Saturday Night Live/Jill Clayburgh

Jill Clayburgh
Season 1, Episode 15
Airdate	February 28, 1976
Production Number	016
Written by	Anne Beatts Chevy Chase Al Franken & Tom Davis Lorne Michaels Marilyn Suzanne Miller Michael O'Donoghue Herb Sargent Tom Schiller Rosie Shuster Alan Zweibel Walter Williams (home movie)
Directed by	Dave Wilson Gary Weis (short film) Walter Williams (home movie)
← 1x14 Desi Arnaz	1x16 → Anthony Perkins/Betty Carter
Saturday Night Live — Season One

Jill Clayburgh is the fifteenth episode of the first season of Saturday Night Live, and the fifteenth episode overall. It is the first appearance by its host, who technically doubles as musical guest. However, "special musical guest" Leon Redbone takes the position usually taken by musical guests, and it is his first appearance, as well.

Guest Stars: Jill Clayburgh (Host/Musical Guest)

Special Guests: Andy Kaufman (Comedian), Leon Redbone (Special Musical Guest), The Singing Idlers (Special Musical Guest)

Episode Breakdown

• Chevy Tells Lorne, "No More Falls!": Chase bursts into Lorne Michaels' office to say he refuses to fall ever again because he is "sick of being a clown." Michaels assures him everyone loves the fall, and he gets lots of mail about it. He presents a letter as evidence, but he refuses to show it to Chase. Chase relents and walks off towards the stage muttering to himself about how he will do the fall this week with a chandelier and a ladder, but he will do no more. He cuts his way through the audience seats, and one woman groans about him doing "the chandelier and the ladder again." Chase at first tries to ignore this, but as he reaches the step ladder next to the chandelier, he changes his mind. He stumbles back through the audience and nearly falls over the railing on his way. He storms back into Michaels' office and tries to sit on the desk but falls off the edge.
• Jill Clayburgh's Monologue: Clayburgh says she was nervous about doing live television, so she talked to the crew member most experienced with live TV, Don Pardo. She tells the story of her evening with Pardo, but Pardo keeps interrupting to describe various elements of her story—his car, his house, his artwork and his son—as though they were game show prizes, with each announcement ending with "Chicago 60608."
• Great Moments in Herstory I: In Vienna, 1908, Sigmund Freud (Aykroyd) talks with his young daughter Anna (Newman). Anna tells Sigmund of her dream, a very sexually suggestive dream involving a man who looks like Sigmund, a bondage orgy and bananas. As she tells the story, Sigmund becomes increasingly sexually aroused. When the story is over, Sigmund assures her that her dream means nothing, but he suggests she not tell her mother about it.
• Jill Carson, Guidance Counselor!: Dedicated high school counselor Jill Carson (Clayburgh) meets student Julio Alvarez (Belushi), a loutish juvenile delinquent who smokes right in front of her and spits on the floor. She keeps telling stories about significant figures in history whose lives were turned around by their guidance counselor, but Julio ignores her and closes the window so he can try to rape her. Just as he starts, he is interrupted by music appreciation and PE teacher Phil Taylor (Chase), who is coaching the football team in a rendition of Handel's Messiah that night. Julio leaves, and Taylor tries to convince Carson to forget about Julio, but Carson insists she will visit his parents that night. When she arrives at the Alvarez apartment, Mr. Alvarez (Morris) and Mrs. Alvarez (Radner) say all their children are named Julio, but after Carson specifies which Julio she means, they, too, warn her against approaching Julio. At the school, after the football team's performance of Messiah, Julio mugs Taylor and his star player Barry (Aykroyd). Although Barry gives Julio his money, Julio kills him for his loafer tassels. As Taylor berates Julio, Carson arrives to try to talk sense into him. She throws herself between Julio's gun and Taylor, but Julio says he is killing her "for every kid who ever had to sit in an office with a guidance counselor." After he kills Carson, Taylor assures him she was dying of cancer, anyway, and recruits him for the floor hockey/opera.
• Ain't Misbehavin' : Leon Redbone song.
• White Guilt Relief Fund: Morris says he understands white people's guilt and says it is justified, as his great-great grandmother was a slave raped by her master, and his grandfather was lynched. To relieve white guilt, Morris suggest white people send money to his fund, care of him. He says if they mail their money before July 4, he will send them a scroll and a card identifying them as an "Honorary Negro."
• Great Moments in Herstory II: In Nice, France in 1927, dancer Isadora Duncan (Clayburgh) leaves for a joyride. Before she leaves, she asks her friend Eleanora Duse (Radner) if she should wear a short blue scarf or a long green one. Duse recommends the green one, and after Duncan leaves, there is the sound of car tires squealing.
• Weekend Update.
  • Newman reports from New Hampshire, where the primary elections have ended and all the candidates left. She says the voters have also left to take part in the Massachusetts primaries.
  • Correspondent "Harlan Collins" reports on the Patty Hearst Trial as an artist's hands are seen making the "artist's rendering"—crude stick figure drawings. After the drawings are done, the cameras cut back to Chase, who is holding his nose to make Collins' report.
  • Emily Litella replies to an editorial on the "deaf penalty." She says deaf people should not be penalized but should be accommodated. Chase explains the earlier editorial was on the "death penalty," and the embarrassed Litella says, "Never mind."
• H&L Brock - Reason #13: In a commercial during WU, Lowell Brock (Belushi) presents another reason to use his shady tax service instead of H&R Block, "The H&L Brock Church & Synagogue." Brock says tax donations made to this phoney church and synagogue will be mostly kicked back to the donors, which will save the donors a lot of money on taxes.
• Semper Paratus: The Singing Idlers song. As the Singing Idlers, the chorus for the Coast Guard, sing the song, title cards list people who are less intelligent than dolphins.
• Sea Cruise: Jill Clayburgh song, featuring the Singing Idlers and "Howard Shore and His Shore Patrol."
• Car Yummies: An announcer (Aykroyd) promotes cheese snacks for your car with the help of a gas station attendant (Morris).
  

  

  "Goodbye, dear. Have a good time in Rochester." Chase fills in for the Muppets.

• Muppet Hand Puppets: Due to the absence of The Muppets, Clayburgh says one of the cast members will be filling in. On the Muppets' set, a hand dressed as a housewife in lingerie says good-bye to her husband. When he is gone, she gets a knock on the door from the milkman. She opens it to see the left hand now dressed in white and holding a glass of milk. She says she cannot pay her bill but offers the milkman hand sexual favors. The milkman agrees, and she takes off the watch on his wrist to undress him. The hands fall behind the set, where Chase is revealed to be the hands and voice behind the sketch.
• Dog Tricks: A short film in which a man talks about his dog, who gets excited whenever he spells the word "park." The man shows his video studio, where his dog has learned to do tricks, including dropping ping pong balls thrown at him into a can. The dog also eats a cookie out of the man's mouth in a piece called "The Hollywood Kiss" and pulls apart an 80-pound rubber roll for a piece of food. The dog also does a staring contest with a man, who says these contests have lasted as long as 90 minutes. After the dog tricks, the man steps outside to point out the World Trade Center.
• Andy Kaufman: Before Kaufman's performance, Clayburgh chooses four audience members to volunteer to help Kaufman. After she has lined them up, Kaufman enters wearing a cowboy hat, and he starts an old children's recording of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." Kaufman lipsynchs to the lead role in the record, but he has the audience members play the roles of the four other singers heard on the recording. As each singer has one verse, Kaufman pulls them over towards the microphone to "sing."
• Triple Trac Razor Blades: A commercial for a new razor, which the announcer (Coe) says is the best because it has three blades. An animated demonstration shows the first blade pulling on the hair, the second blade pulling it further and the third blade finally cutting it. As the commercial ends, the announcer says, "The Triple-Trac, because... you'll believe anything."
• The Restaurant: (Note: Rebroadcasts, syndicated version and DVD only.) A woman (Clayburgh) asks her date (Chase) what he's thinking about. At first he says, "Nothing," but when she presses, he says he's thinking about how much he likes her. She continues to press as to why he likes her so much, so he lists a number of reasons. When he asks her the same question, she says she is thinking about warthogs, and the film shows video of warthogs.
• Big Time Woman: Leon Redbone song, featuring Jonathan Dorn.
• Great Moments in Herstory III: In New Delhi, India, 1936, young Indira Gandhi (Newman) comes to her father, Jawarhlal Nehru (Belushi), while he is meditating. She interrupts his reflections to complain of a boy who hit her when she tried to take his gun. Nehru encourages Gandhi to be a pacifist like her namesake, Mahatma Gandhi, but Indira Gandhi insists she wants a gun and to hit people. She vows that when she is a woman, she will do whatever she wants, and she will have plenty of guns, and she will put people in prison.
• Home Movies - The Mr. Bill Show: Mr. Bill's friend Mr. Hand introduces Mr. Bill to his dog Spot. After Mr. Bill and Spot have played, Mr. Bill is horrified to see Mr. Hand roll Spot back into a ball of Play-Doh. Mr. Hand brings out another lump of Play-Doh, which he says is a friend of Mr. Bill's, but Mr. Bill is less than enthused when he discovers the lump is Mr. Sluggo, who is holding a knife. Mr. Sluggo stabs Mr. Bill in the belly with the knife and then returns as a doctor to treat Mr. Bill. Mr. Sluggo amputates Mr. Bill's leg. After the operation, Mr. Bill goes for an "deep sea adventure" in which he is dropped into a pot of boiling water. Mr. Hand then tries to brush Mr. Bill's teeth, but the toothbrush scrapes off most of Mr. Bill's facial features. With no mouth, Mr. Bill is unable to object when Mr. Hand takes him on a "skydiving adventure" in which Mr. Bill falls to his death.
• Grable & Lombard: A priest (Chase) weds Betty (Curtin) and Carole (Clayburgh). As the two women turn to kiss, they freeze frame, as the announcer says it is a biopic on "Grable and Lombard."

Notes

"Live from New York, It's Saturday Night!"

• Chevy Chase as himself, after falling off Lorne Michaels' desk.

Music

• Messiah, composed by Georg Frideric Handel: The 18th-century German composer's most famous work, this oratorio is most famous for its "Hallelujah" chorus. It can be heard briefly during the sketch "Jill Carson, Guidance Counselor!"
  

  

  Jill Clayburgh, Howard Shore and His Shore Patrol and the Singing Idlers perform "Sea Cruise."

• Ain't Misbehavin' , performed by Leon Redbone: This blues classic was composed by Harry Brooks and Fats Waller and written by Andy Razaf in 1929. Waller recorded the most famous version. Redbone's version first appeared on his 1976 album On the Track.

• Semper Paratus, performed by the Singing Idlers: The official service song of the Coast Guard. The original version was written by Captain Francis Saltus Van Boskerck in 1927, but it has been revised several times since.

• Sea Cruise, performed by Jill Clayburgh, Howard Shore and His Shore Patrol and the Singing Idlers: This rock classic was first written and performed in 1959 by Huey "Piano" Smith. The most famous version was recorded by Frankie Ford later that year.

• Big Time Woman, performed by Leon Redbone, featuring Jonathan Dorn: Another old blues song Redbone recorded for On the Track. The original version was written by Wilton Crawley and recorded with an orchestra which included Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton.

Trivia

The Show

• Uncredited Appearance: Cast member George Coe is not credited this episode, although he appears in the sketch "Triple Trac Razor Blades." Michael O'Donoghue is also not credited, but he does not appear.
  

  

  "Oh, noooo!" Poor Mr. Bill is in trouble again.

• Changing Band: The house band is here credited as "Howard Shore and His Shore Patrol."

• Repeat Sketch: The sketch "Triple Trac Razor Blades" was first used for episode 1x01 - George Carlin/Billy Preston, Janis Ian. After the initial airing, it was pulled from the episode in favor of "The Restaurant," which had been cut from dress rehearsal.

• First Appearance: The Home Movie in this episode is the first appearance of Mr. Bill. This crude Play-Doh sculpture was originally submitted by a viewer, but he proved so popular that he was given a recurring spot on the show. In fact, he would prove to be one of the most enduringly popular characters on the show in its earlier seasons, and by the end of the 1970s, he had more appearances than any other non-impression character.

Allusions and References

• West Side Story: The exchange between Jill Carson, Mr. Alvarez and Mrs. Alvarez in the sketch "Jill Carson, Guidance Counselor!" is a rough quoting of the opening verse the song "A Boy Like That/I Have a Love" from the 1957 play West Side Story, an urban update of Shakespeare's play Romeo & Juliet.

Mr. Alvarez: I tell you, a kid like that will kill your brother!
Mrs. Alvarez: Forget that boy and find another!
Mr. Alvarez: One of your own kind.
Mrs. Alvarez: Stick to your own kind!

Memorable Moments

• Muppet Hand Puppets.

• The Mr. Bill Show.