April 22, 1978: The NBC variety show Saturday Night Live has one of its most memorable episodes. Steve Martin was the guest host, and he and Dan Aykroyd played the Festrunk Brothers for the 3rd time. These were "two wild and crazy guys" who had emigrated from then-Communist Czechoslovakia in search of easy women. Along the same lines, Gilda Radner did a parody commercial, for "Hey You," the perfume for women who wanted to have one-night stands.
Martin also debuted the character of "Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber." In the Middle Ages, barbers were also surgeons, because, you know, knives. The sketch was as disgusting as it sounds, and was only used once more, as "Theodoric of York, Medieval Judge."
Aykroyd and John Belushi had previously appeared as the Killer Bees, singing blues songs. Belushi, from Wheaton, Illinois, outside Chicago, and Aykroyd, from Ottawa, both loved the blues, but Belushi told show creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels, "I hate the fucking Bees!" So the sketch was reworked into The Blues Brothers, who debuted on this night.
Dan Aykroyd (left) as Elwood, and John Belushi as Jake
Belushi was Joliet Jake, so named because he'd done time at Illinois' Joliet Correctional Center outside Chicago. (One of the most famous prisons in America, it closed in 2002 and is now open to tours.) Aykroyd was his brother Elwood. While Jake sang lead, Elwood could also play a mean harmonica.
While "Blues" was technically their surname, they sang mainly rhythm & blues (R&B) and soul music. They were backed by Booker T. & the M.G.'s: Guitarist Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, bass guitarist Donald "Duck" Dunn," keyboard player Booker T. Jones, and Willie Hall, who became the group's drummer after the original, Al Jackson Jr., was murdered in 1975. They were also backed by The Memphis Horns, who had worked with the M.G.'s on several hits by performers' on Stax Records in Memphis.
These included the original 1967 version of "Soul Man," by Sam & Dave. The Blues Brothers made it a hit all over again, wearing black suits, sunglasses and fedoras. Both Jake and Elwood, despite their respective sizes, were fantastic dancers. Having Cropper allowed Jake to yell out what Sam Moore yelled out midway through the original version: "Play it, Steve!"
The act would be extended to a 1980 film, which is still regarded as the best film ever to be made from an SNL sketch. Belushi's death in 1982 seemed to kill the act, but Aykroyd later revived it with John's brother Jim Belushi, who became an SNL castmember, and actor John Goodman, a frequent SNL host. Together, the 3 of them played as The Blues Brothers in the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXI in 1997.
In 1998, Blues Brothers 2000, a very weak sequel, was released. Aykroyd again played Elwood, and Goodman again played Mighty Mack McTeer (not related to the brothers), but Jim Belushi was tied to a TV contract, and could not appear again as Zee Blues, leaving it unclear as to why Elwood never previously mentioned this brother.
This episode of SNL also tapped into a big pop-culture phenomenon of the moment: The traveling exhibition of The Treasures of Tutankhaumen, the "Boy Pharoah" who reigned over Egypt from 1341 to 1323 BC, dying at the age of 19.
The tour came to America, and its artifacts were showcased at the Smithsonian Institution's National Gallery of Art in Washington from November 17, 1976 to March 15, 1977; the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago from April 14 to August 15, 1977; the New Orleans Museum of Art from September 15, 1977 to January 15, 1978; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from February 15 to June 15, 1978, including during the episode in question; the Seattle Art Museum from July 15 to November 15, 1978; the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from December 15, 1978 to April 15, 1979; and the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco from June 11 to September 30, 1979. And people couldn't get enough of it.
Steve Martin, like most people trying to make a living in show business in the late 1970s, was living in Los Angeles, and saw the fanatical tourists lining up to see "King Tut." So he decided to have some fun with it. With a band he named the Toot Uncommons, he wrote and recorded a comedy song, which, like most songs about historical figures, got the facts wrong. But, since it was a comedy, he didn't care. He just wanted to make people laugh, with lines like "Buried with a donkey/He's my favorite honky!" and "He coulda won a Grammy/Buried in his jammies!" and "He gave his life for tourism."
It was a moment in time, one that won't be repeated. The artifacts had previously toured America in the early 1960s, including as part of the World's Fairs in Seattle in 1962 and New York in 1964-65; and did so again from 2005 to 2009, and 2018 to 2021. But on none of those occasions was there as much fuss as in 1977, '78 and '79.
As of April 22, 2022, Alec Baldwin has hosted SNL the most times, 17, followed by Martin with 15 and Goodman with 13. (UPDATE: On December 10, 2022, Martin hosted for a 16th time, bringing him to within 1 of Baldwin's lead.)
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April 22, 1978 was a Saturday. Actor Manu Intiraymi, who played the ex-Borg teenager Icheb on Star Trek: Voyager, was born.
These games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. It was an NBC Game of the Week. Singles by Fred Stanley, Mickey Rivers and Roy White won the game in the bottom of the 12th inning. Sparky Lyle was the winning pitcher, in relief of Dick Tidrow. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-6. Rookie Paul Molitor hit a home run for the Brewers, playing shortstop while Robin Yount got a day off.
* The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Montreal Expos swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3 and 5-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Wayne Twitchell outpitched Steve Carlton in the opener. Over the 2 games, Mike Schmidt went 3-for-7 with a home run, 2 walks and an RBI.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 13-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Andre Thoronton went 4-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4. The winning pitcher was Rick Wise, whom the Sox had traded to the Tribe as part of the package to get Dennis Eckersley, who was, at the time, a slight upgrade.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. George Brett went 1-for-5. Eddie Murray went 1-for-4.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-7 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The Cards led 7-6 in the bottom of the 9th, but Duffy Dyer doubled home the winning runs. Willie Stargell hit a home run. Lou Brock went 2-for-3 with a stolen base.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 7-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Tim Corcoran singled home Steve Dillard with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Dillard had pinch-run for Rusty Staub. Jack Morris and Doyle Alexander started, while the winning pitcher was John Hiller and the losing pitcher was Fergie Jenkins.
* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Rod Carew went 1-for-4.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves 2-0 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Bob Owchinko (the 1st 6 1/3rd innings) and Rollie Fingers combined on a 6-hit shutout. Dave Winfield went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 5-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Singles by Ken Griffey Sr. and George Foster, and a groundout by Johnny Bench, scored the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. Pete Rose went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-0 at the Kingdome in Seattle. It took the A's 3 pitchers to finish the shutout: Alan Wirth, 3 hits over 7 2/3rds innings; Bob Lacey, 2 hits over 1; and Elias Sosa to get the last out.
It was an off-day in the NBA Playoffs, and in the Playoffs of the World Hockey Association. One game was played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Buffalo Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. That would be the only game the Sabres would win in the series.
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