The 8th episode of Season 7 and the 127th episode of Saturday Night Live premiered on December 12, 1981, hosted by former cast member Bill Murray with musical guests The Spinners and The Yale Whiffenpoofs. Father Guido Sarducci and Michael Davis are special guests in this episode. This is Bill Murray's 2nd hosting stint. This is also the only musical guest appearances on SNL for both The Spinners and The Yale Whiffenpoofs.
"Well, we’ve had a very good time, uh, here tonight. Here in the studio, what all of us don’t know and what we just found out is that the uh, members of the Solidarity in Poland were all arrested, and the country’s been taken over by the Soviets. So, we’ve had a lot of laughs here and The Spinners, y’know — it’s no joke, Jim. It’s real sad. And the Spinners were here and great, and these poor stiffs from Yale think this is the biggest night of their lives and now they gotta go in the army. [ everyone laughs except Bill ] But uh, it’s Christmas, and uh, there’s still a bargain to be had in Fort Lee, New Jersey. There’s still uh, things you can pick up, when people are not watching in, in various department stores, here in Manhattan anyway. But our hearts should be with — and they are, with the good people of Poland. God bless them, everyone. Good night, everyone" is the goodnights speech for Bill Murray.
Veteran NBC Nightly News announcer Bill Hanrahan briefly took over as announcer for Mel Brandt for this episode and the previous one. Brandt returns for the next episode, and for the rest of the season.
Cold Open Sketch Pre-recorded Weekend Update Music Performance Other
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Summary
Andy Murphy The Phone Company
Opening Montage
Monologue by Bill Murray
Returning to SNL to host for the second time, former cast member Bill Murray has Santa and has a funny thought about Christmas.
Tales of the Unlikely
A trio of Libyan terrorists (Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Robin Duke) pose as students in an attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan on behalf of Colonel Kaddafy.
Hotel Room
Tom Snyder (Joe Piscopo) mourns the loss of “Tomorrow” by pretending to continue hosting the show in a shady hotel room.
The Spinners perform a medley of their hits “Then Came You”, “I’ll Be Around”, and “Working My Way Back to You.”
MX-5 Tampons
Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello) promotes the tampons that are stronger than Brenda Vaccarro’s preferred brand.
SNL Newsbreak with Brian Doyle-Murray
Brian Doyle-Murray outlines the numerous misspellings of Kaddafy. Sportscaster Joe Piscopo airs an early interview with Muhammed Ali (Eddie Murphy) prior to going to him for an update on his boxing career. In a filmed report, Mary Gross gets childrens’ reaction to the over commercialization of Christmas.
Designer Fairy Tales
Brooke Shields (Mary Gross) reads the tale of how elves helped Ralph Lauren (Bill Murray) create a new fashion line.
Guest Performance: Michael Davis
Prompted by a fan letter, comic-juggler Michael Davis attempts to juggle three bowling balls.
Father Guido Sarducci’s Predictions
Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello) unveils his psychic predictions for the coming year.
At Home With The Psychos
Suburban family (Bill Murray, Christine Ebersole, Mary Gross, Eddie Murphy) living next to a cracked nuclear reactor prepare for World War 3 and the opportunity to get rich selling blowhole cosmetic accessories to the radiation-affected survivors. During the original airing of this episode, the first half of the sketch was pre-empted for breaking news about Poland being invaded by Russia; news that no doubt must’ve really startled viewers back then. Strangely, the news bulletin was left in the Netflix version of this episode.
The Economics of Christmas
Rich couple (Joe Piscopo, Christine Ebersole) turns down Honker’s (Bill Murray) request for a handout in favor of him earning it through trickle-down economics.
The Yale Whiffenpoofs, Bill Murray and the cast of Saturday Night Live performs Christmas Medley
Goodnights
The Spinners were here and great, The Yale Whiffenpoofs, and the cast are all thanked by Bill Murray for having him back. He also gives a message to the audience; members of the Solidarity in Poland were all arrested, and the country’s been taken over by the Soviets. So, they've had a lot of laughs here, and these poor stiffs from Yale think this is the biggest night of their lives and now they gotta go in the army. But uh, it’s Christmas, and uh, there’s still a bargain to be had in Fort Lee, New Jersey. There’s still uh, things you can pick up, when people are not watching in, in various department stores, here in Manhattan anyway. But our hearts should be with — and they are, with the good people of Poland and he says "God bless them everyone".
S7
The second intro features Bill Hanrahan as announcer
Trivia[]
This was Michael O'Donoghue's last episode head writer under the Ebersol era; having been head writer since the April 11, 1981 episode, after many clashes with then-exec. producer Dick Ebersol, O'Donoghue was fired after this episode. He would briefly return in Season 11 before being let go again.