Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1978–79

Last updated

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between October 7, 1978, and May 26, 1979, the fourth season of SNL.

Contents

Honker the Homeless Man

A Bill Murray sketch. Debuted October 14, 1978.

Appearances
SeasonEpisodeHost
4 October 14, 1978 Fred Willard
4 December 16, 1978 Elliott Gould
4 March 10, 1979 Gary Busey
5 November 10, 1979 Buck Henry
5 March 15, 1980none
7 December 12, 1981 Bill Murray
12 March 21, 1987 Bill Murray
18 February 20, 1993 Bill Murray

At the Mall

Debuted October 14, 1978.

This sketch satirized the trend of suburban shopping malls sucking the life out of American cities.

Appearances
SeasonEpisodeHostLocation
4 October 14, 1978 Fred Willard Scotch Boutique
4 February 17, 1979 Ricky Nelson D&R Men's Hairstylists
4 May 19, 1979 Maureen Stapleton Candy Store
5 November 3, 1979 Bill Russell Barry White's Big and Tall That's All

Woman to Woman

A talk show sendup where feminist Connie Carson (Gilda Radner) speaks with professional women about their careers. Debuted October 21, 1978.

Appearances
SeasonEpisodeHostCarson's guest
4 October 21, 1978 Frank Zappa Mrs. Post (Jane Curtin)
4 December 2, 1978 Walter Matthau Vanessa Lake (Laraine Newman)
5 November 17, 1979 Bea Arthur Rosemary O'Connell (Bea Arthur)

Uncle Roy

A Buck Henry sketch; made two appearances in season 4 and one in season 5. Debuted November 11, 1978.

Appearances
SeasonEpisode
4 November 11, 1978
4 May 26, 1979
5 May 24, 1980

St. Mickey's Knights of Columbus

A small series of sketches set in the "spaghetti dinner" meetings of a Knights of Columbus lodge. Each sketch involves a prize being given to someone ironically in absentia and ends with a traditional song that only the least expected person remembers the words to. Debuted November 11, 1978.

Appearances
SeasonEpisodeHost
4 November 11, 1978 Buck Henry
4 December 16, 1978 Elliott Gould
4 March 17, 1979 Margot Kidder

Chico Escuela

Chico Escuela (literal translation: "Boy School", but more likely "Little School," as Chico means small or little when used as an adjective - essentially little education), played by Garrett Morris, was the Weekend Update sports correspondent. A retired Hispanic ballplayer with limited command of the English language, he wrote the tell-all book Bad Stuff 'Bout the Mets ("Ed Kranepool - he once borrow Chico's soap and no give it back"). The character was first introduced in a St. Mickey's Knights of Columbus sketch, but subsequently Escuela appeared solely on Update.

Typically he would be introduced by Jane Curtin, thus compelling him to say, "Thank you, Hane!" Soon would follow his standard catchphrase: "Beisbol been berry, berry good to me!" In spring training of 1979, Chico's unsuccessful comeback attempt was documented on several Update segments.

The segments were actually filmed at the Miller Huggins Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Sammy Sosa, at the peak of his stardom in the late 1990s, would sometimes repeat Chico's catchphrase as a joke to the media, albeit in his true-to-life strong Hispanic accent. [1]

Appearances
SeasonEpisodeHostNotes
4 December 9, 1978 Eric Idle
4 January 27, 1979 Michael Palin
4 February 17, 1979 Ricky Nelson
4 April 7, 1979 Richard Benjamin Chico's Comeback (part 1 of 3)
4 April 14, 1979 Milton Berle Chico's Comeback (part 2 of 3)
4 May 12, 1979 Michael Palin Chico's Comeback (part 3 of 3)
5 December 8, 1979 Howard Hesseman
5 April 19, 1980 Strother Martin
5 May 24, 1980 Buck Henry

Telepsychic

Telepsychic was a sketch that only appeared twice, and opened the show both times. featuring Dan Aykroyd as Ray, a pseudopsychic with his own TV show. For the character, Aykroyd wore a blonde wig and tinted sunglasses, and sat behind a desk with five telephones on it. Callers asked for advice about personal issues, and his flippant delivery and outrageous suggestions while answering phones are indicative that he was a fraud. In response to a series of questions that involved time spans, his answer for each was, "Ohhhh... about a month."

Episodes featuring Telepsychic

Candy Slice

Candy Slice was a character played by Gilda Radner on Saturday Night Live . An intense but troubled rock and roll artist, Candy Slice recorded a track for an album in a sketch on December 9, 1978, in an installment Eric Idle hosted, the song being "If You Look Close (You Can See My Tits)." [2]

She also performed in the Rock Against Yeast sketch on February 17, 1979, while Ricky Nelson was hosting. [3] Her song was dedicated to Mick Jagger and was about how Candy Slice was his "biggest funked-up fan". Other musician impressions in the sketch included Olivia Newton-John (Laraine Newman), Bob Marley (Garrett Morris) and Dolly Parton (Jane Curtin).

Candy Slice was based loosely on punk rock pioneer Patti Smith. [4]

Episodes featuring Candy Slice

The Widettes

A Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, and Gilda Radner sketch. Debuted December 16, 1978.

Appearances
SeasonEpisodeHost
4 December 16, 1978 Elliott Gould
4 February 10, 1979 Cicely Tyson
4 April 14, 1979 Milton Berle

Miles Cowperthwaite

A Michael Palin sketch. Debuted January 27, 1979. The second appearance aired on May 12, 1979.

Dick Lanky

A Bill Murray sketch. Debuted February 17, 1979.

Rosa Santangelo

A Gilda Radner character, who appeared in three sketches over seasons 4 and 5. Debuted May 19, 1979…….

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilda Radner</span> American actress and comedian (1946–1989)

Gilda Susan Radner was an American actress, comedian, writer, and singer. Radner was one of the seven original cast members of the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from its inception in 1975 until her departure in 1980. In her routines on SNL, she specialized in parodies of television stereotypes, such as advice specialists and news anchors. In 1978, Radner won an Emmy Award for her performances on the show. She also portrayed those characters in her highly successful one-woman show on Broadway in 1979. Radner's SNL work established her as an iconic figure in the history of American comedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Curtin</span> American actress and comedian

Jane Therese Curtin is an American actress and comedian.

<i>Weekend Update</i> Saturday Night Live parody newscast

Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance. Historically, one or two of the players are cast in the role of news anchor, presenting gag news items based on current events and acting as hosts for occasional editorials, commentaries, or other performances by other cast members or guests. In modern times, dedicated anchors are chosen among writing staff, often lead writers, in lieu of cast or featured players. Chevy Chase has said that Weekend Update – which he started as anchor in 1975 – paved the way for comedic news shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Litella</span> Fictional character

Emily Litella is a fictional character created and performed by comedian Gilda Radner in a series of appearances on Saturday Night Live. Based on a person in her early life, Emily Litella was a popular character in Radner's comedy repertoire.

Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live sketches, organized alphabetically by title. The referenced date is the date when the sketch first appeared.

The Coneheads are a fictional family of extraterrestrials with bald conical heads, created for a series of recurring sketches on Saturday Night Live (SNL). They first appeared on the January 15, 1977 episode hosted by Ralph Nader. They are portrayed by Dan Aykroyd as father Beldar, Jane Curtin as mother Prymaat, and Laraine Newman as daughter Connie. In 1993, they appeared in a feature film with Michelle Burke substituted as Connie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roseanne Roseannadanna</span> "Saturday Night Live" character created and portrayed by Gilda Radner

Roseanne Roseannadanna is a character created and portrayed by Gilda Radner on Weekend Update in the early seasons of Saturday Night Live (SNL). She was the segment's consumer affairs reporter who, like an earlier Radner character Emily Litella, editorialized on current issues, only to go off-topic before being interrupted by the anchor. Unlike Litella's meek and apologetic character, Roseannadanna was brash and tactless. The character was based on Rose Ann Scamardella, a former anchorwoman on WABC-TV's Eyewitness News in New York City. The character also appeared later in Radner's live one-woman shows.

Weekend Update has been a platform for Saturday Night Live characters to grow and gain popularity ever since Gilda Radner used it to create Emily Litella and Roseanne Roseannadanna. Many cast members have used Update as the primary vehicle for a certain character. Don Novello was featured almost exclusively on the news segment as his breakout character, Father Guido Sarducci, and Tim Kazurinsky, in the face of Eddie Murphy's overshadowing popularity, created characters almost exclusively for Update. Before becoming an anchor on Update, Colin Quinn used the segment as his main sounding board as well.

Saturday Night Live has long mocked the television medium with many fake commercials and parodies of TV shows themselves. Another of the show's frequently used styles of recurring sketches has been the talk show format. However, anything from cop shows to children's shows has been fair game for the ever-changing cast.

The Land Shark was a recurring character from the sketch comedy television series Saturday Night Live.

The Olympia Café was a fictional greasy spoon featured in a recurring Saturday Night Live sketch. The staff, led by John Belushi as Pete Dionisopoulos, were Greeks. Staff also included Bill Murray as Nico, a busboy who does not speak English, Dan Aykroyd as short-order cook George, and Sandy, a waitress played by Laraine Newman. Series regulars Garrett Morris, Gilda Radner, and Jane Curtin had recurring roles as regular customers.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> (season 4) Season of television series

The fourth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 7, 1978, and May 26, 1979.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> (season 2) Season of television series

The second season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC from September 18, 1976 to May 21, 1977.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> (season 1) Season of television series

The first season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC from October 11, 1975, to July 31, 1976. The show served as a vehicle that launched to stardom the careers of a number of major comedians and actors, including Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Dan Aykroyd.

Rosie Shuster is a Canadian-born comedy writer and actress. She was a writer for Saturday Night Live during the 1970s and 1980s.

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 18, 1976, and May 21, 1977, the second season of SNL.

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 24, 1977, and May 20, 1978, the third season of SNL.

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between October 13, 1979, and May 24, 1980, the fifth season of SNL.

References

  1. Quinn, T.J. (October 10, 2004). "THE RISE & FALL OF SAMMY SOSA Cubs slugger goes from baseball's savior to Windy City villian[sic]". Daily News (New York) . Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  2. SNL Transcripts: Eric Idle: 12/09/78: Candy Slice Recording Session
  3. SNL Transcripts: Rick Nelson: 02/17/79: Rock Against Yeast '79
  4. Patti Smith blazes the comeback trail
Preceded by
Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1977–1978
Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches (listed chronologically) Succeeded by
Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1979–1980