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 2, Episode 10; Host:Candice Bergen, with Frank Zappa

Aired December 11, 1976.

Cold opening:"Patty Hearst comes home for Christmas"

Patty Hearst (Gilda Radner) is out on bail pending an appeal of her conviction for armed bank robbery during her time in the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA).  She and her family are enjoying a game of Scrabble until Patty's sister Anne (Laraine Newman) gets tired of Patty using the words "Pig," "Cop" and "SLA." 

Their mother Catherine (Jane Curtin) suggests they watch TV instead.  However, every show is a cop show that features a plot inspired by Patty Hearst's kidnapping and subsequent crimes.  They keep flipping channels until they find themselves on the television!  Patty recognizes the show as NBC's Saturday Night.  She says "this is my favorite part" and then announces "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

Monologue:"Candice Bergen is missing."

When Don Pardo introduces this week's host Candice Bergen, she is nowhere to be found.  Jane Curtin goes looking for Bergen and discovers the host has locked herself in her dressing room.  Bergen refuses to come out and says she was only appearing on the show in order to be close to John Belushi and he's broken up with her.  Producer Lorne Michaels gets Belushi, who eventually gets Bergen to come out and talk.

Their conversation turns into a reenactment of the closing scene from Casablanca, with Belushi imitating Humphrey Bogart.

"Jimmy Carter's promises"

President-elect Jimmy Carter (Dan Aykroyd) tells Americans that he won't be able to keep all the promises he made during the Presidential campaign.    

Commercial:"Santi-Wrap"

If you plan to sit on Santa's lap this holiday season, make sure you put Santi-Wrap sanitary tissue on his lap first.

Frank Zappa:"I'm The Slime"

Musical guest Frank Zappa performs "I'm The Slime." This song appeared on his album Over-Nite Sensation, which was released on September 7, 1973. 

When Zappa sings "I'm the slime oozin' out from your TV set," slime oozes out of the studio's TV monitor!

Zappa enlists SNL announcer Don Pardo to read a "spoken" portion of the song, while Zappa displays the words on a blackboard.

Talk Show:"Consumer Probe"
Written by Dan Aykroyd and Anne Beatts.

Bergen interviews sleazy toy merchant Irwin Mainway (Aykroyd) about the dangerous toys his company is selling this Christmas.  Some of Mainway's dangerous toys include Bag O' Glass... 

...and a chainsaw teddy bear.

Commercial:"K-Put Price Is Rite Stamp Gun"

Repeat from Season 1, Episode 5.

PSA:"Right To Extreme Stupidity League"

Fern (Bergen) and her "stupid" friend Lisa deliver a public service announcement for the Right To Extreme Stupidity League.  

During this sketch, Bergen, who is playing Fern, gets confused and calls Radner Fern.  This causes Bergen to break character and laugh uncontrollably.  

"Weekend Update":
Anchor Jane Curtin reports on the news of the day, which include:

In order to help him pay off his campaign debt, President-elect Carter has taken a part-time job delivering dry cleaning.

First Lady Betty Ford wins the first annual Barbara Walters lookalike contest.

Correspondent Ray Basalt (Aykroyd) presents the December Radioactive Fallout Report.  

And editorial commentator Emily Litella (Radner) declares her opposition to the United Nations collecting money for "unisex."  

Commercial:"FX-70 Cheese Slicer"
This parody of Polaroid camera commercials features a "camera" that prints slices of processed cheese.

Frank Zappa:"The Purple Lagoon"

Zappa conducts his band and the SNL house band in a performance of "The Purple Lagoon."  This instrumental later appeared on Zappa in New York, which was released on March 3, 1978.  

In the middle "The Purple Lagoon," Samurai Futaba (Belushi) shows up and performs his unique form of scat singing.  

"Killer Trees":

Christmas is endangered by a series of murders committed by Christmas Trees!  Before the trees kill, they can be heard singing "O' Tannenbaum" before stabbing their victims with their branches.

Detective Steve Beshekas (Belushi) and his partner (Aykroyd) investigate these homicides and try to bring the Killer Trees to justice.  

Film by Gary Weis:"Diana Nyad"

Gary Weis profiles long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, who gained fame in 1975 when she swam around Manhattan Island in 7 hours and 57 minutes.  

PSA:"Adopt Belushi For Christmas":

Bergen pleads for a family to let John Belushi spend the holiday season with them, since he will otherwise be spending Christmas alone.

"Let's Kill Gary Gilmore For Christmas"

Written by Michael O'Donoghue, Marilyn Suzanne Miller and Howard Shore.

Bergen introduces this segment and tells how convicted murderer Gary Gilmore has requested he be shot by a firing squad.  The Not Ready For Prime Time Players then perform a new Christmas song about Gilmore's impending execution.  

Frank Zappa:"Peaches En Regalia"

Zappa's third and final performance of the evening features "Peaches En Regalia."  This instrumental first appeared on Zappa's album Hot Rats, which was released on October 10, 1969.  

Goodnights:

Instead of the normal goodnights from the homebase stage, Bergen appears live from Rockefeller Center's ice rink.  She's frustrated because she's told to fill time. 

The camera then pans out to reveal the cast and writers ice skating in Victorian costumes and Bergen joins them for a skate while SNL's closing theme is played live by the band.  

As the show ends, the camera pans to 30 Rock's Christmas Tree.

Notes about this episode:

This is the third time Candice Bergen hosted Saturday Night and the second year in a row she hosted its Christmas episode.  However, she would not host the show again until 1987.  Bergen also hosted for the fifth time in 1990 and became the first woman to join SNL's mythical "Five Timers Club."

Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad on January 17, 1977, a little more than a month after the cast sang about him.

John Belushi plays a detective named Steve Beshekas.  This is the second episode in a row that Belushi has played a character named after his old friend of the same name.  

Classic Moments:

"Consumer Probe"-Irwin Mainway was a great character and Dan Aykroyd is hilariously sleazy in his portrayal of this scumbag businessman.  Mainway appeared in four other sketches and Aykroyd also appeared as Mainway when he made guest appearances on SNL in 1995 and 1998.  

Right To Extreme Stupidity League:
This sketch shows up in clip shows and documentaries because it's a (surprisingly) rare example of a sketch going completely off the rails.  It's saved by Gilda Radner's talents, she stays on script while Candice Bergen loses it.  

What stands out:
"Let's Kill Gary Gilmore For Christmas"-In the first season's Christmas episode, Garrett Morris led the cast and Bergen in a nice performance of "Winter Wonderland."  The "Gary Gilmore" song shows that by Season 2, the cast and creative team felt empowered to take more risks.  Most holiday episodes of variety shows of the 70s didn't feature songs about death row inmates!

Frank Zappa-Speaking of things you don't see on Christmas episodes (or on TV at all, for that matter), all three of Zappa's performances were excellent.  The inclusion of Don Pardo and Belushi's Samurai make Zappa's performances even more memorable.  

J.A. Morris' rating:

This is a great Christmas episode, Saturday Night closes out 1976 with a bang and this gets my highest rating.

4 stars!