Tag Archives: Saturday Night Live

SNL Season 1 Episode 5 [1975)

For all those who think Saturday Night Live became less funny over the years (in general, it probably did) this episode is proof that the OG crew was capable of some titanic clunkers.

I didn’t know much of Robert Klein coming into this episode (he is the host), but I was initially impressed with his multi-dimensional wit.  His first monologue is quite good, but gradually his presence on the show wears quite thin indeed.  [Thin as the bathrobe in his goodnight signoff.]

It may not all have been Klein’s fault.  Take for instance ABBA’s “performance” on the show.

I must first preface by saying that ABBA is absolutely the highlight of this episode.  Klein is actually involved in both ABBA numbers.  His presence is really disrespectful towards the musical performers.  Again, maybe it wasn’t his idea to ham up their chance to shine, but it’s an unfortunate bit of fat which should have been trimmed.

To their credit, ABBA are good-natured about the whole thing.  Their first number “S.O.S.” is really a revelation!  Agnetha Fältskog is such a star on the camera (and a great voice).  We learn later (from subtitles) that ABBA was lipsyncing because their vocalless backing tracks failed to arrive from Sweden.  Even so, Benny Andersson is great on the piano and Björn Ulvaeus has a great rocking vibe on the guitar.  After all that, we can’t leave out the dancing contribution of Frida Lyngstad.

It may seem cheesy, but ABBA’s positive music really brought a smile for me.  Seeing them perform made me understand them a bit more.  Also, we must remember that lipsyncing was not unusual on Top of the Pops-style shows of this period (so we shouldn’t judge them too harshly).

That (ABBA), unfortunately, is the best part of this episode.

Laraine Newman is beautiful and hilarious as always, but she doesn’t get a lot of backup this time out.  Her opening skit with Chevy Chase spoofing the Miss America pageant is really quite funny.  [Which reminds me that I forgot to mention an earlier classic bit she did a couple of episodes back as Squeaky Fromme.  That was genius!]

Loudon Wainwright III is really underwhelming in his two short numbers.  I hate to say that.  I wish it wasn’t true.  It’s obvious he has talent.  Maybe it was the repertoire?  Neither of his songs really spoke to me.  It was as bad as a one-man Ween cover band.

Robert Klein proved he didn’t have a tin ear in his musical number “I Can’t Stop My Leg,” but that’s about all he proved.  His presence on the show (to extend the earlier metaphor) was threadbare by that point.

Perhaps SNL just wasn’t the right setting for Klein.  He has a ton of talent…  Maybe it was the whole “live” thing?  Klein really is the first person on this show (five episodes in) to mention that the whole thing is live.  As a performer myself, I know that that makes a BIG difference!

It’s like, “Prepare to be funny in:  5, 4, 3, 2, and commence funniness.”  It’s really not conducive to eased nerves.

Anyway, I don’t know what the problem was with this dud episode.

All of that said, see it (if for no other reason than) for ABBA!

 

-PD

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Taxi “Like Father, Like Daughter” [1978)

For those of us who, like me, can’t get enough of Andy Kaufman there is (mercifully) Taxi.

In my readings about Andy it came to my attention that Kaufman didn’t particularly like being on the show.

I can see where he was coming from (I think).  The show must have felt awfully restrictive for such a vast personality like him.

But this is where America at large got to know Andy Kaufman.  Taxi.  And so we shall start (or continue) here.

Andy’s appearances on Saturday Night Live (from its very inception) were inspiring performances which predated his new steady gig as Latka Gravas on Taxi by about three years.

But let’s let everyone get into the act here.

Judd Hirsch:  What a presence!  This guy…  You just immediately like him.  He’s unassuming.  He has a kind face–kind mannerisms.  And so he is, somewhat like Jerry Seinfeld on Seinfeld, the focal point of the show.  Kaufman might be the star for weirdos like me, but Hirsch was no doubt the star for the masses.  What an impressive acting job in this the pilot episode!

Danny DeVito:  Still going strong…the little man in the cage was a classic in his day.  What vigor!  What vitriol!  Yeah, it gave the nation (America) a little taste of New York City life.  Five-feet-tall in platform shoes and he doesn’t take attitude from anyone.  What a scrapper!  What an actor!!

Marilu Henner:  She doesn’t get a chance to do very much acting in the pilot, but I must say:  what a beauty!!!  I had forgotten.  It had never crossed my mind.  In retrospect, she is a revelation.  Kudos to casting for finding such a star!!!  [It should be pointed out that her character is named Elaine (a name picked up later for Seinfeld‘s main female role).]

Tony Danza:  Hey!  Ho!!!  But seriously, really a great role for Danza.  The stereotype would be lifted by the television show Friends later on for their character Joey (played by Matt LeBlanc).  Watch Taxi for the original article.

Jeff Conaway:  The late Mr. Conaway was perfect as Bobby Wheeler.  His “magical” phone call to Sir Laurence Olivier is priceless!!  Conaway helps set the era with his open-chested polyester (?) shirt.  He almost looks like Peter Frampton in this opening episode.

Those were the major players in this pilot episode.  AND we can’t forget the stunning Talia Balsam (who plays Alex’s daughter).

But the real focus is Latka.  For me.  That’s the real focus.

Latka doesn’t have a lot of lines, but he has at least one classic bit:  his effort to flirt with Marilu Henner.

Latka’s pickup line is simply, “Bed?”

Not bad from a guy learning English out of a Berlitz travel guide.

And so our dear little hero Mr. Gravas struggles with some phrases about chambermaids and such.  Fortunately Alex (Judd Hirsch) is helping him with English.  Useful phrases like, “Hold on a minute while I use the can.”  [Or something like that.]

And so we must thank the creators of Taxi for getting Kaufman on the show.  Thank you to James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed. Weinberger.  Thank you gentlemen for seeing the talent in Andy Kaufman and giving him a chance to have a lasting body of work.

Or as Andy would say, “Tank you veddy much.”

 

-PD

 

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SNL Season 1 Episode 4 [1975)

Ah, the great Nordic beauty Candice Bergen.

The first female host in SNL history (four episodes in).

This is quite a good episode.

But we start off with the first wholehearted attempt at Gerald Ford klutz (clumsy) humor with Chevy Chase.

Yes, before there was the fumbling, bumbling, broken banjo known as George W. Bush, there was Gerald Ford.

The humor had been leaning this way since the start of the season.

And finally Chevy got to do a proper piece (the start to the show, no less).

We also get the Landshark skit in this era of Spielberg-induced panic.

We must remember that Jaws had come out that summer (a few months prior to this show).

But the overwhelming star of this episode was undoubtedly Andy Kaufman (again).

It is the Foreign Man character (which was parlayed into his Taxi success as Latka).

Andy is a revelation here.  Yes, you need to be a little sick in the head to do comedy like Andy Kaufman.

The whole point, I think, was in how much he could get away with.

It was the game.

How far could he push it.

And so Foreign Man almost starts crying.  It is a miracle moment in television.

All great practical jokers (foremost among them Orson Welles) had this ability to suspend disbelief, but Kaufman was doing it live…out on a limb.

An excursion on a wobbly rail (to quote Cecil Taylor).

And so Candice  was right when she introduced Andy as a genius.

Goddamn…

What could follow that?!?

Well, sadly Esther Phillips starts off with a fast number.

Esther was the musical guest.

A fine singing voice, but the most annoying, lingering vibrato I’ve ever heard…like a WWI fighter plane…a machine-gun at the end of every phrase.

She was, no doubt, imitating the Billie Holiday of Lady in Satin (that last, great album of drugged-out soul).

But the problem is that the Billie Holiday vibrato doesn’t work on fast songs.

Yet, Esther uses it anyway.

And so Esther’s first number comes off as a head-tilting performance art oddity equal to Andy Kaufman (only I don’t think she knew it).

But all sins are forgiven later when Esther does a ballad.

Ahh…that’s the right repertoire.

Albert Brooks regresses to the mean with his film in this episode (a mashup of possible bullpen shows for NBC…including the awful-in-all-ways Black Vet).

All in all, this is a fine show.  Aykroyd is great.  Belushi is great.

In fact, the most touching scene is a talk between Gilda Radner and Candice Bergen about femininity/feminism.

Gilda Radner was such a beautiful person…such soul!

What a show!!!

 

-PD

 

 

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SNL Season 1 Episode 3 [1975)

From the musical smörgåsbord of episode 2 to the absolute lack of musical guests in episode 3…SNL was a work in progress.  Even the name, Saturday Night, had yet to add the “Live”.

We do, however, get some music thanks to a few unlikely candidates.  The first is host Rob Reiner.  It’s almost as if Rob were goofing on Tony Clifton (in retrospect).  Yes, a pretty decent lounge act by Reiner gives us a swing version of “Blowin’ in the Wind” with Howard Shore and his band backing up.  [Not exactly Arturo Toscanini, Studio 8H’s famous former inhabitant, but pretty competent stuff from Shore.]

John Belushi tops Reiner with an impersonation of Joe Cocker.  It’s really pretty outstanding!

Also in the musical, or dance, category are The Lockers (as in poppin’ and lockin’).  Formed in part by Toni Basil (who would go on to have a hit with “Mickey” in 1982), The Lockers bring that inimitable breakdancing which one might witness (even to this day) on subway cars in New York City.  It really is an astounding art!

And finally, the musical stand-ins are rounded out by one of my heroes Andy Kaufman doing a lip-sync of a very difficult, dialogue-peppered “Pop Goes the Weasel” recording (Roud Folk Song Index number 5249).

Though she appears only a small amount, Penny Marshall adds to the night’s fun festivities (she was Reiner’s wife).

“The Bees,” a running gag through the first three shows, finally score some points as Belushi gives a soliloquy while his slinky antennae list to and fro.  Quite a genius juxtaposition!

We must remember that Al Franken was one of the original writers.

“The Land of Gorch” Muppet sketches continue (a bit I quite like).

But the real highlight of this episode is Albert Brooks’ film on heart surgery (as much as I hate to admit it).  Brooks’ first two contributions to this series were painfully lackluster, but then he pulls the rabbit out of the hat with quite a jaw-dropping bit of humor.

All in all, these episodes are a joy to watch.  What an American treasure!

 

-PD

 

 

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SNL Season 1 Episode 2 [1975)

Leave it to the wacky crew of fledgling SNL to throw a curveball on pitch two.

No.  That’s not a good enough metaphor.

Rather.

It’s like a hard rock band which decides to “break it down” two songs into their set.

Yeah.  That’s a little better.

This one.

Really has an off-the-cuff feel of experimentation.

Like, “Hey…Garfunkel is in!  Garfunkel is in!”

Yes, this is really a musical special rather than a true Saturday Night Live episode.

I must be honest.

Paul Simon starts out pretty bland.

I was skeptical.

I mean, I like the guy, but the first couple of songs are a little clunky–a little underwhelming.

But then things pick up.  Big time!

I’ve always heard “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” as a magical song.  It is other.  And though the mellow duo of Simon & Garfunkel don’t play that particular tune on this show, they go to that magical other place for a string of songs.  “The Boxer”…”Scarborough Fair”…it is bloody jawdropping.

Just these two dudes.  No band.  Nothing to cover for flubs.  Paul with his fingerpicks on.  Never misses a note.  And Art with his delicate voice…as poised as his Bob Ross hair.

And the songs!  My God, the songs!  The lyrics about “the boxer”…this passage in particular:

And he carries the reminders
Of ev’ry glove that laid him down
And cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame,
“I am leaving, I am leaving.”
But the fighter still remains.

Goddamn.  Those last two lines.  I’m leaving, but the fighter still remains.

And then those opening fingerpicked notes of “Scarborough Fair” with the capo midway up the neck.  So delicate.  So many blurred harmonies.  Like a clavichord.

But hold your horses!

Randy Newman is here too.  At the piano.  Doing “Sail Away”…and those lazy, studied dissonances reminiscent of Charles Ives.  And the words…as delicate a political statement as Chuck Berry’s “Back in the USA”…

To break things up, Paul plays Connie Hawkins in a game of one-on-one basketball with Marv Albert getting the sideline interview.  What a bizarre and hilarious bit!!!

But the song that really got me was “Marie” by Paul Simon (actually a Randy Newman composition).  I’ve loved you since the moment I first saw you (or something like that).  Man…  This guy!  And that song…

I will admit that I never really “got” Simon & Garfunkel till I saw this episode.  And Paul Simon I knew mainly from the later stuff…the great albums like Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints.  Like I said:  some of Paul’s solo stuff falls flat, but on the whole the guy is one hell of a talent!!!

Phoebe Snow didn’t do as much for me here as Janis Ian did in the first episode, but hey:  the lady was seven-months pregnant.  There’s no doubt Snow had a truckload of talent.  The repertoire was a bit questionable, but that might not have been her fault.

Also, before I forget:  Art’s solo rendition here of “I Only Have Eyes for You” is otherworldly.  Nobody does it like that anymore!  Truly a fount of inspiration!!

And so there’s very little Chevy Chase, no Aykroyd, no Belushi…but it was kinda worth it for the musical happening which transpired.

A nice curveball 🙂

 

-PD

 

 

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SNL Season 1 Episode 1 [1975)

This is more like it.  Man…talk about some good, old days.

George Carlin.  What a sharp, intelligent man.  With his scruffy beard and baby-blue turtleneck.  Except someone has cut off the neck.  Or it’s tucked in.  And then that charcoal suit…(with a vest?)…like he just popped over to Goodwill a few minutes before the show.

The best bit is about baseball in relation to football.  Brilliant standup!

But really we must thank Lorne “Bud” Michaels for pulling this all together.  [watch the end credits and you’ll get the “Bud”]

John Belushi is classic in the first ever sketch as an immigrant learning English by way of ludicrous examples (wolverines, etc.).

But the best bit of all is Andy Kaufman reaching the performance art height of Joseph Beuys in the Mighty Mouse sketch.  It is timeless.  It is watching genius at work.  It is the best television ever.

Billy Preston rocks it will a killer band (bellbottoms and groove), but the surprise is how well Janis Ian’s performances have aged.  What a presence!

There’s some Jim Henson.  Some weird Muppets.

And it’s political.  Carlin is pretty scathing.  It was a different era.

God bless America!  This is when we rocked!!!

 

-PD

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