Outstanding Documentaries: SNL Mardi Gras Special (1977)

Yeah, yeah.  Not technically a documentary but I decided to review it here because it's so rare and because it was filmed on site at a live event where anything could go wrong and, as it turns out, it did.  Things went so wrong the showrunners decided to never attempt such a stunt again & to pretty much bury the footage of this event for decades.  I'm actually shocked they've let it leak out considering some of the non-PC content it features.  More on that in a minute.  

The "live" SNL of today (with its 5-to-7-second delay & censoring of any "naughty" bits in the Western & Mountain Time Zones) may seem exciting & impromptu but it has nothing on the show's early years.  High off their Season 1 accolades, Lorne Michaels & Co. decided to head to New Orleans to film an episode live during Mardi Gras for... some reason or other.  The episode would air during primetime on a Sunday to boot:  not exactly their usual vibe or audience.  If it went well it would be a triumph, leaving everyone talking at the water cooler on Monday morning & drawing in tons of potential new viewers.  If it failed it would be a massive (and costly) flop.  Take a guess which one it was.  You can read the full backstory on what the cast experienced during their weeklong stay in New Orleans here.  I'll focus only on the episode itself.  But to summarize: they were mobbed by manic fans & basically had to hole up in their hotels all week for safety purposes.  Kinda the same energy we get in the episode.  

The show features the usual Not Ready For Primetime Players plus some of Season 1's most popular guests:  Eric Idle, Penny Marshall & Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley), New Orleans Native Randy Newman and of course Buck Henry, 10-time host who was somehow roped into this & looks none too happy for the privilege.  But his displeasure doesn't hold a candle to his co-anchor's.  Their job was to comment on the Bacchus Parade, except it was delayed by a slight mishap:  someone was run over & killed by a float which caused the parade to come to a screeching halt.  So they had to improvise.  The entire time.  

Here's a taste of what Mrs. Curtin looked like throughout the broadcast as she struggled to hear & dealt with countless unexpected crises:

It must've really sucked to see her cast mates getting plastered & having all the "easy" skits while she was stuck at the news desk narrating the entire shitshow.  She's not an ACTUAL news anchor, after all.  Turns out she really was having a bad time according to her own account years later.  

There were some skits--both live & taped--that aired before our first noteworthy event of the night popped up.  Old timers will remember these as a feature of the show:  the camera would zoom in randomly on someone in the audience & post a "funny" caption before going to commercial.  They're usually mildly amusing at best.  Well, tonight the writers went balls-to-the-walls, apparently choosing a "Roots" theme that featured shades of Antebellum racism & bitterness toward Southerners in general.  It was almost as if they knew this special wouldn't be aired again & just said 'fuck it'.  My jaw was on the floor several times, though I actually found these captions to be the highlight of the show.  Some of the standouts:

This one popped up first.  Oof.

Blatant diss at the region you're filming in.  Cue "I'm in danger" Ralphie gif.

Someone just wanted to say "Cunt" on TV lmao.

The censors were really asleep at the switch with that last one, & the proud look on the lady's face in caption #1 just put the "Alex Haley" quote over the top.  It's clear the writers were mocking Southern racists but talk about bold!  They definitely wouldn't have the guts to pull this today, nor would viewers be able to accept it for the comedy it is & not pitch a fit.  I can see ragin' Cajuns (and other Southerners) writing the show en masse to "protest" the oh-so-offensive episode which would really be a shame.  This is why comedy as a whole is dying--nobody can laugh at themselves anymore.  But anyway.  

The next noteworthy bit was Penny Marshall's segment, which she did solo because Cindy Williams got lost in traffic... or something.  It was a debutante ball in which all the contestants were men because the club participating excluded women.  A nice reminder that sexism was alive & well in 1977.  Clearly the "models" were drag queen types--gay men who relished in wearing feminine clothing.  Nothing wrong with that, but you'd think Penny had never seen such a sight before based on her reaction.  Just see for yourself:

This was basically her face the whole time.

I honestly couldn't tell if her reaction was part of the act or if she was legit uncomfortable, but I find it hard to believe someone from the theatre world in NYC wouldn't have encountered such a thing before.  Hollywood, Broadway & the performance world in general are Ground Zero for flamboyance but she  looked TERRIFIED.  Total deer in headlights.  And it didn't get better when her pal Cindy arrived:

One of the "debutantes"

Laverne & Shirley, reporting from a dark alley in a warzone apparently.

What could've been a fun, lighthearted segment felt awkward & confusing.  Granted, there's no telling what these two uber-famous women had just endured before the cameras started rolling.  Right after Gilda Radner's segment as Emily Litella (her hard-of-hearing "old lady" character), she was jumped off-screen by a drunken man who forced his head up her skirt.  When recounting the event to her boss later, she said "This guy is so drunk, he’s going down on Emily Litella."  Yeah, that's the spirit.  Gotta turn those sexual assaults into punchlines if you wanna hang with the big boys of comedy!  The things women had to endure in those days must've been unimaginable.  Indeed, Penny Marshall refused to return to host the show until the mid-1990s after this trainwreck, so we can only imagine the effect it had on her psyche.  Maybe on second thought Jane was better off at the news desk.  

Here's a look at the madding crowd:

There were several bland musical numbers I skipped through.  One Randy Newman performance was plenty, and Paul Schaffer's "Antler Dance" song started to grate on my nerves about 3/4ths of the way through.  Poor Garrett Morris, a native New Orleans resident & professional musician who had prepared a special song for the occasion, was pushed out & given only a few minutes of airtime as per usual.  (But tell us more about how the SOUTH is racist, guys).  

By the end of the night the entire cast looked like they were on another planet.  Several planets, actually, and probably several different substances.  Tiny Gilda appeared downright sloshed during her final "Pirate" skit opposite boyfriend Bill Murray.

Who you muggin' at?  Ain't nobody over there.  😂

99 bottles of beer on the wall...

Nearly taking off her deckmate's head (note the extra ducking behind her)

Regardless, she pulled off an impressive sword fight scene with precision.  I was reminded of my own theatre days when I'd chug little bottles of Gallo wine & take hits from the gravity bong before rehearsal to make things more "interesting".  As long as you remain professional that's what counts, right?  And after what Gilda had been through that evening she earned it.  If she wasn't plastered then she plays a damn persuasive drunk pirate chick.  

When all was said & done, Lorne spent a grand total of $1 million on this venture and ratings were abysmal, losing out to a TV movie about an oversexed housewife.  Despite its historic nature, Michaels refuses to allow the episode to be aired in syndication which I think is a bit of an overreaction.  Was the show chaotic & heavy on the Randy Newman?  Yes.  It was also a truly LIVE show at the nation's biggest party, which is no small feat.  None of the cast got killed, arrested or barfed on camera.  If nothing else, it's amusing to see the young OG's perform somewhere other than Studio 8H & to get a glimpse of the Big Easy in 1977.  I found myself wondering how many of these folks are still out there telling their grandkids about that crazy February night when the Yankee comedians came to their city.  

This was SNL at its headiest & most experimental so the fact that Lorne would be ashamed to re-air this unpolished gem is a bit pathetic considering what the show has become today:  stale, pandering to advertisers and entirely predictable.  None of the stars had bodyguards or police escorts at this event which adds to the danger of it all.  There's not a celebrity in the world who would subject themselves to that now.  But that's the thing:  back then, SNL didn't hire "stars," they hired unknowns based on their dedication & raw talent.  Overall, the Mardi Gras special is far from SNL's best but nowhere near the worst of the first 5 years.  If you can find it, definitely give it a watch.  

Not to spoil the ending but that parade never showed up.  🚙🤸💃🎈🎏 🎠🎇

https://iplogger.com/1rHC15