The Continental (Saturday Night Live)
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"The Continental" is a recurring skit on Saturday Night Live featuring Christopher Walken. It is a parody of Renzo Cesana, who starred in a 1952-53 CBS series, The Continental. The series used a subjective camera, and Cesana spoke directly to women in the viewing audience. Cesana's show was subjected to many satires, including Mad's "The Countynental" and Red Skelton's "The Transcontinental".
The premise of the SNL sketch is that Walken is a "suave ladies' man" who in reality can't say or do anything to keep women from giving him the cold shoulder. For instance, he invites a woman to wash up in his bathroom. Once she is inside, the Continental—who is watching through the mirror—lights a cigarette, and becomes visible to the woman. These skits are always shot from the woman's point of view, so we never see her face, just her arms as she pushes him out of her way.
In 2002 Walken was quoted as saying that he would like to do a Continental movie. "The problem with the Continental is that he never leaves his house. But it might be interesting to see the Continental go out and nothing works. He's a social catastrophe. I think that would be interesting."
[edit] Trivia
The voiceover at the beginning of the sketch is provided by Phil Hartman and has been used three times since his murder in 1998.
