• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The West Virginia Surf Report!

Jeff Kay's Ridiculous Adventures In Suburbia

  • Home
  • About
  • Best of
  • Books
  • Archives
  • Donate

The First Episode of Saturday Night Live: Dead or Alive?

August 9, 2009 By Jeff 26 Comments

notready

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

snl

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!

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on Pinterest

Filed Under: Daily

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Joe T. says

    August 9, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    Garrett Morris’ career after SNL…DEAD.

    First.

    Reply
  2. NDfaninAZ says

    August 9, 2009 at 2:03 pm

    Wow…worse track record than Woodstock!

    Reply
  3. Greg says

    August 9, 2009 at 2:06 pm

    That’s a pretty high coefficient of deadders. Think excessive partying might have been a causal factor?

    Reply
  4. dogberryjr says

    August 9, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    Dead . . . or so they’d have you believe.

    Reply
  5. DAve in Sammamish says

    August 9, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    Top 10 – i remember watching that show

    Reply
  6. DTO says

    August 9, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    Scott Baio was never on SNL….but…he was a guest on Americian Bandstand…talk about a death wish. Creepy huh?

    Reply
  7. DTO says

    August 9, 2009 at 3:47 pm

    Oh…and it’s now…Senator Al Franken. (I know you know that).

    Reply
  8. Shiny Rod says

    August 9, 2009 at 5:17 pm

    Top ten, great googly woogly, good golly miss molly…

    Reply
  9. WhiteTrashBarbie says

    August 9, 2009 at 5:59 pm

    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!

    Reply
  10. Gretchen says

    August 9, 2009 at 7:58 pm

    Technically Chevy Chase is dead too.

    Reply
  11. WVKay says

    August 9, 2009 at 8:20 pm

    When did Billy Preston die? How did I miss that?

    Reply
  12. Shiny Rod says

    August 9, 2009 at 9:51 pm

    @ Gretchen – What, Fletch Lives!!!

    Reply
  13. Swami Bologna says

    August 9, 2009 at 10:04 pm

    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.).

    Reply
  14. Gretchen says

    August 9, 2009 at 10:05 pm

    @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.

    Reply
  15. Wisey in Ttown says

    August 9, 2009 at 10:52 pm

    Yes, Al Frankin is alive and in the Senate and we are all dead. Thanks Minn!

    Reply
  16. Eve Oey says

    August 9, 2009 at 11:45 pm

    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

    Reply
  17. Kryptae says

    August 10, 2009 at 10:11 am

    Somebody has way too much free time. Just sayin’…

    Reply
  18. Tyrosine says

    August 10, 2009 at 11:16 am

    Reminds me of the skit with John Belushi walking through the graveyard talking about all the SNL cast members and how they died.

    Reply
  19. Rusty says

    August 10, 2009 at 11:26 am

    I got the 3rd and 4th season DVDs. The best in my opinion.

    Reply
  20. tiff says

    August 10, 2009 at 11:31 am

    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?

    Reply
  21. Shiny Rod says

    August 10, 2009 at 11:31 am

    @ 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

    Reply
  22. Shiny Rod says

    August 10, 2009 at 11:34 am

    @ tiff – It still doesn’t look good for the guys especially if you are guest host.

    Reply
  23. Jeff says

    August 10, 2009 at 11:53 am

    Nice work, Tiff!

    Reply
  24. Lee Harvey Ramone says

    August 10, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    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.

    Reply
  25. Jeff says

    August 10, 2009 at 12:15 pm

    I can feel another “special report” bubbling up… If Death Were a Base Hit.

    Reply
  26. Gary Trott says

    August 23, 2009 at 11:56 pm

    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

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Now With Podcast!

Support Jeff And His Projects

Latest Tweets

  • Fresh podcast action, available everywhere! From Milton to Madagascar. pic.twitter.com/V6M1cmQcSA

    November 3, 2022 5:46 am

  • Something new I'm trying: nonewjeffs.substack.com/p/im-n…

    December 2, 2021 4:11 pm

  • Only 182 days until Opening Day.

    September 30, 2021 2:37 pm

  • Check out this great story about a 16 year old Tom Bergeron talking to Moe and Larry on the phone during the early… twitter.com/i/web/status/14387…

    September 17, 2021 5:02 am

  • Dogs! surfreportpod.com/2021/09/16/e…

    September 16, 2021 4:07 pm

Facebook!

Footer

Get Social!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Search The Surf Report

Copyright © 2023 · Smoking Fish Media