Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
in an NBC broadcasting throwback, GAM & SNL Band perform “I Love You”
— Interesting, unique way to open a season.
— Overall, while there was no humor to be found here, this was a well-done performance of a classical NBC song, and I like the various ways they made this look like a broadcast from the 40s/50s.
STARS: ***½
OPENING MONTAGE
— A new montage this season!
— For some reason, the two shots this montage opens with are reused from the season 1-2 montage. For a second, that worried me that this ENTIRE montage was going to just be the season 1-2 one, but thankfully, all the shots after the first few seconds are brand new.
— We get the debut of what I’ve always personally referred to as “the squiggly, cursive-style SNL logo”. I believe this is the logo that most people associate 70s SNL with.
— Beginning this season, the hosts and musical guests are now represented in the opening montage by pictures instead of a simple onscreen text displaying their names.
— The cast is no longer announced as “The Not Ready For Prime-Time Players”. I’m surprised; I thought they didn’t get rid of that moniker until season 5 when Aykroyd and Belushi were gone and there were only a few original cast members remaining. This season 4 cast still has the old gang intact, so why’d they drop the NRFPTP name?
MONOLOGUE
Mayor Ed Koch [real] presents JOB with a certificate of merit
— New home base stage!
— Hmm, imagine that! There actually was a time when SNL would (gasp!) change their home base stage every now and then. Hear that, modern-day SNL?
— I love the new set’s huge, bright ceiling with all the studio lights; it gives off the feeling of this being a big, high-budget show, which is a good representation of SNL’s increasing importance at the time.
— Strange that Mayor Ed Koch is doing the monologue instead of tonight’s actual hosts.
— Good way to acknowledge John’s big summer with “Animal House” being a huge hit.
— John’s unenthused reaction to the certificate Koch gave him is pretty funny.
— Another “But noooooo” rant, which is always good for laughs.
— This whole monologue really illustrates how much John’s movie stardom was beginning to really take off and how Hollywood was a-callin’ for him, which is a strong reminder that the end of his SNL tenure is sadly near.
STARS: ***½
AUTOSCENT
(JAC) shows (GIR) how well Autoscent exhaust freshener works
— Gilda happily sniffing the car’s exhaust pipe is a memorable image.
— That’s it? This was too short and simple of a commercial, and should’ve had more humor.
STARS: **½
TOMORROW
Tom Snyder (DAA) interviews Mick Jagger [real]
— Odd in hindsight hearing Dan’s Snyder casually mention a crew member named Bobby Brown.
— Does Mick have a sore throat? His voice sounds unusually hoarse in this.
— Dan’s Snyder demonstrating his favorite Jagger moves is a riot.
— Overall, this was a very enjoyable, memorable sketch that contained lots of laughs. Probably one of the strongest “Tomorrow” sketches.
STARS: ****½
NERDS / NORGE
Todd & Lisa crack up upon seeing refrigerator repairman’s (DAA) low pants
— A refrigerator repairman is coming? Oh, it’s THIS famous Nerds sketch…
— The frequently-changing last name of Bill’s Todd character is now DiLaMuca, which would go on to stay as his regular last name.
— LOL there’s the legendary “plumber’s crack” moment.
— I’ve always found Bill’s reactions to the “plumber’s crack” to be absolutely priceless. His goofy spazzy laughter, his tapping the table repeatedly, his kicking his leg out, his putting a napkin over his own head… all hilarious.
— Todd and Lisa’s cheap wisecracks (no pun intended) about the repairman are really funny.
— Good ending with Todd badly singing his campaign song.
— Overall, one of the best Nerds sketches.
STARS: ****½
THE OLYMPIA CAFE
Pete returns to the Olympia Cafe after receiving a paltry inheritance
— The cafe & uniforms looks like they’ve gone through some minor changes this season.
— Did I just spot Garrett in drag in the background?
— Ah, now they actually acknowledged the changes in the cafe’s look & uniforms.
— Yep, that indeed IS Garrett in drag… once again. I know it’s become a crutch for the writers at this point in Garrett’s tenure, but it seems REALLY random for this sketch.
— I love John’s dramatic, slow entrance. And I swear, the monologue earlier tonight has me now looking at him a bit differently as the new movie star of this season’s cast.
— When John was chasing out all the customers, I like the particular joy he seemed to take in throwing Ron Wood out.
— Very interesting how the last two minutes of this turned into a semi-dramatic sketch in which John got to display some good subtle acting. This just adds to what I said in my last review about how these Olympia Cafe sketches had a surprising amount of layers and depth for a recurring SNL sketch. These sketches truly do feel kinda sitcom-ish.
STARS: ****
WEEKEND UPDATE
BIM adopts JAC’s view on ERA ratification during Point-Counterpoint
Roseanne Roseannadanna’s report on Studio 54 is centered around blisters
— Jane begins this semi-new era of Update by announcing there’s been a personnel change. Co-anchor Dan Aykroyd has been “kicked upstairs” to station manager, and is being replaced at the desk by the “capable, highly-respected” Bill Murray. At one point during that whole announcement, Jane gets in a nice little dig at how bad Dan was as an anchorperson.
— Haha, Bill’s doing his intro speech in the same smarmy delivery he used for his Update movie reviews in the preceding season. I’m already liking him as an anchorperson. Miles better than Aykroyd, that’s for sure.
— Bill: “When I get into an argument with somebody, if it gets to where we’re gonna throw punches, I turn around and walk away.” Oh, you mean like you did last season during your backstage confrontation with Chevy Chase– oh wait…..
— Bill’s whole long opening spiel was absolutely awesome. What an intro! As an anchorperson, he’s kinda coming off as a proto-Dennis Miller. That being said, I don’t think this smarmy Update persona of Bill’s lasts long. I saw some of the season 4-5 Updates years ago and I recall Bill just doing the news in a normal straight-laced manner. A damn shame, because I actually love him delivering the news in a smarmy style.
— The new Update set looks great, by the way.
— What, a Point/Counterpoint segment between Jane and BILL? How are they going to make this work without Dan?
— Hmm, Bill actually agreeing with Jane during his rebuttal is different, at least, but left a little something to be desired.
— The bit with Bill tossing Jane a contraceptive was hilarious.
— Roseanne Rosannadanna’s Studio 54 rant was her usual funny stuff.
— Overall, a promising debut for the Bill Murray era of Update.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
SUSHI BY THE POOL
by TOS- quake hits showbiz party; Carrie Fisher cameo
— Wow, from the list of guest stars in this film’s intro, we’re getting several random celebrity cameos, including the soon-to-be-hosting-this-season Carrie Fisher.
— Uh, wow. Overall, this Schiller’s Reel was pretty out-there. I’m not sure I “got” what this was going for.
STARS: **½
A FRAMEWORK FOR THE REUNION OF THE BEATLES
Jimmy Carter (DAA) reunites John Lennon (JOB) & Paul McCartney (BIM)
— LOL, I love the way Belushi looks as Lennon.
— Funny concept with the president holding a peace talks between Lennon and McCartney as if they’re world leaders.
— Overall, a decent sketch.
STARS: ***
NETWORK BATTLE OF THE T’S AND A’S
female TV stars’ talents are on display
— Ah, I remember this quite well.
— A pretty funny commercial that doubles as great eye candy.
— This was a lot shorter than I remember. I guess it was my horny memory that made this commercial seem a lot longer in my mind in the past.
STARS: ***½
DANGER PROBE
Hare Krishna (JOB) & mime (GIR) encounter torturists
— Laraine’s angry thick accent is cracking me up right from the start.
— Funny part with Gilda walking on as a random mime.
— I’m dying at Bill’s brief yells whenever he cracks his whip. He sounds hilarious.
— Wow, what a weird, weird sketch overall. Despite the funny little moments listed above, this sketch was hard to figure; there was too much going on and may have been a little TOO random for its own good.
STARS: **½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Pretty fun season opener, with several solid, memorable installments of popular recurring sketches (Tomorrow, Nerds, Olympia Cafe) and some decent original material in the mix as well. The episode’s quality died down a little after Update, but it never reached any truly bad low points; even the weakest segments of the night had their moments.
— The “hosts” of the night, The Rolling Stones, might as well have just been billed only as the musical guest, because they were almost non-existent in the show outside of their musical performance. SNL should’ve just presented this episode as having no host, much like the later premieres of seasons 7 and 10. At least that would’ve justified why they had an unannounced guest star (Mayor Koch) deliver the monologue and goodnights speech tonight.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1977-78):
— about the same
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Fred Willard
The Rollings Stones were the end all be all for me back then as a 15 year old guitar player…I remember watching that episode with my mom…like it was yesterday.
I think the point of “Sushi” was that these shallow types are too caught up in their lives to the point of ignoring danger. It would have been interesting to see cast members appearing rather than Carrie and company.
There was supposed to be a different cold opening that was set backstage at a Rolling Stones concert. I think Keith Richards’ drug related incompetence played a role in its being cut. He was also supposed to be in Danger Probe in the extra role that went to Tom Davis.
The reference in the monologue to the chick with a rack was to Dolly Parton who got a key to the city that summer.
Mick Jagger’s hoarse voice was a result of heavy rehearsing and partying according to a biography. Not a good performance by them, IMO. Also would have been good to see them do an old song too if they didn’t butcher it.
Well…the Stones were promoting a new album, “Some Girls”, which was getting real strong reviews…so it makes sense they played from that.
No reason they couldn’t do both, especially since they did a medley and only performed in one segment.
I wouldn’t call that a “medley”, since they did all three songs in full, similar to what the band did in S2.
True, my mistake, although it’s not relevant to my thought.
I was also stating my preference more than what made sense.
This should be a required reply to every comment ever made on the internet.
In the context of something subjective like like this, it’s valid.
At this point the cast appeared to be ready for primetime which is perhaps the reason they stopped using that moniker
Regarding the above comment about the cast appearing to be ready for prime time, I was struck watching this episode that SNL feels like a different show more than it ever had before. There have been improvements as we’ve gone along but the differences seem especially pronounced with the Season 4 debut. The technical aspects are much more refined (the Autoscent ad looks especially well-produced), the cast members’ star presence is more apparent and their outside successes are being worked into the show, the musical guests are getting bigger, and the show generally feels like it *knows* it’s a thing now. There were times this episode almost felt like a prime-time special.
As I watch these episodes in sequence there’s something neat about watching the show as it grows up. Although I’m glad to see it catch on and be successful, I’m also aware something has forever changed. There was a charm the first two seasons or so in watching this hungry show with a cast of new faces try to figure out what it wanted to be. Now those new faces are stars and the show has found its formula, and that success will change the show and its people – sometimes for the good, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes for the tragic.
My understanding is that the only way you could book the Stones onto an American TV show in the 1970s was to book them as the stars, with no one else alongside. And from what I remember of Mayor Koch from my childhood, he was the opposite – you could ask him to do the monologue and stick around for the goodbyes without giving him any mention anywhere. He was just happy to be there.
RIP Hal Holbrook
Re: The Battle of the T’s and A’s … one member of the SNL cast was on the NBC team for the Spring 1979 Battle of the Network Stars competition … guess which one!
I remember seeing her on a rerun of “The Love Boat” from maybe that show’s first season…
I’m surprised that Jane didn’t appear on the “20,000 Pyramid” at least once during her SNL or Kate & Allie runs – it taped in NYC during this era (of course, the reason might have been that it was an ABC show.)
Jane gives some background on her game show “history” in this recent interview:
https://film.avclub.com/jane-curtin-on-3rd-rock-snl-and-how-her-improv-backgr-1845794499
This era’s Update set (which would be used for all of Seasons 4 and 5) was great – a huge improvement over the garish, instantly dated Season 3 set. Indeed, this was probably the best looking Update set the show has ever had (though the current Jost/Che set comes close, and definitely looks better in HD!)
So we have Devo performing “Satisfaction” but not the Stones?
Not too strong for a season opener, would have been better if the Stones had been in more sketches. I got the sense they weren’t really the hosts, just the musical guests (they weren’t even in the monologue) and shouldn’t have been credited as such. I did like the Network Battle of the T’s and A’s, it spoofed “Jiggle TV” effectively.
Also, RIP Charlie Watts.
This show always reminds me of how exciting and weird it all was. I was in grade school at the time, and vividly remember returning to school on Monday with everyone abuzz about the Stones appearance. Many were saying, “did you see Mick tongue kiss Keith?!” Upon revisiting it many years later, I was surprised at how brutal Mick’s voice sounds (a shame as Some Girls is a great album). And while he doesn’t “tongue kiss” any of his bandmates exactly, there is a lot of tongue wagging in the direction of Ron Wood’s face. He tolerates Mick’s antics and just kind of smiles along. Another reminder of how provocative the band once was.
I love the opener, by the way. It’s an amazing reenactment of a live radio program from the 30s, with the entire ensemble contributing in important ways. People forget, SNL wasn’t always going for laughs, necessarily. They had many different sides and weren’t always trying to fit into current pop culture relevance (just a look at the unusualness of their musical guest choices from this period tells a lot).
Billy gets it. That opening NBC We Love You! act is my all time favorite musical sketch. I don’t really count the Blues Brothers as a sketch, since all it is is an intro and a song. And John’s eternal classic Joe Cocker impression is just a bit. Of course, naturally someone is going to chime in and remind me of a sketch I have forgotten about.