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Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1977–78

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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!")

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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
3 September 24, 1977 Steve Martin
3 January 21, 1978 Steve Martin
3 April 22, 1978 Steve Martin
4 November 4, 1978 Steve Martin
24 September 26, 1998 Cameron Diaz Roxbury Guys sketch
38 March 9, 2013 Justin Timberlake Dating Game Show

The Franken and Davis Show

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

The Ex-Police

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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
3 October 15, 1977 Hugh Hefner
3 January 28, 1978 Robert Klein
4 February 10, 1979 Cicely Tyson

Judy Miller

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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

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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

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

What if?

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

Episodes featuring What If?

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Olympia Café ("Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger")

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

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

The Nerds (Lisa Loopner)

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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
3 January 28, 1978 Robert Klein Nerd Rock
3 March 11, 1978 Art Garfunkel Looks at Books
3 April 8, 1978 Michael Palin Music Lesson
3 April 22, 1978 Steve Martin Science Fair
3 May 20, 1978 Buck Henry Prom Night
4 October 7, 1978 The Rolling Stones The Norge (Repairman)
4 November 4, 1978 Steve Martin Lisa at the Hospital
4 January 27, 1979 Michael Palin Another Music Lesson
4 February 24, 1979 Kate Jackson Nerds and the Nurse
4 April 7, 1979 Richard Benjamin Nerds and Milt
5 November 10, 1979 Buck Henry Matchmaker Nerds
5 December 22, 1979 Ted Knight Nativity Scene
5 March 15, 1980 none Todd's Campaign

Lester Crackfield

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

Point/Counterpoint

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

The Blues Brothers

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

Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber

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A Steve Martin sketch. Debuted April 22, 1978.

Father Guido Sarducci

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

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

References

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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