some funny lines. It's worth mentioning that the title Jaws II was itself a joke, since this sketch pre-dates the first Jaws sequel by three years.
Chevy Chase's Gerald Ford impersonation-This was brilliant because Chase makes no effort to imitate Ford's appearance or voice. He just takes Ford's (somewhat undeserved) reputation as a klutz and ratchets it up tenfold!
What stands out:
Candice Bergen's talk with Gilda Radner-It's a fascinating segment and one I wish we'd seen repeated with future hosts.
Andy Kaufman's Foreign Man-Another great performance by Kaufman, who brings a bongo drum on stage this time instead of a record player.
Midnight Probe:Aykroyd and Belushi's deliver funny performances as kiwi hunters. Their demonstration of kiwi trapping is particularly funny.
"Call To Trans American Airlines"-This is the first appearance of Michael O'Donoghue's dark side and likely the first appearance of such dark humor on network television. The caller is sort of a precursor to O'Donoghue's Mr. Mike character.
Albert Brooks' "Super Season"-An excellent parody of schlocky dramas and sitcoms seen on American TV in the 70s.
What doesn't work:
Esther Phillips-I found her "stutter" vocals to be more annoying than endearing.
J.A. Morris' rating:
This is very good episode. Bergen is game for just about everything and she has a great rapport with the cast.
3 and a half stars.
Footnotes:
[1] Live From New York, by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales, p.70.
[2] Saturday Night, by Dough Hill and Jeff Weingard, p. 102.
[3] "Defeat of Equal Rights Bills Traced to Women's Votes," by Linda Greenhouse, New York Times, 06 Nov 1975:85.
No comments:
Post a Comment