Reviews

Our protagonist finally gets some conflict! He is preparing for CAT by studying at night. The issue is that the power goes off for 4 hours each night and he's using emergency lights in his room which don't last long. He holds a meeting with the town leaders for the planned 13 solar powered lights they've been approved for...only to discover the group have already planned where 12 of these will go...outside their own houses...so that leaves 1. They recommend placing it near the Bhootha Ped (haunted tree). And they all seem to agree. Abhishek, (our protagonist) sees this is going to be more difficult than anticipated. The group is looking out for themselves, not the good of the community. The next day, Abhishek is annoyed at the groups greed and states to Vikas that he should get a light outside of his office/residence and be selfish too. Abhishek learns the 13th light location of the haunted tree was to help win the next election. Claiming that they saved the villagers from the terror of the haunted tree. "Politics, sir. Politics."

Abishek and Vikas take a motorcycle ride at night to the haunted tree. Vikas explains how the tree chases people. The next day, the duo talk to townfolk who have been "chased" by the tree. Abishek is of course skeptical. He asks them all "did you turn around and look at the tree?" Not one person says yes, almost thinking he's crazy for asking. One by one they work their way through each town member who has experienced this terror, until they come to "The Teacher." The Teacher (Masterji) explains he did turn around and look at the tree. It floated after him. He wet his pants. When he woke up, the tree was back in place. Abishek cleverly tells the Teacher he's going to pass this on to the DM madam. Later that night, the Teacher shows up at his door. Not wanting to be fired, he explains he was out of his mind on weed. His rumor had spread overnight. He was new on the job at the time and didn't explain this to the town people, leading to 14 years of fear for the community. The next day Masterji confesses, to Brij Bhushan Dubey (Pradhan) and Manju Devi . Manju Devi starts beating him with a rolling pin. Not wanting the town people to know this revelation, Brij Bhushan Dubey tells the group that Abishek has an idea. Abishek's idea is that the Pradhan will sleep under the tree for 3 nights putting his life at stake to get rid of the ghost..which could be use for boasting come election time. This brings up the fact that the 13th solar light is no longer needed at the tree. When asked where it should go, Manju Devi speaks up, stating, she should have 2 of the lights placed in front of her house. Abishek is visibly upset/stunned. Vikas speaks up stating the 13th light should go in front of Panchayats office, where Abishek resides. So Abishek gets his own solar light to study for the CAT outside each night. and Pradhan begins his 3 night tenure at the tree.

I enjoyed Abishek having to deal with the groups selfish interest as a source of conflict. Then the rest of the episode launches in to an amateur town interview about a myth. Only to come to the conclusion that Abishek should get a light too. How selfish. Not one light is for the community he is there to help. Only the leaders get a light. One could argue, that the office is an official place of business and deserves a light. I agree, but how it was ascertained with no questioning of the placement of the other 12 lights just make Abishek complicit in their greed.

6/10 Fair.

Season 1 Episode 1 Host: George Carlin. Music: Billy Preston/Janis Ian 10/11/75 7.7/284

Cold Open: an ESL teacher gives increasingly bizarre sentences to his student, who repeats his every word; until the teacher suffers a fatal heart attack, and the student dutifully acts out an identical "death". John Belushi stars. Chevy Chevy says "Live from.." 6/10

Monologue: George Carlin 4/10. George Carlin wanted to wear a T-shirt, but network executives wanted him to wear a suit. As a compromise, Carlin wore a vest and jacket over his T-shirt.

Don Pardo accidentally announces the cast as The Not For Ready Prime Time Players. New Dad Insurance offers bereaved families a new father to take the place of their deceased one. (Dan Akroyd is deceased dad/Chevy Chase replaces him). 5/10 Billy Preston performs "Nothing from Nothing" 8/10 A distraught rape victim in a courtroom describes the attacker's words in writing, which then confuses an inattentive jurist. Chevy Chae/Jane Curtain. Richard Belzer, a friend and colleague of John Belushi's from the "National Lampoon Radio Hour", is on the jury with him in the "Piece of Evidence" sketch. In the film Man on the Moon (1999), he is depicted introducing Andy Kaufman to the studio audience. 7/10 Andy Kaufman sings along with a Mighty Mouse record. 8/10 George Carlin monologue 2 then introduces Janice Ian. 4/10 Janis Ian performs "At Seventeen" 7/10 A reporter interviews the victim of a shark bite who, despite his claims to the contrary, obviously still has all his limbs. Jane Curtain/John Belushi. 6/10 Two men, claiming to be a married couple, discuss the benefits of a new vitamin product called Jamitol. 5/10 Paul Simon teaser says he'll host next week. Weekend Update: Chevy Chase reports about President Ford blowing his nose and Japan Emperor Hirohito visiting Disneyland. A mock ad for pain-reliever Triopenin plays up the product's child-proof caps. 7/10 Weekend Update resumes: Chevy Chase closes with the now-famous ending line, "Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow," which would also go on to be used by Jane Curtin from 1976 to 1980 and by Tina Fey from 2000 to 2006. 7/10 Muppets segment 6/10 George Carlin Monologe 7/10 Albert Brooks presents a documentary titled "The Impossible Truth," in which he presents several shocking news stories. Albert Brooks was approached by Lorne Michaels in 1975 to be the permanent host of show. He turned it down and suggested to Michaels that he use a different host every week. Brooks instead offered to write and direct a series of short films that he produced from LA. 7/10 In the maternity ward of a hospital for bees, father bees anxiously wait to find out if their children will be drones or workers. 6/10 The Academy of Better Careers offers people an exciting new life answering telephones. 5/10 Valri Bromfield presents a monologue as a volleyball coach giving some very personal advice to her players before a game. 4/10. In a mock commercial parodying Lark cigarettes, a truck rolls through town asking people to show their guns. 6/10. Relevant still George Carlin monologue 4. He mentions dashboard Jesus' which look at us, not forward. This idea is used in Jay and Silent Bob 2001, which features George Carlin. 7/10 Billy Preston performs "Fancy Lady," 5/10. Song and performance are fine/4 songs in an episode aren't needed. A home security system installer breaks into a couple's home and scares them to death to demonstrate how much they need an alarm installed. 7/10 Finally, another mock commercial presents 3-bladed razors as an absolute household necessity. 7/10. This is great because this mock product which the presenter states "because you'll believe anything" when referring to people who believe 3 blades will work better. Even includes the animation used by razor companies later. George Carline introduces Janis Ian who performs "In the Winter". 6/10. Great song. Great Performance George Carlin Closing.

Notable Trivia:

NBC reran this episode in its entirety on June 29, 2008 as a tribute to George Carlin, who had died the previous Sunday.

It was intended that host George Carlin he would appear in sketches alongside the cast. However, Carlin (who admitted he was "in another world" on cocaine at the time) lost his nerve and backed out of the sketches, forcing the cast to fill in for him. Carlin's appearances were limited to performing excerpts from his stand-up act.

The show was originally entitled "Saturday Night" to avoid confusion with ABC's Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell (1975). In an effort to emphasize the live nature of the show, the writers began the tradition of the trademark "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" line. After ABC's show failed, permission was granted to rename this show, and the first episode to carry the title "Saturday Night Live" was 26 March 1977. The original cast members were known as the Not Ready for Prime-time Players.

Each of the five ad spoofs that appear in this broadcast would be repeated several times throughout the first season. Lorne Michaels had wanted to have Carole King and Stevie Wonder as the musical guests for this show. Stevie Wonder would not appear until he was host/musical guest in 1983, and Carole King would make a cameo in 1991. With the show running long at dress rehearsal, it was suggested that Lorne Michaels cut Kaufman's performance. He chose to cut a stand-up routine from Billy Crystal instead. Though peeved, Crystal did return later in the season to do another stand-up act.

In the Final credits of 1.1 all of the writing staff and Producers are given the nickname "Bud". What Lorne called everyone whose name he couldn't remember,

The Muppets account for one of the strangest periods in SNL history, their appearance on the show a result of Jim Henson trying to shop out his puppets to adult audiences prior to producing "The Muppet Show." They were generally disliked by the cast and writers, often dumped upon Al Franken, Tom Davis and Alan Zwiebel to be written for. When referring to the Muppets, Michael O'Donaghue was often quoted as saying, "I won't write for felt."

First appearance of "Weekend Update". Weekend Update has undergone many personnel - and, on occasion, title - changes over the years, but has remained the one segment that appears on every episode of "Saturday Night Live."

There was little audience reaction to the sketch, which writers blamed on a faulty PA system. Even though the network advised no more Bee sketches, Lorne Michaels thought the bit was funny and original and insisted on bringing the Bees back each week, making them SNL's first recurring characters.

By the 1990's, three-blade razors became a reality on the consumer market.

Reference: 0/10 Just No 1/10 2/10 Terrible 3/10 Awful 4/10 Poor 5/10 Mediocre 6/10 Fair 7/10 Good 8/10 Great 9/10 Superb 10/10 Perfect

This is a fair introduction to what the show would become. This review includes trivia from IMDB's website.

147/240 possible points =5.87 or 6/10 on imdb on 8/20/2018.

Season 1 Episode 2 Host: Paul Simon. Music: Randy Newman/Phoebe Snow 10/18/75 6.5 (rating) /171 (voters) as of 8/28 on IMDB

This show marked the first public appearance of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel together since 1972. There are 10 musical performances in this episode, the most ever for the show. The Not Ready For Prime Time Players appear only once in the very brief Bee sketch except for Chevy Chase who also appears in the opening and Weekend Update.

Open: Paul Simon performs "Still Crazy After All These Years," 8/10 This would be the first time Chevy Chase would do his signature pratfall that would open the show for the entire time he was a cast member

Paul Simon performs "Loves Me Like a Rock" (with Jesse Dixon), 5/10

The skits for this episode are as follows: former Chicago Seven member Jerry Rubin pitches graffiti wallpaper. 7/10...good for American history significance.

Paul Simon performs "Marie," 5/10...30 secondish song...(randy newman song)...who rarely performs on tv according to simon but accepted the invite from Paul Simon and performs a song Simon claims he wish he had written...

Randy Newman performs "Sail Away". 5/10

The Bees are informed by Paul Simon that their skit has been cut from this week's show. quick bit, but focuses on the cast that are pushed aside in this episode.

During the Weekend Update, Chevy Chase reports about President's Ford's car accident and Muhammad Ali's newest name change, while Marv Albert reports on a basketball game between Paul Simon and Connie Hawkins. On this edition of "Weekend Update", Chevy Chase opens with the words, "Good evening, I'm Chevy Chase, here to keep you up on what's going down." He will use his now-famous catchphrase, "Good evening, I'm Chevy Chase and you're not," for the first time in Episode 1.4. Paul Simon is the first SNL host to play a role in the sketch. 5/10...god did this drag on.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel memory collage

Paul Simon performs and "The Boxer" (with Art Garfunkel), 5/10 "Scarborough Fair" (with Art Garfunkel), 7/10 and "My Little Town," (with Art Garfunkel), 5/10

Art Garfunkel performs "I Only Have Eyes for You". Introduced by Simon. Timeless song. Nice to see Garfunkel on his own. 7/10.

The Muppets. Ploobis & Scred seek financial help from the Mighty Favog. 5/10

Albert Brooks presents a film of failed Candid Camera-style stunts. 5/10

Phoebe Snow performs "No Regrets". (Billy Holiday song) 0/10. This was appalling.

Paul Simon performs "Gone at Last" (with Phoebe Snow and Jesse Dixon). 6/10

A mock commercial demonstrates the strength of Try-Hard batteries in a head-to-head contest powering pacemakers. 5/10

"American Tune," (with Art Garfunkel), 5/10.

So...SNL was still trying to find its voice...and this is a mostly musical episode. Which would be great...I mean Paul Simon was there! But if you look at the songs performed out of the 10 musical performances (!) ...most songs (or performances) don't hold up. This was a necessary episode for SNL to decide what kind of show they were going to be. I love the Muppets, but this is 2 for 2 where the skit has fallen flat. Skippable episode.

85/160 possible points =5.31 or 5/10 on imdb on 8/28/2018.