Jim Downey Remembers His Favorite “SNL” Sketches | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

you're there for that very uh. potent experience you're so young and. you wrote so many classic. sketches what are a few of your. favorites from that era say 76 to 80 a. couple that just resonated with people. but they also were personal favorites of. yours um well a lot in in those days. almost everything was written like in by. groups of people because it was a small. writing staff so I think we had like.

maybe nine writers maybe and and um so. we we' write so a lot of things were the. product of two or three writers um. things that I that I wrote entirely by. myself um that I began to develop a. specialty that um of of of foreign. language pieces I wrote a a a game show. called keness musm Macho which was a I. remember that.

um it started with a with a friend of. mine who grew up in Colombia and who. speaks just six languages fluently but. he used to tell me just the hilarious. stories about American television shows. from the 50s that that he grew up. watching and there Spanish titles I and. I know I know I I love the Spanish. language it's actually a majestic. sounding language know it it's it's much. more more uh it's a much grander.

language in English but there's. something about. American like American 50s stuff try so. like there was a show um now maybe. you've heard about it I'm sure none no. one in this room is old enough to have. actually seen it now I'm barely old. enough but uh Sea Hunt starring Lloyd. Bridges who was the father of Jeff. Bridges and um it was it was about a a. guy who's a scuba diver in the different. things this is the 1950s and and this.

title was investigador. submarino and the and then there was the. Fugitive there was the Fugitive with. David Jansen and my friend would go El. f David. yansen and and. so uh and I'm trying to remember what. but there was a bunch of every Los. Ines The untouchabl Untouchables yeah. the Los into.

Roberto St and and so I just this. just cracked me up and so and then the. other thing was we started talking about. the concept of Macho and um it began. with we were watching. um uh Welcome Back. Cotter and and I said to my friend the. guy who hor Shack or Mr whatever that. guy uh was barbarino.

I'm already I was like too old for old. for Welcome. Back Hest but there was someone who who. whose character was sort of a feminine. or something wasn't there yeah who is. that guy might have been hor Shack yeah. I think I don't know but anyway I just. said by Ron I just said good I just said. thank you it was like like Ron Palo no. es mu Macho and my and my my and that. started this thing where we started.

getting into Macho so the idea was it. was a game. show and the the qu the the the. questions you won or lost by by guessing. correctly who was Mor Macho yeah of two. different celebrities yeah and and and. the whole point was just to do a sketch. entirely in Spanish yes so that that. Billy Bill Murray played the host and. and gildo was one of the contestants and. Ricky Nelson was the was the host and.

but my favorite part of that piece a. part you know you know you know when you. look back at your old stuff it there's. two kinds of comedy writers those who. crack up at everything they write and. everything they they think of they can. barely get through a pitch because. they're laughing way harder than any of. their listeners and then there's some. and I'm of the other type which is I. just I never laugh at my own stuff. because I'm I'm too nervous but but.

maybe if I have distance on it years. later go come on that was funny. but it was a it was the part of the show. where now let's meet the contestants you. know so we've done a round of like it. was like it was like um you know for you. know I can't remember the Spanish punas. you know. Keno Fernando Lamas oh Ricardo. mantal much.

llamas and it's like um Ricky Nelson you. know Fernando. Lamas. oh Ricardo. montabano. mus so it was so that it was like now. let's now let's meet the contestants so. he goes up and this is the thing that. made me laugh it was uh it's Gilda and. it's like and she she's so.

brilliant she was like that giggly kind. of excited he's calming her down in. Spanish you know and and um and he goes. uh you know and I forget the Spanish of. it but he says you know what do you do. I'm a I'm a. housewife and he. goes you know uh what what does your. husband do me my husband M esposo. exterminator you know an exterminator oh.

Prof. Mao she go it's like kpo e kpo insectos. extermina what kind of insect does he. exterminate oh. cucarachas mosquito toos Los insect.