Season 3 was the first full season in which NBC's Saturday Night was renamed Saturday Night Live. The season aired from fall 1977 to spring 1978. The season kicks off with Steve Martin, and ended with Buck Henry. This would be the final season that the cast was called "The Not Ready for Prime Time Players".
Dan Aykroyd joined Jane Curtin in the Weekend Update chair at the start of the season, though this would be his only season as Update co-anchor.
Writers Al Franken and Tom Davis join the cast, as featured players, although they're credited as "The Comedy of Franken and Davis".
Cast[]
The Not Ready For Prime Time Players[]
Title Cards Season Premiere (September 24, 1977)
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Second and Third Episodes of the season (October 8 & 15, 1977)
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4th-10th episodes (October 29, 1977 - January 28, 1978)
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12th-20th episodes (February 25 - May 20, 1978)
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Featuring[]
 Al Franken |
Tom Davis |
Episodes[]
- September 24, 1977 - Steve Martin/ Jackson Browne
- October 8, 1977 - Madeline Kahn/ Taj Mahal
- October 15, 1977 - Hugh Hefner/ Libby Titus
- October 29, 1977 - Charles Grodin/ Paul Simon
- November 12, 1977 - Ray Charles
- November 19, 1977 - Buck Henry/ Leon Redbone
- December 10, 1977 - Mary Kay Place/ Willie Nelson
- December 17, 1977 - Miskel Spillman/ Elvis Costello
- January 21, 1978 - Steve Martin/ Randy Newman, The Dirt Band
- January 28, 1978 - Robert Klein/ Bonnie Raitt
- February 18, 1978 - Chevy Chase/ Billy Joel
- February 25, 1978 - O.J. Simpson/ Ashford & Simpson
- March 11, 1978 - Art Garfunkel/ Stephen Bishop
- March 18, 1978 - Jill Clayburgh/ Eddie Money
- March 25, 1978 - Christopher Lee/ Meat Loaf
- April 8, 1978 - Michael Palin/ Eugene Record
- April 15, 1978 - Michael Sarrazin/ Kieth Jarrett
- April 22, 1978 - Steve Martin/ The Blues Brothers
- May 13, 1978 - Richard Dreyfuss/ Jimmy Buffett
- May 20, 1978 - Buck Henry/ Sun Ra
Births[]
- Kenan Thompson (May 10, 1978)
- Bill Hader (June 7, 1978)
- Andy Samberg (August 18, 1978)
Gallery[]
Radner's intro for the March 25, 1978 episode
Opening montages[]
S03
Version 1; used for the season premiere (September 24, 1977)
S03-V2
Version 2; Intro for the second and third episodes of the show's third season.
S03-V3
Version 3; Intro used for 7 episodes (October 29, 1977 - January 28, 1978).
Saturday Night Live - Intro (Season 3, episode 11)
Version 3.5; Intro used only for the February 18, 1978 episode. Essentially, it's the intro from the first two seasons of the show, but obviously, the text font for most of the intro is different from the one in the original two seasons.
S03-V4
Version 4; The fourth/final intro of season 3. Intro used for the final 9 episodes of that season (February 25 - May 20, 1978).
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| Preceded by: Season 2 |
Season 3 (1977— 1978) |
Followed by: Season 4 |
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