Saturday Night Live: Information from Answers.com

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)

Saturday Night Live Season 1
Series	Saturday Night Live
Country of origin	United States
Network	NBC
Original run	October 11, 1975 – July 31, 1976
No. of episodes	24
DVD release date	December 5, 2006 (Box set, Full Screen)
Next season	2

The first season of Saturday Night Live, the weekly late-night 90-minute American sketch comedy/variety show on NBC, aired during the 1975–1976 television season. Saturday Night Live premiered on October 11, 1975 and consisted of a total of 24 episodes, the last of which aired on July 31, 1976.

1 Background
2 Season highlights
3 Cast
4 Episodes

Background

Prior to the show's debut, NBC Owned & Operated stations aired reruns of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson on Saturday night, but Johnny Carson wanted to have new programming on, in order to save reruns to air during his holidays.

NBC TV hired Lorne Michaels to be the executive producer of a late-night comedy/variety television series. Michaels wanted to call his show Saturday Night Live, but ABC TV was already airing a similar series called Saturday Night Live which was hosted by Howard Cosell. The show was named NBC's Saturday Night , and to mimic Cosell's "Prime-Time Players," Michaels called his cast "The Not Ready For Prime Time Players".

The series was originally intended to have just six episodes, but ran for 24 this season.

Season highlights

Certain elements unique to the first season included Jim Henson's Muppets in the Land of Gorch, short films by Albert Brooks, and live commercials for Polaroid played by the SNL cast.^{[citation needed]} Other characters premiering during the season include the Killer Bees, Emily Litella, and the Landshark. One unusual episode was the second show, hosted by Paul Simon, which included 11 musical performances.

Cast

Repertory cast members

Featured cast members

The distinction between repertory and featured cast members didn't exist during the first season.

Regular guest appearances

The Muppets in the Land of Gorch
Andy Kaufman†

† Performer is deceased.

Episodes

Episode Number	Date	Host	Musical Guest	Remarks
1	October 11, 1975	George Carlin†	Billy Preston† Janis Ian	According to the cast list shown on screen, the Players include George Coe and Michael O'Donoghue†. Future cast member Billy Crystal was scheduled to appear, but his stand-up segment was cut when the dress rehearsal ran long. Andy Kaufman†'s segment, which consisted of him playing the Mighty Mouse theme on a record player, survived. On June 28, 2008, NBC cancelled a re-airing of the season 33 episode hosted by Ellen Page to air this episode following the death of George Carlin. Comedians Valri Bromfield and Andy Kaufman made guest appearances. Billy Preston performed "Nothing from Nothing" and "Fancy Lady". Janis Ian performed "At Seventeen" and "In the Winter".
2	October 18, 1975	Paul Simon	Randy Newman Phoebe Snow Art Garfunkel Jessy Dixon Singers	This episode contains an all-time record 11 musical performances. The Not Ready for Prime Time Players appear only in Weekend Update and as the Bees, in a sketch in which they break character while the host tells them their piece has been cut. Basketball player Connie Hawkins and activist Jerry Rubin made cameo appearances. Most of the sketches were cut in order to extend Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel's musical set. They performed "The Boxer", "Scarborough Fair" and their then-new single "My Little Town". Paul Simon performed the songs "Still Crazy After All These Years", "Marie", and "American Tune" solo, and performed "Loves Me Like a Rock" with the Jessy Dixon Singers and "Gone at Last" with Phoebe Snow. Art Garfunkel performed the song "I Only Have Eyes for You". Randy Newman performed the song "Sail Away". Phoebe Snow performed the song "No Regrets". George Coe and Michael O'Donoghue are removed from the opening credits.
3	October 25, 1975	Rob Reiner		Rob Reiner is the first host to appear in full sketches with the regular cast. Denny Dillon appears as a "special guest" with Mark Hampton in a sketch as nuns running a parish talent show. Dillon would later become a cast member during the show's sixth season. Rob Reiner's then-wife Penny Marshall made three cameo appearances. George Coe and Michael O'Donoghue's final appearance as cast members. Although they were no longer listed in the cast after this, Coe would continue to appear regularly until the end of the season and O'Donoghue would appear regularly until the end of the 4th season. George Coe is not listed in the opening credits. There was no billed musical guest for this episode. At host Reiner's request, John Belushi performed "With a Little Help from My Friends". The show ended without a goodbye from the host or final credits. Credits were not created until the episode was rerun in 1978.
4	November 8, 1975	Candice Bergen	Esther Phillips†	Bergen is the first woman to host the show. First appearance of the Landshark. Comedian Andy Kaufman made a cameo appearance. Esther Phillips performed the songs "What a Diff'rence a Day Made" and "I Can Stand a Little Rain".
5	November 15, 1975	Robert Klein	ABBA Loudon Wainwright III	ABBA makes two appearances, singing "S.O.S." on board the sinking Titanic, and lip-synch their second number, "Waterloo". Captions informed the audience that "It's not their fault. The tapes didn't arrive from Sweden". Loudon Wainwright III performed the songs "Bicentennial" and "Unrequited to the Nth Degree". Host Robert Klein performed the song "I Can't Stop My Leg". First appearance of Emily Litella.
6	November 22, 1975	Lily Tomlin	Tomlin with Howard Shore & the All Nurse Band	Lily Tomlin is the first host to interact with the Muppets. She is also technically the first to host and be in the musical act, but the show was listed without a musical act. She performed the songs "St. James Infirmary Blues" and "Bee Bop". The episode introduces the recurring catchphrase "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" during Weekend Update.
7	December 13, 1975	Richard Pryor†	Gil Scott-Heron	This episode had the first seven-second delay for SNL. This episode had the first black celebrity to host SNL. The West Coast airing of this episode bleeped out Richard Pryor saying "ass" during one of his stand-up routines. It has since been shown intact. Garrett Morris says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" in this episode, one of only two Season One episodes in which the line is said by someone other than Chevy Chase. Pryor's ex-wife Shelley Pryor makes a cameo appearance Gil Scott-Heron performed the songs "Johannesburg" and "A Lovely Day".
8	December 20, 1975	Candice Bergen	Martha Reeves The Stylistics	Candice Bergen became the first person to host the show a second time and the first to host more than once in the same season. Maggie Kuhn made a cameo appearance. Martha Reeves performed the songs "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" and "Silver Bells". The Stylistics performed the song "You Make Me Feel Brand New". Host Candice Bergen performed the song "Winter Wonderland" with the cast. The "Homeward Bound" short film from this episode was included in the prime-time special "SNL: Just Shorts."
9	January 10, 1976	Elliott Gould	Anne Murray	The first of Gould's six hosting stints. The last episode to feature a film by Albert Brooks. Paula Kahn made a cameo appearance. Anne Murray performed the songs "The Call" and "Boogie with You". Lorne Michaels makes his first appearance in a sketch. Future SNL cast member and writer Al Franken makes an appearance along with future writer and occasional performer Tom Davis. Features the Interior Demolitionists sketch.
10	January 17, 1976	Buck Henry	Bill Withers Toni Basil	The first of Henry's ten hosting stints. Bill Withers performed the song "Ain't No Sunshine". Toni Basil performed the song "Wham".
11	January 24, 1976	Peter Cook† Dudley Moore†	Neil Sedaka	Don Pardo reads the names of the regular cast members during the opening credits for the first time. Cook and Moore are the first British performers to host, and the first time that there was more than one host. Neil Sedaka performed the songs "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Lonely Nights".
12	January 31, 1976	Dick Cavett	Jimmy Cliff	Humorist Marshall Efron and Al Alen Petersen made cameo appearances. Jimmy Cliff performed the songs "The Harder They Come", "Many Rivers to Cross" and "Wahjahka Man". This was the second show to end without credits,as the show ran long with only the two bumpers appearing on the show before it ended. The ending was replaced with the closing credits from Cavett's second show in the following years.
13	February 14, 1976	Peter Boyle†	Al Jarreau	The Shapiro Sisters dance and lip-sync the song "This Will Be ". One of the sisters, Jenny, also appears in a sketch. Al Jarreau performs the songs "We Got By" and "Somebody's Watching You".
14	February 21, 1976	Desi Arnaz†	Desi Arnaz† & Desi Arnaz Jr.	Though he is not the first host to perform musically on the show, Arnaz is the first host to be simultaneously credited as musical guest. Arnaz and his son performed the songs "Cuban Pete" and "Babalu". Actor Taylor Mead made a filmed cameo appearance.
15	February 28, 1976	Jill Clayburgh	Leon Redbone The Singing Idlers	A cappella group The Idlers and comedian Andy Kaufman made cameo appearances. Host Jill Clayburgh also appeared with these guests. Leon Redbone performed the songs "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Big Time Woman". The first appearance of Mister Bill in response to the show's request for home movies. Lorne Michaels makes his second appearance in a sketch, imploring Chevy to once again start the show with a pratfall.
16	March 13, 1976	Anthony Perkins†	Betty Carter†	This is the first episode to feature pictures of the cast in the opening credits. Betty Carter performed the songs "Music Maestro, Please / Swing Brother Swing" and "I Can't Help It".
17	April 17, 1976	Ron Nessen	Patti Smith	Ron Nessen, press secretary for President Gerald Ford, is the first political figure to host the show. Ford himself appears in a filmed segment during the cold opening where he opens the show with "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" Future cast member Billy Crystal appears on the show for the first time, performing a monologue. Patti Smith performed the song "Gloria" and "My Generation".
18	April 24, 1976	Raquel Welch	Phoebe Snow John Sebastian	Lorne Michaels appears on air, offering the Beatles $3,000 to perform three songs. This episode was originally supposed to have a sketch called "Planet of the Enormous Hooters," where a woman (Raquel Welch) gets banned from a planet of women who all have enormous breasts, but the sketch was cut after dress rehearsal.^{[citation needed]} A version of the sketch would finally be used on the season 14 episode hosted by Dolly Parton. Raquel Welch performed the song "Superstar" with John Belushi as Joe Cocker, as well as "It Ain't Necessarily So". Phoebe Snow performed the songs "All Over" and "Two-Fisted Love". John Sebastian performed the song "Welcome Back" with John Belushi as Joe Cocker.
19	May 8, 1976	Madeline Kahn†	Carly Simon	Carly Simon performed the songs "Half a Chance / You're So Vain" in a pre-taped segment.
20	May 15, 1976	Dyan Cannon	Leon and Mary Russell	Leon and Mary Russell performed the songs "Satisfy You" and "Daylight", the latter of which featured John Belushi as Joe Cocker.
21	May 22, 1976	Buck Henry	Gordon Lightfoot	Lorne Michaels appears again, offering the Beatles $3,200 and free hotel accommodations to perform three songs. Gordon Lightfoot performed the songs "Summertime Dream" and "Spanish Moss".
22	May 29, 1976	Elliott Gould	Leon Redbone Harlan Collins & Joyce Everson	Leon Redbone performed the songs "Shine On, Harvest Moon" and "Walking Stick". Harlan Collins & Joyce Everson performed "Heaven Only Knows". The sketch called The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise written by Michael O'Donoghue, a parody of the Star Trek TV series involving the crew trying to dealing with the show's cancellation in 1968 became an instant cult classic among Star Trek fans and science fiction fans as well.
23	July 24, 1976	Louise Lasser	Preservation Hall Jazz Band	Actor Michael Sarrazin made a filmed cameo appearance. Preservation Hall Jazz Band performed the song "Panama".
24	July 31, 1976	Kris Kristofferson	Rita Coolidge	Rita Coolidge performed the songs "Hula Hoop" and "Eddie the Eunuch" . Host Kris Kristofferson performed the aforementioned guest vocal and performed the song "I've Got a Life of My Own".

v • d • e Saturday Night Live

History	1975–1980 • 1980–1985 • 1985–1990 • 1990–1995 • 1995–2000 • 2000–2005 • 2005–2010

Seasons	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35

Related lists	Episodes (Five-Timers) • Compilation albums and videos • Commercials • Cast members • Writers • Hosts • Cast member hosts • Simultaneous host/performer guests

Recurring characters and sketches	Alphabetical • Chronological • By cast member • List of recurring musical sketches • Weekend Update characters • Short-lived recurring characters

Sketch lists	TV shows (1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s) • Animal • SNL Digital Shorts • TV Funhouse episodes

Sketches	Barry Gibb Talk Show • Bill Swerski's Superfans • The Blues Brothers • Celebrity Jeopardy! • The Chris Farley Show • Coffee Talk • The Coneheads • The Continental • Decabet • Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey • Delicious Dish • Dick in a Box • Goth Talk • Happy Fun Ball • Hollywood Minute • Jeffrey's • Jizz in My Pants • Landshark • Larry the Lobster • Lazy Sunday • MacGruber • More cowbell • The Needlers • Olympia Cafe • Rialto Grande • Sarah Palin • The Schoeners • Sprockets • Surprise • Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber • TV Funhouse • Vinny Vedecci • Wake Up and Smile • Wayne's World • Weekend Update • Z105 with Joey Mack

Films based on sketches	The Blues Brothers (1980) • Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1980) • Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures (1986) • Bob Roberts (1992) • Mr. Saturday Night (1992) • Wayne's World (1992) • Wayne's World 2 (1993) • Coneheads (1993) • It's Pat! (1994) • Stuart Saves His Family (1995) • A Night at the Roxbury (1998) • Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) • Office Space (1999) • Superstar (1999) • The Ladies Man (2000) • Harold (2008) • MacGruber (2010) • Key Party (TBD)

Characters	Adult Students • Bill Brasky • The Bloder Brothers • The Boston Teens • Canteen Boy • The Church Lady • Debbie Downer • Ed Grimley • Emily Litella • Father Guido Sarducci • Hanukkah Harry • Hans and Franz • Judy Grimes • Lisa Loopner • Lovers • Mango • Mary Katherine Gallagher • Master Thespian • Matt Foley • Merv the Perv • Nick The Lounge Singer • Pat • Roseanne Roseannadanna • Samurai Futaba • The Spartan Cheerleaders • Stuart Smalley • Toonces the Driving Cat • Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer • Velvet Jones • The Whiners

Related topics	Lorne Michaels • "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" • Dick Ebersol • Don Pardo • Frank Oz • "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" • Incredibad • Jean Doumanian • Jim Henson • Mel Brandt • Bill Hanrahan • Saturday Night Live Band • Strategery • Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Donate to Wikimedia

saturday night live	saturday night live the complete first season

	Dennis Miller (Comedy Artist, '80s, '90s)
	Mr. Bill Show (1979 Film)
	Not the Nine O'clock News: Fundamental Frolics (1982 Comedy Film)

	When was the first Saturday Night Live? Read answer...
	Who is in the cast on Saturday night live? Read answer...
	Who created Saturday Night Live? Read answer...

	Who barbecued on Saturday Night Live?
	What channel is saturday night live on?
	How long is Saturday Night Live?

Saturday Night Live

Contents