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]

Zappa commented on this episode in a 1979 interview:
"They never tell you what camera is on, and you're not supposed to memorize your script because they're rewriting right up to show time. And so you're looking at the cue cards, and unless you're used to acting live on TV, you haven't got a prayer; you'll be looking at the wrong camera. It was really hard. And the other thing that happened was--and I didn't find out about it until the day after the show--that the first day I went there for the meetings with them they didn't like me and wanted to get rid of me. But no one said anything to my face while I was working on the thing. So they had written dialogue for me to say that I wouldn't normally say; they wouldn't let me write any of my own stuff. I think I'd be a fantastic television personality. I think I'd be a real good interviewer if I had a talk show, or a variety show. I'd be really good at it. But just to get up there and be the dumbbell in 'A Night On Freak Mountain'... I mean, sure, I'll do that for a laugh, but I'm not gonna build a life on it."

Dan Aykroyd also discussed Zappa in a 1993 interview:
"We were doing the Coneheads scene, which Frank loved. We were all in position to do it when Frank, said, 'What am I supposed to do? Read these cards?' It totally broke the reality; it was awful. Maybe he thought he was above the whole thing or he was nervous or he didn't like the script. Maybe he thought he was being funny. But in fact the audience sort of gasped."

Since Zappa made a point of reading cue cards on air, this meant everything he said had wooden, deadpan delivery.

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 (Zappa doesn't appear in this sketch). 

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. The non-Zappa sketches weren't very good either.

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.

Season 3, Episode 8;Host Miskel Spillman, with Elvis Costello and Buck Henry

Aired December 17, 1977.
Network announcement:
Don Pardo tells viewers that “How The Grinch Raped And Strangled Christmas” will not be seen tonight, so that NBC may present the following special program."

Cold opening:"The host is high!"
In SNL's locker room, John Belushi and Laraine Newman are discussing this week's host, 80-year-old grandmother Miskel Spillman, winner of the Anyone Can Host contest. Buck Henry walks in and says Miskel is "currently lying on her back looking at a bowl of fruit with her radio turned on full blast." Belushi says the host was a bit nervous, so he shared a joint with Spillman, telling her it was a French cigarette. 

Buck is furious and points out that Belushi's joints are potent "even for an experienced drug user like me!" Henry is worried, since he has to walk on stage and introduce the host "in a minute." Belushi responds "less than a minute, Buck...’cause we’re live, from New York, it’s Saturday Night!"

Monologue:"Meet the Anyone Can Host Winner"
Buck and Miskel arrive on homebase, where Henry announces her as the winner. She's still carrying the aforementioned bowl of fruit, apparently still high. Spillman says "it seems like everything's in slow motion! I mean, am I making sense? Or am I blowing it? I don’t know, I can’t tell."

Henry repeatedly attempts to take the fruit bowl away from her, but Miskel swats him away. 

Commercial:"Meat Wagon Action Track Set"
The Meat Wagon Action Track is the most exciting road race game ever! 

When the cars crash and burn, the meat wagon rushes to the scene to save the victims!

PSA:"American Date the Self-Concious Association"
The American Date the Self-Concious Association presents a re-enactment of a date between two self-conscious people (Bill Murray and Gilda Radner). 

A spokesperson (Newman) for the association says a relationship between the two wouldn't work. She encourages the self-conscious to date members of the Extremely Obnoxious Coalition, who are represented by Charlie Glatt (Belushi).

"The Gift of the Magi"
Jane Curtin and Miskel narrate at retelling of O'Henry's classic Christmas story "The Gift Of The Magi." In this version, Robert donates his kidney to his ailing wife Helen and sells his antique watch, a family heirloom, in order to pay for the transplant operation. 

When Helen survives the operation, Robert is NOT pleased with the gift she gives him.

Elvis Costello:"Watching The Detectives"
Elvis Costello, backed by his band the Attractions, performs "Watching The Detectives," which was issued as a standalone single in the UK on October 14, 1977. 

It was released in the United States in November of that year and appeared on the U.S. release of Costello's album My Aim Is True, which was released in March of 1978.

"Weekend Update"
Co-anchors Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin report on the top news stories of the day, which include:
The cover of Ms.magazine features a "very pregnant" Pres. Jimmy Carter. The President says "the cover is a hoax and that "he hasn't been pregnant since he had Amy 10 years ago."

Jane then calls the White House seeking an update on Carter's meeting with Israel's Prime Minister. She has a brief conversation with the President. 

When the camera pans out, we see that she's actually been talking to her fellow anchor (and SNL's Carter impressionist) Dan Aykroyd.

Bill Murray reviews the classic Christmas film Miracle On 34th Street and criticizes it for not taking a firm stand on the existence of Santa Claus. 

Bill also shows off his copy of the book Movies On TV, and thanks Santa for bringing it last year.

Plus, Jane and Dan are delivered a late-breaking story by NBCs Dancing N. 

It turns out that inside the N is none other than Emily Litella! Miss Litella wonders why she hasn't been on Update in months, so she's given one more chance.

TV show:"Sartresky and Hutch"
This cop show features tough cop Hutch (Belushi) and existential cop Jean-Paul Sartresky (Aykroyd). 

When Rusty Kramer, an old friend of Hutch, goes insane and threatens to blow up a bank, Sartesky and Hutch use their different approaches to talk him out of it. 

"The Franken and Davis Show"
Al Franken has brought his parents to the show in honor of the holiday season. He then serenades them with a song he wrote to express his love. 

His mother Mimi responds by bringing up a very embarrassing incident from Al's childhood. Franken explodes in anger over this, prompting Tom Davis to apologize, to no avail. 

TV show:"E. Buzz Miller's Art Classics"
Written by Dan Aykroyd and Tom Davis.

Public Access Cable host E. Buzz Miller (Aykroyd) and his girlfriend Christi Christina (Newman) analyze classic nude paintings and sculptures. Miller is particularly amused by the name Titian, which he mispronounces in a way that emphasizes the first three letters.

"New girlfriend"

When Jeff (Belushi) brings his live-in girlfriend Sharon (Spillman) home for Christmas, his parents (Curtin and Aykroyd) are reluctant to let them stay in the same bedroom. 

Mom and Sharon have a heart-to-heart about her and Jeff's relationship. 

"Mr. Santa"
A drunken mall Santa (Murray) tells a little girl (Radner) she can't have any of the toys she asks for...

 ...and drops her on the floor using "Santa's trap door." 

"Mr. Mike's Coral Waters Cafe"
Written by Michael O'Donoghue.

Laraine Newman walks into the Coral Waters Cafe, where Mr. Mike (Michael O'Donoghue) is bartending. She is drunk and disheveled and asks Mr. Mike to tell her one of his "least-loved bedtime tales." 

He says that he'll tell her a tale if she sings the aria from Madame Butterfly. While she sings, Mr. Mike makes her a cocktail called a Soiled Kimono and the recipe and history of the drink scroll onscreen. 

Madame Butterfly was composed by Giacomo Puccini and premiered February 17, 1904.

Elvis Costello:"Less Than Zero"/"Radio Radio"
Costello begins his second set by singing "Less Than Zero," his debut single which was released March 11, 1977. He then stops the song abruptly, declaring "there's no reason to do this song here." 

Costello and the Attractions then launch into a performance of "Radio Radio," which was released as a single on October 20, 1978. 

Goodnights:
Miskel appears on homebase wearing a Mrs. Claus costume. She thanks everyone who voted for her and says "I've had the most wonderful time I've ever had in my life, everyone is so wonderful!" 

She then thanks her daughter Janine Baker and invites her onstage. Janine kisses Spillman and says "Merry Christmas!" The cast then joins them onstage for goodnights.

While the credits roll, Bill Murray, still wearing his Santa suit, gives Miskel a kiss.

In honor of the holidays, the cameras pan behind the scenes so the crew in can be front of the camera for a change.

Notes about this episode:

This episode is best remembered not for its host, but for Elvis Costello switching to "Radio, Radio" after singing the beginning of "Less Than Zero." 

For those don't know, all song titles and lyrics are given to NBC prior to performances. Saturday Night Live is strictly timed, so a different song could have thrown off the show's schedule. Over the years, Costello has told different stories about why he did it.

In 1989, on the occasion of SNL's 15th anniversary, he talked to Rolling Stone:

"After watching rehearsals, Costello says he decided the SNL players weren’t nearly as funny as they thought they were, but he didn’t completely sour on the show until “[Dan Aykroyd] came up and tried to act like he was a janitor to us, and they all had a big laugh at our expense because we didn’t recognize him. And I said, ‘Who’s the mug here? If you think you’re so damn famous, it’s kind of stupid because we’ve never heard of you any more than you’ve heard of us.’ I think that’s what started the ball rolling.” [1]

Elvis and the Attractions suspected they were treated badly because they were substituting for the Sex Pistols, whose visa problems kept them from entering the U.S. 

In 2013, he told Details magazine he was inspired by Jimi Hendrix:

"I was copying Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix had done the same thing on the Lulu Show, when he went into an unscheduled number."[2]

In 2021, Costello said his record company wanted him to play "Less Than Zero," but resented being told what to play:
"I didn’t really have anything against the show. I was more pissed off at being told what to play by the record company than I was NBC, truthfully. I can’t remember whether I said what I was going to do, but I think I just said, ‘Watch me.'” [3]

I don't know if Costello was really "officially banned" from SNL (in spite of lots of claims on the internet that a banning occurred), but he didn't appear again until 1989. In 1999, during the series' 25th anniversary special, Costello (backed by the Beastie Boys) recreated  the incident:

During "Radio, Radio," Attractions drummer Pete Thomas is wearing a t-shirt that says "Thanks Malc." 

This is a reference to Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, who screwed up the Pistols' visas, which led to Costello's booking. 

Classic moment:
John Belushi says "But NOOO!"-He says this during "The Gift Of The Magi." This is the first time he said it on SNL, it would later become a catchphrase Belushi screamed during his "Weekend Update" commentaries. 

What stands out:
"Sartesky and Hutch"-Dan Aykroyd is hilarious in this sketch as Jean-Paul Sartesky. How many comedy shows have parodied Sartre's existential philosophy? 

"E. Buzz Miller's Art Classics"-Aykroyd is hilariously sleazy in this sketch, Laraine Newman is also great as Buzz's girlfriend Christi Christina. 

"Meat Wagon Action Track Set"-This is a great toy commercial parody. At the end of the ad, we're told that the track set is manufactured by Mainway, a nice callback to Irwin Mainway, who previously appeared in Christmas and Halloween sketches.

What doesn't work:
"The Gift Of The Magi"-This sketch introduced a catchphrase, but it's a bit too long and the whole point is to get to Belushi physically abusing Radner, something we've seen before. 

J.A. Morris' rating:
This is a good Christmas episode and most of the sketches are fun, if not great. Miskel Spillman doesn't do a lot, but she has a charming presence and does okay when she appears in sketches. Episode 8 is also an improvement over the previous three episodes.

.5

3 and a half stars.

Sources:

[1] "Elvis Costello and the SNL Weinies" by Mark Lasswell, Rolling Stone, October 5, 1989. 

[2]Elvis Costello Recalls Being Banned from SNL After Copying Jimi Hendrix: I Said 'Watch Me', By Darlene Aderoju, People, February 3, 2021.

https://people.com/music/elvis-costello-recalls-being-banned-from-snl-after-copying-jimi-hendrix/
[3]Elvis Costello Recalls SNL Stunt That Got Him Banned: ‘I Just Wanted Them to Remember Us’, by Heran Mamo, Billboard, January 25, 2021.