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.
A Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin sketch. The Festrunks, Yortuk (Aykroyd) and Georg (Martin), were two brothers who had emigrated from Czechoslovakia to the United States. Culturally inept, they went to various social hangouts (bars, art exhibits, dance clubs) in an attempt to connect with attractive American women ("foxes"). Their obnoxious behavior was almost always a turn off for the women they approached. They were often referred to by their catchphrase "We are, two wild and crazy guys!!" Debuted September 24, 1977. In the sketch, they meet two women, Jane Curtin and Gilda Radner, playing ping pong in the basement of their apartment building.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
3 | September 24, 1977 | Steve Martin | |
3 | January 21, 1978 | Steve Martin | |
3 | April 22, 1978 | Steve Martin | |
4 | November 4, 1978 | Steve Martin | |
24 | September 26, 1998 | Cameron Diaz | Roxbury Guys sketch |
38 | March 9, 2013 | Justin Timberlake | Dating Game Show |
SNL writing partners Al Franken and Tom Davis hosted their own segment on which they would appear onstage as a comedy team similar to Rowan and Martin, with Davis generally as the straight man and Franken as his self-obsessed, sometimes dimwitted sidekick. They would also perform skits within the context of the segment. The Franken and Davis Show was often a late addition to the broadcast as a time filler if the show was running short. Their best-known skit consisted of Davis appearing in normal dress, while Franken appeared in a flowing garment, with a shaved head and a pony tail and announced he was becoming a Hare Krishna. Davis responded by cutting off the ponytail, angering Franken who said, "Now people will think I'm a Buddhist!" Debuted September 24, 1977.
Aside from The Franken and Davis Show, the two have made several appearances, either separately or as a team, in many SNL sketches throughout the years. They also appear together in the film Trading Places as a pair of bumbling baggage handlers. Al Franken later hosted his own talk show on which Tom Davis has made numerous appearances. Franken, who in 2009 became a U.S. Senator from Minnesota, is probably best known as a performer for his character Stuart Smalley, and for his on-air proposal at the end of the 1970s that the 1980s be known as "The Al Franken Decade."
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
3 | September 24, 1977 | Steve Martin | |
3 | November 19, 1977 | Buck Henry | |
3 | December 17, 1977 | Miskel Spillman | |
3 | February 25, 1978 | O. J. Simpson | |
3 | May 20, 1978 | Buck Henry | |
4 | October 21, 1978 | Frank Zappa | |
4 | January 21, 1979 | Michael Palin | |
4 | March 17, 1979 | Margot Kidder | |
4 | May 26, 1979 | Buck Henry | |
5 | April 5, 1980 | Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss |
Joe and his ex-partner Bob (Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray) are two cops that were kicked off the force (apparently for being intrusive bigots) that harass the people that live in their apartment building for not living up to their arch-conservative standards (a man and a woman living together without being married, an allegedly lesbian couple, etc.) with disastrous results. Debuted October 15, 1977.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
3 | October 15, 1977 | Hugh Hefner | |
3 | January 28, 1978 | Robert Klein | |
4 | February 10, 1979 | Cicely Tyson |
A Gilda Radner character. Judy Miller is a highly energetic school girl playing by herself, pretending she is hosting her own variety talk show. Debuted October 29, 1977.
A Jane Curtin character, a talk show host and moderator. She hosted four of the five "Consumer Probe" and "On The Spot" sketches, three of the four "What If?" sketches (once billed as "Joan Cage"), the two "More Things to Worry About" sketches with Buck Henry, "Not For Transsexuals Only", and "Heavy Sarcasm". Debuted October 29, 1977, in "Consumer Probe" opposite Irwin Mainway.
A Gilda Radner character offering brash, tactless opinions on Weekend Update. Debuted October 29, 1977 in a fake commercial called "Hire The Incompetent", where she protested being fired from a fast food restaurant because her hair kept falling into the hamburgers on a grill.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
3 | January 21, 1978 | Steve Martin | |
3 | January 28, 1978 | Robert Klein | |
3 | February 25, 1978 | O. J. Simpson | |
3 | March 18, 1978 | Jill Clayburgh | |
3 | April 15, 1978 | Michael Sarrazin | |
3 | May 13, 1978 | Richard Dreyfuss | |
4 | October 7, 1978 | The Rolling Stones | |
4 | November 18, 1978 | Carrie Fisher | |
4 | December 16, 1978 | Elliott Gould | |
4 | February 24, 1979 | Kate Jackson | |
4 | April 7, 1979 | Richard Benjamin | |
4 | May 26, 1979 | Buck Henry | |
5 | October 20, 1979 | Eric Idle | |
5 | December 22, 1979 | Ted Knight | |
5 | March 15, 1980 | none | |
5 | May 24, 1980 | Buck Henry |
A talk show sendup that dramatized counterfactual historical situations. Debuted January 21, 1978.
John Belushi is the Greek chef of a greasy spoon diner. Debuted January 28, 1978.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
3 | January 28, 1978 | Robert Klein | |
3 | March 18, 1978 | Jill Clayburgh | |
3 | May 20, 1978 | Buck Henry | |
4 | October 7, 1978 | The Rolling Stones | |
4 | December 2, 1978 | Walter Matthau | |
4 | May 26, 1979 | Buck Henry |
Gilda Radner is Lisa Loopner; Bill Murray is Todd DiLaMuca; Jane Curtin is Lisa's mother. Debuted January 28, 1978.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
3 | January 28, 1978 | Robert Klein | Nerd Rock |
3 | March 11, 1978 | Art Garfunkel | Looks at Books |
3 | April 8, 1978 | Michael Palin | Music Lesson |
3 | April 22, 1978 | Steve Martin | Science Fair |
3 | May 20, 1978 | Buck Henry | Prom Night |
4 | October 7, 1978 | The Rolling Stones | The Norge (Repairman) |
4 | November 4, 1978 | Steve Martin | Lisa at the Hospital |
4 | January 27, 1979 | Michael Palin | Another Music Lesson |
4 | February 24, 1979 | Kate Jackson | Nerds and the Nurse |
4 | April 7, 1979 | Richard Benjamin | Nerds and Milt |
5 | November 10, 1979 | Buck Henry | Matchmaker Nerds |
5 | December 22, 1979 | Ted Knight | Nativity Scene |
5 | March 15, 1980 | none | Todd's Campaign |
Al Franken is a coal miner. Debuted February 18, 1978.
A Weekend Update segment, parodying a feature of 60 Minutes , in which Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin debate a current events topic. Aykroyd's argument typically begins with "Jane, you ignorant slut." Debuted March 25, 1978.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
3 | March 25, 1978 | Christopher Lee | |
3 | April 15, 1978 | Michael Sarrazin | |
3 | April 22, 1978 | Steve Martin | |
3 | May 20, 1978 | Buck Henry | |
4 | October 7, 1978 | The Rolling Stones | with Bill Murray |
4 | October 21, 1978 | Frank Zappa | |
4 | November 11, 1978 | Buck Henry | |
4 | December 16, 1978 | Elliott Gould | |
4 | February 17, 1979 | Ricky Nelson | |
4 | March 17, 1979 | Margot Kidder | |
4 | May 19, 1979 | Maureen Stapleton |
Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi are an American blues and soul revivalist band. Debuted April 22, 1978.
A Steve Martin sketch. Debuted April 22, 1978.
Don Novello plays a chain-smoking, gossiping priest. Debuted May 13, 1978.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
3 | May 13, 1978 | Richard Dreyfuss | "Special Guest" Appearance |
4 | October 21, 1978 | Frank Zappa | |
4 | November 18, 1978 | Carrie Fisher | |
4 | December 9, 1978 | Eric Idle | |
4 | January 27, 1979 | Michael Palin | |
4 | February 24, 1979 | Kate Jackson | |
4 | March 17, 1979 | Margot Kidder | |
4 | May 12, 1979 | Michael Palin | |
5 | October 13, 1979 | Steve Martin | |
5 | November 10, 1979 | Buck Henry | |
5 | December 15, 1979 | Martin Sheen | |
5 | January 26, 1980 | Teri Garr | |
5 | February 16, 1980 | Elliott Gould | Outside Richard Nixon's New York Apartment |
5 | March 8, 1980 | Rodney Dangerfield | |
5 | April 12, 1980 | Burt Reynolds | |
5 | May 17, 1980 | Steve Martin | Live from London with Paul McCartney |
7 | December 12, 1981 | Bill Murray | |
9 | January 14, 1984 | Father Guido Sarducci | |
9 | May 12, 1984 | Ed Koch, Betty Thomas, Father Guido Sarducci, Edwin Newman, Billy Crystal | |
11 | November 9, 1985 | Madonna | |
11 | November 23, 1985 | Pee-wee Herman | |
11 | December 21, 1985 | Teri Garr | |
11 | May 24, 1986 | Anjelica Huston, Billy Martin | |
18 | February 20, 1993 | Bill Murray | |
21 | October 7, 1995 | Chevy Chase |
Gilda Susan Radner was an American actress and comedian. She 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.
Jane Therese Curtin is an American actress and comedian.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 October 7, 1978, and May 26, 1979, the fourth season of SNL.
"A Limo for a Lame-O" is a commentary delivered by Al Franken during Weekend Update on the May 10, 1980, episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL). Using the framework of his own desire to have a limousine drive him to and from his job at NBC, the network which broadcasts the program, Franken attacked network president Fred Silverman for NBC's poor showing in the Nielsen ratings during his tenure. It has been called "one of the meanest acts of character assassination in—well, the history of mean acts of character assassination."
"Saturday Night Live 15th Anniversary Special" is a 2 1/2 hour prime-time special that aired on September 24, 1989, on NBC, celebrating Saturday Night Live's 15th year on the air, having premiered on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. SNL has since had two more specials celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 1998 and 40th Anniversary in 2014.
The Young Caucasians were a pop band from the Washington DC area.
Saturday Night is an upcoming American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman, who co-wrote it with Gil Kenan, with both also co-producing it alongside Jason Blumenfeld and Peter Rice. The film stars an ensemble cast that includes Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O'Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J. K. Simmons.