SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE {O. J. SIMPSON, ASHFORD & SIMPSON} (TV)

Summary

One in this series of live, late-night comedy/variety programs featuring topical satire. This installment is hosted by athlete-turned-actor O.J. Simpson. Simpson begins the program by reminiscing about his goals growing up in a poor neighborhood in San Francisco: getting out of the ghetto, becoming a football star, then hosting "Saturday Night Live." The first sketch of the program is a parody of the film "Saturday Night Fever," with John Belushi in the role originated by John Travolta. The twist is that Belushi is in character as an unintelligible Japanese swordsman, and the film has been re christened "Samurai Night Fever." In the next sketch Belushi returns as Babe Ruth, promising a sick child that he will hit a home run in his next game and growing frustrated when he is unable to deliver. Musical duo Ashford & Simpson play a song, and then Dan Aykroyd advertises a special set of hair clippers that are designed to shape "Mohawk" hairdos. During the "Weekend Update" news segment, stories concern Senator George McGovern (D-S.D.), the New York Knicks basketball team, and the discovery of some formerly lost music by Beethoven. "Entertainment Correspondent" Bill Murray profiles reclusive filmmaker Woody Allen, and Laraine Newman becomes "the first woman to report directly from the men's locker room after the big game." After a performance by comedy team Franken & Davis and a fake preview for a sequel to the slave-rebellion movie "Mandingo," Simpson performs in a sketch in which he repeatedly stabs a voodoo doll of his football rival, Walter Peyton, on the eve of Peyton's breaking Simpson's long-held rushing record. Includes commercials.

Details

• NETWORK: NBC
• DATE: February 25, 1978 11:30 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:15:44
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:46779
• GENRE: Comedy/Variety
• SUBJECT HEADING: Baseball players - Comedy; Comedy; Football players - Comedy; Motion picture producers and directors; Motion pictures - Parody; Satire; She Made It Collection (Anne Beatts); She Made It Collection (Marilyn Suzanne Miller); She Made It Collection (Rosie Shuster)
• SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1975-
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV - Commercials - Alpo Dog Food
  • TV - Commercials - Bayer Aspirin
  • TV - Commercials - Bubbilicious chewing gum
  • TV - Commercials - Memorex audio cassettes
  • TV - Commercials - Memorex audio tapes
  • TV - Commercials - Michelob beer
  • TV - Commercials - Old Spice Deodorant
  • TV - Commercials - Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes
  • TV - Commercials - Schlitz beer
  • TV - Commercials - Tickle deodorant
  • TV - Commercials - Volkswagon automobiles

CREDITS

• Lorne Michaels … Producer, Writer
• Jean Doumanian … Associate Producer
• Audrey Peart Dickman … Associate Producer
• Dave Wilson … Director
• Dan Aykroyd … Writer
• Anne Beatts … Writer
• James Downey … Writer
• Al Franken … Writer
• Tom Davis … Writer
• Neil Levy … Writer
• Marilyn Suzanne Miller … Writer
• Michael O'Donoghue … Writer
• Herb Sargent … Writer
• Tom Schiller … Writer
• Rosie Shuster … Writer
• Alan Zweibel … Writer
• Howard Shore … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical Director
• Simpson, O.J. (Orenthal James Simpson) … Host
• Ashford & Simpson … Guest, Music Group
• Franken & Davis … Guest
• Don Pardo … Announcer
• Dan Aykroyd … Cast
• John Belushi … Cast
• Jane Curtin … Cast
• Garrett Morris … Cast
• Bill Murray … Cast
• Laraine Newman … Cast
• Gilda Radner … Cast
• Woody Allen
• Ludwig Von Beethoven
• George McGovern
• Walter Peyton
• Ruth, Babe (George Herman Ruth)
• John Travolta