Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1977–78

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 24, 1977, and May 20, 1978, the third season of SNL.

The Festrunk Brothers ("Two Wild and Crazy Guys!")

A Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin sketch. The Festrunks, Yortuk (Aykroyd) and Georg (Martin), were two brothers who had emigrated from Czechoslovakia to the United States. Culturally inept, they went to various social hangouts (bars, art exhibits, dance clubs) in an attempt to connect with attractive American women ("foxes"). Their obnoxious behavior was almost always a turn off for the women they approached. They were often referred to by their catchphrase "We are, two wild and crazy guys!!" Debuted September 24, 1977. In the sketch, they meet two women, Jane Curtin and Gilda Radner, playing ping pong in the basement of their apartment building.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
3September 24, 1977Steve Martin
3January 21, 1978Steve Martin
3April 22, 1978Steve Martin
4November 4, 1978Steve Martin
24September 26, 1998Cameron DiazRoxbury Guys sketch
38March 9, 2013Justin TimberlakeDating Game Show

The Franken and Davis Show

SNL writing partners Al Franken and Tom Davis hosted their own segment on which they would appear onstage as a comedy team similar to Rowan and Martin, with Davis generally as the straight man and Franken as his self-obsessed, sometimes dimwitted sidekick. They would also perform skits within the context of the segment. The Franken and Davis Show was often a late addition to the broadcast as a time filler if the show was running short. Their best-known skit consisted of Davis appearing in normal dress, while Franken appeared in a flowing garment, with a shaved head and a pony tail and announced he was becoming a Hare Krishna. Davis responded by cutting off the ponytail, angering Franken who said, "Now people will think I'm a Buddhist!" Debuted September 24, 1977.

Aside from The Franken and Davis Show, the two have made several appearances, either separately or as a team, in many SNL sketches throughout the years. They also appear together in the film Trading Places as a pair of bumbling baggage handlers. Al Franken later hosted his own talk show on which Tom Davis has made numerous appearances. Franken, who in 2009 became a U.S. Senator from Minnesota, is probably best known as a performer for his character Stuart Smalley, and for his on-air proposal at the end of the 1970s that the 1980s be known as "The Al Franken Decade."

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
3September 24, 1977Steve Martin
3November 19, 1977Buck Henry
3December 17, 1977Miskel Spillman
3February 25, 1978O. J. Simpson
3May 20, 1978Buck Henry
4October 21, 1978Frank Zappa
4January 21, 1979Michael Palin
4March 17, 1979Margot Kidder
4May 26, 1979Buck Henry
5April 5, 1980Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss

The Ex-Police

Joe and his ex-partner Bob (Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray) are two cops that were kicked off the force (apparently for being intrusive bigots) that harass the people that live in their apartment building for not living up to their arch-conservative standards (a man and a woman living together without being married, an allegedly lesbian couple, etc.) with disastrous results. Debuted October 15, 1977.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
3October 15, 1977Hugh Hefner
3January 28, 1978Robert Klein
4February 10, 1979Cicely Tyson

Judy Miller

A Gilda Radner character. Judy Miller is a highly energetic school girl playing by herself, pretending she is hosting her own variety talk show. Debuted October 29, 1977.

Joan Face

A Jane Curtin character, a talk show host and moderator. She hosted four of the five "Consumer Probe" and "On The Spot" sketches, three of the four "What If?" sketches (once billed as "Joan Cage"), the two "More Things to Worry About" sketches with Buck Henry, "Not For Transsexuals Only", and "Heavy Sarcasm". Debuted October 29, 1977, in "Consumer Probe" opposite Irwin Mainway.

Roseanne Roseannadanna

A Gilda Radner character offering brash, tactless opinions on Weekend Update. Debuted October 29, 1977 in a fake commercial called "Hire The Incompetent", where she protested being fired from a fast food restaurant because her hair kept falling into the hamburgers on a grill.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
3January 21, 1978Steve Martin
3January 28, 1978Robert Klein
3February 25, 1978O. J. Simpson
3March 18, 1978Jill Clayburgh
3April 15, 1978Michael Sarrazin
3May 13, 1978Richard Dreyfuss
4October 7, 1978The Rolling Stones
4November 18, 1978Carrie Fisher
4December 16, 1978Elliott Gould
4February 24, 1979Kate Jackson
4April 7, 1979Richard Benjamin
4May 26, 1979Buck Henry
5October 20, 1979Eric Idle
5December 22, 1979Ted Knight
5March 15, 1980none
5May 24, 1980Buck Henry

What if?

A talk show sendup that dramatized counterfactual historical situations. Debuted January 21, 1978.

Episodes featuring What If?

Olympia Café ("Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger")

John Belushi is the Greek chef of a greasy spoon diner. Debuted January 28, 1978.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
3January 28, 1978Robert Klein
3March 18, 1978Jill Clayburgh
3May 20, 1978Buck Henry
4October 7, 1978The Rolling Stones
4December 2, 1978Walter Matthau
4May 26, 1979Buck Henry

The Nerds (Lisa Loopner)

Gilda Radner is Lisa Loopner; Bill Murray is Todd DiLaMuca; Jane Curtin is Lisa's mother. Debuted January 28, 1978.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
3January 28, 1978Robert KleinNerd Rock
3March 11, 1978Art GarfunkelLooks at Books
3April 8, 1978Michael PalinMusic Lesson
3April 22, 1978Steve MartinScience Fair
3May 20, 1978Buck HenryProm Night
4October 7, 1978The Rolling StonesThe Norge (Repairman)
4November 4, 1978Steve MartinLisa at the Hospital
4January 27, 1979Michael PalinAnother Music Lesson
4February 24, 1979Kate JacksonNerds and the Nurse
4April 7, 1979Richard BenjaminNerds and Milt
5November 10, 1979Buck HenryMatchmaker Nerds
5December 22, 1979Ted KnightNativity Scene
5March 15, 1980noneTodd's Campaign

Lester Crackfield

Al Franken is a coal miner. Debuted February 18, 1978.

Point/Counterpoint

A Weekend Update segment, parodying a feature of 60 Minutes, in which Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin debate a current events topic. Aykroyd's argument typically begins with "Jane, you ignorant slut." Debuted March 25, 1978.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
3March 25, 1978Christopher Lee
3April 15, 1978Michael Sarrazin
3April 22, 1978Steve Martin
3May 20, 1978Buck Henry
4October 7, 1978The Rolling Stoneswith Bill Murray
4October 21, 1978Frank Zappa
4November 11, 1978Buck Henry
4December 16, 1978Elliott Gould
4February 17, 1979Ricky Nelson
4March 17, 1979Margot Kidder
4May 19, 1979Maureen Stapleton

The Blues Brothers

Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi are an American blues and soul revivalist band. Debuted April 22, 1978.

Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber

A Steve Martin sketch. Debuted April 22, 1978.

Father Guido Sarducci

Don Novello plays a chain-smoking, gossiping priest. Debuted May 13, 1978.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
3May 13, 1978Richard Dreyfuss"Special Guest" Appearance
4October 21, 1978Frank Zappa
4November 18, 1978Carrie Fisher
4December 9, 1978Eric Idle
4January 27, 1979Michael Palin
4February 24, 1979Kate Jackson
4March 17, 1979Margot Kidder
4May 12, 1979Michael Palin
5October 13, 1979Steve Martin
5November 10, 1979Buck Henry
5December 15, 1979Martin Sheen
5January 26, 1980Teri Garr
5February 16, 1980Elliott GouldOutside Richard Nixon's New York Apartment
5March 8, 1980Rodney Dangerfield
5April 12, 1980Burt Reynolds
5May 17, 1980Steve MartinLive from London with Paul McCartney
7December 12, 1981Bill Murray
9January 14, 1984Father Guido Sarducci
9May 12, 1984Ed Koch, Betty Thomas, Father Guido Sarducci, Edwin Newman, Billy Crystal
11November 9, 1985Madonna
11November 23, 1985Pee-wee Herman
11December 21, 1985Teri Garr
11May 24, 1986Anjelica Huston, Billy Martin
18February 20, 1993Bill Murray
21October 7, 1995Chevy Chase

References

    Preceded by
    Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1976–1977
    Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches (listed chronologically) Succeeded by
    Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1978–1979
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