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 May 12, 1984
 Season 9 episode
S9Finale
The Cars
 Episode 178
 Season Episode 19
 Host Billy Crystal
Ed Koch
Edwin Newman
Father Guido Sarducci
Betty Thomas
 Musical Guest(s) The Cars
 Song(s) performed by
 Musical Guest(s)
"Magic"
"Drive"
Previous Episode
May 5, 1984
Next Episode
October 6, 1984
(Season 10)

The season finale of Season 9 and the 178th episode of Saturday Night Live premiered on May 12, 1984, hosted by Billy Crystal, Ed Koch, Edwin Newman, Father Guido Sarducci & Betty Thomas with musical guest The Cars. Billy Crystal, Ed Koch, Edwin Newman, Father Guido Sarducci and Betty Thomas all hosted for the second time. This is also the musical guest debut on SNL for The Cars and their only appearance in the Ebersol era.

This was also marked the final episode for Robin Duke, Brad Hall, Tim Kazurinsky, and Joe Piscopo as cast members.

Piscopo (a cast member since 1980), as he left the show after four years (Piscopo also being the last person from the Doumanian cast to leave the show), Duke and Kazurinsky (both cast members since 1981), as they both left the show after four years and Hall (who was hired back in 1982), as he left the show after just two years.

Cast[]

Repertory Players[]

Sketches[]

 Cold Open   Sketch   Pre-recorded   Weekend Update   Music Performance   Other 

Title Image Summary
Frank & Sammy Cold Opening   When Sammy Davis Jr. (Billy Crystal) expresses chagrin over not being considered to host tonight's SNL, Frank Sinatra (Joe Piscopo) brings him to Studio 8H.
Opening montage   This marked the final episode to use the seasons 7-9 opening montage. This is also Robin Duke, Brad Hall, Tim Kazurinsky, and Joe Piscopo's final time being credited as cast members.
Monologue by Billy Crystal, Ed Koch, Edwin Newman, Father Guido Sarducci & Betty Thomas
5_Hosts_Monologue_-_Saturday_Night_Live

5 Hosts Monologue - Saturday Night Live

Sarducci & Nelson   Willie Nelson (Jim Belushi) has a new duet partner on "To All The Girls I Loved Before" and other love songs: Father Guido Sarducci.
Mayor Koch's Neighborhood   Now that Eddie Murphy has left SNL, Mayor Koch uses the Neighborhood to plug his book; Worthington Clotman (Tim Kazurinsky) disapproves of the free advertising.
Mikko's Got Your Nose Safety Guard   A dramatization shows the bloody consequences of not using the device.
Guido on the Street   Father Guido Sarducci asks a variety of questions to NYC drivers.
Needleman
Needleman_the_Dentist_-_Saturday_Night_Live

Needleman the Dentist - Saturday Night Live

Nerdy oral surgeon Ira Needleman's (Gary Kroeger) video dating tape is an elaborate music video.
The Cars performs "Magic". Mayor Ed Koch introduces the band by suggesting he fix NYC's traffic problems by replacing automobiles with "the fabulous Cars".
Karate School   3-San Karate School instructors Moe (Tim Kazurinsky), Larry (Gary Kroeger) and Curly (Joe Piscopo) teach a women's self-defence class how to ward off slapstick attacks.
Saturday Night News with Edwin Newman Edwin Newman anchors tonight; again, his jokes are few in number, mostly commenting on the growing communist boycott of the Olympics, and one about authors enrolling in Mayor Koch's book plugging course. He stumbles a bit on the "ABC orders 156 hours of Battle of the Network Stars" joke, but he worked as an anchor tonight. Featuring guests Dr. Ruth Westheimer (Mary Gross) is back for the first time since December for Mother's Day: she praises motherhood (good sex and motherhood go hand-in-hand, she says, "or something-in-something"), and brings out her even-tinier mother, who taught her everything she knew about sex. Pretty much the usual Dr. Ruth bit, but I'm curious who got stuck under the desk as the mother. Dr. Jack Badofsky (Tim Kazurinsky) returns for a final appearance, listing a series of medical disorders named after celebrities. An improvement over the last few Dr. Jack appearances; as usual, there are a few groaners in there (Raymond Burrsitis), but if nothing else, this is the one that gave the world "Syphyllis Schlafly". Getty Images has a few Dr. Jack jokes that were cut from the dress rehearsal version: "Jackie Onacysts" and "Alger Hissterectomy". Fernando (Billy Crystal) is back for the second week in a row, miffed because he expected to "Fernando the news" again tonight, while telling Newman that he looks marvelous. Once again, Crystal connects with the audience and gets laughs with his catchphrase, but this merely felt like an excuse to bring the character back again.
The Cars performs "Drive". Father Guido Sarducci introduces Timothy Hutton, who directed the music video for this song.
Hello, Trudy!   Edwin Newman's refusal to play along and pander to Trudy (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) puts the show's future in jeopardy.
Guest Performance: Joel Hodgson   Joel Hodgson plays Mystery Date with two women in the audience, demonstrates the Levitron, and wears a spring-snake suit. Hodgson's final SNL appearance: this was a little funnier than the last two times he appeared on the show, with some nice interplay between him and the audience members ("She got the dud. You're going to have to go bowling. Right now.") Betty Thomas calls Hodgson "Joel Hodges" in her introduction.
Sushi Restaurant   The Top of the Sushi restaurant in the World Trade Centre deals with skeptical customers and Godzilla dropping by without a reservation.
Goodnights and Closing Credits   Mayor Koch says New York City is a very special place, and Saturday Night Live is a very special show. Both Joe Piscopo and Jim Belushi have their sons with them. Don Pardo announces next week's rerun of the Stevie Wonder show and thanks the audience.

Trivia[]

  • This was the final episode of the second generation of SNL, which had been a thing since 1981, as most of the core cast members left or were fired after this season, except for Jim Belushi, Mary Gross, Gary Kroeger, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
  • This was also the final episode for writer Pam Norris (who joined the writing staff in 1980), as she leaves the writing staff, after four years, and is the last writer from the Jean Doumanian-season to leave the show.
Preceded by:
May 5, 1984
Saturday Night Live episode Followed by:
October 6, 1984
(Season 10)
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