...you won’t find too many bad eggs, but a few tasty cheeseburgers.
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NBC´s "Saturday Night Live" has been hitting airwaves for over three decades. The Lorne Michaels creation has been criticized for losing its humor and edge over the past thirty-three years and while many today that enjoyed the early years could not name more than two or three current members of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players," the first few seasons were chocked full of many very talented comedians who would go on to find very good careers outside of the variety, sketch comedy show. Among those that began as part of the original cast of actors, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner returned for the third season. They were joined by Tom Davis and Al Franken, whom were added during year two. For the third season, veteran funnyman Bill Murray joined the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players."
Some of the sketches visited during the third season were carryover characters from the first two seasons or introduced during the 1977-1978 season. The ´Wild and Crazy Guys´ Fustrunk Brothers featured Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin and appeared twice during the third season. Aykroyd and Bill Murray were the ´Ex-Police,´ two bad egg police officers who used their ex-police status for no good. The Weekend Update saw the first appearance by Al Franken´s Lester Crackfield and Don Novello´s Father Guido Sarducci. The familiar ´Point-Counterpoint´ between Aykroyd and Jane Curtin was also introduced during the third season. Of course, who can forget the yell of "Cheeburga! Cheeburga!" during the Olympia Café by John Belushi. However, the "Blues Brothers" of Aykroyd and Belushi are easily the more memorable new characters introduced during the third season.
A number of popular sketches made their return during the third season as well. The always-popular "Weekend Update" found Dan Aykroyd joining Jane Curtin at the Weekend Update desk as co-anchor. Chevy Chase attempted to steal back his old job during a sketch on the show he hosted. His well-loved ´Land Shark´ sketch made a return that week as well. Aykroyd and Curtin brought back their familiar ´Coneheads´ during the season; characters that were always funny on television, but bombed miserably on the big screen. Billy Murray lent his talents as Nick the Lounge Singer for a couple of episodes, including the iconic moment where Nick Winters sings "Star Wars." The sadly missed and incredibly talented John Belushi brought to life familiar characters such as Samurai Futaba and Steve Bushakis during the third season.
With Aykroyd, Belushi, Murray, Curtin and Radner on the card for the third season, SNL arguably had its best cast. Some could argue that Chevy Chase during the first season was an upgrade over Billy Murray, but I would argue against this as Murray was a far more varied and zany comedic actor that fit sketch comedy a little better than Chase did. Of course, most of this cast would stick together up until 1979, but I´ve always been of the mind that after Murray, Belushi and Aykroyd left SNL that things slowly went downhill. Sure, the likes of Eddie Murphy, Jon Lovitz, Dennis Miller, Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers and Victoria Jackson are all notable and Chris Rock, Will Ferrell, Rob Schneider, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler and David Spade are familiar to today´s audiences, the ´vintage´ crew was far edgier and funnier than anybody over the past two and a half decades.
This is a vintage season of "Saturday Night Live" and for fans of the show that would agree with me that the first five years were the ´Golden Years of SNL,´ then this is a set of twenty episodes that should entertain you tremendously. There were so many funny actors and wonderful sketches, that well over half the content of this season seems classic. The show was also not afraid to push the boundaries of taste a little further than today´s neutered-feeling episodes. Sex, drugs and race were more prevalent during the early years of SNL and the content was funny and edgy. I´ve always enjoyed the older episodes of SNL because they weren´t afraid of breaking taboo for laughs.
Episodes
Episode 1
Host: Steve Martin
Musical Guest: Jackson Browne
Airdate: 24Sep77
Episode 2
Host: Madeline Kahn
Musical Guest: Taj Mahal
Special Guest: Barry Humphries as Dame Edna
Airdate: 08Oct77
Episode 3
Host: Hugh Hefner
Musical Guest: Libby Titus
Airdate: 15Oct77
Episode 4
Host: Charles Grodin
Musical Guest: Paul Simon & the Persuasions
Airdate: 29Oct77
Episode 5
Host: Ray Charles
Special Guest: Franklyn Jaye
Airdate: 12Nov77
Episode 6
Host: Buck Henry
Musical Guest: Leon Redbone
Airdate: 19Nov77
Episode 7
Host: Mary Kay Place
Musical Guest: Willie Nelson
Airdate: 10Dec77
Episode 8
Host: Miskel Spillman
Musical Guest: Elvis Costello
Airdate: 17Dec77
Episode 9
Host: Steve Martin
Musical Guest: The Dirt Band, Randy Newman
Airdate: 21Jan78
Episode 10
Host: Robert Klein
Musical Guest: Bonnie Raitt
Airdate: 28Jan78
Episode 11
Host: Chevy Chase
Musical Guest: Billy Joel
Airdate: 18Feb78
Episode 12
Host: O.J. Simpson
Musical Guest: Ashford & Simpson
Airdate: 25Feb78
Episode 13
Host: Art Garfunkel
Musical Guest: Stephen Bishop
Airdate: 11Mar78
Episode 14
Host: Jill Clayburgh
Musical Guest: Eddie Money
Airdate: 18Mar78
Episode 15
Host: Christopher Lee
Musical Guest: Meat Loaf
Special Guest: Richard Belzer
Airdate: 25Mar78
Episode 16
Host: Michael Palin
Musical Guest: Eugene Record
Airdate: 08Apr78
Episode 17
Host: Michael Sarrazin
Musical Guest: Keith Jarrett & Gravity
Airdate: 15Apr78
Episode 18
Host: Steve Martin
Musical Guest: The Blues Brothers
Airdate: 22Apr78
Episode 19
Host: Richard Dreyfuss
Musical Guest: Jimmy Buffett & Gary Tigerman
Airdate: 13May78
Episode 20
Host: Buck Henry
Musical Guest: Sun Ra
Airdate: 20May78
Hosts:
Contrary to popular belief, Steve Martin was never a regular cast member on Saturday night live. Sure, it may seem that the ´wild and crazy guy´ was one of the SNL talent that used the show to catapult to fame, but Martin was only ever a host; and currently stands as the person who has hosted the show the most number of times with fourteen appearances. The third season of "Saturday Night Live" alone might be responsible for this misconception as Martin appeared as host three times in just one season and his ´singing pharaoh´ skit is one of the true classic moments featuring Martin during his hosting duties. His re-occurring character of a Festrunk Brother and Czechoslovakian swinger was another staple of the third year where he acted opposite of Dan Aykroyd. The three appearances during this third season featured some of the more unusual monologues, but his appearances are easily among the highlights of this third season.
The third season was filled with a solid collection of hosts in addition to Martin. Another popular reoccurring host, Buck Henry, appeared twice. Unfortunately, I found myself skipping both Henry-hosted episodes as I fell into a trap and nearly watched the entire season and had to put an end to my madness. Ray Charles served as the only host during the third season to perform as both host and musical guest. Actors Charles Grodin, Madeline Kahn, Richard Dreyfuss, Christopher Lee, Michael Palin and comedian Robert Klein were among the more familiar hosts, as well as Season One alumnus Chevy Chase. Out of the more familiar hosts, I found the veteran horror actor Lee and Monty Python member Palin as two of my favorite hosts aside from Chase and Martin. Playboy entrepreneur Hugh Hefner was quite funny as well and sports star O.J. Simpson handled hosting duties once.
A number of lesser-known folk also handled hosting duties during year three. Miskel Spillman is a name that I would venture a guess that nearly nobody remembers. Spillman was the winner of the ´Anyone Can Host´ contest that was advertised throughout the early part of the season and he was given her chance during Episode 8. Spillman´s episode was one of the edgier of the season with drug references and a bold song statement made by musical guest Elvis Costello. In addition to the funny old lady, an actress named Mary Kay Place helmed the Willie Nelson show. While Art Garfunkel is the other half of the musical duo Simon & Garfunkel, the singer didn´t have a very prominent career as an actor and he appears on the show in a non-musical role. Little known Jill Clayburgh and somebody named Michael Sarrazin also appear as guests. I didn´t watch the Sarrazin episode, so I´m not sure who this person is.
Musical Guests:
Part of the allure of "Saturday Night Live" is the musical performances. Artists typically perform two songs on the show. Many bands have become more prominent after appearing on the long-running television show and established artists use the skit-based show as a way of showcasing new singles and promoting new albums. The show does not just cater to the big stars. Many unfamiliar names have graced the late Saturday night airwaves and found their largest audience between the comedy skits of the ´Not Ready for Prime Time Players.´ Over the years, SNL has found an ability to attract the largest names in the business. The first two years were not nearly as strong as the third and far more ´superstars´ appeared on the show during its third year. Of course, the fourth year delivered an even larger collection of big names with the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, and Gary Busey singing, but this third year was an improvement over the previous season.
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