Jamie Lee Curtis reminds the audience of the ten minute vigil for John Lennon to be held at 2 PM the next day.

FINAL SUMMARY:

A weaker outing. Jamie Lee Curtis didn't really have to carry much of the material tonight, but the cast did seem to be trying their best. There really wasn't a whole lot to carry, though: a mix of weak premises, underwritten ideas that could have been further developed ("Mean Majority", "Poker and Drugs", "Terrible Snapping Creatures") and just plain laziness (the unnecessary Paulie Herman "Three Card Monty"). The strongest segments were still musical performances, with "Dying To Be Heard" being the best of the live sketches and the Short Shot (the final in the series) being the highlight of the rear third of the show. There were fewer highlights and more frequent lowlights; the main thing that keeps tonight's show from being a new low for the season is that the weak material is nowhere as bad as some of the bits from McDowell were.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

James Brown (I normally don't include musical guests in highlights/lowlights, but this was probably the main reason this was included as a Classic SNL on NBC All Night in 2005).

Dying To Be Heard

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:

The Badgers

The Mean Majority

News In Akron

Three Card Monty

Clovin Hind III

Weekend Update

Attack of the Terrible Snapping Creatures

Poker and Drugs

Hairstylist

MVP:

James Brown

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:

cast

Denny Dillon : 5 appearances [The Mean Majority, Dying To Be Heard, Weekend Update, Poker and Drugs, Hairstylist]

: 5 appearances [The Mean Majority, Dying To Be Heard, Weekend Update, Poker and Drugs, Hairstylist] Gilbert Gottfried : 3 appearances [Who Is Gilbert Gottfried, Poker and Drugs, Badgers]

: 3 appearances [Who Is Gilbert Gottfried, Poker and Drugs, Badgers] Gail Matthius : 7 appearances [The Mean Majority, Clovin Hind (3 part), Attack Of The Terrible Snapping Creatures, Dying To Be Heard, Hairstylist]; 1 voiceover [Poker and Drugs]

: 7 appearances [The Mean Majority, Clovin Hind (3 part), Attack Of The Terrible Snapping Creatures, Dying To Be Heard, Hairstylist]; 1 voiceover [Poker and Drugs] Joe Piscopo : 5 appearances [Three Card Monty, Dying To Be Heard, Weekend Update, Poker and Drugs, Badgers]; 3 voice-overs [Clovin Hind (3 part)]

: 5 appearances [Three Card Monty, Dying To Be Heard, Weekend Update, Poker and Drugs, Badgers]; 3 voice-overs [Clovin Hind (3 part)] Ann Risley : 3 appearances [Dying To Be Heard, Poker and Drugs, News In Akron]

: 3 appearances [Dying To Be Heard, Poker and Drugs, News In Akron] Charles Rocket: 5 appearances [The Mean Majority, Three Card Monty, Weekend Update, Badgers, Tortu-Matic]; 2 voiceovers [Who Is Gilbert Gottfried, Poker and Drugs]

featured players

Matthew Laurance : 2 appearances [Poker and Drugs, Badgers]

: 2 appearances [Poker and Drugs, Badgers] Eddie Murphy : 3 appearances [Three Card Monty, Weekend Update, Badgers]

: 3 appearances [Three Card Monty, Weekend Update, Badgers] Patrick Weathers: 1 appearance [Badgers]

crew and extras

Ronnie Cuber : 2 appearances ["Rapp Payback", "Medley"]

: 2 appearances ["Rapp Payback", "Medley"] Neil Levy : 1 appearance [Three Card Monty]

: 1 appearance [Three Card Monty] Tom Malone : 2 appearances ["Rapp Payback", "Medley"]

: 2 appearances ["Rapp Payback", "Medley"] Lou Marini : 2 appearances ["Rapp Payback", "Medley"]

: 2 appearances ["Rapp Payback", "Medley"] Andy Murphy : 1 appearance [Badgers]

: 1 appearance [Badgers] Alan P. Rubin : 2 appearances ["Rapp Payback", "Medley"]

: 2 appearances ["Rapp Payback", "Medley"] Kenny Vance : 1 appearance [Three Card Monty]

: 1 appearance [Three Card Monty] Georg Wadenius: 2 appearances ["Rapp Payback", "Medley"]

guests

Jamie Lee Curtis : 6 appearances [Monologue, Attack of the Terrible Snapping Creatures, Dying To Be Heard, Badgers, Hairstylist, News In Akron]

: 6 appearances [Monologue, Attack of the Terrible Snapping Creatures, Dying To Be Heard, Badgers, Hairstylist, News In Akron] James Brown: 2 appearances ["Rapp Payback", "Medley"]

Rebroadcast history:

Not repeated on NBC as a regular rebroadcast.

This was the sole 1980-81 episode to re-air as part of NBC's Classic SNL lineup (which was just a rebroadcast of the live air version). This was pre-empted in many markets by the first papal mass of Pope Benedict XVI.

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.