Jason Reitman’s 2024 movieSaturday Nightis a hilarious and fascinating recounting of the 90 minutes ahead of the very first episode of NBC’sSaturday Night Live. As such, several references are made to the sketches and performances that ended up being featured in this premiere that aired back in 1975. While not every sketch landed as well as intended, others would instantly become crucial parts ofSNL’s50-year history.
The first episode of NBC’sSaturday Nightaired on the evening of October 11th, 1975. Featuring two musical acts, a short film by Albert Brooks, and multiple monologues from host George Carlin, each sketch only lasted an average of about 2 minutes (with a few notable exceptions). However, there are some truly great jokes and bits that are just as funny now as they were 50 years ago.
13Jamitol
Pretty Dull, Which Looks To Be The Punchline
Presenting an ad for a fake medication, cast membersChevy Chase and Michael O’Donoghue appear as a married couple promoting “Jamitol,“a new supplement allowing them to get everything they need during the day accomplished in their busy lives. Chase refers to O’Donoghue as his wife, making the resulting punchline somewhat ambiguous beyond the wordplay and the general idea that ads featuring two gay men can be just as dull as those featuring straight couples.
It wouldn’t be surprising if this sketch were also spoofing a real-life ad, though it ultimately falls flat either way. However, with the idea that this was so lifeless and uninspired, that was likely the joke. Chevy Chase made hisSaturday Night Liveappearances all about playing the straight man who doesn’t know he is the fool, and having him leading this skit was a nice preview of what fans would expect when he began hostingWeekend Updateand offering little reactions to his ridiculous news stories.
12Jim Henson’sLand of Gorch
Muppets Are Usually Entertaining
One of the more infamous elements ofSNL’sfirst season,Jim Henson had a segment featuring original Muppet charactersknown as “The Land of Gorch”.Unlike all the other sketches, this segment is much longer, around six minutes in total. This is rather unfortunate, considering the entire sketch rambles and is fairly aimless, with very few jokes that actually land. Most of the gags fall flat, explaining whyJim Henson’s “The Land of Gorch” segments were eventually canned by the end ofSNL’sfirst season.
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It’s also been said thatSNL’swriting team hated the “Gorch"segmentsand would avoid writing scripts each week. Michael O’Donoghue, in particular, said,“I won’t write for felt.“This was unfortunate since it seemed that the team almost sabotaged Henson’s segments. Luckily, Henson landed on his feet when he moved on to the creation ofThe Muppet Showand finally saw great success with his puppetry and off-kilter humor.
11Triple-Trac
“Because…You’ll Believe Anything”
Another fake ad sketch,“Triple-Trac” debuted the invention of a triple-bladed razor. While such razors have since been invented in real life, this wasn’t the case in the ’70s. To that end, the entire punchline for this ad was that viewers would believe anything they saw, even something as audacious at the time as a triple-bladed razor. At the time of the sketch, it was criticism that advertising was used to fool people and that businesses could sell them anything with fake promises.
That is a great idea for a skit since it is still a criticism in the world today. However, the fact that a triple-bladed razor not only now exists, but is a bestselling product, and actually does offer a closer, better shave, kind of destroys the message since it turned out to be more true than false. This is where making sketches that criticize the dumbing down of America can often come back to deliver a reverse message years later.
10Triopenin
Arthritis Medication
Unlike the triple-bladed razor, this is a criticism that still plays true decades later, as it often seems that people making these products don’t actually think outside the box.
Anyone who has struggled to open a childproof bottle knows the struggles. The idea that pills for people whose hands don’t work like they are supposed to would get their medication to help them in a bottle they can’t open seems ridiculous. Unlike the triple-bladed razor, this isa criticism that still plays true decades later, as it often seems that people making these products don’t actually think outside the box.
9Bee Hospital
The First Recurring Sketch on SNL
The sketch that explains why Matt Wood’s John Belushi is in a bee costume for the majority of Jason Reitman’sSaturday Night, “Bee Hosptial” isa very simple sketch where several bees are waiting in a delivery roomto hear which kind of bee their child is: a drone, worker, or a queen, resulting in a variety of different responses from the fathers.
While not the funniest joke from this premiere episode, it does have its place inSNLhistory as the first ever recurring sketch, seeing as how other “Bee Hospital” and more bee sketches would be featured in future episodes ofSNL’sfirst season. The bee sketches would continue on with 19 different appearances, although their final appearance was in December 1978 with “Bad News Bees,” a play on the classic sports movie. It all started with “Bee Hospital.”
8Trial
Juror Falls Asleep
In the “Trial,” a courtroom witness (Jane Curtin) can’t bring herself to voice aloud what was said to her when a man pulled her into an alleyway. Instead, she writes it down so the judge, lawyers, and jurors can all read what was said. When John Belushi’s juror hands the piece of paper to the juror next to him who’d been asleep, the woman (Gilda Radner) naturally thinks she’s being hit on by Belushi’s character.
Radner’s juror is also pretty enthusiastic about doing whatever was written down, creating a comedic contrast to the rest of the courtroom’s reactions, which had hilariously been quite negative. This proved to be very funny, both thanks to Radner’s natural comic ability and the fact thatshe was making a ridiculous situation out of something that was dire and frightening to the witness, making the entire thing look like a dark and disturbing joke.
7Victims of Sharkbites
Simple Yet Very Funny
In “Victims of Shark Bites,” Jane Curtin interviewsJohn Belushi, a man whose arm was allegedly bitten off by a shark. However, Belushi ends up revealing his intact arm, which is hiding beneath his coat, only to shift and claim it was his leg that was bitten off after he gets caught. It’s a very simple bit, yet one that works quite well thanks to Belushi’s impeccable comedic timing and delivery.
While most of Belushi’s sketches have him going a little overboard in his comedy, this gives him a chance to do something a little more calm and collected. He does a great job at trying to play off his lies with more lies, and his entire schtick works perfectly. It was no wonder that Belushi was often the MVP of many of the sketches he appeared in, and this was likely the reason he got more leeway than others would when he did step out of line during his time on the show.
6Show Us Your Guns
Parodying A Classic Cigarette Commercial
The ’60s and ’70s hadan old commercial for Lark Cigaretteswhere people would present their Lark brand cigarettes to a camera crew as they drove around town on the back of a truck. This looks to be the key inspiration forSNL’spre-recorded parody sketch “Show Us Your Guns,” where they’re similarly driving around town in the back of a truck while everyone they pass shows them various firearms as the “William Tell Overture” plays.
As such,it’s a pretty funny visual gag while also being one of the more timelessand topical jokes one could even imagine seeing on the episodes ofSNLtoday. The entire idea of people whipping out their guns was ridiculous enough on its own, but the idea of it being a spoof of the cigarette commercial and the addition of a theme song mostly known to fans ofThe Lone Rangermakes the entire thing a masterpiece of absurd comedy. When two mobsters refuse to show their guns, the punchline hits perfectly.
5New Dad
A Brand-New Insurance Option
“New Dad"presents a very funny new insurance optionwherea new father and husband can be sent in to immediately replace the old one in the event of their death. Featuring Dan Aykroyd as the old dad and Chevy Chase as the new one, Jacqueline Carlin (Chase’s real-life fiancée at the time) plays the mother. Ending with the tagline"Tops in Pops,” the sketch humorously concludes with Chase’s face being pasted over Aykroyd’s in a family photo.
This has the distinction of being the firstSaturday Night Livecommercial parody, as it plays immediately after the show’s opening. Whenthey claim that a new dad will show up just seconds after the old dad dies, it hits the joke that everyone is expendable, and dad is better than no dad, and they are all replaceable. With Chevy Chase looking smug and arrogant when he appears over Aykroyd’s face, it was just icing on the cake.
4Home Securities
Trojan Horse Home Securities
Breaking into the home of an unsuspecting couple, the “Home Securities” sketch featuresDan Aykroyd and Garrett Morris dressed as burglars while actually belonging to Trojan Horse Home Securities, having staged a “simulated” home invasion to show Belushi and Radner’s husband and wife how prone they could be to real crime. When they burst in, they order them not to call the police, because they are the police — or they might be. They aren’t and this is a frightening sales strategy for the company.
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Coercing the couple into paying for their services (like kidnapping their son), the sketch takes forceful sales tactics to a whole new level. As such, it’s quite hilarious to see Aykroyd in his prime with his impressively quick delivery. It was also a great start for Aykroyd, who made his career onSaturday Night Livewith these sorts of sketches, where he can sell anything to anyone, no matter how ridiculous it sounds.
