At the start of the 1975 television season, in late September and early October of that year, two new comedy/variety shows began that were heavily promoted as new and refreshing by their respective networks. One featured an ensemble cast of theretofore unknown not-ready-for-prime-time comedians doing live sketch comedy. The novelty of the show included the fact that the show’s host was not actually a regular cast member, but a rotating weekly guest. Its prospects for success seemed questionable. The other show featured several established big name entertainers. One of its regular cast members was Bill Murray. That second show was Saturday Night Live, and it appeared destined to become a television staple for generations to come. NBC’s Saturday Night began with a short sketch in which John Belushi delivered the line to Buck Henry, “I would like to feed your fingertips to the Wolverines,” followed by a monologue from host George Carlin, who established a risqué tone for the new show by observing that, “If God didn’t intend for us to masturbate, he’d have given us shorter arms.” The entire show was performed live, with only one or two mock commercials and short comedic art films having been pre-recorded. Originally, guest hosts were conceived to come from outside the entertainment industry. Dan Ackroyd said in an interview that year, We would love to get Patty Hearst, but we wouldnt want her to blow her defense. ABC’s Saturday Night Live aired in the first hour of prime time. Howard Cosell presented the show live before a studio audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater, yet much of the entertainment was pre-recorded. The first show’s musical guest was the Bay City Rollers. The sketch comedy troup included Bill Murry, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Christopher Guest. Collectively, they were self-named, “The Prime Time Players.” (The NBC’s show’s comedians adopted the name “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” in direct response.) The connection to Ed Sullivan was not coincidental. CBS’s “The Ed Sullivan Show” had ended four years earlier, in the same theater named for it, and Cosell was an obvious attempt by ABC to steal the concept. Ed Sullivan was a not-very-telegenic ex-sports writer-turned TV variety host. Cosell’s show also included the more odd entertainment acts, jugglers, magicians, etc. as Sullivan had also been known for. At the time, I really thought Howard Cosell would become the Ed Sullivan for a new generation. Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell was cancelled in mid-season, January 1976. It was a flop form the beginning. The cancellation gave the all-clear for NBC’s Saturday Night to add the word “Live” to its title. Another connection between the two shows: Billy Crystal appeared on the premier episode of the ABC show with Howard Cosell , and was scheduled to appear on the premier of the NBC show also, but was cut because the show ran out of time. Of course, Crystal later became a regular cast member of NBCs Saturday Night Live, and even Howard Cosell eventually guest-hosted.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 18:23:33 +0000
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