Miskel Spillman on SNL

These are the kind of posts I like the most. They are fun to write. 

Remember the SNL episode where Elvis Costello stopped playing a song and instead played a song Lorne Michaels did not want him to play? The song was Radio, Radio so Elvis defied Michaels and played it anyway. He banned Elvis from ever performing again on SNL. That was eventually lifted but that show is important and not only for that. The host of that show was special, to say the least. 

The person hosting that show was the only non-celebrity they ever had to host. At the time, she was the oldest person to host SNL at 80 years old. That record stood until 2010 when an 88-year-old Betty White hosted. Miskel Spillman won the “Anyone Can Host” contest that SNL had in 1977. The finalists were an unemployed Oregonian, a divorced mother of three, a freshman college student, the governor of South Dakota (Richard F. Kneip), and Miskel, an 80-year-old grandmother from New Orleans. 

The official “Anyone Can Host” ballot from November 1977

The show got over 150,000 entries. They all had them on an earlier show with Buck Henry as the host. The opening skit had John Belushi, Loraine Newman, and Buck Henry talking about how out of it Miskel Spillman seemed. Belushi then said he shared a joint with her. He said: WE SMOKED A JOINT OF OAXACAN AND MAUI WOWIE, A LITTLE HASH OIL…IT CALMED HER RIGHT DOWN.

Miss Spillman did a great job on the show. They limited her to an extent but she did well considering she had no experience. During her hosting stint, Spillman participated in various sketches, including one where she played the elderly girlfriend of John Belushi’s character. Her appearance remains a unique moment in SNL history. 

Lorne Michaels made the show to appeal to baby boomers with a touch of Avant-Garde and “guerrilla-style comedy.” It was a game-changer much like All In The Family was to sitcoms. Late night was never again a wasteland. This show helped open the doors for David Letterman and other shows to follow it. 

It started out as “Saturday Night.” The Saturday Night Live title belonged to ABC for a show hosted by Howard Cosell who was out of his league. After Cosell’s show was canceled, ABC let Saturday Night have the “Live” part.

Who was the best cast through the years? This is a question that is debated over and over again. People argue and usually pick the cast they grew up with. I grew up in the Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo era. Personally, I always thought the original cast was the best era of the show. Yes, I thought the Murphy and Piscopo casts were very funny along with later casts that had Dana Carvey, Michael Myers, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, and many others that followed. The first five seasons had something extra that others would not and could not have. It had an underground feel that vanished after it became a pure comedy show. They had a massive amount of talent in that first class. 

In the first 5 seasons, they tried things out, some failed some didn’t but they were going out on a limb and trying. The musical guests were also usually artists that didn’t appear on television at the time. If a guest host was too popular…Lorne would reject them. He would NEVER do that now.

Miskel would live a long life. She lived until she was 94 years old in 1992. She was one of only two hosts that were born in the 1800s. The other one was actress Ruth Gordon (She was a tad bit younger when she hosted). I would have loved to have met Miss Spillman…she looks like a lively fun lady. They did bring her up on the 50th anniversary. 

Miskel Spillman: “I love everyone in the cast, I watch it every Saturday night, and I thought, as I am 80 years old, I want a lot of old old people all over the world to watch it and get the thrill that I have every Saturday night watching it.”

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

35 thoughts on “Miskel Spillman on SNL”

  1. I totally forgot about that, I guess overshadowed by the EC stuff. Great story there. I watched SNL for about the first 10 years and then very sporadically after that. Can’t recall the last time I watched it.

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    1. I got the DVD set of the first 5 years. Back then I would stay awake and go and peak at it while my sister watched. She knew I was doing it but never told mom a thing. Some of the jokes went over my head but I loved Belushi and Newman…those two for some reason. Looking at it now…it was ground breaking.

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  3. I don’t think I’ve ever consciously watched SNL. I can only see it on youtube as it didn’t get to the uk, but I get it a lot in my recommendations on YT (sometimes too much). So – looks like Miskel Spillman did well – love the sketch with the fruit bowl and her smacking him away. Also the previous sketch. I can imagine that…!

    But… now I’m worried. I’ve got 7 more years before I hit 80 and I don’t want to look like her!!! (haha!)

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    1. Hey Val…you can get on SNL! Back then Val it was a ground breaking show. They did humor that the mainstream would not touch with a 10 foot pole. After this cast left…it became a regular comedy show. They stopped taking chances. It was funny some years….I won’t deny that but the edge was gone.

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  4. I had friends who got together to watch every Saturday night that first season. One week they invited me. I had never seen the show. I was not impressed. My friend told me that it was not a good week. It was usually much better. I said, “riiiight” and it was a while before I watched it again. I’ll admit it was better the next time.

    The Miskel Spillman intro was like the best of their fake commercials…but the other way around. This one seems like it must be a fake but isn’t. I just read that her entry (in 25 words or less) was, “I’m 80 years old. I need one more cheap thrill, since my doctor told me I only have another 25 years left.”

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    1. It was her goal to live to 105… some skits were hit or miss but I usually liked them. But that is still the case with the show. It was very much National Lampoon since they had some of the same writers and actors that worked with them.

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  5. You have me laughing and crying both at those clips. John’s prophesy, and the old lady seeing pretty colors while holding a bowl of fruit. Back in the day my first real boyfriend and I would go over to his (and eventually my) friend’s house in time to watch The Muppet Show first (stoned, of course) then some excellent tunes from his excellent collection on his excellent stereo system until, “Live, from New York, It’s Saturday Night!” came on. So many laughs every Saturday. Good times.

    Of course the original cast were my favorites. IIRC Buck Henry was one of their main writers and also was in some of the skits. I like the way you describe it as having an underground feel to it in the beginning.

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    1. Glad you liked it Lisa! I didn’t think anyone would read this but I have been surprised.
      The night you described sounds great! Oh how I wish I would have been older.
      It had to be so different back then when it came on. The network was half expecting The Carol Burnett show, which I like, but this was a different animal. I can’t see Tim Conway talking about maui wowie lol.

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      1. Max those special Saturday nights were some really good times. And lmao at Tim talking about maui wowie, and can *almost* think he’d get away with it. I loved those skits between Tim and Harvey and the expressions on Carol’s face.

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      2. Oh I loved the Carol Burnett show! Tim was always cracking up Harvey…I liked when he played Mr Tudball and Carol played Mrs Wiggins.

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  6. that’s amazing! I never knew they did this – they should bring that back and try it once more! What a great way to get a buzz about the show and shake things up some! For me, the early-90s was their best – Mike Myers, DAna Carvey, Dennis Miller, Chris Farley and Adam Sandler a few years into that time period and of course, Deep Thoughts from Jack HAndey!

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    1. They should try it now…it would get people like me to watch. I liked the 90s as well as The 80s with Piscopo and Eddie Murphy. Funny you hear about the Elvis incident but not about the rest of the show. They have never done it again. I’ve read where Lorne would not let Carroll O’Connor host because he was too popular…now that is all he gets… very popular musical guests and hosts. Van Morrison, The Kinks, and all kinds of great artists that were not hitting the top 10…even the Grateful Dead.

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    1. Yea by that time I didn’t like it either! Hope you are doing well Christian….tomorrow is Badfinger day here…you got me in a Badfinger mood.

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    1. Oh wow…I have all of them now but I remember the show back then…the first 5 seasons is what I like the best.

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