Joe Franklin Show 3 - Saturday Night Live

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Joe Franklin's guests this week are Ricardo and his puppet, Senor Cosa, Irving Cohen, and Liberace. Aired 03/30/85
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[@dupont416]

This was one of my all-time favorite SNL sketches, and it's from one of the most underrated seasons of the show. Billy Crystal is outstanding as Joe Franklin, and the same applies to Christohper Guest and Martin Short. Liberace is the show-stealer here. Here was in town that night (March 30, 1985) for WrestleMania. Executive Producer Dick Ebersol's working relationship with Vince McMahon helped a lot that night -- Hulk Hogan and Mr.T hosted, and they got Liberace on the show, as well .

[@METALITHrevetments]

In one episode of SNL that season Billy Crystal was doing Fernando's Hideaway with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T as guests. At one point Fernando asks Hulk Hogan what's he's doing for Passover and brings down the house. I guess it's New York humor...it still cracks me up.

[@billholdensaunt4086]

oh my gosh! long time fan of them all of course, especially marty. loved joe franklin even though am in chicago. first heard about him in the 80's when woody's broadway danny rose was released. incredible flick! can never watch it too many times...now here comes my dumb dumb part! i was like who the f is playing liberace. no blank. makeup was great, accent then i scanned through the comments to realize that was lib! i chatted with a few guys that went to his home, museum, store, et al in vegas and said this dude was just one incredible person! rip lib. as far as this skit. incredible and my first time through, however not my last.

[@jodifritz9456]

I am Jodi Fritz ----Joe's partner for 21 years . I miss him more than ever. I live alone with my pet turtle, BUBBLES... Joe loved BUBBLES & I swear BUBBLES misses Joe, and his voice too. God bless all during these ultra turbulent times 🙏🙏🙏

[@jimringomartin]

Another of our all time favorite skits from the best cast ever.

[@Broockle]

I think I need subtitle captions to tell me what they are referencing all the time 😅

[@cityhawk]

I was an intern at a Broadway website, and we were in the same building as Joe Franklin. I got to meet him one time. Although it was brief, I thought it was an honor and privilege to meet him. Very nice man. Truly a New York legend.

[@Broockle]

that makes you like 70 yo? Nice. 😀 I only learned of Joe Franklin from a Space Ghost Coast to Coast episode. They actually had Joe F. on an interview 😁 EDIT: o mb, JF actually worked from 1962 to 1993. You could be way younger 🤣

[@cityhawk]

@@Broockle It was about 20 years ago and I was just out of college when I got the internship. But for whatever reason, I knew who Joe Franklin was. Apparently I watched a lot of TV when I was a child. It was great meeting someone who was a New York TV legend.

[@Broockle]

@@cityhawk nice

[@stephaniecarrow4898]

They're all great, but Liberace is surprisingly funny and plays along so well.

[@CUStudioFilms]

YES He's Hilarious. Very good natural acting. I wish he'd done more sketch comedy. He's excellent. I guess he must've done something very similar in the 50s & 60s perhaps. He became a comical stereotype in my mind because of the success of his Vegas shows. He just seemed so one track. But seeing this I now understand. He's an all around performer, just like most showmen of that time were. There are still a few of them. Christopher Walken comes to mind. The Continental is an inspired sketch. Excellent dancer too. Jon Hamm's great in comedy and plays the piano. The one where he plays a nightclub performer with Kristen Wiig is excellent. Justin Timberlake's always funny. I love The Barry Gibb Show. Versatility and Flexibility makes all these people Awesome.

[@stephaniecarrow4898]

@@CUStudioFilms Yes, I agree, it's the stereotype of him ~ which he nurtured ~ that helps make him especially surprisingly good here. He had hidden depths! There are so many versatile performers, I never cease to be amazed by comedians who can sing, singers who can paint, actors who can tap dance, etc.

[@obelix703]

Liberace elevated this sketch from funny to legendary just by committing to playing along.

[@gabekarp3008]

"I agree with the puppet." Gets me every time.

[@eduardo_corrochio]

This particular stretch of SNL, season 10, was my favorite. With Martin Short, Christopher Guest, Mary Gross, Billy Crystal, Harry Shearer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and the rest. Bushels of talent.

[@Rob_Kates]

I don't see the Joe Franklin show with Jackie Rogers Jr. That one is my favorite.

[@eduardo_corrochio]

@@Rob_Kates Jackie Rogers Jr, oh, that character is so creepy, LOL!

[@obelix703]

I think of these sketches every Passover when I see the mountainous display of Streit’s matzohs at the supermarket.

[@PIPEBITE]

"Gimme a C, gimme a bouncy C!"

[@rycal1]

I never knew this was the real Liberace; he absolutely kicks ass in this skit.

[@jodibrooklyn1033]

Such an underrated SNL sketch. It's so eccentric. I love it. So crazy Liberace was on, and this lasted for 10 minutes.

[@Raughwe]

I love Liberace. Cool as hell.

[@chester-chickfunt900]

Absolute perfection. It shall never be like this again.

[@krisscanlon4051]

Hahaha Wow Liberace great sense of humor lol

[@Rob_Kates]

I love Liberace's reaction to Spanish Nights.

[@jarrodbarkley9061]

Omg I remember watching this when it first aired, hysterical!!! Best season of SNL.

[@JimHerrington_UncorrectedProof]

"I'm putting this show in the safe they took out of the Andrea Doria..." 😂

[@BlueMHart]

Fun fact: not only is Christopher Guest actually performing ventriloquism for this sketch (though I suspect the singing part is lip-synced), but according to him, he had never done so beforehand.

[@oopik0059]

I think he did some ventriloquism in ‘Best in Show’ .

[@CUStudioFilms]

Very talented and low key. He always seems to be the straight man. I just saw the sketch where he and Billy Crystal play night guards in a building and they talk about all the painful things they did to themselves. It's such a weird premise. By the end he cracked Billy up with something ad libbed LOL

[@BlueMHart]

@@CUStudioFilms He really is talented in a low-key way. He's extremely good at improv and creating & embodying a character, and he seems to have several hidden talents (like ventriloquism) at which he is excellent, but he's never flashy or show-off-y about it and so I feel it's easy to overlook just how great he is. I saw there are several of those sketches you mentioned- I can't get past the gruesome descriptions to enjoy it lol, but I enjoy the chemistry between the two!

[@gothicall]

Really love this sketch

[@meowco69]

This is pretty much what a typical Joe Franklin was!

[@oopik0059]

I immediately thought of Fred Armisten as Liberace in the Vincent Price SNL holiday specials :)

[@CUStudioFilms]

Classic. I love those. What a great crew that was. All the different groups through the years are so talented. I've been watching these clips almost exclusively for months. It really makes me appreciate all the talented people that have worked on the show.

[@hollybeverlywoodhill7333]

oh joe what a pal I realy knew him in NYC his office was jam packed with memerobilia

[@mjpk6269]

"... Kiss Me, I'm Colored..."

[@dougherendeen3241]

That jacket is one step away from Uncle Floyd

[@andyb811]

Uncle Floyd on UHF in NJ was sued by Joe Franklin for his portrayal. Joe would never have tried to take on the NBC juggernaut (Billy Crystal's portrayal).

[@davidkopec9442]

He sued Joe Frankfurter?

[@andyb811]

@@davidkopec9442 - $40 million. Was not about to take on the huge NBC Universal juggernaut.

[@moxica93]

"Raymond Burr's Nipple Rouge"

[@leejones8582]

Oh wow that's the real liberace thought it was someone made up to look like him

[@CUStudioFilms]

That's what I thought too before the closeup. I was thinking Hmm that looks like Billy Crystal. But wait, Billy's the host LOL

[@waggitnshaggit6592]

Man the real Joe was a Legend

[@Rob_Kates]

Episodes 1 and 3 are on You Tube. Where is episode 2?

[@tertommy]

exquisite

[@jim-hn7ko]

amazing! i laughed my ass off!

[@hollybeverlywoodhill7333]

he politely gave me a audience I had no idea who he was or his show biz history

[@hollybeverlywoodhill7333]

joe told me not to do anything to the assistant I wanted to knock the assistants lights out for abusing a senior

[@sherri419]

I remember Uncle Floyd used to do a great Parody of The Joe Franklin Show back in the 1970s, but I guess Joe Franklin didn't like it bc he sued Uncle Floyd.

[@hollybeverlywoodhill7333]

joe told me his assistant became hostile with him so i warned the assistant to stop the abuse

[@hollybeverlywoodhill7333]

i approached him and offered to make a video series in his comedy club on 8th ave and 45st

[@hollybeverlywoodhill7333]

anyone know whats the contact for joe franklins company

[@rgwebb5165]

Cosa.

[@hollybeverlywoodhill7333]

i wish i would have spent more time with joe but nyc is so hetic and the water supply is tainted with anxiety causing chemicals .

[@davidbaise5137]

This is excruciating.

[@susanblatt1310]

Joe Franklin sued Uncle Floyd (for $40 million) for imitating him on The Uncle Floyd Show as Frank Frankfurter

[@hollybeverlywoodhill7333]

he had a assistant in 2006 that was abusive and I think he was the cause of joes death

[@gregorychanin4225]

Martin never made me chuckle.

[@garryberman894]

Really? What's wrong with you? His "Irving Cohen" character here (which he created on SCTV) is a dead-on impersonation of a real (and old) songwriter named Irving Caesar, who was a frequent guest on Franklin's show. Sorry you can't appreciate Martin Short's genius with this and so many other characters.

[@zoso73]

@@garryberman894 I have tear of laughter running down my face when Marty Short does Irving Cohen. "Leonard, get me the car!"

[@eduardo_corrochio]

He's been one of the best and funniest character comedians ever. Just a few days ago YT posted his SNL "A Christmas Carol" bit that was wonderful. And his late night talk show appearances are legendary-- the impressions of Liza and Bette Davis and others are laugh inducing. He tells hilarious stories (check out the Conan bit where he shares his experience when he sat behind old Lucille Ball on an airplane). You sound dead set against his style so I won't even suggest watching some of his 1980s TV specials on KZbin.

[@mirandavinci4146]

Who's Joe Franklin?

[@eduardo_corrochio]

You can't even look it up? It takes seven seconds. Jeezus.

[@artierace8664]

Who plays the host?

[@Frozen454]

Looks like Billy Crystal

[@MuzixMaker]

And Martin Short as Irving Cohen.

[@holzapfelstein]

And Christopher Guest (of This is Spinal Tap fame) as Senior Cosa.

[@CUStudioFilms]

I forgot that Billy was on SNL until I started watching these old clips recently. Great talent, as are all these people in the sketch.

[@milesmayhem5440]

How gay was Liberace back then?

[@CUStudioFilms]

As gay as humanly possible. Back then, now, and forever LOL

[@zoso73]

Sadly, he died 3 years after this 1984 taping of AIDS complications. He was probably HIV-infected during this taping but didn't know.

[@Monkofmagnesia]

Martin Short ruined what would have been a great parody of the Joe Franklin Show.

[@garryberman894]

You fool!

[@eduardo_corrochio]

You're mad as a hatter. Short is doing a parody of a real showbiz figure, who would fit in _perfectly_ on the old Joe Franklin talk show. Everyone here fits right in to this cult tribute.