Obviously with a show known to be a launching pad for a lot of talent, the old episodes are a time capsule of great talents just as they were starting. In this first season we have the main cast, most of whom had some success after they left the show. Comedic guest talent included Billy Crystal (who went by Bill Crystal in the episode) & Al Franken, who mainly wrote in the first five years, later appearing on camera after Lorne Michaels resumed producer duties in 1985. In addition, there is the in house band lead by Howard Shore, who would go on to work with Peter Jackson, Cronenberg and Scorsese among others. Paul Shaffer, a few years away from Letterman's debut, also worked on the show's first season.
One of the more absurd newcomers of the first season was Andy Kaufman, a few years before he starred in Taxi. Even casual viewers of his work (or if you just saw Man in the Moon) know his trademark absurdist humor. The concept of his sketches was simple: lip synching to old children songs. However, the presentation is hilarious, from having several volunteers from the audience lip synch to "Old McDonald" to him awkwardly awaiting the phrase "Here I come to save the day" in the clas sic "Mighty Mouse" bit. I'm not sure SNL today would be as daring to allow someone like this on now, but back when they had nothing to lose, you see a lot more experimentation.
Video: Andy Kaufman's "Mighty Mouse" routine http://youtube.com/watch?v=AHG9jp6s1OI
Much like today, short films are a big part of the show. The early episodes featured shorts directed by then unknown Albert Brooks, who left the series to pursue Hollywood filmmaking (Taxi Driver, which he co-starred in, premiered a month after his last short aired). The rest of the season Gary Weis took over, and the films turned to documentaries of unusual people. While I only found Brooks' films moderately amusing and Weis' dull, the concepts were unusual, which I can respect. Today the digital shorts are the big reason why people are saying SNL is funny again. If they replaced "Lazy Sunday", "D*** In a Box" and "Iran (So Far Away)" with these shorts, I doubt people would take notice or watch it millions of times on YouTube.
Early in the season they announced a "contest", where viewers could send in their own short films with the possibility of them being aired. Such a concept couldn't be done today with SNL's institutional status on TV, but since they were just getting media attention, that was OK. The biggest contribution of these shorts was one, made for around $20, featuring a clay man named Mr. Bill. I never knew he was brought on the show as a part of a "contest", but that is another joy of seeing these old episodes: you see the origins of the sketches that have become pop culture staples.
Video: Mr. Bill http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=32837
One recurring segment involved a more adult version of Jim Henson's Muppets. These stand out as possibly the worst recurring segment of the first season. Every time Don Pardo mentioned them I rolled my eyes a little bit. It just doesn't fit the rest of the show. Who exactly were these sketches made for? While drug humor was a big part of the early episodes, I'd expect someone to be ridiculously high to chuckle during one of these. The Land of Gorch set was destroyed mid-season, as if that wasn't a strong enough indicator of where they were going. Luckily, the following TV season they got their act together for The Muppet Show, one of my favorites growing up.
Topical humor is ubiquitous today, from The Daily Show & The Colbert Report to The Onion, that it's easy to forget that it wasn't always this way. The 60s started that as The Smothers Brothers referenced Vietnam and Laugh In featured then candidate Richard Nixon (SNL would have Gerald Ford deliver the "Live from New York" line, ironically on pretape, when Ron Nessen hosted). SNL, whose cast grew up during that turbulent time, features political humor a lot, especially in the long running "Weekend Update" sketch, and the first season is no exception. It's interesting to watch historically (especially when they talk about future presidents Carter, Reagan and Bush 41, then the head of the CIA), but as someone who wasn't around for week-by-week coverage of the news then, only the big names resonate, making some of the material dated, or at least hard to understand out of context.
One of Chase's first big recurring character was of then President Ford, using a lot of physical comedy to mock Ford's clumsiness. This impersonation is noteworthy for one big reason: it wasn't an impersonation at all. Chevy Chase didn't wear any special make up or speak as Ford did. They made no attempt to make the audience believe he was Ford. If anyone tried that today they'd be accused of being lazy. Aykroyd's impersonation of Nixon in the memorable "Last Days of Nixon" sketch as well as Jimmy Carter showed an increased effort in impersonation.
Video: Chevy's first Ford sketch http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=29150
In addition to politics, drug culture influenced SNL. Considering everyone back stage was smoking pot, it had to have been the subject for sketches. Two highlights involved Chevy Chase. The first had him trying to inject a joint into his arm like a syringe and the other was him as President Ford trying to roll a joint and failing miserably. The first one is more goofy humor, but both bear a subtext of the older generation's lack of understanding for how drugs worked.
As mentioned regarding Garrett Morris, race issues weren't covered as much as other topics. However, when Richard Pryor hosted things were different. Race plays a vital part in one of the first season's most memorable sketches. In it, an interviewer (Chase) plays word association with Pryor, eventually degenerating in Chase and Pryor exchanging increasingly offensive ethnic slurs at each other. Pryor's punch line is absolutely hilarious.
Video: Word Association Sketch (NSFW) http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=29157
An unusual recurring segment involved on set plugs for Polaroid cameras. This is something that was common on TV in the fifties, but I'm not sure how often they did this in the mid-70s. It comes in contrast to the iconoclastic attitude of the cast, but somehow they made it work, even when their input was minimal (like when John Belushi and Jane Curtain switched names).
Pop culture played a big part in the early episodes as it does now. Of those sketches, "Land shark" stands out. Spoofing the success of Jaws, which had just come out the previous summer, the sketches have a shark devouring women by knocking on their apartment door, pretending to be delivering a candygram. If it needs to be repeated, they were smoking a lot of pot around that time.
Admittedly, I skipped over about half of the musical guests performances, consisting of forgettable one hit wonders. However, there are some great musical performances. In addition to Paul Simon and Belushi's Joe Cocker impression, we also had the second episode, which was in a way a mini Simon & Garfunkel reunion, with them playing favorites "The Boxer" and "Scarborough Fair". Loudon Wainright III appeared early in the season, offering some oddly amusing songs satirizing the country's bicentennial. In a later episode, reggae legend Jimmy Cliff performed the clas sic "The Harder They Come", one of the songs credited for ushering in reggae music to the main stream.
Two of my favorites come from opposite sides of the spectrum. Desi Arnaz, who seems like the unlikeliest of hosts during this first season, performed (with son Desi Jr.) with the passion he had back when I Love Lucy was still on the air. He played two songs, "Cuban Pete" and his trademark "Babalu". The cast and crew did a conga line through the studio to close the episode. His enthusiasm made that episode really fun to watch, and I can imagine the party must've continued well after that curtain call.
My favorite musical guest came when President Ford's press secretary Ron Nessen hosted. The musical guest: Patti Smith. While she is deservedly a legend and trendsetter, this performance came shortly after her debut "Horses" was released. This was one of the first tastes mainstream America had of punk (a week after this episode, The Ramones debut album would be released). In the episode she performs her interpretation of "Gloria" and her cover of "My Generation". While not as revelatory as The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, it's another great historical moment in music.
Music also became the foundation for several sketches. One of Belushi's memorable first season sketches was a recurring bit involving Beethoven, in a fit of writer's block, churning out Motown and R&B singles. In addition, song lyrics would be dropped into the dialogue, or it would turn into a musical segment, such as the one where a PI (John Belushi) and his client (Madeline Kahn) begin incorporating "I Will Follow Him" into the conversation. Another sketch, involving Kahn, was a cover of "I Feel Pretty" (from West Side Story), sung by the Bride of Frankenstein (Kahn, in her Young Frankenstein wig). When Kahn passed away in 1999, SNL used this segment as an obituary for her.
The biggest music moment was the one that never happened. One week after Patti Smith, Lorne Michaels appeared on air asking The Beatles to reunite on the show. Due to budgetary constraints, as Michaels explains, NBC can only offer the Fab Four $3000, which I believe is still the standard fee for musical guests thirty-two years later. "If you want to give Ringo less, that's up to you." Lennon and McCartney were close enough to the studio on the night it aired to get there and perform before the show ended. Sadly, it's one of the great musical "What ifs". There's something about the impossible task of reuniting the biggest musical act of all time with the rag tag budget of a late night comedy show, with a child like belief that it's possible, that serves as a microcosm for the era.
While the first season of SNL wasn't the knock out I expected, it's still a worth it to see it as a piece of pop culture history. It's great to see a time when SNL wasn't the institution it is today, as it offers some perspective as to where the series would go in over three decades and 600 episodes. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing the other episodes from this first era, as many clas sic moments are to come: The Coneheads & Blues Brothers hadn't been introduced; Jane Curtin wasn't an ignorant s*** yet; Elvis Costello hasn't appeared and ignored the producers' song choice; and Bill Murray and SNL Host MVP Steve Martin have come on board either. I've always heard about how the cast developed over the first four years, eventually I want to see where they go from this first season foundation.