Aired May 14, 1977.
Cold opening:"Norton vs. Bobbick"
Host Shelley Duvall and John Belushi are standing on the homebase stage dressed as Bees. Producer Lorne Michaels shows up and tells them their Bee sketch has been cancelled.
Since NBC paid an exorbitant amount to broadcast the recent boxing match between Ken Norton and Dwayne Bobbick, the network will need to replay the fight on all NBC shows for the next month. So the bout is shown in place of the Bees.
The cameras then cut to backstage, where the boxing match is being shown on a monitor. Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman and Gilda Rader are seen fighting and insulting each other. They also direct insults at the host.
Duvall is taken aback and says she meets "a better class of people" while making movies.
In the background, the fight continues on the monitor until Norton knocks out Bobbick. When the fight is over, Belushi appears on the monitor and announces "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night."
Monologue:"Video Vixens"
Written by Marilyn Suzanne Miller and Howard Shore.
In lieu of the normal monologue, Duvall and the women of SNL perform a new song called "Video Vixens."
"Bank Heist"
A gang of criminals wearing ridiculous costumes holds up a bank and demands cash. Everything goes wrong for the robbers when no one is fooled by the leader's (Dan Aykroyd) "praying mantis" costume.
Joan Armatrading:"Love and Affection"
Joan Armatrading performs "Love and Affection," which appeared on her self-titled 1976 album. This song was released as a single and reached #10 in the UK charts in November of '76 and has been covered by multiple artists.
"Continental Men"
Three women (Duvall, Radner, Newman) bemoan the fact that they never meet any "continental" men. This changes when they encounter Ricardo Montalban (Aykroyd), Fernando Lamas (Bill Murray) and Cesar Romero (Belushi). The men have one problem:None of them are sure which one is Ricardo, Fernando or Cesar!
"Weekend Update"
Jane Curtin reports on the day's top headlines, which include:
Fresh off his successful interview with former President Richard Nixon, David Frost announced plans to interview (deceased) Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson. Because "if people believe Nixon, they'll believe anything."
A film expert claimed that comedian David Brenner's face can be found on Mount Rushmore.
In sports, golfer Jack Nicklaus won the third annual Quaker Oats Invitational.
Curtin phones Emily Litella when Emily fails to show up to deliver her commentary. Litella's outgoing message tells Jane to "leave a message at the sound of the jeep."
PSA:"Black Educational Conference"
Boxer Duane Bobbick (voice of Tom Davis) narrates this PSA and says that Black men become boxers because environmental and societal conditions leave them no other path to success. The Black Educational Conference has "shown thousands of Black men that they do not have to resort to violence to prove their masculinity."
"Viva Las Vegas II"
In this "sequel," Elvis Presley (Belushi) plays a busboy who dreams of becoming a Shakespearean actor. After playing a scene from Hamlet, Elvis sings "Jailhouse Rock."
"Jailhouse Rock" was released September 24, 1957. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as the Country and Western and R&B charts.
Talk show:"Baba Wawa At Large"
Baba (Radner) interviews actor Richard Burton (Murray) about his recent divorce with Elizabeth Taylor. At one point, Burton uses his real voice, which he describes as a "Great Lakes/Midwestern" accent.
Home Movie:"Brides"
Filmmaker Sharon Sacks explores different wedding customs and poses the question:"why are men afraid of brides?" During the film, several brides sing "You Made Me Love You (You Didn't Have To Do It)."
The song was composed by James V. Monaco, with lyrics by Joseph McCarthy. "You Made Me Love You" was introduced by Al Jolson, who performed it in the 1913 Broadway review The Honeymoon Express.
"Bad Ballet"
Written by Tom Schiller.
Host Leonard Pinth-Garnell (Aykroyd) introduces a a "brilliantly bad" ballet titled Swan (not to be confused with Swan Lake).
Pinth-Garnell himself plays a poultry inspector in the ballet.
Movie:"Night Of The Moonies"
Two deprogrammers (Aykroyd, Garrett Morris) try to save a teenage girl (Duvall) from Rev. Sum Yung-Moon's Unification Church, AKA moonies. Unfortunately, Rev. Moon (Belushi) shows up and attempts to convert the deprogrammers into moonies.
Joan Armatrading:"Down to Zero"
The musical guest sings "Down to Zero," the leadoff track on Armatrading's self-titled album. It was released as a single but did not chart.
"Steakhouse"
Written by Marilyn Suzanne Miller.
At a steakhouse, a man (Aykroyd) and his wife (Duvall) argue about the amount of time and money the husband spends on his customizing his van while he refusing to buy her the soundtrack to A Star Is Born.
Goodnights:
Duvall appears at homebase and says "Bye, I really enjoyed it, thank you!" The cast joins her onstage and the credits roll.
Notes about this episode:
I should mention that this episode features one of the oddest cold openings I've ever seen on SNL. John Belushi delivers the "Live, from New York" opening on a monitor in the background of the opening sketch, while the sketch continues. The opening credits are also displayed the background.
Between "Continental Men" and "Weekend Update," the camera shows Chevy Chase seated in the studio audience.
Speaking of Chase, at the beginning of "Weekend Update," Jane Curtin is seen talking on the phone. She says "Oh, come on, give me a break. I mean, so the guy has his special — does that make him a star? Okay, yeah, granted the ratings were good but he followed Richard Pryor! Richard Pryor’s wonderful! Who’s gonna get up and turn the TV off when they’re laughing?" Curtin is referring to Chase's first TV special,
The Chevy Chase Show, which aired after a Richard Pryor special earlier that week.
John Belushi sings "Jailhouse Rock" in "Viva Las Vegas II." He later performed the song in the
Blues Brothers movie, which was released 1980.
The "Brides" home movie includes a brief appearance by actor/monologist
Spalding Gray.
Ephemera from this episode:
While researching this episode, I found this ad in the May 14, 1977 of Billboard that promotes Joan Armatrading's SNL appearance:
And this Sam Goody ad (published in the New York Times on 5/15/1977) also mentions her performance:
What stands out:"Video Vixens"-I enjoyed this rock n roll number from Duvall and "the girls," particularly the lyrics that reference their recurring characters:
Gilda Radner: Baba Wawa makes you feel so good!
Jane Curtin: “Update” makes you happy like I knew it would!
Laraine Newman: When I’m Sherry, you just want me to do it twice!
"Bad Ballet"-my favorite installment of "Bad" so far. The bad dancing is hilarious and Leonard Pinth Garnell's participation in the ballet kicks it up a notch from the
"Steak house"-this is another great "slice of life" semi-serious sketch that features excellent performances by from Duvall and Aykroyd.
What doesn't work:
During The Duane Bobbick PSA, Bobick says "a better-educated black man is a weaker opponent." I realize this fake ad is making a statement about poverty and how boxing is a way out of it for Black men, but that sentence hasn't aged well.
J.A. Morris' rating:
I enjoyed this episode and Duvall fits in pretty well with the Not Ready For Prime Time Players. The cold opening, "Video Vixens" and "Bad Ballet" make it worth watching and none of the other sketches are bad either.
3 stars.
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