Season 3

“ Jane, you ignorant slut! ”

—Dan Aykroyd insults Jane Curtin on "Point/Counterpoint"

Season 3
Premier	September 24, 1977
Finale	May 20, 1978
Episodes	20
Weekend Updateanchors	Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd
Previous	Season 2
Next	Season 4

Season 3 is the third season and it was the first full season in which NBC's Saturday Night became Saturday Night Live. The season aired from fall 1977 to spring 1978. The season kicks off on September 24, 1977, hosted by comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician Steve Martin with musical guest Jackson Browne, and ended on May 20, 1978, hosted by actor Buck Henry with musical guests Sun Ra.

Cast Changes

Prior to the start of the season, writers Tom Davis and Al Franken were added as featured cast members. Meanwhile 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. This would be the final season the cast was called "The Not Ready for Prime Time Players".

Cast

The Not Ready For Prime Time Players

Title Cards Season Premiere (September 24, 1977)

Second and Third Episodes of the season (October 8 & 15, 1977)

4th-10th episodes (October 29, 1977 - January 28, 1978)

12th-20th episodes (February 25 - May 20, 1978)

Episodes

Episode Number	Season Number	Date	Host(s)	Musical Guest(s)
47	1	September 24, 1977	Steve Martin	Jackson Browne
48	2	October 8, 1977	Madeline Kahn	Taj Mahal
49	3	October 15, 1977	Hugh Hefner	Libby Titus
50	4	October 29, 1977	Charles Grodin	Paul Simon
51	5	November 12, 1977	Ray Charles	Ray Charles
52	6	November 19, 1977	Buck Henry	Leon Redbone
53	7	December 10, 1977	Mary Kay Place	Willie Nelson
54	8	December 17, 1977	Miskel Spillman	Elvis Costello
55	9	January 21, 1978	Steve Martin	Randy Newman, The Dirt Band
56	10	January 28, 1978	Robert Klein	Bonnie Raitt
57	11	February 18, 1978	Chevy Chase	Billy Joel
58	12	February 25, 1978	O. J. Simpson	Ashford and Simpson
59	13	March 11, 1978	Art Garfunkel	Stephen Bishop
60	14	March 18, 1978	Jill Clayburgh	Eddie Money
61	15	March 25, 1978	Christopher Lee	Meat Loaf
62	16	April 8, 1978	Michael Palin	Eugene Record
63	17	April 15, 1978	Michael Sarrazin	Keith Jarrett
64	18	April 22, 1978	Steve Martin	The Blues Brothers
65	19	May 13, 1978	Richard Dreyfuss	Jimmy Buffett
66	20	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).

Navigation

Preceded by: Season 2

Season 3 (1977— 1978)

Followed by: Season 4