Everything You NEED to Know About SNL Season 3 (1977-78)

[@thesnlnetwork]

We also had a great interview with Connie Crawford, one of the finalists from the Anyone Can Host contest: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qp2VY3uwod2Siac

[@robertmatthews2009]

I sent in an entry for the anyone can host contest. As a consolation prize they sent me a Blues Brothers button. I still have it.

[@SunblokAnsand]

Probably the most factual, interesting comment I've read on a day that has me spiraling along the Cathy Smith, John Belushi rabbit hole.

[@debrademusz731]

Hang on to that button.

[@shuroom57]

I was 19 and so excited about the contest, I wanted to be on SNL more than anything. My wise friend scoffed and said, "They're not going to give it to someone like you! There's a million guys just like you that want this! They're going to give it to some old lady, a grandmother." Lo and behold.

[@GhostlyGravestones]

That is awesome!

[@maxpatrickhaynes2194]

That’s cool!!!

[@Areyoutalkingtome-q1s]

That Belushi sketch where he is the last living cast member struck me as profound at the time of its airing. Of course, Belushi's death made it HAUNTING.

[@michelleeditor]

Especially because he was the first to die

[@TheReubenKincaid]

The film was called, Don’t Look Back in Anger…Oasis

[@RonaldCharlesEpstein]

One of the saddest ironic sketches in SNL history.

[@askrhonnie6356]

How have I never heard of Buck Henry?

[@thebullet7874]

I remember when SNL started. You two are doing a great job on highlighting each season so far. Thank you and well done.

[@laudanum669]

Tom Schiller's film "Don't Look Back in Anger" still brings a tears to my eyes everytime I watch it.

[@rocker7047]

The 78 season was tremendous. It was the year our group all turned 14 to 16, and we'd make sure that on Saturday nights at 11 to be in someone's garage or basement with our beer and a few joints and laugh our asses off watching the show together! It gave that special year or two of our lives something to always look back on fondly. These days, after sharing the show with our kids via video tapes we now tell our grand kids to "come watch this with grandpa'" and seasons 3 and 4 are the episodes we search out to share the laughter. Great channel guys. Keep them coming! 💪🏻😎👍🏻

[@jeffsanders663]

Same here! Great memories of a "magic" time!

[@cygnals524]

I'm about the same age as you and SNL was a major event back then. It was on everywhere and it seemed like everything stopped when it came on. It Was a party each week and it was what everyone talked about for the following week. I shared my love of SNL with my children who are grown now and also watched it live with them during their teenage years. We Still make jokes that come from SNL episodes and remember episodes both old and new.

[@colmd7680]

1977-78 has often been cited as the shows greatest season and its not hard to see why. Some of the shows most iconic characters are introduced including the Blues Brothers and Festrunk Brothers. Plenty of controversy too with Chevy Case v Bill Murray and Elvis Costello breaking into Radio Radio. Consistency was stronger this season and its rep is well deserved

[@k-matsu]

That was my senior year in high school. SNL was THE thing of 1978. Everyone who was even remotely cool would rave about it on the following Monday. At lunchtime you would hear tag lines coming from every corner. Well exCUUSE Me! ... WIld and crazy guys ... Cheebugger cheebugger cheebugger ... Never Mind! Those were the days . . .

[@GhostlyGravestones]

Yes. This was definitely the greatest season of Saturday Night Live.

[@willswalkingwest7267]

The radioactive lobster gag was epic. We were all talking about it the next day. We were so easily amused back then.

[@DrTarrandProfessorFether]

My wife saw the Blues Brothers in concert in 1980. They were so high with “Snow man” (well, John B was) he was going crazy on stage and doing back flips left and right. She told me the best concert she ever saw.

[@stephenr3910]

I remember where I was driving when I heard about Gilda's passing. It was on a Saturday and Steve Martin was hosting that night. They showed the full "Dancing in the Dark" scene.

[@shuroom57]

I remember after that tribute, as they went to commercial, you could see G.E. Smith playing his guitar with a sad, upward gaze; he and Gilda Radner had been a tight couple.

[@WendyCR72]

@@shuroom57 He was her first husband. He also wore a black armband during that show.

[@aranbuzzas8000]

Absolutely the best season of the entire series. Comedy GOLD.

[@timburr4453]

fwiw 90-91 is my favorite

[@EndingSimple]

A once in a lifetime ensemble.

[@theflorgeormix]

My Beatles....they were so edgy. Extreme depth in creativity. Little Chocolate Donuts with a cigarette prop addition. So simple but unexplainably awesome.

[@amherst88]

Great job on these -- the Medieval Barber sketch was, for my money, a highpoint in human cultural history. Your age comes through in not including a mention of the Coneheads on Family Feud though, the game show was a particular piece of the culture at that time and the Coneheads was an immortal take on it. Their cultural wit was unsurpassed in those early seasons.

[@DrTarrandProfessorFether]

I was in High school in 1978… and SNL was the show to watch. For my 1979 year book picture as Year book staff at Cubberley HS, Palo Alto, I stood next to Steve Martin poster with a fish sticking out of his white suit. A Wild and Crazy Guy!!!

[@HlifeRomania91]

Loved King Tut!

[@stevehofer3482]

Theodoric of York is a magnificent sketch.

[@betamaxreal]

I love Buck Henry so much one of my favorite comedic writers, a legend

[@nyjsackexchange]

Little Chocolate Donuts remains the greatest of the commercial parodies The 'Swiss Timing' and Marv Albert call was comedic genius

[@dwaynecoy1871]

Steve Martin's "King Tut" performance is the best skit of SNL of all time. Funny as sh*t and really well done musically.

[@scottburton9701]

Love the early years of "SNL"-They were the best!

[@Violetstarr-su5gm]

Hello Scott ❤

[@dk50b]

4:23 Actually, Costello's record label told him to play "Less Than Zero", and that's what he told SNL. He was a last minute replacement for The Sex Pistols, unable to get visas. "Radio, Radio" is a reworking of his earlier tribute to radio born of his anger at the BBC banning The Pistol's "God Save the Queen". The song comments on the stifling effect corporate control had on British radio. Nothing in the lyrics refers to TV, but the "I wanna bite the hand that feeds me" verse directly refers to The Pistols.

[@prip]

The Costello thing always seemed contrived. To me, it doesn’t feel or look spontaneous. I remember seeing it live. I didn’t know who Elvis Costello was, so wasn’t paying close attention, but it wasn’t shocking and seemed pre-planned.

[@suchanhachan]

@@prip I think for Costello and the band it was definitely pre-planned, although they tried to make it look spontaneous. I guess the question is whether NBC or the SNL people knew about it, or whether they really cared...

[@janeelliott1548]

Yes, thank you. I was watching as it happened, I never thought it was referencing TV. It's right there in the song's title, Radio radio.

[@michelleeditor]

He was supposedly banned from the show for playing that song

[@vipersquad]

@@pripyeah he overdid the "Stop! Stop!", which made it feel rehearsed.

[@kricklasalty-dg2ri]

This series is better than floor wax/desert topping!

[@buckycore]

I love this channel and this series. Its got that college radio energy happening.

[@coraltown1]

SNL skits and characters of this era were a social phenomenon. Go to a party and someone would bring them up in one way or another.

[@kengeorgejones6855]

Another enjoyable installment. Season 3 is definitely one of the strongest seasons, and the last "pure" season for this cast - you can see just how much fame and power gets in the mix in season 4. It was very sweet to know that Miskel stayed a fan to the end - I used to have the People 15th anniversary, and she mentioned being a fan of the Church Lady. This was also the season Michael O'Donoghue left, although he'd certainly make a very memorable return for part of season 7 (and a cameo in season 5).

[@zachp.6582]

A lot of people may not know this, but he returned for the first 4 episodes of season 11, as well.

[@kromedome0101]

Rosanne Rosannadana was a spoof of then NY Eyewitness News anchor Rosanne Scamardella.

[@shackdaddy7106]

I have watched three of your videos. The first three. And they are all excellent. This has inspired me to keep my subscription to Peacock going so I can watch every single episode of Saturday Night Live.

[@brianbiechele1958]

Connie Conehead in Grateful Dead T-shirt. Best.

[@thecliffdweller1212]

In 1978 this season of SNL was my homecoming welcome-to-America after spending many years sequestered in the military overseas. This show reintroduced me to what American culture had evolved into after the war(s) in Southeast Asia. Cold warrior meets counterculture comedy. So many iconic moments that season, it washed over me. The Blues Brothers has had the most lasting impression, of course.

[@Violetstarr-su5gm]

Hi 👋 ❤

[@bluebear1985]

I find these earlier seasons interesting. This would have been at a point in time when my mother was in college in Minnesota. She claims that if there was a party happening on a Saturday night, they would often stop it to have a look at this show.

[@tylorwalls]

this series is so fantastic! i just discovered it today and will likely be caught up before bed tonight! looking forward to the rest!

[@cinemachatwithdavidheath4509]

It was indeed the best season. The first two seasons they were figuring things out but it was near perfection here.

[@tylerthompson1842]

Just found you guys. Love this so much

[@LuxuryPossum]

You could do a whole video on the fight between Chevy and Bill. It is one of the most fascinating pieces of SNL lore, in my opinion.

[@mrchopsticks3]

Find the Howard Stern interviews, both Chevy and Bill talked about it. Billy Joel also talked about it on Howard as he was the musical guest on that show and was standing nearby when it happened.

[@suchanhachan]

I think all it really came down to was two massive, unstable egos not reacting well to each other...

[@djvoid1]

Subbed. Hope these keep going through all the seasons!

[@markwegner6821]

Wow again. A truly great record of a show evolving into a world favourite. 💎

[@antoinettepettis3825]

This series is so great, I love it! Thank you for making this.

[@charleskadletc2431]

Ive seen almost every episode of SNL. I give it more then 50+ more years.

[@AllenHansford-xz3mv]

Awesome 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😢😢😢😢😢❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@sumbuddy63]

This is the season I actually started watching SNL It's really cool seeing clips from shows I watched as they aired live. KZbin wasn't even a thought yet.

[@janeelliott1548]

Yes, I feel the was the best SNL season. The Christmas show introduced me to Elvis Costello. I was an instant fan and so were my group of friends. We all went to his concerts whenever he was in the area. The first one had Squeeze as the opener. Later in Elvis's set, Glen Tillbrook came back to do "From a Whisper to a Scream". What a night in Boston!

[@garpylinski3757]

I was 16 that year. I watched every episode I'm sure. And always caught me a real good buzz just before show time. Good times good times. 😂❤

[@michaelgerhardt7130]

I have to admit the lobsters was the most memorable, funny, goofy, scary sketch and has never been duplicated. Several times the oversteers were referenced including interrupting a sketch with Gilda I think.

[@homesetup506]

Here after the movie! And it was a 10/10!

[@TheCheat420]

10:20 "This season has everything " I definitely resaid that as Stefon

[@AllenHansford-xz3mv]

I love the blue brothers 😻😻😻😻❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😻❤️😻❤️❤️😻😻❤️😅😅😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@merhbass]

Age 10, this was the first season my folks let me stay up to regularly watch (raised on likes of Mel Brooks, Python, Richard Pryor, Benny Hill, Lenny Bruce, PDQ Bach, Tom Lehrer.) ...maybe it wasn't SNL, (yet can't imagine what else it'd have been back then,) but I recall a prefilmed-skit, or short, set in a public restroom, of men, one by one, stepping up to a row of urinals, backs to the camera, each commencing to whistle their part of a (classical) canon, or round, in turn, ad hoc. As a kid trained in classical music, I found that hillarious. I've not seen the thing since.

[@stewgaatz]

These are great. Keep em coming!

[@gavinmarks2302]

Al Franken and Tom Davis, luggage hauliers in Trading Places, am I right?

[@shawnyoung8752]

And Jim Belushi is on of the convention guys on train. He was in gorilla suit which they put Mr. Orange in.

[@gavinmarks2302]

@shawnyoung8752 Yes, what a great film, one of my favourites..

[@Barnabas45]

Great memories 4 sure!

[@Sabotage_Labs]

9:49 OMH... King Tut! Had the single...45 record and used to play the hell out of it. Then...on a spring day in 1979, my parents sat me and my siblings down to inform us that they have decided to move us from our South Jersey, Philly Suburb....to Phoenix Arizona. All I could think about was....Yup...Steve Martin as King Tut and...moving to Egypt. I of course.... started to cry! The first thing I could get out that my family could understand...but were baffled by was...."do they play hockey is Egypt?" See, I played youth hockey for a traveling team. A very competitive youth organization and development club. I was crushed! Once they got me settled down and explained where Phoenix was....lol ..I was a bit better. After moving here and sewing the pathetic hockey organizations... i wondered if moving to Egypt may have been better for hockey....lol.

[@57hound]

New Year’s Eve party, 1977-78, wee hours of the morning, January 1 1978, we are blitzed out of our minds. One of the party guests remarks, “You guys are like the post, post Saturday Night Live crowd”. Don’t know why, but that remark has stayed in my mind ever since.

[@boffo63]

That's a huge unscripted moment. That's why it'll always be yours. Gratz

[@cheribee968]

Al franken was so funny as Stuart Smalley

[@danawynkoop9511]

It is so very sad that we have lost so many people who appeared on SNL over the years.

[@Sloozen1]

I know somewhere in this season some of the cast came to Memphis and did interviews with mourners. Elvis died in August of 77. Didn't see it.

[@morbidchid]

The O.J. Simpson episode is actually hilarious.

[@jjayflash]

In a way this was definitely SNL at its peak.

[@MarvinMonroe]

For that era I'd agree. My favorite peak is 89-90 or 92-93

[@laudarevsonhunt]

This was the peak like the Beatles Revolver album. The middle of their run and great things still to come.

[@bleepiestofbloops]

Season 14 is the greatest season in my book.

[@miggans21012]

This is the first season I watched SNL. I still remember the Samurai Night Fever sketch.

[@michaelvisser6286]

I would argue that the Grodin runner is one of the most creative ideas in the show's history.

[@Violetstarr-su5gm]

Hello Michael ❤

[@julianyc422]

You guys could have full episodes on each cast member and and mention there before and after careers and such as well.

[@krisscanlon4051]

Classic year and in its prime

[@ramirezproductions0826]

Someone’s GOTTA SEND ME that mutant lobster attack clip! I DEFINITELY wanna watch that!

[@ShinySephiroth1]

I still think Al Brooks' final short is hilarious and horrendously underrated

[@BallparkHunter]

Wow, SNL had a host who was born in the 19th century!

[@thesnlnetwork]

Crazy! Ruth Gordon in Season 2 was also born in the 19th century (1896)

[@tommyhaynes9157]

It's worth mentioning Elvis Costello was banned from SNL for many years because of the last minute song change. Loren had no problem with the subject matter but what Elvis did threw off the timing of the rest of the show. You can't change things in a live show

[@chrisolivo6591]

This just popped up on my feed as i hope you review every season. I just subscribed! The Belushi cast was before my time but i love hearing stories about these years as my parents would watch every Saturday night. I didn’t start watching til Eddie Murphy so I’m looking forward to the 80’s/90’s. I disdain the show for the past 15 years but i’ll still watch your reviews because it’s fascinating to see something great fall from grace.

[@thesnlnetwork]

Thanks for subscribing!

[@Neufutur]

At 4:35, Elvis Costello looks the spitting image of Andy Dick.

[@robf6105]

That Steve Martin episode where he performs "King Tut" is THE greatest episode of the entire show. I was about 8 when it aired. My parents used to let me stay up to watch it. Man, it was so exciting to watch back then. Dangerous comedy in a more straitlaced time.

[@JimBaker-f6r]

Same here. Formative.

[@Violetstarr-su5gm]

Hello rob ❤

[@Violetstarr-su5gm]

⁠@@JimBaker-f6rsame very formative

[@barrypeterson6725]

Great season! I would put it right at the top all time.

[@BenSkyLakewood]

Will season 50 be the last?

[@JimBaker-f6r]

As a kid, I was so blown away by the atomic lobster episode--the brainchild of Michael O'Donoghue, of course--I couldn't sleep for the whole rest of that night.

[@TheReubenKincaid]

I watched the Anyone can Host Episode on Netflix. It was the elderly woman, but then I realized I remembered Elvis Costello. When he appeared I thought it was a skit because it was no one looked like Elvis in 77 and it was more glaring in 77. So I saw Watching The Detectives but being 10 years old at the time I determined I did not see Elvis swap songs. I probably fell asleep. I found out that Elvis was banned not for the song he played but the fact he was messing up the timing of the show doing that and that pissed Loren off.

[@billslocum9819]

This probably isn't the best season in SNL history, I got to think the Carvey/Hartman/Lovitz/Hooks era had one or two seasons of higher quality. But this was the season where the vision came together in a big way, with hosts that clicked and recurring bits that were replayed in schoolyards year-round, making them as much a rock act as a comedy show. Best classic era season for sure.

[@44Gulick]

These are fucking great please keep making them

[@thesnlnetwork]

We will!

[@jbanks979]

I’d say 3 is the peak of the first five by a pretty substantial margin. Every cast member got to do one thing substantial that highlights their strengths (garret’s Tina is legendary), and you still had Michael O and Marylin Suzanne Miller in the writing room. For as many of her pieces that were only ever meant to be poignant, she had a 90%+ success rate. The conceptual bits also almost all worked (the 50 foot lobster episode has to be seen to be believed) I was not old enough to appreciate the earliest cast but streamed all first five (complete) seasons several years ago. This is the peak of Lorne’s original vision. The next two years are sloppy with the best writers leaving and several cast members (John most notably) no longer trying

[@embreeja]

The greatest season ------ maybe, but all of the early shows were. A young married couple in '73, my wife and I watched all of the shows, our Saturday Night entertainment. About the time our baby was born in 1980, the show was sometimes not quite as good ---- and now in 2024 it stinks (it did the last time I tried to watch it anyway). I remember all of the characters and skits as if it was yesterday, not 50 years ago. Thank you for reminding me of all the laughs we had.

[@Sabotage_Labs]

By season 3, I was just about old enough to fight it...and stay awake to watch. I was like... 8-9 yrs old....lol.

[@tomatopie34]

The most stark difference to me between the 70s and the SNL of the last 30+ years is the musical guests. Look at all the diversity of styles they booked back then, even when they were also getting A-listers like Paul Simon, Billy Joel and George Harrison. Leon Redbone, Sun Ra, Taj Mahal, Gil Scott-Heron, Kinky Friedman, Keith Jarrett? No way any artist like that gets booked today, or even since at least the 90s. It’s always just an interchangeable pop/rap star who’s dropping an album that week. A lot of the sketches from back then didn’t age well at all and many weren’t really that good to begin with, but the music segments from that era are cherished.

[@AlexanderLaurence]

THREE is the best

[@lotus65]

So I was 15 and my best bud Steve let me crash in his basement many weekends. I literally remember all of season two. We died laughing every Saturday night smoking pot and loosing it over this show!

[@CallsItLikeISeizeIts]

If you look close at Olympics, you can see Cone-heads in the😊 stands

[@FaydOgolon]

I would liked to have gotten more background on Sun Ra's appearance. During the cast bow, you can see him walking across with a real sour look on his face. I'll bet the floor manager had to yell that they could stop because they cut to commercial. I imagine that did not go over well.

[@hodgesic]

Why is seasons 1-3 videos is there no mention of Andy Kaufman or the muppets

[@mongoslade277]

They mentioned the Muppets in seasons 1 & 2. They showed clips of Andy Kaufman

[@t1tg999]

Looks like this was also the season where they got Garrett to wear a dress! smfh

[@gsvnj33128]

Any Mike Myers videos?????????

[@boomka]

Mike doesn’t join the cast for many years still.

[@gsvnj33128]

@@boomka oh I know. I'm asking if there's any existing in other types of videos.

[@mariocisneros911]

To early.. he came in the 80's , post Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo

[@MarvinMonroe]

Alwats seemed weird that NBC would care or know enough to ask Elvis Costello to not play a certain song

[@senselessbabbledotcom]

The greatest season is the season you first discover the show. :-D

[@kevin10001]

I feel the more interesting episodes of season three is the o.j Simpson episode cause he does his his whole monologue wearing a conehead prosthetic on his head for unexplained reason cause he never actually does a conehead sketch in his episode but when I first saw the episode in my season three box set I thought he was possibly wearing it cause the first sketch after the monologue was going to be a conehead sketch but it wasn’t

[@savidge08]

Madeline was so adorable

[@robertwest4596]

How could the 4th episiode in this season be the 50th episode? You documented 25 episodes in season 1 and 23 episodes in Season 2. Were you incorrect that Lily Tomlin had 2 episodes at the end of November in Season 1, or not counting the Mardi Gras episode in Season 2?

[@nyjsackexchange]

Bill Murray's WU Hollywood sketches were as good as Nick the Lounge singer

[@augustusbetucius2931]

I like the series, but it feels like it's very superficial. I just skims the surface and catches the highlights. You truly can *not* do any season, *especially* the original 70s era justice in ten or so minutes. Look at the Chase/Murray altercation - Why? Come on guys, dig deeper, take more time and give this ground breaking series its proper due.

[@peterwynberg]

The Good Old Days.. 😅

[@johnspooner1403]

Yeah. I was 18/19 years old for this season. Perfect season for the perfect time in my life. Whatever my friends and I were doing that Saturday night, we would head for the nearest TV in time for the start. Didn’t miss an episode. My mother even stayed up to watch. Magic times. Not to mention Animal House came out in theatres. Suck it, millenials!

[@thesnlnetwork]

Incredible! One of the best seasons ever

[@LeadSurge3000]

♦️ *As Lorne always says, whichever cast was on when you were in junior high is your favorite. (generally true) I've mostly kept up with the show since season 1 when I was 11 & there are good & bad sketches in every season.* ♦️

[@Joshua-l7g]

Yes it most likely was

[@Violetstarr-su5gm]

Hey Joshua ❤

[@Joshua-l7g]

@@Violetstarr-su5gm Hey Violet ❤️

[@Violetstarr-su5gm]

@@Joshua-l7g how’re you Joshua