The First Episode of Saturday Night Live: Dead or Alive?
Appeared in First Episode, October 11, 1975:
Dan Aykroyd – still kickin’
John Belushi (d. March 5, 1982)
Valri Bromfield – still kickin’
Albert Brooks – still kickin’
George Carlin (d. June 22, 2008)
Jacqueline Carlin – still kickin’
Chevy Chase – still kickin’
George Coe – still kickin’
Wendy Craig – still kickin’
Jane Curtin – still kickin’
Andrew Duncan – still kickin’
Al Franken – still kickin’
Rhonda Hansome – still kickin’
Jim Henson (d. May 16, 1990)
Janis Ian – still kickin’
Andy Kaufman (d. May 16, 1984)
Jerry Nelson – still kickin’
Laraine Newman – still kickin’
Michael O’Donoghue (d. November 8, 1994)
Garrett Morris – still kickin’
Frank Oz – still kickin’
Don Pardo – still kickin’
Billy Preston (d. June 6, 2006)
Gilda Radner (d. May 20, 1989)
Paul Simon – still kickin’
Alice Tweedy – still kickin’
7 dead/19 alive
Running Order of the First Episode:
Wolverines (sketch)
Michael O’Donoghue – DEAD
John Belushi – DEAD
Chevy Chase – ALIVE
Introductions
Don Pardo – ALIVE
Monologue
George Carlin – DEAD
New Dad Insurance (sketch)
Dan Aykroyd – ALIVE
Jacqueline Carlin – ALIVE
Chevy Chase – ALIVE
Musical performance
Billy Preston – DEAD
The Courtroom (sketch)
George Coe – ALIVE
Chevy Chase – ALIVE
Jane Curtin – ALIVE
Garrett Morris – ALIVE
Dan Aykroyd – ALIVE
John Belushi – DEAD
Gilda Radner – DEAD
Comedy performance
Andy Kaufman – DEAD
Stand-up/music guest introduction
George Carlin – DEAD
Musical performance
Janis Ian – ALIVE
Victims of Shark Bite (sketch)
Jane Curtin – ALIVE
John Belushi – DEAD
Jamitol (TV commercial parody)
Chevy Chase – ALIVE
Michael O’Donoghue – DEAD
Next week’s show preview
Paul Simon – ALIVE
Weekend Update
Chevy Chase – ALIVE
Laraine Newman – ALIVE
Triopenin (TV commercial parody)
Chevy Chase – ALIVE
The Muppets
Jim Henson – DEAD
Jerry Nelson – ALIVE
Alice Tweedy – ALIVE
Rhonda Hansome – ALIVE
Frank Oz – ALIVE
Stand-up
George Carlin – DEAD
The Impossible Truth: A Film by Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks – ALIVE
Bee Hospital
Jane Curtin – ALIVE
Dan Aykroyd – ALIVE
Laraine Newman – ALIVE
Garrett Morris – ALIVE
Gilda Radner – DEAD
John Belushi – DEAD
Chevy Chase – ALIVE
Academy of Better Careers (TV commercial parody)
Gilda Radner – DEAD
Wendy Craig – ALIVE
George Coe – ALIVE
Jane Curtin – ALIVE
Jacqueline Carlin – ALIVE
Stand-up
Valri Bromfield – ALIVE
Show Us Your Guns (TV commercial parody)
Stand-Up
George Carlin – DEAD
Musical performance
Billy Preston – DEAD
Trojan Horse Home Security (sketch)
John Belushi – DEAD
Dan Aykroyd – ALIVE
Gilda Radner – DEAD
Garrett Morris – ALIVE
Triple Trac (TV commercial parody)
Andrew Duncan – ALIVE
Al Franken – ALIVE
Musical performance
Janis Ian – ALIVE
Goodnights
George Carlin – DEAD
If death were a base hit, the first episode of SNL would be batting a respectable .269, compared to the Woodstock Music Festival, which is stinking up the joint with a paltry .190 average.
Stay tuned for more important analysis, at the West Virginia Surf Report!
Filed under: Daily
Garrett Morris’ career after SNL…DEAD.
First.
Wow…worse track record than Woodstock!
That’s a pretty high coefficient of deadders. Think excessive partying might have been a causal factor?
Dead . . . or so they’d have you believe.
Top 10 – i remember watching that show
Scott Baio was never on SNL….but…he was a guest on Americian Bandstand…talk about a death wish. Creepy huh?
Oh…and it’s now…Senator Al Franken. (I know you know that).
Top ten, great googly woogly, good golly miss molly…
Talk about great googly woogly, good golly miss Molly – two Sunday updates in a row should probably be filed under the further evidence link! What an awesome surprise!
Technically Chevy Chase is dead too.
When did Billy Preston die? How did I miss that?
@ Gretchen – What, Fletch Lives!!!
Surprisingly, I think only one of the deaths (Belushi) was the direct result of substance abuse. All others, if I’m not mistaken, were from disease (cancer, heart disease, etc.).
@Shiny Rod : In 1985! But I may have spoken too soon. I’m watching this dog of a Hall of Fame game right now and NBC has been showing promos for a fall sitcom about a community college. Apparently Chevy Chase is in it. But for a long time now Chase has been about as funny as a root canal, so I dunno how it will fare.
Yes, Al Frankin is alive and in the Senate and we are all dead. Thanks Minn!
I don’t know what email address to use to send Jeff this photo, so here’s the link:
http://americanmustacheinstitute.org/cs/blogs/ami_2009/redneck_cup_holder.jpg
Somebody has way too much free time. Just sayin’…
Reminds me of the skit with John Belushi walking through the graveyard talking about all the SNL cast members and how they died.
I got the 3rd and 4th season DVDs. The best in my opinion.
Dang – With graphs and all!
Further to this, after a little Excel-wrangling, I came up with some stats: 11.1% of females on the first episode have passed on to the great beyond, and 37.5% of the dudes have since shifted off their mortal coils. Therefore, it was over three times as deadly to be a man on the first episode than a woman. However, only 2 males and 1 female cast member have died, the slack being taken up by 4 male guest stars. This puts the ratio much close than it appears to be on first blush.
What conclusions can we draw from these data, my fellow Surf reporters?
@ Taiwan On – If your out there, chime in when you get the chance. I heard the typhon hit the area hard. I know how bad they can get after living a couple years in Okinawa.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aQdqEKh_ugxQ
@ tiff – It still doesn’t look good for the guys especially if you are guest host.
Nice work, Tiff!
Ramones: Batting .429
There are three living drummers (Tommy, Marky, and Ritchie), and a living bass player (CJ). There is a dead bass player, guitar player, and singer (n=3)
The Beatles are batting a very impressive .500, as are The Who. As far as I am aware, the Kinks have yet to get a base hit.
I can feel another “special report” bubbling up… If Death Were a Base Hit.
I’ve been searching everywhere for the video of the “Show us your guns” parody of the Lark cigarette commercial that aired on episode one. Does anyone know where I can find it on the web? Thank you for any help you can be. Gary