Saturday December 13, 1975
107
On a seven-second delay from New York, it's... Garrett Morris!
Sketches include "The Clumsy Waiters," "Samurai Hotel," "Looks At Books," "New Dad," "Police Line-Ups" (three parts) "Racist Word Association," "Pong" (film), "When White Family Members Turn Black," "Spud Beer," "Early Suicide Pill," "Ploobis and Scred Get Drunk" (Muppets), "Exorcist II," a performance by Shelley Pryor, "Albert is Home Sick" (film), and two stand-up performances by Richard Pryor.
Gil-Scott Heron performed "Johannesburg" and "A Lovely Day."
Funniest episode of the bunch! hide show
Too many guest hosts of SNL,even in the "classic" era (75-80),seemed to be too unconfortable with the format.Not so,Mr. Pryor.His episode is one of the funniest episodes of the entire run,and still holds up today.From his appearance as a black samurai(opposite John Belushi),to the infamous "word association" sketch,and finally to the gut-busting "Exorcist II" parody ("The bed..is on..MY FOOT!"),it's almost non-stop laughs.
Not even the inclusion of his ex-wife,as well as some political-based soul from Gill Scott Heron can take away from the fun here.And fans of blaxploitation flix will be thrilled to see Thalmus Rasulala pop in. Highly Recommended for Pryor devotees as well as SNL fans.
Richard Pryor becomes SNL's first black host with musical guest Gil Scott-Heron and special guests Shelley Pryor, Anazette Chase, and Thalmus Rasulala! hide show
This is definitely Saturday Night Live's first large-scale show with a sufficient amount of hype beforehand about whether Pryor was going to slip up and drop an F-bomb or if the show itself was actually going to work with a stand-up act like Pryor thrown into the mix. Well, did it EVER!
Host: Richard Pryor
Musical Guest: Gil Scott-Heron
Cold Open: Garrett's Fall (Aykroyd, Chase, Curtin, Morris)
--Garrett tells Chevy that Richard asked HIM to take the fall instead this week, which Chase finally accepts. While teaching Garrett how to do the fall, Chevy knocks himself down and Morris then screams the line to open the show. Good start.
Monologue: Alcohol and Acid (Pryor)
--Richard does some stand-up about drinking and about taking acid. He does the acid trip one so well with the voices and everything as well as the typical drunk guy in a bar. Great stuff of course.
Samurai Hotel (Pryor, Belushi, Chase)
--The debut of Samurai Futaba (Belushi) as a hotel receptionist. A customer (Chase) asks him stuff to which Futaba responds in babbling "Japanese", before finally getting the similar-looking bellboy (Pryor) to come in and have a duel. Wackiness erupts. Great recurring sketch.
Gil Scott-Heron sings "Johannesburg"
--It's a very catchy tune with a pretty poignant message on top of that.
Looks at Books (Pryor, Curtin)
--This one features Jane interviewing Junior Griffin (Pryor), who wrote a book from the perspective of a white man by going undercover as one. More greatness from Pryor as he does a perfect 'nerdy white guy' voice and just looks very comfortable during the whole thing.
Commercial: New Dad (Aykroyd, Chase)
--A repeat from the first show.
Line-up I (Pryor, Aykroyd, Belushi, Chase, Radner)
--A man (Pryor) is made out very obviously to be the guilty suspect in a line-up that a woman (Radner) identifies him in. Pretty short, but the trio of sketches as a whole is kind of amusing.
Word Association (Pryor, Chase)
--An employer (Chase) interviews Mr. Wilson (Pryor) and in the course of a word association test, it gets very heated with racial slurs being thrown back and forth between the two. This is a total classic as Pryor and Chase have great chemistry as well.
Pong
--This time around, the two discuss a hockey game and "this Bouchard guy." Not that great on this go-around.
Black Family Takeover (Pryor, Anazette Chase, Aykroyd, Belushi, Curtin, Radner)
--A man's (Aykroyd) family start turning black before his very eyes but he doesn't seem to notice as he keeps going on about how black people are beginning to take over the world. Pretty amusing one-note joke.
Weekend Update with Chevy Chase (also: Garrett Morris and Gilda Radner)
--This seems like everyone had their game faces on this night. Chevy is raring to go with comments regarding homosexuality in professional sports, a great bit on Frank Sinatra, a big jab at Wallace, and lets us know that "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead." Emily Litella (Radner) makes her Update debut in an amusing editorial against "busting schoolchildren" and then Garrett does the "hard of hearing" bit to close the segment. Good one this week.
Commercial: Spud Beer (Morris)
--A repeat from the last show...
Line-up II (Pryor, Aykroyd, Curtin, Radner)
--This is my favourite of the three. "Umm, could you open the icebox?"
Early Suicide Pill (Pryor, Aykroyd)
--This is a pretty funny and quick sketch that I don't want to give anything away in, but suffice to say it's Richard Pryor doing something and then paying dearly for it after. Again, Pryor shines here.
The Muppets: Alcohol
--Ploobis and Scred drink their sorrows away before visiting Favog. This one was okay.
Line-up III (Pryor, Aykroyd, Belushi, Chase, Radner)
--The weakest of the three but still pretty amusing.
The Exorcist II (Pryor, Thalmus Rasulala, Curtin, Newman)
--Two priests (Pryor, Rasulala) try to bring back a possessed girl (Newman), who is very conniving, with little to no luck. Pryor's pannicky performance is great here along with Newman's acting as Regan to support it. "The bed...is on...my foot!" Classic stuff.
Albert Brooks Film: Sick in Bed
--Albert is too sick to make a film so he lies in bed and tells the people about his sickness with the help of his doctor on the phone. A delivery boy also arrives leading to a funny bit involving his record name getting bleeped out all the time. Good film this week.
Kennedy Conspiracy Shooting (Pryor)
--A frantic man comes onto the stage, saying that he knows the truth behind the JFK assassination before he himself is assassinated, leaving Pryor to shrug and say he had nothing to do with it. Pointless but quick.
Shelley Pryor tells a story called "Carousel Horses"
--This one is actually not about the comedy, but does provide a nice message about equality buried in the children's story.
Monologue: Wino and a Junkie (Pryor)
--Richard does some stand-up about what it would sound like if a wino was trying to coach a junkie on how to turn his life around. More greatness, as his stand-up is phenomenal.
Gil Scott-Heron sings "A Lovely Day"
--Pretty decent musical number to close the show.
Everyone surprises Richard with some sort of food item, as he closes the show and hopes that those who didn't watch were able to "make love."
Best segment: Word Association
Worst segment: The Muppets: Alcohol
Host: Richard Pryor - 9/10
Musical Guest: Gil Scott-Heron - 7.5/10
All in all, like mentioned before, this is probably the first 'classic' episode and probably is one of, if not, THE best episode from the first season. Almost everything works and whatever doesn't is kept short anyway. Richard excels in everything he's involved in and Heron provides some catchy musical numbers to support it. As for the cast members, while Chevy is clearly the stand-out, Belushi already has a very popular recurring character started up that lasts him for his entire duration on the show.
Rating: 8.5/10
OMG! Richard Pryor, one of the funniest men on Earth, hosts this completely funny episode of Saturday Night Live! hide show
Whatever time you're reading this from New Jersey, it's my review! Richard Pryor, one of the funniest men on Earth, hosts this completely funny episode of Saturday Night Live, or as it was known back then as NBC's Saturday Night. All the funny skits make this episode a must-see. With Richard Pryor in stuff as funny as the 2nd samurai in Samurai Hotel, or as the 2nd preist in Exorcist II (or was it III?) As well as the always-funny Not Ready for Prime Time Players. I suggest that if you haven't seen the Richard Pryor episode of Saturday Night Live, find any way you can to see it! You will NOT be disappointed!
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