Aired January 10, 1976.
Cold opening:"The Dead String Quartet"
Written by Chevy Chase.
Members of the Dead String Quartet fall and knock each other down like dominoes.
The quartet's cellist (Chevy Chase) falls off the stage, turns to the camera and announces "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
Monologue:
Host Elliott Gould dances and sings the songs "Let Yourself Go," which was written by Irving Berlin for the 1936 movie Follow The Fleet and "Crazy Rhythm," which was composed by Irving Caesar with music by Joseph Meyer and Roger Wolfe Kahn for the Broadway musical Here's Howe. SNL pianist Paul Shaffer serves as Gould's accompanist.
Gilda & Elliott #1:
Gilda Radner joins Gould on stage and thanks him for a wonderful evening the night before. When he says he's flying back to Hollywood after the show, she's disappointed.
Commercial:"Try Hard 1-11"
Repeat from Episode 2.
"Interior Demolitionists":
Two men (Gould and Chase) arrive at a house and start destroying everything they see.
"Godfather Group Therapy":
Written by Michael O'Donoghue, Chevy Chase and Lorne Michaels.
Don Vito Corleone (John Belushi) tells his therapy group about the troubles the Tataglia crime family is causing for him. Another member of the group, a stewardess named Sherry (Laraine Newman), thinks Vito is "blocking" and isn't telling them his true feelings.
Commercial:"New Shimmer"
An ad for a new dessert topping that's also a floor wax!
Film by Gary Weis:"Misty"
A montage of many different piano players playing and singing the song "Misty," written by Errol Gardner and Johnny Burke. "Misty" was made famous by Johnny Mathis, when Mathis' 1959 recording of the song reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Gilda & Elliott #2:
Radner tells the host she meant "everything she said last night" and wants to know if he meant everything he said.
Anne Murray:"The Call"
Musical Guest Anne Murray performs "The Call," which was released on her 1975 album Together. This song peaked at #6 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart in 1976.
"Weekend Update":
Chevy Chase's top story:While campaigning in New Hampshire, "Pres. Ford threw a baby and kissed a snowball."
Plus, Laraine Newman reports live from Cape Canaveral about NASA's plans to dispose of toxic waste by launching it into space.
Commercial:"Jamitol"
Repeat from Episode 1.
"Killer Bees":
Written by Chevy Chase and Lorne Michaels.
A group of Killer Bees (Gould, Belushi, Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd) invade a home and demand pollen. In the middle of the sketch, director Dave Wilson passes out in the control room, which messes up the sketch and causes the actors to break character.
Gilda & Elliott #3:
Radner introduces Gould to her mother (Paula Kahn), who tells Gould "from what Gilda says, we should be seeing a lot of each other!"
Film by Albert Brooks:"National Audience Research Institute"
Brooks visits a research facility that studies what audiences want because he's "willing to change in any direction" to please audiences.
"Land of Gorch, featuring Jim Henson's Muppets":
Peuta (Alice Tweedie) tells Scred (Jerry Nelson) she will end their affair, unless Scred tells her husband King Ploobis (Jim Henson) about them.
Talk show:"Birthright"
Jane Curtin interviews two doctors (Aykroyd and Gould) who have different approaches to delivering babies.
Anne Murray:"Blue Finger Lou"
Murray sings "Blue Finger Lou," another song from Together. This song was written by Alan O'Day.
The comedy duo performs a sketch that imagines what the United States would be like if American Indians ran this country.
Goodnights:
Gould and the cast gather at home base, where Radner and the host are married!
Notes about this episode:
Lorne Michaels was disappointed in the previous episode (Candice Bergen's Christmas show) and went into a "tailspin." In order to ensure the Gould show would be better, he brought Chevy Chase and head writer Michael O'Donoghue to the offices over the holidays to write this most of this episode.[1]
This episode was submitted to Emmy awards voters in the category Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series. It won the Emmy, beating out The Carol Burnett Show and The Sonny And Cher Show.
James L. Brooks (who has produced series and films, including Mary Tyler Moore, The Simpsons, Terms Of Endearment and As Good As It Gets) appears in Albert Brooks' film. The two Brookses (who aren't related) would work together again a decade later when James L. directed Albert in the film Broadcast News.
Gilda's mother is played by Paula Kahn, the mother of actress Madeline Kahn.
Classic Moments:
"Godfather Group Therapy"-John Belushi's impression of Vito Corleone is brilliant and Laraine Newman is hilarious as Sherry the stewardess. This sketch has been included in several of "Best Of SNL" compilations over the years and rightly so.
"Killer Bees"-This great sketch features very funny speeches from Gould and Belushi and also includes the series' first onscreen appearance of Lorne Michaels. Plus, the concept of men in bee suits demanding pollen accents is inherently hilarious.
What stands out:
"Franken & Davis"-The debut of this comedy duo is funny and it makes good points about the treatment of American Indians that are (sadly) still relevant today. In later seasons, their Franken and Davis Show segments would become a semi-regular feature on SNL.
What doesn't work:
Anne Murray-she has a great voice, but her songs were a bit too mellow and they took some the air out of an otherwise great episode.
J.A. Morris' rating:
This is another strong episode, the Not Ready For Prime Time Players and their writers were beginning to hit their stride at this point.
3 and a half stars.
Footnote:
[1] Live From New York, by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales, p.65.
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