Norm MacDonald v. Darrell Hammond as Col. Sanders

KFC is trying to pit these two old SNL buddies against eachother.  I notice there is no mention of whether Norm is replacing Hammond, or they're setting up some sort of evil-twin-duel in the future.  Either way, the new spots with Norm are pretty great for his meta deadpan.

The lost castmembers of SNL

Yet another SNL-related post because, honestly, with everything going on in the world, this is way more interesting.  The lost castmembers of SNL (only one not on this list seems to be Richard Karn, aka Al on "Home Improvement"... I believe he auditioned for season 6 in 1980).

SNL promos!

I'm surprised the DVD sets haven't included any of these old promos, which usually run 10-20 seconds and vary from cute to clever.

Ringo Starr with Billy Crystal (1984):


Sid Caesar and Joe Piscopo (1983):


Elliot Gould (1980): This was for the season 6 premiere -- the first anyone saw of the cast that was supposed to replace the original cast.  Note the absence of Eddie Murphy (who was a featured player).  The promo is actually pretty good; too bad that 90% of the season's sketches weren't this good:


Buck Henry (1978); the original cast years seem to have only featured the host solo, without a castmember. The first part features a voiceover by Donald Rickles (no relation):


Dick Cavett (1976): an interesting idea... I wonder how many people were confused by this back then.

Epic moments with Don Rickles

Here's a compilation made by someone online with too much time on their hands.  And as one of the commenters says on the video, you'd need hours to get even 10 percent of Rickles' genius.

What's it like being a stand-up?

Crothers Games aims to give you the banal experience of drifting from town-to-town as a comedian, complete with late-1980s graphics.  Check out this free videogame (and donate if you like).

Pink Floyd, Dogs and WKRP

"WKRP in Cincinnati" is one of the most under-rated sitcoms in history.  It's "Turkeys Away" episode keeps it in the history books, but there are many, many excellent episodes among the show's 88 installments.  One scene from "Turkeys Away" not on the DVD is linked here.  It uses copyrighted music; in this case, "Dogs" by Pink Floyd, from the 1977 LP "Animals."  And the song is absolutely crucial to the dialogue (which is why a soundalike replacement wouldn't work).  Enjoy.

Let Krazy Glue Do It

From the fine folks at the Museum of Classic Chicago Television... a 1979 commercial for Krazy Glue.  THIS is what advertising is all about.  Leave me comments if you know anything about how this was produced.

Loblaws and William Shatner

This is apparently a Canadian grocery store chain.  I just like the way Shatner pronounces "Loblaws."  And I am so, so sorry for this... "Beam up the SAVINGS!"  Yikes.

Dave Letterman's Summertime Sunshine Happy Hour

On August 29, 1985, "Late Night with David Letterman" devoted an entire show to a send-up of summer replacement shows like "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour," "Sonny & Cher" and others from the 1960s and '70s.  They even brought in Ken Berry and John Hartford, two mainstays of the earlier shows (see yesterday's entry for "The Ken Berry WOW Show").

Although Dave had done (and would do) other theme shows, he apparently wasn't happy with this one and it was never rerun.

The Ken Berry WOW Show

In the 1960s and '70s, variety shows really did have variety to them: singing, dancing, numerous stars and comedy sketches all combined into a big mess most of the time.  And all that effort during the TV season meant the stars wanted the summer off.  The "Ken Berry WOW Show" was one such summer replacement featuring the star (fresh from "F Troop"... or something), along with Steve Martin, Cheryl Ladd (then going under her maiden name, Cheryl Stoppelmoor), Teri Garr and Carl Gottlieb (who co-wrote "Jaws" and "The Jerk").  This is the absolute epitome of variety craziness (but not disgusting variety excess, as in "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour").  Enjoy the clips below.  They'll make you say "wow."

Richard Pryor and NBC

Richard Pryor's 1977 NBC variety show is the stuff of legend -- both on-screen and off.  It was preceded by a TV special which contained, among other moments, The Pips... without Gladys Knight!  This works on so many levels.

Pryor's special aired the same night as Chevy Chase's (May 5, 1977), and here they both are promoting the specials on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  Chase's segment pops up online occasionally and features a very rambling explanation and demonstration of his SNL falls; there's also a funny John Belushi cameo.

In the segment with Pryor, he clearly has little respect for Chase.  A few years later, Richard was back and had a more worthy sparring partner in guest-host Steve Martin.

Family Guy moments

Some random Family Guy moments thrown together by someone with time on their hands.

Weezer: Buddy Holly

Following on Saturday's post, here's another amazing video from the past, this time from the 1950s via the 1970s via the 1990s: "Buddy Holly" by Weezer.



And here's Beavis & Butthead's confused take on the video...

#SNL4kidz

Bobby McFerrin, "Don't Worry Be Happy"

This song was everywhere in 1988, and I was always told it's because it was on the mega-hit soundtrack of the terrible film "Cocktail."  Sound plausible, but I was also told "Wild Wild West" by Escape Club was a hit for the same reason... and it's not on the soundtrack (although on the surface, you'd think it was a better fit than Bobby McFerrin).  Here's the video with the Bill Irwin and the late Robin Williams.  By the way, seek out Irwin's "Dancing Man" short film (featuring "Shake Your Groove Thing") if you can... it aired on SNL December 20, 1980 (with a sequel on October 23, 1982).  Both are hard to find, but amazing to watch if you're an Irwin fan.