The premiere episode of the long-running and influential sketch comedy series features host
George Carlin and musical guests Janis Ian and Billy Preston. Most of the show's soon-to-be familiar elements are already in place, such as the announcement of "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night," the host monologue, Weekend Update news report, and parody commercials. Memorable moments include the first appearance of the Bees, guest star
Andy Kaufman's "Mighty Mouse" routine, and the opening absurdist skit in which a professor (Michael O'Donaghue) teaches a non-English speaker (
John Belushi) phrases such as, "I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines." Although the series would later be known as
Saturday Night Live, this episode was introduced as NBC's Saturday Night, a moniker it would keep until the 14th episode, when the "NBC's" was dropped. The series would not actually be called
Saturday Night Live until late in the
second season. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide