Do you remember when Mr. T and Hulk Hogan hosted Saturday Night Live?
As a way to promote Wrestlemania, and just because they were awesome, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T were brought on to host Saturday Night Live on March 20, 1985. This was a great time to be a wrestling fan and when they started running the promos like this one, I could hardly contain myself. It felt like wrestling, which I had watched with my Mother up to this point, was finally going “mainstream” and would finally get accepted by my friends.
I did not record the show, but I did watch it live and have seen it a few times since. No one has posted a great copy of it online, but you can definitely piece most of the show together through a couple of sources.
For example:
The thing I most remember was Billy Crystal as Fernando making Mr. T and the Hulkster break. Unfortunately, videos of that famous sketch get taken down as quickly after they are posted online.
The special musical guest was The Commodores, and the episode has a special guest appearance by Liberace. I was able to find a partial sketch list, which included:
Reagan Jeans
Nathan Thurm’s Mistress
Fernando’s Hideaway
Toxic Waste
The Joe Franklin Show
I guess because of rights holders, this episode, when it has been re-aired, has been edited for clearance issues. It is a real shame, this is an interesting moment in both SNL and Wrestling History. Wrestling was really getting its footing, while SNL was recovering from some very funny, but critically panned years.
You can occasionally find this episode in various places online. It is season 10, episode 15 if you are looking. Unfortunately, you will not have much luck with paid services. Amazon does not currently sell it on DVD or through its streaming service. Hulu, which is the major carrier of Saturday Night Live content, has a huge hole in its coverage of the show, with this episode smack dab in the middle of it.
So if you have a copy, treasure it. If it’s a good copy, please drop me a line, I would love to see it.
