Season 2, Episode 22;Host:Buck Henry, with Jennifer Warnes, Kenny Vance and impressionist Michael O'Donoghue

Aired May 25, 1977. 

Cold opening:"A Fireside Chat With President Carter"
Pres. Jimmy Carter is seen on a stationary bicycle. He says he's using the bike to generate all the power in the White House in order to demonstrate his commitment to a cleaner energy policy. 

His wife Roslyn (Laraine Newman) says it's her turn to power the broadcast, so she takes her husband's place on the bicycle.  While they change over, the video broadcast gets a little fuzzy.

The President then says it's time for his mother Lillian (Gilda Radner) to run the generator. Miss Lillian has a bit of trouble getting on the bike, which cause the transmission to go blank. Her son encourages Lillian to keep peddling long enough for him to finish his address about energy.

After receiving more encouragement, she says she'd do "anything for Jimmy, anything!" She is able to summon enough strength to keep the bike moving and keep the broadcast on the air. Lillian then announces "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

Monologue:"A live sex act"
Host Buck Henry talks about how Saturday Night has broken TV taboos and doesn't play by the rules. Henry wants to continue that tradition by performing "a live sex act" with a member of the audience. The mainstage is covered with props for the occasion, including a bullwhip, a foldaway bed and a vat of cottage cheese.

The camera pans over the audience as Buck makes his selection. He invites a woman to join him onstage. However, the large man next to her believes Henry selected him. The man then rushes the stage and slams Buck onto the bed!

"Samurai BMOC"
A samurai (John Belushi) who is struggling academically begs the Dean of Students (Henry) to give him passing grades so he can graduate. When the dean refuses, the samurai takes drastic measures. 

Jennifer Warnes:"Right Time Of The Night"
Jennifer Warnes performs "Right Time Of The Night," which was written by Peter McCann and appeared on her self-titled 1977 album.  

The song reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100.  

"Shower Mic"
Written by Bill Murray and Gilda Radner.
Richard Herkiman (Bill Murray) hosts a talk show in his shower, talking and singing into soap shaped like a microphone. Richard's wife Jane (Radner) joins him in the shower.

Herkiman says he has a "surprise guest" on today's show. The guest turns out to be Richard Calarski, who has been having an affair with Jane for years!"

Richard and his "guests" perform the following songs in the shower:
"Something," written by George Harrison and performed by the Beatles. It appeared on their Abbey Road album and was released as a single on October 6, 1969. "Something" reached #1 on the Pop charts in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and West Germany. 

"On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)" was written by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner for their 1965 Broadway musical of the same name.

"My Way," which was adapted by Paul Anka from the French song "Comme d'habitude." Frank Sinatra recorded the best known version of "My Way" and his recording reached #27 on the Hot 100. 

"Return Of The Coneheads"
The Coneheads are called back to their home planet of Remulak by their High Master Kuldroth (Belushi). The Coneheads then drive to the Chrysler Building which turns out to be the rocket ship that takes them home!

When they arrive on Remulak, Kuldroth informs Connie (Newman) that he has selected her to be his bride. Connie objects, but is powerless to disobey the High Master.

"Weekend Update"
Anchor Jane Curtin's top story:
Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra have kidnapped Patricia Hearst, and forced her to join their nightclub act. The three are now appearing in Las Vegas as Tanya & The Meatballs. 

From City Hall, "crack political reporter" Emily Litella (Radner) interviews Congresswoman Bella Abzug about her plans to run for the United States Senate. Litella asks if "Stella Abzug" will "throw her cat into the ring." 

And Buck Henry, on behalf of the Council of Television Journalists presents Jane with the America’s Outstanding Television Journalist award. Curtin is touched by the award, until she realizes it's just Buck's way of coming on to her.

"Rhonda's Bridal Shower"
Friends of Rhonda Weiss (Radner) throw her a kitchen-themed bridal shower. Rhonda's gifts include a melon baller and an egg tweezer. 

Talk show:"How Your Children Grow"
Jane Curtin interviews behavioral scientist Dr. Richard Dalton (Henry) about his research in learning disabilities. Dalton is accompanied by his assistant Francine (Radner), who verbally punctuates everything Dalton says and "draws" punctuation marks in the air. 

Dalton is accompanied by another assistant (Newman) who keeps ringing a bell, which prompts Francine to give a cookie to Curtin!

Home movie by William Wegman:"Alarm B"
This short film features a dog being woken up by an alarm clock.

Kenny Vance:"The Performer"
Kenny Vance sings "The Performer," which was released as the B-Side of Vance's single "Looking For An Echo" in 1977. 

"Lucky Lindy"
During his 1927 record-setting international flight, Charles Lindbergh (Henry) begins to lose his mind after spending 33 hours alone in his airplane. He fears that he will crash into "the icy deeps of the North Atlantic."

Suddenly, he hears a voice. It turns out to be a shark (Chevy Chase)! A Land Shark, to be exact, which means Lindbergh is close to his destination.

Saturday Night Live Band:"Departure Lounge:"
SNL's house band performs "Departure Lounge," which was composed by their bandleader Howard Shore.

Impressionist Michael O'Donoghue
"Extraordinary impressionist" Michael O'Donoghue wonders what would happen if someone took sharp eighteen inch-long needles and shoved them into the eyes of every member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

O'Donoghue thinks that "it might go something like this:

The choir and O'Donoghue writhe around the stage in agony.

Goodnights:
The host, cast, Chevy Chase and O'Donoghue gather at homebase. Henry says "Goodnight, have a good summer. Thanks to my guest, the shark!" 

The Land Shark then "eats" Buck Henry's head.

The camera zooms in on the shark's mouth to reveal Chevy's face as the credits roll. 

Notes about this episode:
This began SNL's tradition of Buck Henry hosting every season finale. This was because everyone was burned out by this point of the season and Henry was easy to please and willing to do any sketch that writers had in their inventory. 

If you haven't seen this episode, Chevy Chase's appearance was not announced in the credits. He just shows up as the Land Shark during "Lucky Lindy." 

During the Coneheads sketch, Buck Henry is still visibly wet from the previous "Shower Mike" sketch.

Speaking of the Coneheads, they leave Earth in "Return Of The Coneheads" because the sketch was meant to be the end of the characters. Nevertheless, they returned in Season 3.

Bella Abzug plays herself in the interview with Emily Litella. For those who aren't familiar with her, Abzug was a prominent Women's Liberation activist during the era of Second-wave feminism. She also served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and headed Pres. Jimmy Carter's  National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year. Abzug died of breast cancer in 1998.

Bella Abzug speaks at a 1976 press conference (photo by Diana Mara Henry)

Until watching this episode, I must admit I wasn't familiar with the name Kenny Vance. He's had quite an amazing career writing songs, performing in the band Jay and the Americans, producing albums and acting in several films. Vance also served as SNL's musical director during its 1980-81 season. He still performs today in a band called Kenny Vance and the Planotones.

What stands out:
"Return Of The Coneheads"-This is the best (and longest) Coneheads sketch so far. It features two sets and a filmed portion that shows the Coneheads driving through the streets of New York City. It makes you wonder what passersby thought of them in 1977. 

"Lucky Lindy"-A great showcase for Henry made even funnier by the surprise appearance of the Land Shark.

Kenny Vance-I enjoyed Vance's performance of  "The Performer." It's a nice up-tempo number, something SNL needed more of from its musical guests during the first two seasons.

J.A Morris' rating:
Another solid episode and a great way to close out Season 2. Buck Henry once again shows he has great chemistry with the Not Ready For Prime Time Players and this episode gets my highest rating.

4 stars!

Season 2, Episode 6; Host:Buck Henry, with The Band

Aired October 30, 1976.

Cold opening:"Trick or Treat!"
A woman (Gilda Radner) is sitting alone in her apartment on Halloween Night.  Suddenly, her doorbell rings.

When she asks who it is, a voice says "trick or treat?"  She tells him it's 2:00 AM, Halloween is over and he should be in bed.  When the trick-or-treater persists, she says he's out of candy.

However, when he tells her he's collecting for UNICEF, she opens the door to give a donation.  Unfortunately for her, the trick-or-treater is the Land Shark!

After eating the woman, the woman, the Land Shark opens his mouth, revealing himself to be Chevy Chase.  He then announces "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

Monologue:
Host Buck Henry tells viewers that the Not Ready For Prime Time Players all have deep secrets.  For instance, John Belushi is indebeted to the mafia and Dan Aykroyd sleeps with a bicycle chain in his mouth.  Henry also mentions that tonight is Chevy Chase's last episode.

"Samurai Stockbroker":
Written by Alan Zweibel and John Belushi.
Mr. Dantley (Henry) complains to his samurai stockbroker (Belushi) that his investment advice has caused him to go bankrupt.

During the sketch, Belushi accidentally cuts Henry's forehead with his sword!

Talk show:"Not For First Ladies Only"
Baba Wawa (Radner) interviews First Lady Better Ford (Jane Curtin) and Roslyn Carter (Larainne Newman) about the roles they play in their husbands' political careers and whether or not they still have time for sex.

"Garrett Morris' Roots":
Garrett Morris has done extensive research into his family's history and reveals that an ancestor was gang-raped by all the signers of the Declaration Of Independence.

Morris then shares photos of many of his ancestors (which are actually photos of Morris wearing costumes and heavy makeup).

"Debate '76":
Pres. Gerald Ford (Chase) and challenger Jimmy Carter (Dan Aykroyd) meet for their third and final Presidential debate.  Unlike their previous debates, which covered foreign and domestic policies, this one will focus on the candidates' "beauty, talents and poise."  It opens with a swimsuit competition.

During this sketch, you can see that Buck Henry, who plays the debate moderator, has been bandaged up after being cut by the sword.

Chevy Chase is wearing a bandage on his forehead in sympathy with Buck Henry's injury.

"Weekend Update"
Anchor Chevy Chase's top story is "Buck Henry cuts himself in the forehead in a sketch on the Saturday Night show, as a far-gone and downed and drugged-out John Belushi hits him with a sword."

In between "Debate '76" and "Update," Chase has applied an additional bandage to his forehead.

In other news, First Lady Betty Ford wins first place in a dog-smelling contest.

And correspondent Jane Curtin (who is also bandaged) presents "People In The News," which includes a story about Chevy Chase's impending departure from Saturday Night so that he can take over Johnny Carson's desk on The Tonight Show.

Curtin adds that "Chase says he’s looking forward to interviewing self-indulgent Las Vegas performers and meaningless personalities every single day for the next ten years."


Plus, Chevy gets a call from...Generalissimo Francisco Franco?

Commercial:"Bat-O-Matic
This new device helps "witches, warlocks, conjurers,sorcerers, black magicians, white magicians" mix their potions in time for Winter Solstice!

The Band:"Life Is A Carnival,"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "Stage Fright"
Buck Henry introduces The Band and mentions that they will be playing their final concert on Thanksgiving.  The Band performs three songs.

"Life Is A Carnival" was written by Written by Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Robbie Robertson, and was the lead track on The Band's 1971 album Cahoots.  The song reached #72 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Next up is "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", written by Robertson.  This song was released as the B-Side of "Up On Cripple Creek" and it appeared on The Band's self-titled 1969 album (AKA "The Brown Album").  Drummer Levon Helm sings lead on this song.

"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" found its greatest success with Joan Baez' recording of the song, which peaked #3 on Billboard Hot 100 and reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

The Band's set closes with "Stage Fright," the title-track of The Band's third album.  "Stage Fright" was also written by Robertson and features Rick Danko on lead vocals.

"The OintMENt"
In this parody of The Omen, Ambassador Thorne (Henry) notices that people die in bizarre ways when they're around his son Damien (Belushi).

The boy's nanny has been hanged and their priest has been impaled on a lamp.  What is the mystery of the strange boy's power and does he have a connection to Satan?

In solidarity with Buck Henry, Damien's teddy bear has a bandage on its head:

Film by Gary Weis:"It's Halloween Tonight"
This week's film shows us the process Buck Henry undergoes while being made up for Halloween.  Henry's transformation is accompanied by a new song written and sung by SNL band leader Howard Shore titled "It's Halloween Tonight."

"Houdini's Grave Part. 1"
Henry says that exactly 50 years ago, Halloween 1926, was the day Harry Houdini died.  The great magician said that if it was possible to return from the dead, he would do so exactly 50 years after his death.  With this in mind, Buck cuts live to Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, where Garrett Morris is keeping vigil at Houdini's grave.  Morris says strange things are afoot in the cemetery, but so far there's no sign of Houdini.

"Mr. Mike’s Least-Loved Bedtime Tales"
Mr. Mike (Michael O'Donoghue) tells the story of "The Enchanted Thermos," and how it was discovered by "the littlest Eskimo."

O'Donoghue is also wearing a bandage.

"Houdini's Grave Part 2"
The host cuts back to Garrett Morris at the cemetery.  Morris is so frightened that his hair is standing up and he's babbling incoherently.

The Band:"Georgia On My Mind"
The Band's piano player Richard Manuel sings lead on "Georgia On My Mind," which was written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell.  Carmichael recorded it first and released it on September 15, 1930.  Ray Charles' definitive version of "Georgia On My Mind" was released in September 1960 and reached #1 on Billboard's Hot 100.

The Band released this song as a single in 1976, intending it to serve as a campaign song for Jimmy Carter, who was Georgia's governor from 1971 to '75 (see notes below).  It later appeared on The Band's 1977 album Islands.

Goodnights:
Buck Henry closes the show by saying "thank you Band, thank you folks, and thank you Garrett, wherever you are!"  The cast is wearing bandages on their heads.  John Belushi is wearing more bandages than anyone and is pretending to be a reporter.  He asks Henry if he thinks the cut "was done on purpose."

Since it's Chevy Chase's last episode, he's embraced by the cast as the credits roll.

Everyone joins Chevy in taking one final fall and they all fall on top of each other.

Notes about this episode:
Here's a short interview with Buck Henry where he discusses his unfortunate encounter with the business end of a samurai sword:

Here's a quote from The Band's drummer Levon Helm about "Georgia On My Mind" and Jimmy Carter:
“Jimmy Carter had been kind enough to receive us in the Georgia governor’s mansion when we passed through Atlanta back on the 1974 Dylan tour, and now he was running for president against Gerald Ford. We’d been getting calls asking us to help, so we released a single of ‘Georgia on My Mind’ in Mr. Carter’s honor. Richard (Manuel) sang it with the soul factor turned pretty high. On 30 October, 1976, we played ‘Georgia’ on Saturday Night Live, and a few days later Jimmy Carter was elected President of the United States.”

During her "People In The News" segment on "Weekend Update," Jane Curtin mentions that Chevy Chase will take over The Tonight Show from Johnny Carson where he will be "interviewing self-indulgent Las Vegas performers and meaningless personalities every single day for the next ten years."  That line was inspired by a comment Chevy made in a New York magazine profile by Jeff Greenfield.  In 1975, a lot of people (including some NBC executives) saw Chase as "the heir apparent" to Johnny Carson.  When asked about hosting Tonight, Chase said “I’d never be tied down for five years interviewing TV personalities." [1]  Of course Chase never became host of The Tonight Show.

While this is Chevy Chase's last episode, he would appear in the next three episodes in pre-recorded cameo appearances.

As Buck Henry says in his introduction, The Band would play it's last concert on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, about 3 and a half weeks after this episode.  Their last concert was filmed and released as The Last Waltz.  Guitarist Robbie Robertson, who wrote most of The Band's songs, never toured with them again.

Classic moments:
Chevy Chase's last episode-Chase did a lot of heavy-lifting during the first season of Saturday Night and the fact that "Weekend Update" is still part of the show more than four decades after his departure is a testament to his talent.  His last "Update" is a good one and it was also nice to see Chase play the Land Shark one last time.  He get's in some good zingers on Pres. Ford, including a replay of Ford's pardoning of his predecessor Richard Nixon.

It's interesting how life works sometimes.  Chevy Chase gained fame imitating Ford and three days after Chase's departure from SNL, Ford was voted out of office.

"Samurai Stock Broker"-One could make the case that SNL was never more "live" than the time where John Belushi accidentally cut Buck Henry's forehead with a samurai sword.  Henry was certainly a trouper for soldiering on the rest of the show.  This is also another funny "Samurai" sketch.

"Mr. Mike’s Least-Loved Bedtime Tales"-I'm generally a fan of Michael O'Donoghue's work and this is the debut of his "Mr. Mike" persona, which was basically an exaggeration of his real personality.  His "Enchanted Thermos" story is unlike anything else you'd see on television in 1976. 

What stands out:
The Band-Getting The Band to play their penultimate concert on SNL seems like the sort of thing Lorne Michaels had in mind when he conceived the show, when any episode could turn into an event.

"Houdini's Grave"-Saturday Night has rarely done live remotes from outside its studio, but this one worked nicely and added a little bit of Halloween spookiness to the episode.  The shot of Garrett Morris' hair standing straight up is one of the funniest moments of the evening.

The various Halloween sketches-As some of you may know, I have another site where I review holiday-themed episodes, movies, and specials.  So I appreciated the Halloween and horror material in this episode, like "The Ointment," the Land Shark opening, "Bat-O-Matic," and the aforementioned reports from Houdini's grave.  Richard Manuel even has a little jack'o lantern on his piano, which is a nice touch.

What doesn't work:
In the middle of The Band's performance of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," the camera switches to a photo montage of The Band from their early years to the (then) present day.  I'm not sure whose idea this was, but I would've much rather seen the full performance of one of their best songs.

J.A. Morris' rating:
Another good episode, Saturday Night was in the midst of a hot streak at this time.  Chevy Chase goes out on a high note and Buck Henry shows what a great host he was by giving all he's got in spite of getting his head cut open on live television.  Plus, The Band was one of the better musical guests so far.

.5


3 and a half stars.

Footnote:
[1] "He’s Chevy Chase and You’re Not, and He’s TV’s Hot New Comedy Star," Jeff Greenfield, New York, 22 Dec 1975.