No.
overall
| No. in
season
| Host
| Musical guest(s)
| Original air date
|
| 1
| 1
| George Carlin
| Billy Preston & Janis Ian
| October 11, 1975
|
- The cold open features John Belushi as a foreign man learning English being taught by writer Michael O'Donoghue. Following this sketch, Chevy Chase appeared with a headset on and bellows the first "Live From New York, It's Saturday Night!"
- As host, George Carlin performed stand-up, introduced the musical guests, and conducted the goodnight segment. Carlin performed three monologues, including "Baseball-Football".
- Andy Kaufman appeared in a segment consisting of him playing the Mighty Mouse theme on a record player.
- Valri Bromfield makes a guest appearance. Jacqueline Carlin appeared as the mother in the "New Dad Insurance" sketch and as the woman with a book in the "Academy of Better Careers" sketch. Wendy Craig appeared as the salesman in the "Academy of Better Careers" sketch. Richard Belzer (the show's warm-up comedian), writer Tom Davis, and talent coordinator Neil Levy appear as jurors in the "Courtroom" sketch.
- Billy Preston performed "Nothing from Nothing" and "Fancy Lady". Janis Ian performed "At Seventeen" and "In the Winter".
- Sketches include the Bees; the Albert Brooks film, "The Impossible Truth"; "Trojan Horse Home Security"; "Triple-Trac"; and The Land of Gorch, with Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Rhonda Hansome, and Alice Tweedy.
|
|
|
| 2
| 2
| Paul Simon
| Randy Newman, Phoebe Snow, Art Garfunkel & Jessy Dixon Singers
| October 18, 1975
|
|
|
|
|
| 3
| 3
| Rob Reiner
| none
| October 25, 1975
|
|
|
|
|
| 4
| 4
| Candice Bergen
| Esther Phillips
| November 8, 1975
|
|
|
|
|
| 5
| 5
| Robert Klein
| ABBA & Loudon Wainwright III
| November 15, 1975
|
|
|
|
|
| 6
| 6
| Lily Tomlin
| Tomlin with Howard Shore & the All Nurse Band
| November 22, 1975
|
|
|
|
|
| 7
| 7
| Richard Pryor
| Gil Scott-Heron
| December 13, 1975
|
- Gil Scott-Heron performed "Johannesburg" and "A Lovely Day".
- Thalmus Rasulala appeared as one of the priests in the "Exorcist II" sketch. Annazette Chase appeared as Polly in the "Black & White" sketch. At Pryor's insistence, his ex-wife Shelley Pryor and Kathrine McKee, his then-current girlfriend make cameo appearances.
- Sketches include "Samurai Futaba," "The Land of Gorch," and an Albert Brooks's film, "sick". This was the first appearance of Belushi's Samurai character.
- The episode introduces the recurring catchphrase "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" during Weekend Update.
- At Pryor's insistence Paul Mooney was hired as a writer Mooney wrote some of Pryor's routines, including the "Racist Word Association Interview".
- The show was broadcast on a seven second delay.
|
|
|
| 8
| 8
| Candice Bergen
| Martha Reeves & The Stylistics
| December 20, 1975
|
|
|
|
|
| 9
| 9
| Elliott Gould
| Anne Murray
| January 10, 1976
|
*Anne Murray performed the songs "The Call" and "Blue Finger Lou".
- The episode features an Albert Brooks film, Audience Test Screenings. Other sketches include "Interior Demolitionists" and a Shimmer commercial parody.
- Paula Kahn makes a cameo appearance. Jim Henson, Alice Tweedy, Jerry Nelson, and Frank Oz perform their characters in "The Land of Gorch".
- The episode was submitted for the Emmy Award consideration and won SNL its first Emmy in 1977.
- Lorne Michaels appears on camera for the first time in the series during a "Killer Bees" sketch gone wrong.
|
|
|
| 10
| 10
| Buck Henry
| Bill Withers & Toni Basil
| January 17, 1976
|
|
|
|
|
| 11
| 11
| Peter Cook & Dudley Moore
| Neil Sedaka
| January 24, 1976
|
- Scred from "The Land of Gorch" appeared in a bee costume hoping to be in The Bees sketch, only to be told by Gilda Radner that the sketch was canceled. Scred joins Gilda into introducing Neil Sedaka.
- Sedaka performed the songs "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Lonely Night".
- The episode features the sketch, "Lifer Follies," auditions in a prison warden's office for an upcoming inmate talent show, which includes Garrett Morris' "Shotgun" song.
|
|
|
| 12
| 12
| Dick Cavett
| Jimmy Cliff
| January 31, 1976
|
|
|
|
|
| 13
| 13
| Peter Boyle
| Al Jarreau
| February 14, 1976
|
- The Shapiro Sisters dance and lip-sync to the song "This Will Be". One of the sisters, Jenny, also appeared in a sketch.
- Al Jarreau performed the songs "We Got By" and "Pretty as a Picture".
- Steven Spielberg makes an appearance in the audience while Peter Boyle sings a love song to his "wife".
|
|
|
| 14
| 14
| Desi Arnaz
| Desi Arnaz & Desi Arnaz, Jr.
| February 21, 1976
|
- Arnaz and his son perform the songs "Cuban Pete" and "Babalu".
- Actor Taylor Mead makes a filmed cameo appearance.
|
|
|
| 15
| 15
| Jill Clayburgh
| Leon Redbone & The Idlers
| February 28, 1976
|
- A cappella group The Idlers and comedian Andy Kaufman make cameo appearances. Host Jill Clayburgh appeared with these guests.
- Photographer and video artist William Wegman appeared with his dog in Gary Weis' filmed piece.
- Leon Redbone performed the songs "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Big Time Woman".
- The first appearance of Mister Bill, in response to the show's request for home movies.
|
|
|
| 16
| 16
| Anthony Perkins
| Betty Carter
| March 13, 1976
|
- Betty Carter performed the songs "Music Maestro, Please / Swing Brother Swing" and "I Can't Help It".
- King Ploobis and Scred from "The Land of Gorch" approach Anthony Perkins for help to get their sketch back on the air.
|
|
|
| 17
| 17
| Ron Nessen
| Patti Smith
| April 17, 1976
|
- President Gerald Ford appeared in a filmed segment during the cold opening where he opens the show with "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" after Chevy Chase's signature pratfall. He also appeared in filmed segments during the monologue (where he introduces the host) and during Weekend Update (where, following Chevy Chase's signature line "I'm Chevy Chase and you're not", he says "I'm Gerald Ford and you're not").
- Billy Crystal (billed as Bill Crystal) performed a monologue. Dan Aykroyd impersonates talk show host Tom Snyder.
- The episode features a short Gary Weis film on New York garbage men.
- Patti Smith Group performed the song "Gloria" and "My Generation".
|
|
|
| 18
| 18
| Raquel Welch
| Phoebe Snow & John Sebastian
| April 24, 1976
|
- Raquel Welch performed the song "Superstar" with John Belushi as Joe Cocker, as well as "It Ain't Necessarily So".
- Phoebe Snow performed the songs "All Over" and "Two-Fisted Love".
- John Sebastian performed the song "Welcome Back" with John Belushi as Joe Cocker.
- Lorne Michaels appeared on air, offering the Beatles $3,000 to perform three songs.
- The characters from "The Land of Gorch" face facts that they aren't welcome on the show anymore.
- First appearance of Gilda Radner as Baba Wawa.
|
|
|
| 19
| 19
| Madeline Kahn
| Carly Simon
| May 8, 1976
|
- Scred and The Mighty Favog cut a deal with Chevy Chase to have Lorne Michaels renew their sketch in exchange that The Mighty Favog gets The Beatles to appear on the show.
- Carly Simon performed the songs "Half a Chance / You're So Vain" in a pre-taped segment with Chevy Chase playing cowbell.
|
|
|
| 20
| 20
| Dyan Cannon
| Leon and Mary Russell
| May 15, 1976
|
- Leon and Mary Russell perform the songs "Satisfy You" and "Daylight," the latter of which featured John Belushi as Joe Cocker.
|
|
|
| 21
| 21
| Buck Henry
| Gordon Lightfoot & Garrett Morris
| May 22, 1976
|
- Lorne Michaels offers the Beatles $3,200 and free hotel accommodations to perform three songs.
- Gordon Lightfoot performed the songs "Summertime Dream" and "Spanish Moss". A third song, "Sundown," is interrupted by John Belushi's Samurai.
|
|
|
| 22
| 22
| Elliott Gould
| Leon Redbone, Harlan Collins & Joyce Everson
| May 29, 1976
|
|
|
|
|
| 23
| 23
| Louise Lasser
| Preservation Hall Jazz Band
| June 24, 1976
|
- In her opening monologue, host Louise Lasser, who had been arrested on a drug charge the week before and was very difficult for the cast and writers to work with that week, pretends to have a bout of stage fright and lock herself in her dressing room. She had actually done the same thing in real life just before the beginning of the show; the cast was dividing her parts among themselves. Her self-indulgent behavior led Michaels to keep this episode out of syndication.
- Actor Michael Sarrazin makes a filmed cameo appearance.
- Preservation Hall Jazz Band performed the song "Panama".
|
|
|
| 24
| 24
| Kris Kristofferson
| Rita Coolidge
| June 31, 1976
|
- Rita Coolidge performed the song "Hula Hoop". Host Kris Kristofferson performed the song "I've Got a Life of My Own". Together, Kristofferson and Coolidge performed "Eddie the Eunuch".
|
|
|
