On the Season Two episode of Wasn’t That Special, the first one available only to paid subscribers, we discuss Chevy Chase’s exit from Saturday Night Live, how effortlessly Bill Murray slipped into his slot, and dispel the myth that the show suddenly belonged to John Belushi once Chevy bolted.
The show also includes an in-depth discussion of Belushi’s career, from his early days in Wheaton, Ill. to the Studio 8H stage. We discuss Belushi’s drug troubles that caused him to miss episodes near the middle of the season, which likely sped up the addition of Bill Murray to the cast after the Christmas break. (An addition, incidentally, that went a lot better than Murray believed at the time.)
We also break down the ill-fated “SNL Goes to Mardi Gras” episode, which will forever remain buried in the show’s archives.
We further discuss how Dan Aykroyd carried the show for the first half of the season, including introduction of The Coneheads, a masterclass in sketch writing.
Our discussion of sketches include Aykroyd selling dangerous toys to kids, Radner defending extremely stupid people, Jimmy Carter talking drug users down, and a completely out-of-the-blue snakehandling sketch.
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