In the debut episode of “Saturday Night,” the show did not yet have the tight format we’re familiar with today. George Carlin did stand-up several times throughout the episode instead of just at the top of the show in a monologue, Albert Brooks had a pre-taped short film, there were two musical guests, and showrunner Lorne Michaels threw in some adult puppetry into the live sketch comedy line-up, courtesy of Jim Henson.
Henson’s contribution marks the debut of The Land of Gorch, a murky prehistoric-like fantasy realm featuring puppet monsters who were members of a royal family. All of the characters, from King Ploobis to a servant named Scred, are obnoxious and often inappropriate. By today’s standards, it’s all relatively tame, but for the late night TV of the era, it was definitely edgy, typically dealing with drugs, sex, and alcohol. Basically, they’re the opposite of the Muppets in almost every way, and that includes not being particularly funny.
Here’s an example of the Land of Gorch from one of the early episodes of “SNL” in 1975:
Though Henson was a master of comedy, he clashed with “SNL” writers over the sketch’s vision. Staff writers Michael O’Donoghue, Alan Zweibel, Al Franken, and Tom Davis often tried to avoid writing them, and due to Writers Guild of America rules, Henson and his fellow puppeteers couldn’t write the scripts themselves. Because of this creative impasse, they’re largely considered to be the worst part of the first season of “SNL,” yet the Land of Gorch is featured in every first season episode. Thankfully, Henson and “SNL” eventually parted ways, which led to the creation of “The Muppet Show,” and the rest is history.
I’m not sure how much of the behind-the-scenes tension we’ll see between Henson and the “Saturday Night” writing staff in Jason Reitman’s movie. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more of a runner where we intermittently see Braun as Henson, arguing with one of the aforementioned writers or just trying to work out other assorted details before the sketch goes live. Either way, it’ll be great to see Henson portrayed during this key step in his career.
Speaking of memorable moments…
