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.
Michael O'Donoghue would tell children's bedtime stories with increasingly horrific, nightmarish twists. Debuted October 30, 1976.
In each appearance of this sketch, the moderator of the show would interrogate toy maker Irwin Mainway, played by Dan Aykroyd, while he defended his company's extremely dangerous products aimed at children. Toys included "Bag O' Glass", "Bag O' Vipers", "Bag O' Sulfuric Acid", "Mr. Skin Grafter", "Pretty Peggy's Ear Piercing Kit", "Doggy Dentist", "General Tranh's Secret Police Confession Kit", "Johnny Switchblade Adventure Punk", and "Teddy Chainsaw Bear". Halloween costumes included: a military outfit that included an actual working rifle ("very popular in Texas and Detroit!"); an entirely black and non-reflective uniform called "Invisible Pedestrian" (which had a warning on the package that read "NOT FOR BLIND KIDS"); an airtight plastic bag that was to be affixed over the head with a rubber band called "Johnny Space Commander Mask"; and an oil-soaked costume called "Johnny Human Torch", which came complete with an oversized lighter.
The first host of "Consumer Probe" was Candice Bergen (her character had no name), and then in four subsequent episodes, "Consumer Probe" (twice entitled "On The Spot") was hosted by Joan Face. Debuted December 11, 1976.
Season | Episode | Host | Title |
---|---|---|---|
2 | December 11, 1976 | Candice Bergen | Christmas Toys |
3 | October 29, 1977 | Charles Grodin | Halloween Costumes |
4 | October 14, 1978 | Fred Willard | School Lunches |
4 | December 9, 1978 | Eric Idle | Fashion Line |
4 | April 14, 1979 | Milton Berle | Amusement Park Rides |
The sketch was named the 8th best sketch by The 50 Best Sketches of All Time by nerve.com the third highest ranking sketch on Saturday Night Live after Coneheads at Home and Samurai Hotel. [1]
A Dan Aykroyd character, this maker of dangerous toys was repeatedly interrogated by the hosts of "Consumer Probe" and "On The Spot" during seasons two, three, and four.
Aykroyd would later appear as Mainway on an episode of the 90s sketch Bill Swerski's Superfans, presenting Michael Jordan merchandising which was also dangerous. Mainway was revealed in this sketch to be a cousin of Todd O'Conner, Chris Farley's character. He would also appear in a Judge Judy sketch.
Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, and Laraine Newman are a family of aliens stranded on Earth. Debuted January 15, 1977.
Season | Episode | Host | Title |
---|---|---|---|
2 | January 15, 1977 | Ralph Nader | The Coneheads at Home |
2 | February 26, 1977 | Steve Martin | The Coneheads at Home |
2 | March 26, 1977 | Jack Burns | The Farbers Meet The Coneheads |
2 | April 16, 1977 | Elliott Gould | The Coneheads At Home |
2 | May 21, 1977 | Buck Henry | Return Of The Coneheads |
3 | October 29, 1977 | Charles Grodin | Return Of The Coneheads |
3 | January 21, 1978 | Steve Martin | Family Feud |
3 | March 18, 1978 | Jill Clayburgh | The Coneheads On Earth |
3 | May 13, 1978 | Richard Dreyfuss | Cone Encounters Of The Third Kind |
4 | October 21, 1978 | Frank Zappa | The Coneheads At Home |
4 | February 24, 1979 | Kate Jackson | The Coneheads At The Movies |
Sleazy public-access television cable TV host E. Buzz Miller (Dan Aykroyd) made crude and lascivious remarks about otherwise commonplace subjects (such as fine art or exercise) to which his ditzy co-host Miss Christie Christina (Laraine Newman) would giggle and make obtuse responses. Debuted January 22, 1977.
Christie appeared once outside the cable TV show, in the Season 5, Episode 15 sketch "Assertiveness Training".
A Gilda Radner character from Long Island, coined as the "Jewish-American Princess". Debuted January 29, 1977.
Leonard Pinth-Garnell was a recurring character played by Dan Aykroyd. Pinth-Garnell, always clad in a tuxedo and black tie, would lugubriously introduce a short performance of "Bad Conceptual Theater", "Bad Playhouse", "Bad Cinema", "Bad Opera", "Bad Ballet", "Bad Red Chinese Ballet", or "Bad Cabaret for Children", and then exult in its sheer awfulness. Aykroyd played the character nine times from 1977 through 1979, and returned for a single appearance on November 3, 2001, introducing "Bad Conceptual Theater." (The show was hosted at least one time by Laraine Newman as Lady Pinth-Garnell.) Debuted March 12, 1977.
Pinth-Garnell was loosely based on the longtime PBS Masterpiece Theatre host Alistair Cooke.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2 | March 12, 1977 | Sissy Spacek | Bad Playhouse |
2 | April 9, 1977 | Julian Bond | Bad Cinema |
2 | May 14, 1977 | Shelley Duvall | Bad Ballet |
3 | October 8, 1977 | Madeline Kahn | Bad Opera |
3 | December 10, 1977 | Mary Kay Place | Bad Musical |
3 | March 18, 1978 | Jill Clayburgh | Bad One-Man Theater |
3 | May 20, 1978 | Buck Henry | Bad Conceptual Art |
4 | November 18, 1978 | Carrie Fisher | Bad Red Chinese Ballet |
4 | February 24, 1979 | Kate Jackson | Bad Cabaret for Children |
5 | January 26, 1980 | Teri Garr | Bad Playhouse (hosted by Lady Pinth-Garnell) |
27 | November 3, 2001 | John Goodman | Bad Conceptual Theater |
Nick The Lounge Singer was one of Bill Murray's most popular recurring characters during his tenure on SNL. The character was a typical 1970s lounge singer who sang current songs in a drawn-out, schmaltzy manner, and was typically accompanied by Paul Shaffer on piano. Nick always had a different 'seasonal' last name (i.e. Nick Summers, Nick Springs, etc.) or sometimes a surname more specific to the sketch (for instance, if he were performing at a prison, he would be "Nick Slammer") and, although he would perform at such unfortunate gigs as airport bars and dives, he would always sing his heart out. He would often take the popular songs of the time and change some of the lyrics to suit the occasion or the setting. In between songs, Nick would schmooze and joke with the audience, chiding them in a harmless showbiz fashion. In one episode, he spotted Linda Ronstadt (that episode's musical guest) in the audience and proceeded to sing a very uncomfortable and unamused Ronstadt a medley of her hits until her bodyguard (played by John Belushi) finally punches him.
In probably his most famous appearance, he sang the theme from Star Wars , adding his own lyrics ("Star Wars/Nothing but Star Wars/Give me those Star Wars/Don't let them end!") to the famous John Williams piece.
Nearly two decades after Nick debuted on SNL, a recurring skit called The Culp Family Musical Performances featuring Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer would gain popularity using the same basic format.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2 | April 16, 1977 | Elliott Gould | Nick Summers at Breezy Point Lodge |
3 | January 28, 1978 | Robert Klein | Nick Winters at the Powder Room |
3 | May 13, 1978 | Richard Dreyfuss | Nick Springs at the Honeymoon Room |
4 | November 11, 1978 | Buck Henry | Nick Sands on the Strip North; Bill Kreutzmann, drummer with the episode's musical guest Grateful Dead, appears in the sketch as a truck driver in the audience |
4 | February 10, 1979 | Cicely Tyson | Nick Rails on the Auto Train |
4 | May 19, 1979 | Maureen Stapleton | Nick Wings at TransEastern |
5 | November 3, 1979 | Bill Russell | Nick Borealis in the Arctic |
5 | February 23, 1980 | Kirk Douglas | Nick Collins at Greg's Bar Mitzvah |
5 | May 24, 1980 | Buck Henry | Nick Lava at Trader Nick's |
6 | March 7, 1981 | Bill Murray | Nick Rivers on the Mississippi |
12 | March 21, 1987 | Bill Murray | Nick Slammer in Prison |
Debbie Doody, played by Gilda Radner, is the widow of Howdy Doody, complete with strings attached to her arms. Debuted April 16, 1977.
Bill Murray plays Richard Herkiman, who at first appears to be taking his routine morning shower and imagining he is hosting a TV talk show. It soon becomes apparent that the TV program is real, as his TV "guests" enter the shower with him fully clothed. Debuted May 21, 1977.
Daniel Edward Aykroyd is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on Saturday Night Live (1975–1979). During his tenure on SNL, Aykroyd appeared in a recurring series of sketches about the Coneheads, and the Blues Brothers. For his work on the show he received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations winning for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in 1977. After his departure, he has since returned in guest roles.
Gilda Susan Radner was an American actress and comedian, and one of the seven original cast members of the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). In her routines, Radner specialized in parodies of television stereotypes, such as advice specialists and news anchors. In 1978, she 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.
Jane Therese Curtin is an American actress and comedian. First coming to prominence as an original cast member on the hit TV comedy series Saturday Night Live in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series on the 1980s sitcom Kate & Allie portraying the role of Allison "Allie" Lowell. Curtin later starred in the hit series 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001), playing the role of Dr. Mary Albright.
Laraine Newman is an American actress, writer and comedian. She was part of the original cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live. She took an interest at improv in high school. After graduating, she studied mime with Marcel Marceau for a year in Paris. She then moved to Los Angeles and became a founding member of comedy improvisational group The Groundlings.
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.
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.
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 doesn't 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.
The fifth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 13, 1979, and May 24, 1980.
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.
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.
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 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 7, 1978, and May 26, 1979, the fourth 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.
The Young Caucasians were a pop band from the Washington DC area.