Billy Crystal Was Cut From The First Episode Of “Saturday Night Live” | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

famously you're supposed to be on the. very first Saturday Night Live October. 11th 1975 which is now celebrating its. 50th so it's it's unbelievably it's been. all these yeah it's been half a century. and I've read accounts from you that. you're supposed to be on that show the. show that is going to change. everything you're there you've got a. sketch it gets cut and you said you were. riding like the subway home thinking. that's it yeah what I always find. fascinating now is if you could see the.

whole pallet of everything you wouldn't. change a thing no you couldn't how could. it get any better for you but in that. moment oh boy and now Conan I have to. relive. it because of the film of Jason. wrightman's wonderful film I haven't. seen it yet yeah I've se he he had a. screening for the. survivors of that night with the. original Lorraine Newman was there gett. Mars was there uh and me and it was.

particularly heartbreaking at the time. because I was. 25. and I was part of the planning of the. show it wasn't just coming to that show. that night uh Lauren um who I thought. was the coolest guy um I was I'm new. into my standup life too at that point. I'm only into it like 89 months and. things were really going like well I. wrote a lot and I was really she.

starting to find my. way uh and I meet this Lauren Michaels. uh at catcher rising star and he tells. me about the show and he so on so forth. and um he said I'd love you to be on the. first. show and then I'm playing The Bitter End. in New. York and he brings uh Chevy Dave tabbit. who was the head of talented NBC at the. time um dick. Abol uh Gilda so there was a I was like.

part of the these are the young people. we were going to have on the. show and so I was like wow this is this. this is going to be the thing and the. the comedy guests were Andy calman. myself and a Canadian uh uh comedian U. named Valerie bramfield MH Y and so I. was doing this piece which I just sort. of found out how to do it and it was by. accident and it was it's a Jun Safari.

movie of the the victim mature Ronda. Fleming kind of the great white Hunter. and it's a scene where the tarantula's. on her body and he walks across the camp. late at night and knocks it off and they. fall in love with that's the the scene I. take somebody from the audience and I. have a huge ball of potato chips that's. miked and I play I get the audience to. do bird calls and every time I take a. step she crunches the potato chips loud. he does into and it's it gets very. environmental I get then I get like.

three people on stage bird calls and I'm. pointing and and so that was the piece I. was going to do but I was going to use. Don Paro the announcer he the announc. with just a closeup of his of his hands. and his wonderful silly. voice now what do I do Bill nothing. thing yeah yeah and so Friday night. there was a dress rehearsal live. audience and it it did really well and. it was real high a real highlight of the.

night the other sketches were so so did. not yeah and there were two musical. guests and George Carin was a host doing. like three or four. monologues so at the notes afterwards. Lauren sitting at home base I remember I. was sitting between Gilda and Lorraine. and he looks at me making cuts and cuts. and cuts and cuts and he says Billy I. need two minutes I said take two minutes. out he goes no I need two. minutes and I went I'm screwed.

I don't have anything that's two minutes. it takes two minutes just to do the. setup yeah and I I could condense it I. could do that but I I Lauren afterwards. I said I don't I don't have anything. else he says well you know let's think. about it it's Friday at midnight yeah. Saturday I come back the rundown I'm on. at. 12:55 which you know already is dicey. yes that's the last Comedy Spot whenever. you'd see when I was a writer there.

whenever your sketch was on at 12:55. you'd think all it takes is for one. sketch to run a little long and you're. going to get nudged into well we'll do. it next week but it never once it's gone. it's gone hard to explain but it's gone. G so I see that so I I called my. managers and everyone so they come over. and it was you know Lauren's putting. together his very first show it's so. hectic it's crazy and this is the first. one so I'm just waiting and waiting.

waiting camera blocking run through it. again. it's this this there's some wait over. here wait over there it's not looking. good it's going to be okay don't worry. about it so at. 8:30 my manager comes out and says come. on we're. going what it we try to get it five. minutes in the first hour he can't do it. George is doing four monologues just two. songs and so.

come on let's just get the hell out of. here and I went but I and that that was. it and then then I I find myself on the. Long Island Railroad Subway to Penn. Station long on Railroad to go home to. call the relatives to say don't watch I. mean there's no cell phone there's no. nothing you know you had a dial yes yeah. and then the reactions what' you what'. you do you got. fired what did you say to the. man did. you what'd you do open a mouth that.

thing and I thought that's it I'm um I'm. done you know Lauren to then brought me. back for show. 19 with Ron nessen who was Gerald Ford's. press secretary yep uh he hosted the. show I did that and then I didn't do it. again for eight years until I hosted but. then you come back uh as a cast member. yeah and again these things are so much. bigger than us. [Music].

but your everyone's trajectory is is. probably the trajectory they're supposed. to have yes so you went off and had all. this other success but then came back. and was able. to dominate on SNL in that season in a. very special way that would not have. been possible ABS in the first five. years no I was ready yeah you were ready. see what we had talked about in the. beginning was that I was to do like six.

appearances over like the first two. seasons and then be sort of the first. non celebrity host it was like growing. from the farm system uph and then I I go. off and I end up on uh Howard coel's. Saturday Night Live on ABC right and. then I moved to. California um playing places doing. pretty well and then I get soap you get. soap but you know.

so now I'm playing one character which I. really really enjoyed learned a lot. great cast controversial show and. character really brilliant though I mean. way ahead of its time way way and and. really one of the real geniuses that I. ever met was Susan Harris who wrote the. first 68 episodes by herself wow amazing. but I kept looking back at ad AG yeah. going that'ss where I should have been. you know I was having a successful time. but I wasn't I didn't feel like.

myself and uh then I did my first HBO. special in. 79 that did very well and another one in. 84 that also did very well and then dick. EOL called and said would you host and I. did two that year and that summer he. called me and said listen I got an. idea if I could get Chris guest and. Marty um and Harry Sher would you come. for a year.

I said ' let me think about it yes I. just knew it was the right thing yeah. and we packed up the kids and we moved. um to New York and and I had the time of. my life and I felt like I was where I. was supposed to be but now I was. supposed to be there you know mhm it it. all felt right you've got a lot of. moments to remember but when I was I. think I had left SNL I think I'm doing. the Late Night show but there's an. anniversary special for SNL and I don't.

know if it was an anniversary special. for SNL or maybe a salute to NBC 50 I. don't know there was some salute. something and you came out as your. Fernando Fernando character 25th was the. 25th okay but what I remember is that. you come out and Gary Bucy is in the. audience yes and Gary Bucy who's you. know been through some stuff uh uh Gary. Bucy suddenly thinks that it's okay for. him to just shout out on this live.

tribute show to Fernando and he starts. heckling you yes and you start talking. it was so funny because it was live. television and you don't see that on SNL. you don't see he came towards me. yes I was there I was sitting in the. crowd doing this little thing and I I. think I had minute 45 scheduled and it's. going well and I and I look out and and. I'm picking up people and then you know. and I and well G buy you're alive you're.

alive and he got mad and he came towards. a set and I had to rest up and starts. walking and then you were doing a great. job of having fun with it yeah you were. so funny and in the moment and it was. electric because you thought I don't. know where this is going this either. maybe you'll get choked out I don't know. what's going to happen but you were. making it really funny and in the moment. I thought uh this is I don't see this in. ADH a lot there sometimes there has to.

be some improvisation there has well the. thing about Fernando was they were all. improvised yeah all the hideaways that. we did um was so much fun because I. wasn't sure what I was going to say. until I said it m The Hiway set would. roll out right in front of the audience. right where the news usually is right. and it was the booth and all that stuff. and the audience could see that the the. Q card guys went away so it was just me. talking to whoever the host would be. right oh we had Hulk Hogan and and Mr T. which was very funny and then Barry.

Manalo he was playing Radio City Musical. he was scheduled to be the guest in The. Hiway at 10 after 11 he calls dick. abisol and said he's not coming M he's. too scared he doesn't want to be made. fun of he he's he's nervous about. improvising he is there so he decides. he's not coming so we have a six-minute. slot that dick says what do. you so I'm looking around I see one of. our camera guys his name is Bobby. ferraio mhm Bobby did you know Bobby yep.

all right Bobby weighed about 400 lb he. was a large man I went over to him when. I said Bobby this crazy idea Manalo just. cancelled why no no no calm. down godamn. Manalo would. you come into the Hideway with me and. play him and I'll introduce the fact. that he's not there but I can't I can't. um I can't disappoint my fans and we.

just do it and he goes do I get paid. extra I said Astic I don't he says. okay and so we did it and it was really. funny and um he was just so delightful. and and real and real and it just they. were all just so spontaneous that's what. the show was supposed to be and that's. the world I love to live in my year. there for me I used everything in the in. my toothpaste that I had you know I just.

loved every second of it but that was an. example of really being comfortable and. confident with myself and and Bobby was. great and then we thought. well what about for the rest of the. season nobody shows up and it's always. Bobby be pretty you know he said no my. neighbors killed me Bill my neighbors. killed. me he starts singing I write the songs. he starts singing stuff it's really. delightful it was great.