 | It has been requested that the title of this article be changed to List of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced during season 4 . Please see the relevant discussion. The page should not be moved unless the discussion is closed; summarizing the consensus achieved in support of the move. |
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 Bill Murray sketch. Debuted October 14, 1978.
| Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | October 14, 1978 | Fred Willard | |
| 4 | December 16, 1978 | Elliott Gould | |
| 4 | March 10, 1979 | Gary Busey | Perchance to Dream |
| 5 | November 10, 1979 | Buck Henry | |
| 5 | March 15, 1980 | none | |
| 7 | December 12, 1981 | Bill Murray | |
| 12 | March 21, 1987 | Bill Murray | |
| 18 | February 20, 1993 | Bill Murray |
Debuted October 14, 1978.
This sketch satirized the trend of suburban shopping malls sucking the life out of American cities.
| Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
A talk show sendup where feminist Connie Carson (Gilda Radner) speaks with professional women about their careers. Debuted October 21, 1978.
| Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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) |
A Buck Henry sketch; made two appearances in season 4 and one in season 5. Debuted November 11, 1978.
| Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | November 11, 1978 | Buck Henry | |
| 4 | May 26, 1979 | Buck Henry | |
| 5 | May 24, 1980 | Buck Henry |
A small series of sketches centered around 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.
| Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | November 11, 1978 | Buck Henry | |
| 4 | December 16, 1978 | Elliott Gould | |
| 4 | March 17, 1979 | Margot Kidder |
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 (sample: "Ed Kranepool - he once borrow Chico's soap and no give it back"; "Yogi Berra - berry berry bad card player"). In spring training of 1979, Chico's unsuccessful comeback attempt was documented on several Update segments. 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!" Sammy Sosa, at the peak of his stardom in the late 1990s, would sometimes repeat that line as a joke, to the media, albeit in his true-to-life strong Hispanic accent. [1]
The episodes were actually filmed at the Miller-Huggins Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
| Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 was a recurring sketch 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. By calling 555-1231, 555-1232, 555-1233, 555-1234, or 555-1235, callers (voices of other members of the cast) asked for advice about personal issues. His flippant delivery and outrageous suggestions while answering phones are indicative that he was nothing but a fraud. In response to a series of questions that involved time spans, his answer for each was, "Ohhhh...about a month."
There were two Telepsychic sketches, which opened the show both times.
Candy Slice was a character played by Gilda Radner on Saturday Night Live . An intense but troubled rock and roll artist, Candy Slice recorded an album in a sketch on December 9, 1978, in an installment Eric Idle hosted. [2]
She also performed in the Rock Against Yeast on February 17, 1979, while Ricky Nelson was hosting. [3] Her song was dedicated to Mick Jagger and was solely about how Candy Slice was his "biggest funked-up fan". In that sketch, she also hobnobbed with the likes of Olivia Newton-John (Laraine Newman), Bob Marley (Garrett Morris) and Dolly Parton (Jane Curtin).
Slice's act consisted of two songs: the punkish "If You Look Close (You Can See My Tits)," and her musical homage to the Rolling Stones, "Gimme Mick," which concluded with "rock me 'n' roll me 'til I'm sick." At this point, Slice would belch into the microphone and pass out onstage, thus ending her set.
Candy Slice was based loosely on punk rock pioneer Patti Smith. [4]
A Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin and Gilda Radner sketch. Debuted December 16, 1978.
| Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | December 16, 1978 | Elliott Gould | |
| 4 | February 10, 1979 | Cicely Tyson | |
| 4 | April 14, 1979 | Milton Berle |
A Michael Palin sketch. Debuted January 27, 1979.
A Bill Murray sketch. Debuted February 17, 1979.
A Gilda Radner character, who appeared in three sketches over seasons 4 and 5. Debuted May 19, 1979.
Gilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress who was one of the seven original cast members for 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, and in 1977, 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.
Jane Therese Curtin is an American actress and comedian. She is sometimes referred to as "Queen of the Deadpan"; The Philadelphia Inquirer once called her a "refreshing drop of acid." She was included on a 1986 list of the "Top Prime Time Actors and Actresses of All Time."
Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch and fictional 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. 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. 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.
All You Need Is Cash is a 1978 television film that traces the career of a fictitious English rock group called the Rutles. As TV Guide described it, the group's resemblance to the Beatles is "purely – and satirically – intentional".
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.
Roseanne Roseannadanna is one of several recurring characters 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.
Thomas James "Tom" Davis was an American writer, comedian, and author. He is best known for his comedy partnership with Al Franken, as half of the comedy duo "Franken & Davis" on the Saturday Night Live television show on NBC.
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 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.
This is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between October 11, 1975 and July 31, 1976, the first season of SNL:
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.
The Young Caucasians were a pop band from the Washington DC area.