The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 2: 1937-1939
from Sony Pictures
By 1937, where Volume Two of this long overdue chronological collection picks up, Moe, Larry, and Curly had been performing together for over a decade, and appeared in several feature films and 19 short subjects for Columbia. They were just getting warmed up; there is nary a clunker among the 24 shorts on this two-disc set. Several rank in the Stooges pantheon, including "Grips, Grunts and Groans" (with Bustoff the wrestler), "Violent is the Word for Curly" (with "Swinging the Alphabet"), and "Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb" (the Stooges live the hotel high life after Curly wins a radio contest). These comedies must have been a great escape for Depression-era moviegoers, particularly the ones in which the rich are reduced to food-throwing goofs ("Three Sappy People"). For the Stooges, it's not prosperity that's around the corner, but more often, con men on the lookout for "suckers" to swindle ("A Ducking They Will Go," "Playing the Ponies"). Reflecting America's can-do spirit, the Stooges are nothing if not resilient. These shorts may find them down, but they are never out. The boys are ungainfully employed as Calvary spies ("Goofs and Saddles"), janitors ("Three Missing Links"), dog washers ("Mutts to You"), firemen ("Flat Foot Stooges"), traveling salesmen ("Saved by the Belle"), and vets ("Calling all Curs"). Some of the best shorts turn on mistaken identity: They are confused for college professors in "Violent is the Word for Curly," high society escorts in "Termites of 1938," and famous decorators in "Tassels in the Air." For all the hair-tearing, eye-poking, and shovel-clobbering, the Stooges surprise with the odd musical grace note, such as their rendition of the silly "The Lollipop Song" in "Wee Wee Monsieur," and their music box-accompanied pas-de-trio with pilgrim lasses Faith, Hope, and Charity in "Back to the Woods." One also does not ordinarily look to the Stooges for pathos, or, for that matter, heartwarming happy endings, but "Cash and Carry" delivers both as the boys set out to raise $500 for a crippled boy's operation. "Flat Foot Stooges" is something of a milestone. It marks the debut of "Three Blind Mice" as the Stooges new theme song, which would replace the twittering "Listen to the Mockingbird." The shorts are presented complete and uncut, which means the PC police are standing by to issue citations for such egregious stereotypes as the grunting, shrieking "savages" in the colonial comedy, "Back to the Woods," and the Stooges' turn as Yiddish-speaking Chinese launderers in "Mutts to You." --Donald Liebenson
Get ready for more outrageous antics as The Three Stooges return in this second collection of chronological masterpieces.System Requirements:Running Time: 415 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/SLAPSTICK UPC: 043396257993 Manufacturer No: 25799
The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 1: 1934-1936
from Sony Pictures
Finally, the studio knuckleheads got it right! The way that the Three Stooges have been presented on home video has been a real slap in the face and a poke in the eye to fans. The Stooges have been anthologized, colorized, and public domained. Their shorts have been released and re-released in varying degrees of quality. In the immortal words of Curly, they have truly been victims of circumstance. This two-DVD set, then, is for what Stooge-philes have long been waiting. Spanning the years 1934-36, it presents the first 19 Stooges short subjects chronologically. These shorts hail from the Curly era, which makes them essential. The first, "Women Haters," comes billed as a "musical novelty" and is performed entirely in rhyme. More interesting is that Moe, Larry, and Curly appear as Tom, Jim, and Jack. In the second short, "Punch Drunks," they are again not quite a team, but teaming up to make a boxer out of put-upon waiter Curly. This is the one in which Curly "pops" when he hears "that 'Weasel' tune." And the hits just keep on coming.
Remember the prologue of The Twilight Zone: The Movie, in which traveling companions Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks trade favorite "Zones"? Many of the shorts gathered here are the ones most quoted or referenced by Stooges fans, such as "Men in Black," the only Stooges short to be nominated for an Academy Award, and the one with the immortal page "Calling Dr. Howard, Dr Fine, Dr. Howard." "Hoi Polloi" is the first Stooges short to tackle the "environment" vs. "heredity" conundrum by introducing the Stooges to high society, reducing the well-heeled stuff shirts into a slap-happy mob. "Pop Goes the Easel" introduces another recurring theme in the Stooges oeuvre as the boys pose as artists in the art school in which they take refuge from a pursuing cop. This short contains a signature Curlyism, "Look at the grouse," as does "Horses' Collars," in which the mere sight of a mouse completely unnerves Curly ("Moe! Larry! The Cheese!) "Three Little Pigskins" is another mistaken identity gem, as the boys pose as three football players (look for a very young and very blonde Lucille Ball). Like the Little Rascals, the Stooges in these shorts were very much of their Depression-era times, but "Uncivil Warriors," "Restless Knights," and the decidedly un-PC "Whoops, I'm an Indian" get their anachronistic kicks by placing the boys behind enemy lines during the Civil War, in the medieval castle of a kidnapped Queen, and in the Old West. Collectors who have suffered through, say, "Disorder in the Court" on one of those $1 bin Stooges collections will be heartened to know that this set at last does these comedy classics justice. More than 70 years old, and they look better than ever! So spread out and get your n'yucks on! --Donald Liebenson
When The Three Stooges first signed with Columbia Pictures their deal was for one short. 1934's Woman Haters done entirely in rhyme wasn't a huge success but the Stooges hit their stride with their second short Punch Drunks and began to settle into their definitive roles -- Moe as boss Larry the middleman and Curly as their foil.Witness the rise of these comedy icons in this high-spirited collection containing the first 19 Columbia Pictures shorts all of which have been remastered for the best quality picture and sound. You'll experience the eye-pokes face slaps hollow head knocks and knuckle cracks like you've never heard or seen them before. So go ahead nyuck yourself out!Includes:Woman HatersPunch DrunksMen In BlackThree Little PigskinsHorses' CollarsPop Goes The EaselUncivil WarriorsPardon My ScotchHoi PolloiThree Little BeersAnts In The PantryMovie ManiacsHalf-Shot ShootersDisorder In The CourtA Pain In The PullmanFalse AlarmsWhoops I'm An Indian!Slippery SilksSystem Requirements:Running Time: 340 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 043396211049 Manufacturer No: 21104
Blazing Saddles (30th Anniversary Special Edition)
from Warner Home Video
Mel Brooks scored his first commercial hit with this raucous Western spoof starring the late Cleavon Little as the newly hired (and conspicuously black) sheriff of Rock Ridge. Sheriff Bart teams up with deputy Jim (Gene Wilder) to foil the railroad-building scheme of the nefarious Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman). The simple plot is just an excuse for a steady stream of gags, many of them unabashedly tasteless, that Brooks and his wacky cast pull off with side-splitting success. The humor is so juvenile and crude that you just have to surrender to it; highlights abound, from the lunkheaded Alex Karras as the ox-riding Mongo to Madeline Kahn's uproarious send-up of Marlene Dietrich as saloon songstress Lili Von Shtupp. Adding to the comedic excess is the infamous campfire scene involving a bunch of hungry cowboys, heaping servings of baked beans and, well, you get the idea. --Jeff Shannon
The railroad's got to run through the town of Rock Ridge. How do you drive out the townfolk in order to steal their land? Send in the toughest gang you've got...and name a new sheriff who'll last about 24 hours. But that's not really the plot of Blazing Saddles just the pretext. Once Mel Brooks' lunatic film many call his best gets started logic is lost in a blizzard of gags jokes quips puns howlers growlers and outrageous assaults upon good taste or any taste at all. Cleavon Little as the new lawman Gene Wilder as the wacko Waco Kid Brooks himself as a dim-witted politico and Madeline Kahn in her Marlene Dietrich send-up that earned an Academy Award nomination all give this sagebrush saga their lunatic best. And when Blazing Saddles can't contain itself at the finale it just proves the Old West will never be the same!Running Time: 93 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 085391895923
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Special Edition)
by Jones, Terry
from Sony Pictures
Monty Python And The Holy Grail is a hilarious send-up of the Middle Ages as told through the story of King Arthur and framed by a modern-day murder investigation.This two-disc special edition includes a widescreen presentation of the film along with commentaries by directors Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones behind-the-scenes photos you've never seen before and much more!Bonus Features:Disc One: On-Screen Screenplay: Read The Screenplay While You Watch The Film Enlightening Commentaries by Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones Plus General Complaints and Back-Biting by John Cleese Eric Idle & Michael Palin Extraordinary Animated Menus Scene Selection Exciting "Follow The Killer Rabbit" FeatureDisc Two: Three Mindless Sing-Alongs Join Michael Palin and Terry Jones in their Special Documentary: The Quest For The Holy Grail Locations How To Use Your Coconuts (An Educational Film) Monty Python And The Holy Grail In Lego! "On Location with The Pythons" (18 min.) An Interactive Cast Directory Tons of Terry Gilliam's Original Sketches Plus Posters Behind-The-Scenes Photos A Load Of Rubbish - A Surprise Package of Mystery Items Specially Included for the Mentally Challenged. Unused Locations! How The Directors' Recce Used Up The Budget! Theatrical Trailers WeblinksSystem Requirements:Starring: Graham Chapman John Cleese Terry Gilliam Eric Idle Terry Jones and Michael Palin. Directed By: Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones. Running Time: 89 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2001 Columbia TriStar.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 043396052765 Manufacturer No: 05276
Could this be the funniest movie ever made? By any rational measure of comedy, this medieval romp from the Monty Python troupe certainly belongs on the short list of candidates. According to Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide, it's "recommended for fans only," but we say hogwash to that--you could be a complete newcomer to the Python phenomenon and still find this send-up of the Arthurian legend to be wet-your-pants hilarious. It's basically a series of sketches woven together as King Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail, with Graham Chapman as the King, Terry Gilliam as his simpleton sidekick Patsy, and the rest of the Python gang filling out a variety of outrageous roles. The comedy highlights are too numerous to mention, but once you've seen Arthur's outrageously bloody encounter with the ominous Black Knight (John Cleese), you'll know that nothing's sacred in the Python school of comedy. From holy hand grenades to killer bunnies to the absurdity of the three-headed knights who say "Ni--!," this is the kind of movie that will strike you as fantastically funny or just plain silly, but why stop there? It's all over the map, and the pace lags a bit here and there, but for every throwaway gag the Pythons have invented, there's a bit of subtle business or grand-scale insanity that's utterly inspired. The sum of this madness is a movie that's beloved by anyone with a pulse and an irreverent sense of humor. If this movie doesn't make you laugh, you're almost certainly dead. --Jeff Shannon
Meet the Spartans (Unrated 'Pit of Death' Edition)
by Jason Friedberg
from 20th Century Fox
With Meet the Spartans, the creators of Date Movie lampoon penguins, Paris Hilton, American Idol, Britney Spears, Dancing with the Stars, Stomp the Yard, Brangelina, Lindsay Lohan, product placement, Sylvester Stallone, Transformers, and pretty much every other obvious target that's emerged since they made their last flick, Epic Movie. The main subject of mockery is 300, the visual-effects laden Greek warrior movie, the relentless homoeroticism of which is not-so-subtly pointed out with a mixture of scatology, phallic humor, painted-on six-pack abs, disco songs, blows to the groin, and spitting--lots and lots and lots of spitting. There's nothing remotely clever about Meet the Spartans, and even fans of pop-culture cuisinarts like Scary Movie may feel the genre is losing its oomph, but if you're looking for a shotgun blast of lowbrow gags, this is it. Along for the ride are Sean Maguire (The Class), Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), Ken Davitian (Borat), Diedrich Bader (Napoleon Dynamite), and Carmen Electra, without whom no movie of this kind would be complete. The only person who emerges with any credibility is comedienne Nicole Parker (Mad TV), who does a pretty spot-on impression of Ellen DeGeneres. --Bret Fetzer
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Prepare to fight... back tears of laughter watching this ferociously funny Unrated "Pit of Death" Special Edition of Meet the Spartans - with ruder cruder footage not shown in theaters and an army of hysterical historical special features!The battle begins when the heroic Leonidas armed with nothing but leather underwear and a cape leads a ragtag group of 13 - count'em 13! - warriors to defend their homeland against the invading Persians whose ranks include Ghost Rider Rocky Balboa the Transformers and a hunchbacked Paris Hilton!System Requirements:Running Time: 87 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/PARODY & SPOOF Rating: UNRATED UPC: 024543519058 Manufacturer No: 2251905
Saturday Night Live - The Complete First Season
by Alice Tweedy
from Universal Studios
Nicknamed the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" the original cast of Saturday Night Live ignited a comedy revolution with their mix of irreverent characters and satirical impressions of political figures and pop culture icons.From the premiere of this groundbreaking sketch comedy show on October 11 1975 live from historic Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center Dan Aykroyd John Belushi Jane Curtin Chevy Chase Garrett Morris Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner launched themselves into instant stardom and were often referred to as "The Beatles of Comedy."Created by Lorne Michaels over three decades ago Saturday Night Live has had the cultural impact and relevance that few shows can claim.Nowhere else can you see the complete first season of SNL featuring hosts George Carlin Rob Reiner Lily Tomlin Richard Pryor Elliott Gould Candice Bergen or original musical performances by Simon & Garfunkel ABBA Patti Smith Jimmy Cliff and Carly Simon. And if you're curious as to how the original cast was hired check out the DVD bonus features which include the screen tests of each performer.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 025193056528 Manufacturer No: 61030565
Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season boxed set is much more than the sum of its parts, in fact it's one of the most significant TV DVD releases yet. This isn't just an 8-disc set featuring 24 episodes of live sketch comedy, it's a big box of zeitgeist. This really is the complete first season, mostly uncut and complete with every musical act and short film intact (a few bumpers and transitions were removed to make it flow better on DVD). The first broadcast aired on October 11, 1975, hosted by George Carlin and featured musical guests Billy Preston and Janis Ian. At first, things seem a little raw: Carlin's opening monologue is painfully unfunny, Chase's first shot at the seminal "Weekend Update" is amusing but sloppy, and much of the cast seem to be holding back. But the groundwork is all there, and soon in subsequent episodes you can see it all start to come together (especially with John Belushi who lets his simmering intensity out to tremendous effect), proving that the first episode simply belies the historic impact the show would come to have on popular culture. Here you'll find the first airing of some of the many skits that stayed famous over the years: the Land Shark, Samurai Hotel, Chevy Chase's opening pratfalls and the impersonations of Gerald Ford which would spin off into the proud SNL tradition of presidential parodies.
The set is a very entertaining look at a significant point in TV and American cultural history. It is so 1975, but that's a major part of its appeal: did Chevy Chase really used to look that young? Did a young George Carlin really used to look so old? Check out Abba in those disco jumpsuits. And if you're a fan of The Muppets, seeing them here on late-night TV making jokes about getting drunk will blow your mind. Younger fans may not fully understand just how groundbreaking this show was at the time. For example, Richard Pryor hosting the seventh episode, which includes the famous "Word Association" sketch. Back then, to have a comedian of Pryor's reputation joking about drugs, sex, and race on live TV was a tremendous risk (it's also gratifying to see the obvious effect he had on the next generation of comics like Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock), and it helped established the show's cache as unpredictable and edgy. The DVD set is full of moments like this and, like the show itself, it has its ups and downs. Watching hosts like Rob Reiner (back when he was still in his "Meathead" days from All in the Family), Madeleine Kahn, and Desi Arnaz work their comedy chops with the cast are high points. Whereas the infamous Louise Lasser episode, which is known for being among the worst episodes in the show's history… not so much. Still, it's entirely to Executive Producer Lorne Michaels's credit that it's included here. It's a tremendous collection of everything that gave birth to Saturday Night Live, and the seed of what SNL would become, spawning many movies (not to mention a few catch-phrases), launching the careers of many great comedians, and providing TV viewers with some of the most famous, and infamous, moments in broadcast history. And it all started right here.
The set is packaged in a well-designed, sleek fold-out digi-pack with every episode listed on the sleeves, with hosts, musical guests, and the original air date. The special features include a rare look at the cast members' original screen tests, and a 1975 TV interview with the cast. --Daniel Vancini
Family Guy - Blue Harvest
by Dominic Polcino
from 20th Century Fox
What better way to launch Family Guy's sixth season and commemorate Star Wars' 30th anniversary than with this double-length Very Special Episode, a full-scale, awesomely animated spoof that recasts George Lucas' saga with Family Guy's galaxy of characters: Chris (Seth Green) is Luke; Lois (Alex Borstein) is Princess Leia; Peter (Seth McFarlane) is Han Solo, but not, as expected, Jabba the Hut; Brian (Seth, again) is Chewbacca; Quagmire (and again, Seth) is C3PO; Cleveland is R2D2; Herbert, the creepy senior pedophile, is Obi-Wan (both voiced by Mike Henry); and, of course, Stewie (Seth, already) is Darth Vader ("My diapers have gone over to the dark side"). Poor Meg is reduced to a cameo as the hideous reptilian creature that haunts the garbage compactor. Blue Harvest is reverently faithful to A New Hope, while engaging in typical Family Guy pop-culture references (everything from those old Grey Poupon commercials to Doctor Who, Airplane, Dirty Dancing, and Deal or No Deal) and bizarre digressions (the iconic opening crawl detours into an appreciation of a "way naked" Angelina Jolie in Gia). Along for the wild ride are Judd Nelson, who contributes a voice cameo as John Bender for a Breakfast Club gag, Rush Limbaugh railing against futuristic affirmative action on Tatooine talk radio, and Beverly D'Angelo and Chevy Chase as the vacationing Griswolds observing the rebellion from their orbiting station wagon. A Star Wars spoof in 2007 isn't exactly uncharted territory. As Chris Griffin notes in this episode's final moments, Robot Chicken brilliantly did it months earlier (and let us not forget Mel Brooks' Spaceballs from 1987; or, on second thought...). But the Force is strong with Family Guy, and who could resist the opportunity to hear the Muzak playing in a Death Star elevator? --Donald Liebenson
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The Force is strong with this episode of FAMILY GUY that devotes an entire hour to STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE. Seth McFarlane s spoof-happy animated sitcom casts the Griffin family and other Quahog residents as characters from George Lucas s sci-fi classic: patriarch Peter is Han Solo wife Lois is Princess Leia son Chris is Luke Skywalker family dog Brian is Chewbacca and baby Stewie continues his quest to kill Lois as the evil Darth Vader. From Mos Eisley to the Millennium Falcon no element of Lucas s beloved universe is safe from McFarlane s hilarious satire. FAMILY GUY PRESENTS BLUE HARVEST includes four minutes of new material and interviews with MacFarlane and the Jedi Master himself Lucas.System Requirements:Running Time: 48 mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543496861 Manufacturer No: 2249686
The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus 16-Ton Megaset
by Terry Hughes
from A&E Home Video
New for 2005, The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus 16-Ton Megaset packs together the original 14-DVD megaset with the two-disc Monty Python Live in space-saving Thinpaks. While more cautious fans may want to pick and choose among the previously released individual volumes of Monty Python for their collection, true Pythonites will want to own this definitive megaset that contains all 45 episodes (in chronological order) of Monty Python's Flying Circus. This "persistently silly" collection encompasses three-and-a-half seasons of dead parrots, cross-dressing lumberjacks, loonies, upper class twits, and spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam, spam, and spam. Click past the occasional clunker and go directly to such signature sketches as the Ministry of Silly Walks, the Spanish Inquisition, the Fish-Slapping Dance, the Dead Parrot Sketch, the Lumberjack Song, the Cheese Shop, the Argument Clinic, and Nudge, Nudge. Taken as a whole, one marvels at how Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam thoroughly subverted television convention with "something completely different," like sketches with no punch lines ("Your average TV viewer isn't going to understand this"). A warning to the uninitiated: there is much "material that some may find offensive, but which is really smashing." Violations of something called the "Strange Sketch Act" are the least of the troupe's offenses, as witness the Oscar Wilde Sketch, the Dirty Vicar Sketch, and the Most Awful Family in Britain Sketch, all of which achieve "the really gross awfulness" all Python fans are looking for. Say no more.
Monty Python TV shows, movies, records, and books are a time capsule of their anarchic lunacy. But more precious is an audience with Python, and as close as we can get is Live at the Hollywood Bowl, the long-sought-after 1982 concert film in which the Fab Six perform their greatest hits before a wildly enthusiastic crowd. Robert Klein moderates Live at Aspen, the irreverent 1998 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival tribute that reunited John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and Terry Jones onstage for the first time in 18 years on the occasion of the troupe's 30th anniversary. Highlights include a shockingly funny moment involving Graham Chapman's ashes, and a joyous "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" sing-along. Less essential is 1989's clip show Parrot Sketch Not Included: 20 Years of Python, which also does not include "The Oscar Wilde Sketch," "Cheese Shop," "Nudge-Nudge," and many other signature sketches. --Donald Liebenson
This unassuming case is packed with 16 tons of funny: 14 discs of THE COMPLETE MONTY PYTHON S FLYING CIRCUS packed with every madcap moment from the programme s four year run plus 2 MONTY PYTHON LIVE! discs featuring--well you figure it out.While to the uninitiated they may look like ordinary .65 oz. digital video discs due to the unique physics of comedy (it s like quantum but with fewer dead cats) each disc actually weighs a full metaphoric ton! Please remember to lift with your knees.This 16-Ton Megaset contains every single episode of MONTY PYTHONG S FLYING CIRCUS--four years of blood sweat and blancmange--jammed into slivers of plastic the size of a tea plate and MONTY PYTHON LIVE!--Legendary live performances the 20-year celebration of Monty Python Parrot Sketch Not Included and the all-German Monty Python s Fligender Zirkus episode #1 squashed like pancakes. Sad really.Want to find the funny fast? Jump right to your favorite sketches in The Flying Circus with this index!Disc 1: The Funniest Joke in the World The Wrestling Episode and Nudge NudgeDisc 2: Art Critic Silly Job Interview and Crunchy FrogDisc 3: Dead Parrot Lumberjack Song and Vocational Guidance CounselorDisc 4: Undertaker s Film Upperclass Twit of the Year and AlbatrossDisc 5: The Ministry of Silly Walks The Spanish Inquisition and ComplaintsDisc 6: The Bishop Blackmail and DungDisc 7: Attila the Nun Silly Vicar and Exploding Penguin on the TV SetDisc 8: Scott of the Antarctic Dirty Hungarian Phrase-book and Exploding Blue DanubeDisc 9: Icelandic Saga Fish-Slapping Dance and Argument ClinicDisc 10: Blood Devastation War and Horror Mount Everest - Hairdresser Expedition and Gumby Brain SpecialistsDisc 11: Cheese Shop A Naked Man and The Olympic Hide and Seek FinalDisc 12: Elizabethan Pornography Smugglers Kamikaze Scotsman and PenguinsDisc 13: Montgolfier Brothers Department Store and RAF BanterDisc 14: Hamlet and Ophelia Mr. Neutron and Most Awful Family in BritainDisc 15: Live at the Holl
Saturday Night Live The Complete Third Season - Limited Edition Boxed Set
from Universal Studios
Television history continued to be written in the third year of Saturday Night Live. After a wobbly debut in SNL's second season, Bill Murray got some traction as a performer and America began to see just how brilliant a comedian he truly could be. Dan Aykroyd owned Jimmy Carter with his extraordinary impression of the late-1970s president, and he partnered with Steve Martin three times in Festrunk Brothers sketches featuring the "wild and crazy" Czech siblings looking for a "swinging" time with American "foxes." John Belushi mined familiar territory with his image as a brash reprobate, Jane Curtin (with Aykroyd) made "Weekend Update" her own, and Garrett Morris remained a rock-steady second banana. Laraine Newman proved, as always, to be the cast's chameleon-like wild card, capable of anything. As for Gilda Radner, her luminous charm and gifts in the classic television comedienne tradition balanced the show's steep irony with pure mirth. There is so much to talk about when listing highlights of Saturday Night Live: The Complete Third Season. The attention-grabbing "Anyone Can Host" contest was a cute stunt that resulted in SNL's Christmas episode being officially hosted by 80-year-old Miskell Spillman, a non-celebrity. Spillman proved game enough to pull off an opening monologue (with Buck Henry) and participate in several sketches. But the truly notable event in that December 17, 1977 program was the first appearance of Elvis Costello (replacing the previously-announced Sex Pistols), who underscored the dangers of live television by interrupting his own performance of "Less Than Zero" and instructing his band, the Attractions, to play "Radio Radio" instead. (For a moment, no one watching could have predicted what was about to happen--whether benign or bizarre.) Also of significance to longtime viewers of SNL was the return of Chevy Chase (on 2/18/78), the show's first breakout star who left the series early in season two, as host. By now, the story of Chase's backstage brawl with Murray just before showtime that night is legend, and it's easy to see how flustered Chase looked in a clunky opening monologue. (He recovers sufficiently for some fine sketchwork and a cameo appearance harassing Curtin on "Update.") Andy Kaufman did one of his best bits portraying a non-English-speaking comic who plays drums and drags a woman out of the audience for a nonsensical sight gag. The Coneheads (Aykroyd, Curtin, Newman) return in a very funny "Family Feud" piece, while Al Franken and Tom Davis continue to have an impact with a sketch that finds Franken attacking his own parents. Belushi mixes pop culture influences in a big way in "Samurai Night Fever." Hosting three times, Steve Martin makes as huge an impression on season three as anyone, introducing his musical novelty number "King Tut" and playing a lonely lover in a wistful-slapstick sketch in which he dances with Radner.
The overall slate of musical guests is good though not great, and except for Costello, Randy Newman, Keith Jarrett, and Paul Simon, the artists tend toward middle-of-the-road. Besides Martin, there are a few other strong hosts, including Buck Henry and a magnificent Michael Palin, who opens his show by dumping a plate of seafood and two cats down his pants. Faring less well as hosts are O.J. Simpson, Hugh Hefner, and Michael Sarrazin. As always, there are hits and misses over the course of another sprawling season of Saturday Night Live. --Tom Keogh
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