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.
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Wow…worse track record than Woodstock!
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That’s a pretty high coefficient of deadders. Think excessive partying might have been a causal factor?
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Dead . . . or so they’d have you believe.
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Top 10 – i remember watching that show
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Scott Baio was never on SNL….but…he was a guest on Americian Bandstand…talk about a death wish. Creepy huh?
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Oh…and it’s now…Senator Al Franken. (I know you know that).
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Top ten, great googly woogly, good golly miss molly…
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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!
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Technically Chevy Chase is dead too.
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When did Billy Preston die? How did I miss that?
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@ Gretchen – What, Fletch Lives!!!
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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.).
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@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.
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Yes, Al Frankin is alive and in the Senate and we are all dead. Thanks Minn!
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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
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Somebody has way too much free time. Just sayin’…
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Reminds me of the skit with John Belushi walking through the graveyard talking about all the SNL cast members and how they died.
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I got the 3rd and 4th season DVDs. The best in my opinion.
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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?
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@ 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
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@ tiff – It still doesn’t look good for the guys especially if you are guest host.
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Nice work, Tiff!
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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.
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I can feel another “special report” bubbling up… If Death Were a Base Hit.
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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
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