Plot

The host for the episode is Buck Henry (his eighth appearance), and the musical guest is Bette Midler. The skits for this episode are as follows: Mr. Bill goes to Rockefeller Center to see SNL, and almost gets to say the opening announcement. When Jane Curtain throws a tantrum in the control room because she's been passed over yet again to announce the show, John Belushi offers his support, but then steals the line out from under her. For his opening monologue, Buck Henry introduces some members of the audience who are taking part in an experiment to judge the quality of the show: as they gain or lose interest, the screen will shrink or grow in size. As Buck tries to engage the audience in intelligent matters, the picture soon begins to disappear, so he quickly switches to talking about sex. An entrepreneur combines three fun activities with his roller disco fishing park. The samurai baker provides a frantic man with a last-minute wedding cake. After watching the film Blind Ambition, Nixon tries to explain to his family that everything on the tapes was taken out of context because he and his staff were just joking around. During the Weekend Update, Jane Curtain and Bill Murray report on the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident, NBC's new logo design, and the recent Canadian elections, Garrett Morris comments on the racial overtones of a recent Rolling Stones song, and Roseanne Roseannadanna starts talking about the gas shortage but wanders into a story about Jane's behavior at the beach. Uncle Roy shows up to babysit and convinces the girls to tie him up and stuff their socks in his mouth. The Olympia diner has burned down, but the owner is hoping to make a profit from the insurance payment. Joan Face interviews a pair of transsexuals who donated the necessary parts to each other. For the closing, Michael O'Donoghue does an impersonation of Elvis with needles through his eyes. Bette Midler performs "Married Men" and "Martha".—Jean-Marc Rocher <rocher@fiberbit.net>