Eric Idle/Kate Bush (9 Dec. 1978)

The host for the episode is Eric Idle (his third appearance), and the musical guest is Kate Bush. The skits for this episode are as follows: The telepsychic takes questions from callers ... See full summary »

Director:

Dave Wilson

Writers:

Dan Aykroyd, Anne Beatts,

Stars:

Eric Idle, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Eric Idle	...	Himself - Host / Various
Dan Aykroyd	...	Various
John Belushi	...	Various
Jane Curtin	...	Weekend Update Anchor / Various
Garrett Morris	...	Various
Bill Murray	...	Weekend Update Anchor / Various
Laraine Newman	...	Various
Gilda Radner	...	Various
Kate Bush	...	Herself - Musical Guest
Don Novello	...	Father Guido Sarducci (as Father Guido Sarducci)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Don Pardo	...	Himself - Announcer (voice)

Storyline

The host for the episode is Eric Idle (his third appearance), and the musical guest is Kate Bush. The skits for this episode are as follows: The telepsychic takes questions from callers about the future, giving each one the same answer. Julia Child demonstrates how to prepare a roast chicken and proceeds to slice her hand open and bleed to death in the studio. A game show host explains the convoluted rules of the show using sound effects. During the Weekend Update, Jane Curtain reports on serial killers, Christmas shopping and the Nobel Peace Prize, Bill Murray interviews Valerie Harper who claims her show was canceled because of anti-Semitism, after which Jane proposes a grass-roots movement to build support for ERA by withholding oral sex. Father Guido Sarducci relates his experiences at a nude wrestling club. A studio manager is waiting for a drugged-out punk rocker to show up for a recording while her handlers try to keep everyone patient and high. Joan Face interviews Irwin ...

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 December 1978 (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

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The game show sketch "What Do You" was previously performed on the album "Monty Python's Previous Record".

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Quotes

Chico Escuela: Baseball been berry berry good to me. Thank you berry much. Thank you, Hane? Thank you, Hane.
[he is drowned out by the audience applauding]
Weekend Update Anchor: Great job, Chico, I'm glad that we haven't hired just another stupid ex-jock sportcaster.

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Connections

Edited into SNL: 25 Years of Music (1999)

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Soundtracks

"If You Look Close."
(uncredited)
Performed by Gilda Radner as Candy Slice

User Reviews

Important Episode, But Impossible to Find Uncut

This was a great episode, but the Number 1 reason some people seek it out has been left off of the home video. It's for that reason I gave it a lower rating than I would have if it were available in its entirety.

As one website put it, almost every Kate Bush fan in the US knows where they were December 9, 1978. That was the evening of Bush's sole US appearance in her entire career. American audiences had never seen anything like the young woman sitting on Paul Shaffer's piano in a gold body stocking, or her two dramatic performances ("The Man With the Child In His Eyes" and "Them Heavy People").

For unknown reasons, her numbers were scrubbed from the video that was later sold. A total shame because Kate Bush became a tremendous influence on some of the most important female musicians to emerge in the nearly-thirty years since that appearance.

Still, the comedy of the night was fantastic.