Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell

History

Cast and guests

The premiere episode featured celebrity guests Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Paul Anka, Siegfried and Roy, Yogi Berra, and the cast of the Broadway musical of The Wiz, who opened up the show as they danced out of the Majestic Theatre onto a yellow brick road as they sang their pop hit "Ease on Down the Road" straight to the Ed Sullivan Theater as they met and escorted Howard Cosell on stage, tennis pro Jimmy Connors (who sang, while profusely sweating, Anka's "Girl, You Turn Me On" as a dedication to his girlfriend Chris Evert. Anka played the piano to accompany Connors), and John Denver. The episode's musical guest was the Bay City Rollers, from Scotland, whom Cosell dubbed "the next" British phenomenon.

The show featured Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Christopher Guest as regular comedy performers, dubbed "The Prime Time Players". In response, NBC's show Saturday Night called its regular performers "The Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time Players" (especially since the show didn't air in prime time, but late-night). Eventually, Murray, Doyle-Murray, and Guest would all work on the NBC program. Billy Crystal, who appeared on the premiere episode of Cosell's program, was also scheduled to appear on the premiere episode of the NBC show, but was bumped when the show ran long; he later joined the NBC program's cast, along with Guest, during Season 10 a decade later. Also that season, Cosell himself guest-hosted the NBC program in its season finale on April 13, 1985.

Cancellation

Mischer described the show as chronically hectic and unprepared. He recalled one particular episode wherein executive producer Roone Arledge discovered that jazz musician Lionel Hampton was in New York City and invited him to appear on the show an hour before airtime.

The show fared poorly among critics and audiences alike, with TV Guide calling it "dead on arrival, with a cringingly awkward host". Alan King—the show's "executive in charge of comedy"—later admitted that it was difficult trying to turn Cosell into a variety show host, saying that he "made Ed Sullivan look like Buster Keaton".

ABC announced the cancellation of Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell in November 1975, becoming the first casualty of the 1975-76 season. The eighteenth and final episode was aired on January 17, 1976. A year later, in 1977, NBC's Saturday Night added Live to its name.

Reception

In 2002, TV Guide ranked the series number 37 on its "50 Worst TV Shows of All Time" list. In his book What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History, author David Hofstede ranked the series at #30 on the list.

Episodes

Only three episodes are known to survive on video:

• September 20, 1975: Billy Crystal, Frank Sinatra, Bay City Rollers,The Wiz
• October 11, 1975: Barry Manilow, Aretha Franklin, The Rockettes
• November 8, 1975: Roy Clark, Billy Crystal, Ted Kennedy, Chita Rivera as herself/Velma Kelly, and Gwen Verdon as herself/Roxie Hart.

References

References

1. [[YouTube]] video: "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUVaekeDr7g Don Mischer Interview with the American Archive of Television - Part 1 of 5]".
2. Rothman, Lily. (September 26, 2014). "The Surprising Story Behind Saturday Night Live's Most Famous Line".
3. [[IMDb]] page: "[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0694431/ ''Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell'' - Pilot (1975)]."
4. ''[[Pittsburgh Press]]'' article: "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Re4bAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oFYEAAAAIBAJ&dq=howard%20cosell%20saturday%20night&pg=7245%2C3019595 ''Saturday Night Live'' Over-Packed With Superstars: Scripted, Rehearsed, Structured Cosell No Fun At All]."
5. [http://www.oldtvtickets.com/archives1/2006/02/saturday_night.html Old TV Tickets] {{webarchive. link. (May 17, 2008)
6. ''[[TV Guide]]'' article: "[http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/saturday-night-live-howard-cosell/204224 Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell]".
7. (26 November 1975). "ABC Cuts Cosell Show as First Schedule Trim". [[The Los Angeles Times]].
8. (2007). "TV Guide Book of Lists". Running Press.
9. David Hofstede. (2004). "What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History". Back Stage Books.