October 3, 1981 Season 7 episode
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| Episode | 120 |
| Season Episode | 1 |
| Host | none |
| Musical Guest(s) | Rod Stewart Tina Turner |
| Song(s) performed by Musical Guest(s) |
"Dance With Me" "Hot Legs" "Young Turks" |
| Previous Episode April 11, 1981 (Season 6) |
Next Episode October 10, 1981 |
The 120th episode and the season premiere of Season 7 of Saturday Night Live premiered on October 3, 1981, without a host, with musical guest Rod Stewart, an English music legend. Tina Turner and Michael Davis are the special guests. Rod Stewart made his musical guest debut on SNL.
The season started with a brand-new opening and introduced new cast members Mary Gross and Christine Ebersole. Featured player was Brian Doyle-Murray, who anchored Weekend Update, which was retitled SNL Newsbreak.
The opening sketch concept was dropped for the early episodes of this season; this episode featured a quick parody of NBC's "Our Pride Is Showing" bumper, entitled "Our Age is Showing." Also, Don Pardo was absent for the entire season; Mel Brandt announced this and most other episodes. James Caan was rumored to host but backed down due to his sister being sick.
Cast[]
Repertory Players[]
Featured Player[]
Cameo by Yvonne Hudson.
Sketches and Performances[]
Cold Open Sketch Pre-recorded Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| NBC: Our Age Is Showing | ||
| Opening Montage | 
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The seventh season introduces a new montage style that would persist for three seasons. The music changed again to an uptempo theme, significantly faster than previous years. Cast photos were still, but shown in a new style- the photo would appear, then after a beat, the cast member's name would be superimpossed over the entire photo. With no host, announcer Mel Brandt (who replaced then-regular announcer Don Pardo for the entire season) finishes the montage with "Live, from New York, the Cast of Saturday Night Live!" The cast runs to the main stage and poses, before racing out of frame, and the four extras for the "Little Richard Simmons" sketch run onstage into their positions. The following sketch begins with no transition. |
| The Little Richard Simmons Show |  |
Yvonne Hudson returns as one of the exercising women |
| The Clams | ||
| Nuns On The Beach | ||
| A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney | ||
| Prose & Cons | ||
| Rod Stewart performs a medley of "Dance With Me" and "Hot Legs". | Tony Rosato introduces Stewart. Tina Turner joins Stewart for "Hot Legs". | |
| SNL Newsbreak with Mary Gross and Brian Doyle-Murray | 
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The segment opens with a superimposed graphic reading "SNL Newsbreak". The work "break" crumbles to pieces, and matching pieces of foam rubber letters are tossed onto Murray's head. Features Tom Snyder (Joe Piscopo) and Raheem Abdul Mohammed. Mary Gross incorrectly refers to Mohammed as the Weekend Update film critic. |
| The Khaddafi Look | ||
| Rod's One-Night Stand | In an unusual move, this sketch spans a commercial break. | |
| Andy Warhol's TV | ||
| Juggler Michael Davis | ||
| Season Of Glass | ||
| Rod Stewart performs "Young Turks" | Stewart introduces himself. | |
| Goodnights | Joe Piscopo says thanks to Rod Stewart and Michael Davis, and Murphy chimes in to thank Tina Turner. |
| Preceded by: April 11, 1981 (Season 6) |
Saturday Night Live episode | Followed by: October 10, 1981 |