'Saturday Night Live' at 50: Here's a look at Oklahomans on SNL and the show's rich history (2024)

Jimmie Tramel

Call it a Saturday night that lasted 50 years.

On Oct. 11, 1975, NBC aired the premiere episode of “Saturday Night,” a live sketch comedy series that featured a cast of young unknowns — Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, John Belushi, Garrett Morris and Laraine Newman.

It was different. It was funny in ways TV viewers had not seen before. The show evolved through cast changes. And “Saturday Night Live” became an American institution.

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SNL is celebrating a 50th season. The celebration will include a three-hour live prime time special that will air Sunday, Feb. 16 on NBC.

The original cast members were known as the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.” In performing alongside a rotating cast of guest hosts and music artists, they (and SNL kingpin Lorne Michaels) established a format and tone that put the underdog venture on a path to win more Emmy Awards than any show in history.

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SNL hasn’t always been great. There have been times when the show faced the specter of cancellation (Eddie Murphy may have singlehandedly saved SNL during one lull). But SNL has survived for half a century, all the while making generations of people laugh and making stars out of many cast members.

Let’s take a walk through the Tulsa World’s archives to explore SNL’s history.

The hosts

Comedian George Carlin hosted the first episode of SNL. Jean Smart (born 14 years after Carlin) hosted the season 50 premiere.

The majority of SNL’s hosts have been actors, comedians, music artists and even professional athletes, but hosts have come from all walks of life.

Ron Nessen, a White House press secretary during the Gerald Ford administration, was a host during the first season. Other curveball guests have included Ralph Nader (consumer protection advocate), Julian Bond (civil rights leader), Hugh Hefner (Playboy magnate), Miskel Spillman (an 80-year-old grandmother who won an anyone-can-host contest), Brandon Tartikoff (NBC executive), Edwin Newman (NBC journalist), the Rev. Jesse Jackson (civil rights leader), George Steinbrenner (New York Yankees owner), Jimmy Breslin (the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author co-hosted with boxer Marvin Hagler), Elon Musk and political figures, including senators and New York City mayors.

Beloved actress Betty White became the oldest person to host the show in 2010. She was 88. She got the job because people lobbied for her online.

'Saturday Night Live' at 50: Here's a look at Oklahomans on SNL and the show's rich history (3)

Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Goodman and Buck Henry have hosted SNL more than 10 times each. Tom Hanks is close behind.

The music

On air, during a 1976 episode, Michaels offered the Beatles $3,000 to reunite on SNL and perform three songs. Alas, it didn’t happen. But generations of the music world’s biggest stars have served as musical guests.

Paul Simon hosted the second show in SNL history, and the format wasn’t quite set in stone yet, so the episode was heavy on music (Art Garfunkel and Randy Newman showed up to help) and light on sketches.

The Rolling Stones agreed to be a musical guest in 1978, but partying during the week of the show allegedly took a toll on performance.

David Bowie was a musical guest in 1979, when visual tricks made his head seem like it was attached to a puppet body.

There was no musical guest in the third episode of SNL’s debut season, but Belushi mimicked Joe Cocker and performed “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

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Steve Martin (“King Tut”) and Adam Sandler (pick one) popped out memorable novelty songs in SNL episodes and the Blues Brothers (Belushi and Aykroyd as Jake and Elwood Blues) originated on the show.

Rihanna was a musical guest in 2009. She co-starred in an Andy Samberg digital short about “Shy Ronnie,” who was too quiet to sing — until Rihanna left the room. Seek out the clip. You won’t regret it.

Bill Hader

Oklahoma’s strongest connection to SNL is Bill Hader, a Tulsan who served as a cast member from 2005 through 2013.

In 2014, SiriusXM radio host Howard Stern called Hader one of the five best cast members in SNL history. Stern praised Hader as a “utility man” who can play anyone.

In a subsequent Stern interview with Bill Murray, an iconic figure in SNL history, Murray said Hader “probably did the best work anyone ever did on that show.”

Continuing, Murray said, “It took him a little while to get going, but I think when he got rolling it was extraordinary.”

Hader, in a 2014 Stern interview, said he once got some prophetic advice from Aykroyd.

“He said, ‘Here’s what’s going to happen. The first four seasons, you are going to be freaked out and you are going to be on shaky ground and you are going to think you are not making it on the show. Then you are going to hit a place where the audience knows who you are, and you are going to go out on your mark and they are going to clap because they recognize you.

“And now you can do whatever you want, and then you are going to start clocking in because you know how the show works and you are just clocking in. You do your bit and you play your game-show host and you do whatever, and you clock out and you go home. When you do that, that’s when you need to leave.’”

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Hader told Stern that is “100 percent what happened” during his years on the show.

“The first four years, scared to death,” he said. “Then like two or three seasons it would be like, ‘Hey, this is going all right.’ ”

Oklahomans

Other people with Oklahoma ties who have hosted SNL or served as musical guests?

Leon Russell led the way when he performed during the show’s first season. Ann Bell, known as the queen of the Tulsa Sound, performed with him.

When Russell was in the midst of his second song (“Daylight”), Belushi popped on stage for another of his spastic Cocker imitations.

“The truth was that we didn’t know that would happen...” Bell told the Tulsa World’s Michael Smith in a decades-later interview.

“I know the audience eats that stuff up, but I can’t speak for the band feeling the same way. That’s all I should say about how anyone else saw that, but, wow. I thought, that was different.”

Russell and Cocker had history together. Russell rocketed to fame after being the band leader of Cocker’s infamous Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour in 1970.

Russell returned to SNL in 2011. He joined host and music guest Elton John for a musical performance.

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Other SNL Oklahomans: Mary Kay Place hosted in 1977. Gary Busey hosted in 1979. Ron Howard hosted in 1982. Sam Kinison hosted in 1986. Color Me Badd was a musical guest in 1991. Garth Brooks was a musical guest in 1992 and doubled as host/music guest in 1998 and 1999. Hanson was a musical guest in 1997. Megan Mullally hosted in 2004. Carrie Underwood was a musical guest in 2007 and 2008. Kings of Leon served as a three-time musical guest (2008, 2010, 2013). David Cook was a musical guest in 2008. St. Vincent was a musical guest in 2014 and 2021. Hader hosted in 2014 and 2018. Blake Shelton doubled as host and musical guest in 2015.

Steven Castillo

Tulsa’s Steven Castillo joined SNL as a writer in 2017. He took a break to pursue a new project, then was summoned back at a host’s request to write a “sequel” to a bit he had written previously. Castillo was urged to return to SNL and he accepted.

On social media, Castillo said this about a “Sabado Gigante” sketch from the season 50 premiere: “Thanks to everyone that enjoyed ‘Sábado Gigante.’ Written by @btuckertime, @danbulla, @marcellohdz and myself. For a long time I wanted to make a sketch completely in Spanish and to pay homage to a big part of my family’s culture. Hope it brought back some memories of watching it at home. My Hispanic upbringing has always been one of my biggest sources of inspiration and I’m beyond happy to be able to showcase it on @nbcsnl.”

The sketches

SNL established a rule in the early going that cast members would not “break.” Translated: Don’t sabotage a sketch by laughing. That was OK for “The Carol Burnett Show,” where Tim Conway took it as a personal challenge to make his teammates bust out in laughter, but laughing was a no-no at SNL.

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Never mind that, some SNL sketches proved so funny that cast members couldn’t help but laugh. Among examples are the “more cowbell” sketch from 2000, Chris Farley’s “living in a van down by the river” sketch as motivational speaker Matt Foley in 1993 and a “Beavis and Butt-Head” sketch from last April.

Every generation will have its own gold standard for SNL sketches, but here are a selected few from a list cobbled together by the Tulsa World entertainment staff 10 years ago:

Chippendale dance audition: Patrick Swayze vs. Chris Farley. Shirtless. And only one spot is available.

Get a life!: William Shatner had some advice for Trekkies at a convention.

Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood: Eddie Murphy lived in a different ‘hood than the one children saw on PBS. Mister Rogers never had to worry about the landlord banging on the door.

Final voyage of the starship Enterprise: Belushi plays Captain Kirk. The Enterprise is boarded by NBC officials who give the news that “Star Trek” is being canceled. Spock (Chase) mind-melds with an NBC exec and says his mind is “dark and empty inside.”

Broken refrigerator: SNL drove censors crazy in the early days. Evidence? Pants sagging wasn’t yet in vogue when a refrigerator repairman played by Aykroyd crouched and half-mooned Todd (Murray) and Lisa (Radner) in a “nerds” sketch. Don’t ask where Aykroyd stored his pencil.

Bill Clinton goes to McDonald’s: SNL has skewered politicians since the beginning. Phil Hartman was great as President Bill Clinton, who interrupted his jog to go to McDonald’s and found an excuse to sample something (even pickles) from almost everyone’s tray. A secret service agent advised the president Hillary wouldn’t like him eating fast food. Drawled Hartman: “There are going to be a whole bunch of things we don’t tell Mrs. Clinton. Fast food is the least of them.”

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Church Chat: Who could forget Dana Carvey as the lip-pursing Church Lady and her uniquely judgmental ideas. “Isn’t that special?”

Bass-O-Matic: Did Aykroyd really drop a fish into a blender and turn on the blender?

St. Monica’s Talent Auditions: Mary Katherine Gallagher (Molly Shannon), a Catholic high school student who loves to hug her armpits, auditions for the talent show with a display of gymnastics.

Homelessville: Justin Timberlake as Cup-O-Soup and Chris Parnell as Santa Claus perform on a street corner while trying to raise money for a fictional charity.

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Christmas treats: In 1998, Shannon, Baldwin and Ana Gasteyer teamed for a laugh-out-loud sketch about a holiday snack.

Patriotism: How little can Will Ferrell wear while showing how patriotic he is while at work?

Memorable moments

Is it OK to be funny?: After 9/11, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared during “SNL’s” opening segment. “Can we be funny?” asked producer Lorne Michaels. Replied Giuliani: “Why start now?”

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Unhappy reunion: Viewers didn’t know this, but there was a backstage fight between Murray and Chase when Chase (who left during season two and was replaced by Murray) returned to host the show in 1978.

Sad movie: During the five-year run of the original cast, Belushi appeared in a short black-and-white film that had him visiting the graves of castmates. “They all thought I’d be the first to go,” Belushi said. Belushi, who died in 1982, was the first to go.

Wounded on stage: Belushi playing the “Samurai Stockbroker” in episode 13 of the second season, accidentally sliced host Buck Henry with his sword. It didn’t faze Henry, who bandaged his head and forged ahead. Throughout the show, various other cast members appeared with bandaged heads, too.

Mighty Mouse: Andy Kaufman was never a cast member, but he appeared in the “SNL” premiere, and his approach to getting laughs was decidedly strange. He stood next to a record player and lip-synched the words to the “Mighty Mouse” theme song. In 1982, viewers participated in a phone poll and voted to ban Kaufman from the show.

Bad word: Charles Rocket, a member of the second-generation cast, made the mistake of dropping the word you can’t say on live TV during a “Who Shot JR?” sketch in 1981. He apologized, but was fired.

Recurring characters

Some SNL characters go over so well with audiences that they are revived for additional sketches.

There are too many to mention here, but that club includes:

Festrunk Brothers: Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd were two wild and crazy guys from Czechoslovakia who thought they knew how to swing.

Penelope: No matter what anyone said, Kristen Wiig’s character was obsessed with topping it.

Mr. Bill: A Play-Doh character has never been so abused. Mr. Bill was tortured in every way possible by Sluggo.

Wayne and Garth: Two guys in a basement starred in their own public access TV show — and two movies based on the sketches.

Coneheads: Beldar, Prymaat and Connie are from France (or another planet) and they’re just trying to fit in with the rest of us.

Barry Gibb: Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake doubled as brothers from the Bee Gees during episodes of “The Barry Gibb Talk Show.”

Sean Connery: For whatever reason, Connery (played by impressionist Darrell Hammond) chose to have an adversarial relationship with Alex Trebek (played by Will Ferrell) during “Celebrity Jeopardy” skits.

Land Shark: The “Jaws” craze sparked an SNL parody. Chase was a Land Shark who would say whatever was necessary to get his victims to open the door.

Stefon: Hader was fantastic as the Weekend Update guest who told viewers all they need to know about the social/entertainment scene.

They were in the cast?

Performers you may not realize were “SNL” cast members:

Gilbert Gottfried: He was in 12 episodes during the 1980-81 season and was fired because some housecleaning was deemed necessary.

'Saturday Night Live' at 50: Here's a look at Oklahomans on SNL and the show's rich history (10)

Damon Wayans: He was fired during his first and only season (1985-86) because he chose to ad-lib a character instead of sticking with the script.

Ben Stiller: He quit after four episodes in 1989.

Sarah Silverman: A one-season (1993-94) cast member, she’ll return to host a show this year.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus: She spent three seasons on “SNL” in the 1980s before striking gold as Elaine in “Seinfeld.”

Robert Downey Jr.: The man who would become “Iron Man” was a cast member during the 1985-86 season.

Joan Cusack: Like Downey, she was a cast member during the 1985-86 season.

Janeane Garofalo: She quit during her only season (1994-95).

Anthony Michael Hall: The charming dweeb from “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles” was only 17 in 1985, when he enlisted for a one-season tour of duty on “SNL.”

Randy Quaid: Straying from the norm, SNL hired a veteran instead of an unknown in 1985. He stuck around for a season.

Paul Shaffer: He was promoted from band member to cast member for one season at the end of the “original” SNL five-year run.

Richard Belzer: The “Law & Order” alum was the warmup comedian for the premiere season of “SNL” and made three guest appearances in 1976 and 1978.

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Harry Shearer: Best known for the mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” this actor had two brief stints on “SNL” — once in the ’70s and once during the mid-’80s. He went on to become widely known for his continuing voice work on “The Simpsons.”

Other Tulsa World writers contributed to this report.

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'Saturday Night Live' at 50: Here's a look at Oklahomans on SNL and the show's rich history (2024)

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