In Search of an Opening Night Host

With worries concerning the new Saturday Night Live regime, the staff had trouble finding a guest host for the sixth-season opener, scheduled for November 15, 1980. 


There seemed to be a campaign to keep prominent show business figures from working of the Jean Doumanian-produced show, some did it out of loyalty to Lorne Michaels.


Several reasons were made for the late start to the upcoming season, most prominently, the use of Saturday Night's traditional home, Studio 8H, was being used by NBC News for its' 1980 election coverage; rather than use the studio in Brooklyn, where three of the Season 2 episodes originated from four years earlier, they decided on the mid-November.


With barely a week before the season premiere , they finally were able to snag Original-Era favorite Elliot Gould to open the new season with Kid Creole and The Coconuts as musical guests.


Elliot had hosted the show five times previously.


Here's a promotional advertisement from the November 15-21, 1980 edition of TV Guide:



  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's Not A Telegram!

Image
It's a Billy-Gram! In this sketch (written by future cast member Terrance Sweeney), guest host Elliot Gould and Ann Risley were living together without marriage when they receive a singing telegram for the girlfriend's birthday, sent by her parents---only it wasn't a regular singing telegram, it's a Billy-Gram!  The deliverer, played in hammy style by Charles Rocket, sings the telegram denouncing the girlfriend's lifestyle.  Check out Charles' hammy facial style.
Read more

And So, It Starts: A New Era Begins

Image
  It is Saturday, November 15, 1980 and Elliot Gould is guest host of the opening episode of Saturday Night Live 's sixth season, and you can view it here . This is Elliot's sixth (and to this day, most recent) episode as guest host. Kid Creole and the Coconuts are the musical guests on this night. As each episode progresses, we'll touch on individual sketches, starting with the cold opening recalling SNL 's "Glory Days". The opening shot of the opening episode of the Jean Doumanian Era  is of a sleepy Gail Matthius, who realizes the show is about to open, then wakes up next to guest host Elliot Gould, who are introduced to the new cast members and with each describing himself as a cross between two of the cast members from the original era.   Gail described herself as a cross between Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin. Next, up popped Charles Rocket, a cross between Chevy Chase and Bill Murray. Next up, it's Ann Risley, describing herself as a cross between Gil...
Read more