Saturday Night Live season 2

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Saturday Night Live aired its second season during the 1976 - 1977 television season on NBC. This season saw the first of what would be many times that SNL has had a change in casting. Chevy Chase, who was pursuing a girl (and a movie career) in California, left the show after the October 30th episode hosted by Buck Henry with musical guest, The Band. Jane Curtin became the first female castmember to be a Weekend Update anchor following Chase's departure. On the January 15, 1977 episode hosted by Ralph Nader, a new castmember named Bill Murray joined to fill in the void left behind by Chevy Chase (even though Murray would later be a fan favorite with the show, his early appearance on SNL was marked by many fans accusing Murray of being a poor replacement).

This season also saw another change in the show: its renaming. Following the cancellation of ABC's Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell, NBC changed the name of the show from Saturday Night (formerly NBC's Saturday Night in the first season) to its current title, Saturday Night Live.

This season also saw the first time that Steve Martin hosted the show (Martin would later host a record 14 times and be synonymous with Saturday Night Live to the point that people mistook him for one of the regular castmembers) and the first time that a sports star (football player Fran Tarkenton) has hosted. This season also saw the last time that the Muppet sketches (which were unpopular with both fans and writers) that were tailor-made for adults would appear on the show.

The second season started on September 18, 1976, and ended on May 21, 1977.

1 Cast
- 1.1 Repertory cast members
- 1.2 Featured cast members
2 Episodes
3 DVD release

[edit] Cast

[edit] Repertory cast members

Dan Aykroyd
John Belushi†
Chevy Chase (Final Episode: October 30, 1976)
Jane Curtin
Garrett Morris
Bill Murray (First Episode: January 15, 1977)
Laraine Newman
Gilda Radner†

[edit] Featured cast members

There were no featured cast members during the second season.

† Performer is deceased.

[edit] Episodes

Episode Number	Date	Host(s)	Musical Guest(s)	Remarks
25	September 18, 1976	Lily Tomlin	James Taylor	This episode marks the final appearance of the Muppets. The Muppets used for SNL were never seen again after this either on the show or otherwise
26	September 25, 1976	Norman Lear	Boz Scaggs
27	October 2, 1976	Eric Idle	Joe Cocker	Belushi "duets" with Cocker on "Feelin' Alright". First US television appearance of The Rutles.
28	October 16, 1976	Karen Black	John Prine
29	October 23, 1976	Steve Martin	Kinky Friedman	Martin's first appearance as host.
30	October 30, 1976	Buck Henry	The Band	This is Chevy Chase's final episode as a cast member (it's a common misconception that the Jodie Foster/Brian Wilson episode is Chase's final episode). Buck Henry was cut on his forehead by John Belushi's sword during Samurai Stockbroker sketch. Henry, as well as cast members, continued the show with bandaged heads. The Band would perform their last concert, as captured in Martin Scorcese's The Last Waltz, almost one month later.
31	November 13, 1976	Dick Cavett	Ry Cooder
32	November 20, 1976	Paul Simon	Paul Simon & George Harrison	Featured a rare duet performance by Paul Simon and George Harrison. They performed "Here Comes the Sun" and "Homeward Bound". George Harrison appeared on the show to promote his then-new album "Thirty Three & 1/3". Promo videos for the songs "Crackerbox Palace" and "This Song" were broadcasted during the show. This episode also featured Paul Simon's infamous sketch, in which he sang "Still Crazy After All These Years" in a turkey costume. Harrison's appearances were pre-taped.
33	November 27, 1976	Jodie Foster	Brian Wilson	Jodie Foster would be the youngest person to host SNL at age 14 until Drew Barrymore hosted in 1982 at age 7.
34	December 11, 1976	Candice Bergen	Frank Zappa with Don Pardo as "The Slime"
35	January 15, 1977	Ralph Nader	George Benson	Bill Murray's first episode as a cast member.
36	January 22, 1977	Ruth Gordon	Chuck Berry
37	January 29, 1977	Fran Tarkenton	Leo Sayer Donny Harper
38	February 26, 1977	Steve Martin	The Kinks	Lily Tomlin appears as "special guest".
39	March 12, 1977	Sissy Spacek	Richard Baskin	Episode won Emmy.
40	March 19, 1977	Broderick Crawford	Levon Helm Dr. John The Meters	The Meters had been bumped from SNL's prime-time Mardi Gras special a month earlier.
41	March 26, 1977	Jack Burns	Santana	The first episode to carry the title Saturday Night Live, after gaining the rights to the name of Howard Cosell's failed show. Burns would go on to produce ABC's Fridays, a sketch-variety series widely seen as imitative of SNL.
42	April 9, 1977	Julian Bond	Tom Waits Brick
43	April 16, 1977	Elliott Gould	McGarrigle Sisters Roslyn Kind
44	April 23, 1977	Eric Idle	Alan Price Neil Innes
45	May 14, 1977	Shelley Duvall	Joan Armatrading
46	May 21, 1977	Buck Henry	Jennifer Warnes Kenny Vance

[edit] DVD release

All 22 episodes were released on a DVD set on December 4, 2007.

Preceded by Season 1	Saturday Night Live Season 2	Succeeded by Season 3

v • d • e Saturday Night Live

History	1975–1980 • 1980–1985 • 1985–1990 • 1990–1995 • 1995–2000 • 2000–2005 • 2005–Present

Seasons	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33

Related lists	Hosts and musical guests (Five-Timers) • Compilation albums and videos • Commercials • Cast members • Writers

Recurring characters and sketches	Alphabetical • Chronological • By Cast Member • Weekend Update characters • Short-lived recurring characters

Sketch lists	TV shows • Animal • Musical • SNL Digital Shorts • TV Funhouse episodes

Sketches	Barry Gibb Talk Show • Bill Swerski's Superfans • The Blues Brothers • Celebrity Jeopardy! • The Chris Farley Show • Coffee Talk • The Coneheads • The Continental • The Cork Soakers • Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey • Delicious Dish • Gap Girls • Goth Talk • Happy Fun Ball • Hollywood Minute • Jeffrey's • Landshark • Larry the Lobster • Lazy Sunday • More cowbell • The Needlers • Nick Burns, Your Company's Computer Guy • Olympia Cafe • Rialto Grande • The Schoeners • Sprockets • Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber • TV Funhouse • Wake Up and Smile • Wayne's World • Weekend Update • Z105 with Joey Mack

Films based on sketches	The Blues Brothers (1980) • Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1980) • Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures (1986) • Bob Roberts (1992) • Mr. Saturday Night (1992) • Wayne's World (1992) • Wayne's World 2 (1993) • Coneheads (1993) • It's Pat! (1994) • Stuart Saves His Family (1995) • A Night at the Roxbury (1998) • Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) • Office Space (1999) • Superstar (1999) • The Ladies Man (2000) • Key Party (TBD)

Characters	Adult Students • Bill Brasky • The Bloder Brothers • The Boston Teens • Canteen Boy • Carol • The Church Lady • Debbie Downer • Ed Grimley • Emily Litella • Father Guido Sarducci • Hanukkah Harry • Hans and Franz • Kaitlin & Rick • Lisa Loopner • Lovers • Mango • Mary Katherine Gallagher • Master Thespian • Matt Foley • Merv the Perv • Nick The Lounge Singer • Pat • Roseanne Roseannadanna • Samurai Futaba • The Spartan Cheerleaders • Stuart Smalley • Toonces the Driving Cat • Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer • Velvet Jones • The Whiners

Related topics	"Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" • Dick Ebersol • Don Pardo • Frank Oz • "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" • Jean Doumanian • Jim Henson • Lorne Michaels • Saturday Night Live Band • Strategery • SNL Thursday Night Live