Richard Pryor/Gil Scott-Heron (13 Dec. 1975)

The host for the episode is Richard Pryor, and the musical guest is Gil Scott-Heron. The skits for this episode are as follows: Garrett Morris tricks Chevy Chase into taking a bad fall ... See full summary »

Directors:

Dave Wilson, Albert Brooks

Writers:

Anne Beatts, Chevy Chase,

Stars:

Richard Pryor, Gil Scott-Heron, Shelley R. Bonus

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Pryor	...	Himself - Host / Various
Gil Scott-Heron	...	Himself - Musical Guest
Shelley R. Bonus	...	Herself (as Shelley Pryor)
Frank Oz	...	The Mighty Favog (voice) (as Jim Henson's Muppets)
Jerry Nelson	...	Scred (voice) (as Jim Henson's Muppets)
Alice Tweedy	...	Queen Peuta (voice) (as Jim Henson's Muppets)
Richard Hunt	...	King Ploobis's right hand (as Jim Henson's Muppets)
Jim Henson	...	King Ploobis (voice) (as Jim Henson's Muppets)
Albert Brooks	...	Himself
Dan Aykroyd	...	Various
John Belushi	...	Samurai Futaba / Various
Chevy Chase	...	Weekend Update Anchor / Various
Jane Curtin	...	Various
Garrett Morris	...	Various
Laraine Newman	...	Regan

Storyline

The host for the episode is Richard Pryor, and the musical guest is Gil Scott-Heron. The skits for this episode are as follows: Garrett Morris tricks Chevy Chase into taking a bad fall during a skit. Richard Pryor does an opening monologue about why he doesn't drink or take LSD. A man checks into a hotel managed by a samurai who speaks no English. A black author talks about his latest book in which he disguises himself as white. A woman tries to identify her attacker from a series of stacked line-ups. An interview for a job using word association turns racially tense. Two men discuss a hockey game while playing Pong. A father complaining that blacks are taking over is oblivious to the fact that his entire family has turned black. A major accidentally uses a piece of new equipment that was intended for emergencies. In a sequel to The Exorcist, Regan manages to push both priests over the edge. Albert Brooks tries to make another film while sick in bed. Richard Pryor witnesses a ...

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Plot Keywords:

richard pryor

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 December 1975 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Studio 8H, NBC Studios - 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

NBC Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Pryor agreed to host the show only if his friends poet Gil Scott-Heron, actors Thalmus Rasulala and Annazette Chase and ex-wife Shelley R. Bonus could perform on the show. He also demanded that his writer Paul Mooney write all of his sketches. Flying back to New York, a frustrated Lorne Michaels said, "He'd better be funny."

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Quotes

Chevy Chase: Ok, you're qualified for this job, how about a starting salary, $5000?
Richard Pryor: Yo mama!
Chevy Chase: Um, $7500 a year...
Richard Pryor: Yo GRAND-mama!
Chevy Chase: Fifteen thousand dollars a year, Mr. Wilson, you'll be the highest paid janitor in America, just don't, don't hurt me!
Richard Pryor: Ok. You want me to start now?
Chevy Chase: Oh, no no no, it's alright, I'll clean all this up. Take a couple weeks off, you look tired!

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Connections

Edited into Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary (1989)

User Reviews

First Check Into The Hotel But Whose The Bellboy

This episode hosted by Richard Pryor hits more often than most of the episodes of the first season. It is the first episode to feature John Belushi as the Samarai & as a bonus in this one- Richard Pryor is in the sketch as a second one. This is a very good start for this series of sketches.

The episode opens with Dan Akroyd & Lorraine Newman seated at a table with Garrett Morris as the Waiter. Morris is getting ready to do the opening fall when Chevy Chase shows up to argue about who is supposed to do it. Then Chase does a magnificent fall but Morris says "Live From New York..." Pryor then does a good monologue, & then Chevy checks into the Samerai Hotel. This episode features a classic routine with Chase as a hiring manager interviewing Pryor for a Janitor job. Another good one is Ackroyd & his family sitting at a table & his family magically transforms into a different family while he talks about them taking over.

The Muppet routine is a little better this episode & Brooks film is OK even though Brooks is Ill. This is the first week-end update with Gilda Radners classic Emily Littel Editorial reply where she is off track & winds up telling the audience to "never mind". This is the first week that Francisco Franco is still dead & this would continue for several weeks.

The musical guest performs well including a song called Johannesburg. Don Pardo wants to escape, & Pryor finishes the show saying that he hoped we either enjoyed the show or had a good time with it on as a night light (my G-Rated version).

This humor really seems simple today as humor today is much more complex. That is why Al Franken is no longer writing comedy as his humor and the rest of this would not make it today. The Physical Comedy is timeless, but the verbal stuff with the exception of Pryors is too simple.

A great thing about this is a reminder of how good Pryor was as he mixes complex oral Comedy with Physical Comedy in his monologues.