Season 4, episode 3;Host:Frank Zappa

Cold opening:"NBC's new image"
NBC's CEO Fred Silverman (John Belushi) addresses viewers about changes he plans to implement. He says he wants to take NBC in the direction that America wants to see. Silverman says that his research indicates that what the people want to see is Frank Zappa. 

He says NBC has signed Zappa to an exclusive contract and that Frank will star in his own sitcom. Silverman closes by saying "here tonight, to unveil NBC’s new look, Frank Zappa! Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!"

Monologue:"Dancin' Fool"
In lieu of the usual monologue, Frank Zappa performs "Dancin' Fool," which appeared on his 1979 album Sheik Yerbouti. "Dancin' Fool" was released as a single and peaked at #45 on Billboard's Hot 100.

"The Coneheads At Home"
Beldar Conehead (Dan Aykroyd) and his wife Prymaat (Jane Curtin) meet their daughter Connie's (Laraine Newman) date for the night, Frank Zappa. 

"Home prison"
Written by Brian McConnachie.
A family keeps prisoners in their home in exchange for money from the state. It seems to be going okay until a riot breaks out in the linen closet.

"Weekend Update"
Anchors Jane Curtin and Bill Murray report on the top news stories of the day.

In "Celebrity Corner," Bill interviews Sid Vicious (Brian Doyle-Murray) and his mother Anne Beverly (Newman) about Sid's recent arrest for killing his girlfriend. 

Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello) reports on the recent pope election.

In Point/Counter-Point, Jane and Dan Aykroyd debate test tube babies.

Frank Zappa:"The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"
Zappa sings "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing," which later appeared on his 1981 album You Are What You Is.

"Night On Freak Mountain"
While driving through the mountains during a rainstorm, Zappa crashes his car and seeks refuge in a house. It turns out to be the home of two burned out hippies named Jason (Aykroyd) and Sunset (Newman). They want Zappa to get high with them, but are shocked when he tells them he doesn't do drugs. 

Talk show:"Woman To Woman"
Career woman Connie Carson (Gilda Radner) interviews Mrs. Henry Post (Curtin) about what it's like to be a housewife.

Franken and Davis Show:
Tom and Al say that in addition to being a comedy team, they're also "international communist revolutionaries" and they call for the violent overthrow of the U.S. government.

Since they believe nothing can be changed through democratic means, they perform a sketch that shows how all candidates who run for office are corrupted by the process.

Frank Zappa:"Rollo"
Zappa conducts his band and the SNL band in a performance of "Rollo." This was released as part of an instrumental titled "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast," which appeared on the album You Can't Do That Onstage Anymore, Vol. 1. 

During "Rollo," Zappa is accompanied by the Samurai (Belushi). 

"Mr. Bill Show"
Written by Walter Williams.
Mr. Bill moves into his new penthouse apartment. He is enjoying himself until he's visited by his interior decorator, Mr. Sluggo. 

Goodnights:
Zappa appears on homebase and says they've come to the end of the show. He's then joined onstage by Sunset and Jason, who ask if they can "crash" on the stage. 

The cast then joins Zappa, each one shaking his hand as they step onstage, and they surround the host. Zappa then says "goodnight."

Notes about this episode:

I tend to avoid behind the scenes stuff here, but this episode has such a bad reputation that I feel like I have to address it. Writer Don Novello had this to say about working with Frank Zappa:
"With Zappa what happened was we had a terrible dress rehearsal and what was he going to do? What he did, not telling anybody, was he turned into Dean Martin. The approach he took was, he read the cards like he was reading the cards—he made a point of it. He was obviously reading the cards. That was his approach to the humor. No one else in the sketches knew it. It was real bad." [1]

This meant that Zappa had a wooden delivery in every sketch he acted in. 

In the cold opening, John Belushi plays Fred Silverman. Silverman may be unfamiliar to younger visitors of this site. In the 1970s, Silverman served as head of programming at CBS and then ABC. His programming ideas led to great ratings success for both of those networks. He was then hired by NBC in June 1978, a few months prior to this episode. In his time at NBC, Silverman failed to get the network out of third place and some of his new programs were high profile failures. This made him the subject of ridicule on Saturday Night. Belushi would portray Silverman several more times during Season 4. 

Fred Silverman in 1978.

Classic moment:
Father Guido Sarducci's first "Weekend Update" appearance-Fr. Guido would become an "Update" fixture during Seasons 4 and 5. 

What stands out:
Frank Zappa's musical performances-Like Devo in the previous episode, Zappa's music wasn't something that was shown on network television at this time. I especially enjoyed "Dancin' Fool." 

What doesn't work:
Zappa in sketches-In addition to blatantly reading cue cards, Zappa mugs for the camera during "Night On Freak Mountain." The cast tries their best, but Zappa sucks the energy out of all of his sketches.

"Home prison"-I didn't laugh at all during this sketch. I don't know if it was referencing something in the news at the time or just going for absurdism, but it didn't work.

J.A. Morris' rating:

Zappa is one of SNL's weakest hosts so far. While his music is good here, his appearances in sketches made this episode a tough one to watch.

2 stars.

[1] Source:
Miller, James Andrew and Shales, Tom. Live From New York The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Little, Brown, 2003, p.169.