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Hopefully you enjoyed my earlier piece exploring the major impact that JAWS played in the early success of “Saturday Night Live.” As noted in that piece, Richard Dreyfuss hosted the show in 1978. Seven years later, Roy Scheider took the stage in Studio 8H. Sadly, Robert Shaw passed away far too soon. I would like to think that, with his talent and personality – clearly evident when he co-hosted the 48th Annual Academy Awards in March 1976 - he certainly would have been asked to host.
On May 13, 1978, fresh off his Oscar win for The Goodbye Girl and with his next film, The Big Fix, being readied for release a few months later, Richard Dreyfuss hosted SNL. His opening monologue consisted of a scene from “Hamlet,” though it was interrupted by John Belushi, who berates Dreyfuss for winning the Oscar. This bit would be continued a year later when Gary Busey hosted the show, the joke being that Belushi is jealous and upset because Busey was nominated for his performance in The Buddy Holly Story while Belushi was passed over for his work in Animal House. The skit ends with Dreyfuss and Belushi in a fight.
In a skit titled “Clone Encounters of the Third Kind,” Dreyfuss plays a man obsessed with a “tower-like” image he has seen on television, not realizing that he has seen a television commercial featuring Dan Aykroyd’s character Beldar Conehead. He rushes to the Conehead home, arriving at the same time as an Emissary from Remulak. In “Sex Test,” Dreyfuss tested the sex knowledge of the audience. He also sang the Leon Redbone song “Seduced” and was “attacked” by the LandShark as the episode came to an end. An odd note – during the “Weekend Update” segment, resident film critic Bill Murray reviewed the recent Academy Awards and heckled Dreyfuss for his win. Curious if this was the beginning of the bad blood between the two actors that manifested itself on the set of What About Bob?
On January 19, 1985 I drove from Baltimore to New York City, where I had been invited by Roy Scheider to spend the evening in Studio 8H while he hosted SNL. I met up with Roy at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where we talked for about 10 minutes, mostly about the film 2010, which had opened the month before. Part of what I did while running Roy’s fan club was handling his fan mail. Usually they were requests for an autographed photo but every now and then I would come across a letter from an old college or Air Force pal and these I would send to Roy. Every now and then a fan would send in something unique that they wanted Roy to sign, which I would send to his publicist, Nancy Seltzer, who would get them to Roy to sign. On this evening I brought about (15) such items with me and I gave them to Roy as we temporarily parted ways.
I had been given a ticket to sit in the audience during the dress rehearsal, and as a fan of the show, I was amazed at all the things that must happen for a television show to be successful. When you’re at home you don’t see the crew hurrying from set to set, making sure that everything is ready for the next skit. It was a unique experience seeing, as the saying goes, “how the sausage is made.” But it was only going to get better for me.
As Roy’s guest I had been invited to stand in the wings during the live show. Roy came out and delivered a great monologue, commenting that he was happy to do the show, especially since he could walk to the studio from his home. He pointed out that most hosts say, “it’s great to be back in New York,” while he could say “it’s great to be back on West 49th Street,” as New York was his hometown.
Roy only appeared in a couple of skits that night. Two that stood out to me was “Good Cop, Bad Cop,” where Scheider and Jim Belushi attempt to interrogate a suspect, and a bit with Roy sitting in a piano bar while Billy Crystal works the audience. For me the most surreal time of the night occurred while comedian Steven Wright was on stage. Jim Belushi was standing near me and, due to Wright’s low voice and monotone delivery, he wasn’t hearing the jokes. He kept whispering to me “what’d he say?” So, for the next couple minutes, I did Steven Wright’s act for Jim Belushi.
After the show I met up again with Roy in the lobby. He handed me the items I had given him to sign, along with a note that ended with “Thanks again Michael. Best Wishes. Happy New Year,” and asked if I wanted to go to the after-show party. As much as I wanted to, I had to be at work the next morning and I had a three-hour drive ahead of me. He gave me a hug and we said our goodbyes. Though I would continue running the fan club for a few more years, that was the last time I saw him. An amazing memory that still makes me smile.
Words by Michael A Smith. Michael is co-author of Jaws 2: The Making Of The Hollywood Sequel. You can order the book by contacting Michael at OsFanMike@aol.com.
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