Steer me to a bit of SNL from 30+ years ago.

February 3, 2010 2:06 PM

Vintage SNL filmed bit with birds wearing costumes.

An odd question, I know, but with the early years of Saturday Night Live now on DVD, maybe someone has seen this recently:

As a kid, I occasionally got to stay up late enough to watch SNL back in the classic years (pre-1980). I recall laughing to tears at a filmed bit they had somewhere in that stretch which involved footage of a bunch of birds wearing costumes -- mostly hats and little vest sort of arrangements that had fake arms on them so they appeared to be carrying things (pizza boxes, milk bottles, etc). I know that is pretty vague, but does it ring a bell for any SNL completist?

Just to make it clear: it was not live and did not have any humans in bird costumes, but rather birds in human costumes. And it is not this, by the way, which seems to be the most common google hit for bird+snl. My sense is that it would have been pre-1980 but it may have been even as late as 1981 or 1982.

posted by ricochet biscuit to media & arts (4 answers total)

I seem to recall it was a skit involving Bill Murray introducing the new NBC season. The birds were in cutaways to various shows on the schedule. I also remember there being some repeated line to the effect of "...and they have a lot of fun."

But, you're not alone. I remember it too.
posted by LinnTate at 2:50 PM on February 3, 2010

I think you're thinking of "A Bird For All Seasons", a short film with Bill Murray that purported to show what the network had in store for the upcoming TV season, shows that all starred birds.

It aired as part of SNL's 4th season, during the Richard Benjamin/Rickie Lee Jones episode (4/7/79). It should be available on iTunes and on DVD. It also aired as part of the recent (last year) SNL "Just Shorts" special hosted by Andy Samberg.
posted by inturnaround at 2:50 PM on February 3, 2010

Thanks, inturnaround! I would love to see it again but I did not want to have to plow through disc after disc looking for something I recalled only vaguely. I suspect I will just go rent the appropriate disc from the good people at Invisible Cinema.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:11 PM on February 3, 2010

And now that I think on it, I do remember seeing Rickie Lee Jones singing "Chuck E.'s In Love" on SNL in my misspent youth. I did not know it was the same episode.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:17 AM on February 4, 2010