Saturday Night Live season 3
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Saturday Night Live | |
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Season 3 | |
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Starring | |
No. of episodes | 20 |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Original release | September 24, 1977 May 20, 1978 | –
Season chronology | |
The third season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 24, 1977, and May 20, 1978.
The DVD set of the entire season was released on May 13, 2008.
Cast
[edit]Prior to the start of the season, writers Tom Davis and Al Franken were added as featured cast members. Meanwhile Dan Aykroyd joined Jane Curtin as an anchor for Weekend Update becoming the first Weekend Update anchor team. This would be the final season that the cast was called "The Not Ready for Primetime Players".
Cast
[edit]
The Not Ready for Prime Time Players |
Featured players
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bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
Behind the scenes
[edit]In the "Anyone Can Host" episode—for which a contest found a non-celebrity to host the show—the musical guest, Elvis Costello, halted his band, the Attractions, seven seconds into the song "Less Than Zero", launching into "Radio Radio", an as-yet unreleased song critical of mainstream broadcasting. (The Sex Pistols were originally booked to appear on the show, but were denied visas to enter America.) The change angered Lorne Michaels, and Costello would not be invited back to the show until 1989.[1]
Chevy Chase hosted during the season, making him the first cast member to host after leaving the show. Right before the curtain call, a heated argument broke out backstage between Chase and relatively new cast member Bill Murray. After several insults were exchanged (including Chase mocking Murray's acne-scarred skin and Murray calling Chase a "medium talent"), the two men struck each other. Although by most accounts the altercation had been at least partially instigated by John Belushi, he was the one (along with Dan Aykroyd) who separated Murray and Chase moments before the entire cast regrouped in front of the live cameras. Before being banned from hosting altogether in 1997, Chase hosted the show several times throughout its history, though he was extremely unpopular with the cast and crew and regularly disagreed with them.[2]
Writers
[edit]Talent coordinator/extra Neil Levy (who is the cousin of producer Lorne Michaels) was officially added to the writing staff.[3] This was his only season as a writer, but stayed with the staff for the next several seasons.
Brian Doyle-Murray (Bill's brother) and Don Novello (best known for his character Father Guido Sarducci) joined the writing staff midway through the season on January 21, 1978.[4]
This season's writers were Dan Aykroyd, Anne Beatts, Tom Davis, Jim Downey, Brian Doyle-Murray, Al Franken, Neil Levy, Lorne Michaels, Don Novello, Herb Sargent, Tom Schiller, Rosie Shuster, and Alan Zweibel. The head writer was Michael O'Donoghue (who would leave after this season, after three years as head writer).
Episodes
[edit]No. overall | No. in season | Host | Musical guest(s) | Original air date | |
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47 | 1 | Steve Martin | Jackson Browne | September 24, 1977 | |
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48 | 2 | Madeline Kahn | Taj Mahal | October 8, 1977 | |
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49 | 3 | Hugh Hefner | Libby Titus | October 15, 1977 | |
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50 | 4 | Charles Grodin | Paul Simon | October 29, 1977 | |
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51 | 5 | Ray Charles | Ray Charles | November 12, 1977 | |
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52 | 6 | Buck Henry | Leon Redbone | November 19, 1977 | |
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53 | 7 | Mary Kay Place | Willie Nelson | December 10, 1977 | |
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54 | 8 | Miskel Spillman | Elvis Costello | December 17, 1977 | |
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55 | 9 | Steve Martin | Randy Newman, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band | January 21, 1978 | |
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56 | 10 | Robert Klein | Bonnie Raitt | January 28, 1978 | |
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57 | 11 | Chevy Chase | Billy Joel | February 18, 1978 | |
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58 | 12 | O. J. Simpson | Ashford and Simpson | February 25, 1978 | |
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59 | 13 | Art Garfunkel | Stephen Bishop | March 11, 1978 | |
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60 | 14 | Jill Clayburgh | Eddie Money | March 18, 1978 | |
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61 | 15 | Christopher Lee | Meat Loaf | March 25, 1978 | |
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62 | 16 | Michael Palin | Eugene Record | April 8, 1978 | |
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63 | 17 | Michael Sarrazin | Keith Jarrett | April 15, 1978 | |
64 | 18 | Steve Martin | The Blues Brothers | April 22, 1978 | |
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65 | 19 | Richard Dreyfuss | Jimmy Buffett, Gary Tigerman | May 13, 1978 | |
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66 | 20 | Buck Henry | Sun Ra | May 20, 1978 | |
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Home media
[edit]Season 3 was released on DVD May 13, 2008.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ Larry David Smith (April 30, 2004). Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, and the Torch Song Tradition. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 139. ISBN 9780275973926.
- ^ Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller (January 19, 2014). Live from New York An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Little, Brown, and Company. ISBN 9780316045827.
- ^ "Steve Martin/Jackson Browne". Saturday Night Live. Season 3. Episode 1. September 24, 1977. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
- ^ "Steve Martin/Randy Newman". Saturday Night Live. Season 3. Episode 9. January 21, 1978. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 124–127. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 104–105. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 106–108. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 264. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 110–113. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ Palin, Michael (2007). Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years. St. Martin's Press. pp. 460–1. ISBN 978-0-312-36935-4.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 96–97. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 118. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time: #20-11". TV Guide Magazine. June 18, 2009. Archived from the original on March 14, 2010.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: season 3, 1977-1978 (DVD). Universal Studios. May 13, 2008.