TV Flashback: Saturday Night Live (The early years)

What TV show had me running through the halls of my Junior High School, wearing gold chains, hideous shirts, yelling in a nearly unrecognizable Eastern-European accent… “I’m looking for the Foxes…with their big American Breasts!…..”?

Yep, Saturday Night Live!….

Saturday Night Live was THE show when I was a kid that required I act like a Saint and do all my chores without argument through the course of the week, so that my kindly parents would be gracious enough to let me stay up on watch Saturday Night Live on TV. We lived on the West Coast at the time and the show did not even come on until 11:30pm which was supposedly AFTER my usual bedtime.

Thankfully, my parents let me watch the show.

Saturday Night Live premiered in October of 1975.

At that time, it was known simply as “NBC’s Saturday Night“.

This late-night sketch and variety show featured a cast of then virtual unknown comedic actors. Looking back, these amazingly talented performers are now all icons of comedy.

The cast was originally known as the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players“

Chevy Chase
John Belushi
Dan Aykroyd
Gilda Radner
Garrett Morris
Laraine Newman
Jane Curtin

For the 10 years prior to the debut of “Saturday Night Live“, NBC had been showing “The Best of Carson“, a highlight show of the best of the “Tonight Show with Johnny Carson”.

The show premiered on October 11th, 1975 and was hosted by George Carlin.

“NBC’s Saturday Night” was changed to “Saturday Night Live” in March of 1977.

The show was originally just planned to run for 6 episodes only. It has been on the air now for nearly 35 years.

The musical guests on the first episode were Billy Preston and Janis Ian.

Jim Henson created new “Adult” Muppets that appeared in every episode of the first season. They were so unpopular with fans and the writers that they were not used started with season two.

Candice Bergen was the first female guest host of the show.

Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Dan Aykroyd all won Emmy Awards for their writing on the show.

Up and coming Comic Steve Martin was a frequent guest host, helping to launch his career into super-stardom.

The show was voted #10 in TV Guide’s list of the Top TV shows of All-Time.

Due to the success of his “Weekend Update” weekly sketches, Chevy Chase became the first breakout star of Saturday Night Live.

Chase never got along with the cast, or with Producer Lorne Michaels, and decided he wanted to branch out into films. He left SNL early in the second season.

His permanent slot on the show was taken by then unknown Bill Murray.

Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi’s fictional blues duo “The Blues Brothers” debuted as a musical guest on the show in April of 1978. They would go on to make “The Blues Brothers” movie in 1980.

Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi would stay with the show through the first four seasons before both would leave to pursue full-time careers in films.

The early years featured recurring sketches that still remain comedy classics to this day.

“Two Wild and Crazy Guys!” – Dan Aykroyd and guest host Steve Martin

“Lisa Loopner and Todd” – Gilda Radner and Bill Murray

“The Killer Bees” – Involving most of the cast.

“The Coneheads” – Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman

“Jane you ignorant slut!” – Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd

“Samurai Night Fever” – John Belushi

“Roseanne Rosannadanna” – Gilda Radner

I could go on and on….. hundreds of these sketches are now comedy classics.

By 1980 and the end of Season Five, all the original greats had left the show.

Many of the biggest names in comedy today have come through the ranks as castmembers of Saturday Night Live. The list is endless….

Eddie Murphy
Will Ferrell
Mike Myers
Dana Carvey
Tina Fey
Billy Crystal
Martin Short
Jimmy Fallon
Dennis Miller
Kristin Wiigthe list goes on and on…

While the show still has it’s funny moments today, I still think it pales in comparison to how truly great the show was back in the mid and late 1970′s. The early years were pure comic gold!

Garrett Morris is now 74 years old. He went on to a successfull career in television and films after SNL. He was generally unhappy during his time on the show and felt that he was only given small stereotypical “black” roles on the show and was not permitted to be a featured performer like his castmates.

Laraine Newman is now 59 years old. She went to be successful character actress in films and television and is also a successful writer. She is now an occasional contributor on The Huffington Post website.

Dan Aykroyd is now 59 years old. He has had a hugely successful career in movies and on television since leaving SNL. He also branched out and became a successful screenwriter, winemaker, and musician. A native of Ottawa, Ontario.. he is one of the most successful Canadian entertainers in entertainment history.

Jane Curtin is now 64 years old. She went on to a highly successful career on television, starring in series such as “Kate and Ally” and “Third Rock from the Sun”. She has also appeared in a number of films, including the film version of “Coneheads” with Dan Aykroyd.

Bill Murray is now 61 years old and is a highly respected film actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2003 film “Lost in Translation”. With films to his credit such as Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Quick Change, Kingpin, What about Bob?, and many others….he is one of our great comedic actors.

Chevy Chase is now 67 years old. He left SNL and found immediate success in films such as Foul Play, Seem’s like old times, Fletch, Caddyshack, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Three Amigos!, and many others. He can currently be seen on the NBC sitcom “Community”.

With appearances in films such as “1941″, “Animal House”, “Neighbors”, and “The Blues Brothers”, John Belushi was on the brink of major movie stardom when died of a drug overdose in 1982. He was just 33 years old.

Gilda Radner was the first stand-out female performer on Saturday Night Live. She won an Emmy Award for her work on the show in 1978. She starred in a number of films with actor Gene Wilder whom she married in 1984. She died of Ovarian Cancer in 1989 at the age of 42.