George Carlin on First-Ever ‘Saturday Night Live’
June 29, 2008 by Chandra
Last night, NBC paid tribute to George Carlin, who passed away on June 22, by broadcasting the first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live. The comedian hosted the premiere on October 11, 1975 and delivered a memorable monologue to kick the long-running series off properly.
Take a look at excerpts from Carlin’s opening performance below. Instead of doing the right thing and producing a single clip of the entire piece, NBC has chosen to capitalize on the footage by creating shorter sections preceded by advertising. I know many believe fans should just be grateful the network is offering Carlin’s work online. However, I think NBC Universal is disrespectful for trying to make money off of it.
Now that I’m finished griping, on to the three clips…
The debut of SNL was awful. Painful to watch. Very unpolished. Carlin seemed uncomfortable. We probably liked it way back when because we were drunk and/or stoned when watching it. We played “dead or not dead” all during the show to keep awake. I left the TV on for the credits, and noticed that Carlin, Belushi and Rador are dead and Al Franken is running for US Senate.
I wish I could agree or disagree with you, Al, but I forget every single time SNL airs a special, until the next day when it’s too late. Since I missed this one, too, I’ll just have to take your word on it being awful.