Fridays
Encyclopedia
Fridays is the name of ABC
's weekly late-night live comedy show, which aired on Friday nights from April 11, 1980 to April 23, 1982 with repeats airing until October 22, 1982. The show was originally 60 minutes in its first season, but was expanded to 90 minutes in season two.
The program was ABC's attempt to duplicate the success of NBC
's Saturday Night Live
(especially since SNL was facing a decline in quality in the early 1980s following the departure of show creator Lorne Michaels
and the remnants of his original cast). Like SNL, each week Fridays featured music acts and, in the second season, celebrity guest hosts, as well as fake newscasts and spoofs of television shows and commercials.
, they put together Friday Edition, as their version of SNLs Weekend Update
. It starred Melanie Chartoff
as the news anchor and the rest of the cast presenting different news segments, like Update, to get SNL viewers to watch Fridays as an alternative.
The Busboys
The Cars
Chubby Checker
The Clash
in their debut American TV performance
The Tubes
Devo
Dire Straits
Graham Parker and the Rumour
Heart
- backed by the Tower of Power
horn section
Huey Lewis and the News
Ian Hunter
with Ellen Foley
and Mick Ronson
The Jam
Jefferson Starship
Jim Carroll
Journey
Kenny Loggins Band - appeared on the first episode
Kim Carnes
King Crimson
Kiss
(their performance appears on the second disc of their Kissology Volume Two: 1978-1991
DVD box set)
Randy Meisner
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
The Plasmatics
The Pretenders
Quarterflash
Rockpile
Scandal
Sir Douglas Quintet
- appeared on the show that featured Andy Kaufman
Split Enz
The Stray Cats in their debut American TV performance. At the time of their appearance they had yet to be signed by a record company. There was a crawl at the bottom of the screen inviting offers from record companies.
Franke and the Knockouts
The Blasters
Billy Crystal
^
David Steinberg
Don Novello
^
Madeline Kahn
^
Mark Hamill
George Hamilton
William Shatner
^
Anthony Geary
Genie Francis
Karen Allen
Marty Feldman
Brooke Shields
(the youngest host at age 16; SNL has tried to get Shields to host an episode, but as of 2011, she hasn't)
David Naughton
Jamie Lee Curtis
^
Shelley Duvall
^
Peter Fonda
Susan Sarandon
Beau Bridges
^
Valerie Harper
Tab Hunter
Howard E. Rollins, Jr.
Bob Balaban
Victoria Principal
Lynn Redgrave
Gregory Hines
Marilu Henner
^ – also hosted Saturday Night Live
was the host. During a sketch about couples at dinner sneaking away to the bathroom to smoke marijuana, Kaufman, who was known for causing trouble on live TV
, broke character and refused to read his lines (saying "I can't play stoned"). Michael Richards got up from the table, grabbed the cue cards and threw them down on the table in front of Kaufman, who responded by throwing a glass of water on Richards. Some of the show's cast and crew members became angry and a small brawl broke out on stage. Since the show was broadcast live, home viewers were able to see most of these events transpire until the network cut the cameras off. Kaufman returned the following week in a taped apology to home viewers. This incident was planned by Kaufman and meant as a prank. Kaufman concocted the event with Bob Zmuda
. The only staff members aware of the plan were Richards, Melanie Chartoff, producer John Moffitt
and producer/announcer Jack Burns. This incident was reenacted in the 1999
film Man on the Moon, starring Jim Carrey
as Andy Kaufman, Bob Zmuda as Jack Burns, Norm Macdonald
as Michael Richards and Caroline Rhea
as Melanie Chartoff.
following ABC's decision to expand Nightline to five nights a week, which moved Fridays to air at midnight instead of 11:30. Although by the end of its first season in 1981, Fridays was outperforming Saturday Night Live in the ratings
, the later time slot hurt the show during its second season (which was also made worse by the fact that Saturday Night Live had rebounded—albeit slightly—thanks to a cast and crew overhaul). One final attempt was made by ABC to save the show by putting it on in prime time
. The episode (broadcast on April 23, 1982) was scheduled against Dallas
, which did nothing to help the show's moribund ratings. The series was promptly canceled.
while performing) than its sex humor (which Fridays also had, but its sex humor was not as strong as Saturday Night Lives); Fridays political humor made fun of Republicans and conservatives at the time rather than make fun of both Democrats and Republicans. The political humor also focused more on American politicians rather than American politicians and world leaders.
Some of Fridays sketches featured more real-life (and sometimes unscripted) violence; in one sketch, Melanie Chartoff chipped a tooth after a fake punch to the face connected with her mouth. In another sketch, Brandis Kemp was thrown to the floor while wearing a skirt and had her thong underwear exposed (the episode that featured this blooper was later edited to remove the shot of Kemp on the ground with her thong exposed).
Sometimes, Fridays would throw in a sketch that was played for drama rather than laughs.
Though it was critically panned when it premiered (around the time that SNL was finishing its fifth season), the show soon became more popular than SNL after the NBC show launched its disastrous sixth season
in November 1980
. Fridays actually began to lure away even SNLs most die-hard fans, as it improved comedically week after week as compared to the struggling Saturday Night Live '80.
Fridays did not have a guest host during its entire first season, though it did feature musical acts (very much like the FOX sketch show MADtv
in its first three seasons) and celebrity cameos. During the second season the show began featuring guest hosts (the first was George Carlin
, who had also hosted the first episode of SNL in 1975
), but instead of guest hosts (as SNL style), they were credited as "guest stars" (much like MADtv [which, like Fridays, was a West Coast-based sketch show that aired as a rival to Saturday Night Live] would do years later). Brooke Shields
(a celebrity SNL has tried to book as a host, but failed) was the youngest person to host Fridays in 1981, at the age of 16.
The selections of musical guests were more experimental and daring, as the show featured many punk rock
and New Wave
artists. The production values for musical segments were higher, using colored concert style lighting, as opposed to SNLs flat white illumination.
on Fridays appear on the Seinfeld
Season 3 and 5 DVD's.
Episodes of Fridays edited to a sixty minute length appeared in syndication and on the USA Network
later in the 1980s, but the series has not been aired since then.
A reunion of the cast and crew took place in October, 2011.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's weekly late-night live comedy show, which aired on Friday nights from April 11, 1980 to April 23, 1982 with repeats airing until October 22, 1982. The show was originally 60 minutes in its first season, but was expanded to 90 minutes in season two.
The program was ABC's attempt to duplicate the success of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(especially since SNL was facing a decline in quality in the early 1980s following the departure of show creator Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
and the remnants of his original cast). Like SNL, each week Fridays featured music acts and, in the second season, celebrity guest hosts, as well as fake newscasts and spoofs of television shows and commercials.
Fridays writers
The people who wrote for Fridays are:- Steve Adams
- Rod Ash
- Jack BurnsJack BurnsJack Burns is an American comedian and voice actor.-Biography:In 1959, he began his career as a comedy team with George Carlin when both were working for radio station KXOL in Fort Worth, Texas...
- Larry CharlesLarry CharlesLarry Charles is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known as a staff writer for the American sitcom Seinfeld for its first 5 seasons, contributing some of the show's darkest and most absurd storylines...
- Mark CurtisMark CurtisMark Curtis may refer to:* Mark Curtis , Managing Director - Wealth Management, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney* Mark Curtis , American TV journalist, author and political analyst...
- Larry DavidLarry DavidLawrence Gene "Larry" David is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. He is best known as the co-creator , head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in...
- Bryan GordonBryan GordonBryan Gordon is a television and film director and writer. He has been nominated three times for the Directors Guild of America Award and in 2002 received the Directors Guild award for comedy directing. He’s been nominated for an Emmy twice – both for his work on the HBO series Curb Your...
- Rich HallRich HallRichard "Rich" Hall is an American comedian, writer and musician.-Early life and career:Hall was born in Alexandria, Virginia and grew up in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He is part Cherokee Indian...
- Sam Hefter
- Kevin Kelton
- Bruce Kirschbaum
- Tom KramerTom KramerThomas Joseph Kramer is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Cleveland Indians during the 1991 and 1993 seasons.- Career with the Indians :...
- Bruce MahlerBruce MahlerBruce Mahler is an American actor, producer, and writer. He is known for his role as Sgt. Fackler on the comedy films Police Academy, and as Rabbi Kirschbaum on the sitcom Seinfeld....
- Matt Neuman
- Elaine PopeElaine PopeElaine Pope is a writer and film producer. She began her career writing TV specials for Lily Tomlin and the HBO series Not Necessarily the News. She won an Emmy Award for co-writing the episode "The Fix-Up" of the TV series Seinfeld and was the producer and co-writer for the 2004 remake of Alfie...
- Fred Raker
- Joe Shulkin
Friday Edition
In an attempt to make the show a direct competitor to Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, they put together Friday Edition, as their version of SNLs Weekend Update
Weekend Update
Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance...
. It starred Melanie Chartoff
Melanie Chartoff
Melanie Chartoff is an American actress. Among her most prominent roles are her voice role in Rugrats, her comedic work on the ABC series Fridays from 1980–1982, and on the early 1990s Fox sitcom Parker Lewis Can't Lose....
as the news anchor and the rest of the cast presenting different news segments, like Update, to get SNL viewers to watch Fridays as an alternative.
Recurring sketches and characters
- "Drugs 'R' Us" (a.k.a The Drugged-Out Pharmacist): Blankfield as a strung-out pharmacist who (sometimes accidentally) uses the products in his pharmacy to get high (drinking the liquid contents of a pregnancy test, taking strange pills that he thinks are aspirin, and sniffing glue that he mistakes for nasal decongestant) and thinks his weird customers, such as a post-op transsexual (played by Michael Richards) and twin midgets, are hallucinations caused by the drugs he takes. Catchphrases: "I can handle it!" and "Take a pill!" In one episode he was convinced he was stoned on the ingestion of cotton balls.
- "Nat E. Dred, The Rasta Gourmet" - Igus plays a shirtless Rastafarian chef who prepares—and smokes—food items heavily dosed with ganjaCannabis (drug)Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
. Catchphrase: "Is it turmericTurmericTurmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive...
? No no NO no, gimme ganja! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!". Similar skits included "Rasta-Claus", where Nat E. Dredd plays Santa Claus. - "Battle Boy" - Richards as a hyperkinetic young boy who stages elaborate war scenarios in his backyard with toy soldiers (usually setting them on fire), mutilates his sister's (Melanie Chartoff) dolls, tortures his best friend (played by Mark Blankfield), and gets yelled at by his lazy mother (Maryedith Burrell).
- "Dick" - Richards as an overzealous ladies' man who makes a fool of himself while trying to impress women.
- "Pitkinville, Montana" - Hall narrates footage of a fictional small town of tiny model people, usually at the mercy of household implements such as an electric hair dryer simulating a hurricane.
- "Latin DJ" - Mahler fills time between records by reading radio commercials entirely in mock SpanishMock SpanishMock Spanish is a term sometimes used to describe a variety of usages common in some otherwise monolingual Anglo-American circles. The term has been popularized by anthropologist-linguist Jane H. Hill of the University of Arizona, most recognizably in relation to the catchphrase, "Hasta la vista,...
. Catchphrase: "La musica, la musica de los Talking HeadsTalking HeadsTalking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
...", or other band; what followed was invariably MariachiMariachiMariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
music. - "The Three Stooges" - Mahler, David and Roarke portray Moe, Larry and Curly as drug-addicted troublemakers. Reportedly these sketches were halted when Moe HowardMoe HowardMoses Harry Horwitz , known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television for four decades...
's family threatened to sueLawsuitA lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
. - "Live and Be Well (also known as Matzoi)" - Bruce Mahler and Larry David as two particularly earnest rabbiRabbiIn Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
s co-hosting a TV show. Mahler's "Rabbi Glickman" character on Seinfeld was a reprise of his character. - "Howdy Doody" - A running gag on Fridays was that Howdy DoodyHowdy DoodyHowdy Doody is an American children's television program that was created and produced by E. Roger Muir and telecast on NBC in the United States from 1947 until 1960. It was a pioneer in children's television programming and set the pattern for many similar shows...
was such a huge star that he could always jump the line ahead of anyone at restaurants and nightclubs. This was first seen on a sketch where a man (Bruce Mahler) visits a plastic surgeon (Larry David) and tells him he wants to look like a celebrity. When Mahler's character is turned into Howdy Doody, he is given the best seats at restaurants, is let into clubs ahead of other people, and gets away with being obnoxious at parties. - "Pastor James Babbit" - Blankfield portrays a pulpit-bound preacher intending a meaningful sermon, but whose twisted perceptions and obvious repressed insecurities would lead to paranoid ranting and the divulgence of his own personal humiliations and admissions to committing whatever sin he preached against.
- "Dancing Chickens" - Mahler would play piano accompaniment to a raw chicken stuck on his hand and wearing little black plastic shoes. The sketch always ended with the chicken in a pot of boiling water next to the piano.
- "The Golden Boys" - David and Blankfield would play two egotistical, posturing wrestlers. Their catch phrase was "We're young, we're good looking and we'll be there!" (Coincidentally, SNL would come up with a similar recurring sketch in its twelfth season with Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon as musclemen Hans and Franz).
- "The Brotherhood of Men Who Hum Between Words" - A monastic order with the odd habit of humming between every word. Later skits had brothers who only hummed between every third or fourth word, and at least one who refused to hum at all (he was considered to be Reformed).
- "The Monster" - Sketch typically begins with two young women in a bar or night club talking to a staff member about the establishment's similarity to a setting of a popular film. The staffer tells the two women that the movie's main character was modeled after a regular customer of the bar. When this person arrives, it is Mark Blankfield as a Quasimodo type character, performing a parody of the dance or actions of the film character. The two disappointed young women say to the staffer "You didn't tell us he was a monster."
Sketches
- "Diner of the Living Dead" - In this parody of zombie films, particularly the "Living Dead" movies by George A. RomeroGeorge A. RomeroGeorge Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
, a married couple (played by John Roarke and Maryedith Burrell) visits a dinerDinerA diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...
run by and catering to zombies. There is an assortment of macabre dishes based on human body parts advertised on the walls (such as "Fried Ear," "Buttered Fingers," "Belly Burger," and "Toe Stew") and zombie restaurantgoers are seen eating human flesh while zombie diner employees use a chainsawChainsawA chainsaw is a portable mechanical saw, powered by electricity, compressed air, hydraulic power, or most commonly a two-stroke engine...
to slaughter a living human (played by Mark Blankfield) who screams for help in the diner's kitchen. Because of the skit's depiction of extreme violence, and gore, an apology was made on the following week's show by Brandis Kemp (who played a zombie waitress in the skit). The skit was so offensive that six ABC affiliates stopped airing Fridays. ABC affiliates that didn't pull the show from their schedule (and episodes that aired on the cable channel USA in reruns) merely re-aired the episode with the "Diner of the Living Dead" skit removed. - "Women Who Spit": Touted as the grossest sketch done on the show, the female cast members (Chartoff, Kemp, and Burrell) play proper ladies who can't stop spitting. This sketch, much like "Diner of the Dead," led a handful of ABC affiliates to ban the show from airing.
- "The Ronny Horror Show" - A sprawling 17-minute send-up of the incoming Reagan AdministrationReagan AdministrationThe United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
based on The Rocky Horror Picture ShowThe Rocky Horror Picture ShowThe Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...
. In the sketch, Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
(played by John Roarke in Dr. Frank N. Furter drag) plans on creating the ultimate RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, but inadvertently creates an angry gay black militant (played by Darrow Igus) who kills Reagan and leads the people in a revolution. Much like the "Diner of the Living Dead" sketch, the "Ronny Horror Picture Show" sketch was cut in reruns, only the reason behind the removal was copyright issues, not objectionable content. - A rather dramatic sketch where Michael Richards plays a son who comes home to an old man in a wheelchair and the man denies that he's the father of the son. Thinking the old man hates him due to a generation gap (and the fact that the son has been away for a long time and had become a punk rocker), the son yells at his dad to accept him and love him, but when he compares his hair color to the old man's, he realizes that the old man really is not his father and leaves.
- William ShatnerWilliam ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
appeared in a sketch where he plays a man who reacts violently to minor pain. The man takes his date (played by Brandis Kemp) out to a dance club and while there, Kemp steps on Shatner's foot and Shatner reacts so violently that he tosses Kemp onto the ground, causing her skirt to fly up and her thong underwear to be shown. When this sketch was rebroadcast, the shot of Brandis Kemp on the ground with her thong exposed was edited out. - "Zilla, Horrible Monster Of The Depths", in which a reptilian monster stalks out of the ocean, but being only the size of an ordinary man can do little besides trampling over children's sand castles and spilling the contents of women's purses onto the sand.
- "Orgasmic Muffins", a clan of cave people bake muffins that are so tasty, they give everyone orgasms.
- On the episode featuring guest star Susan SarandonSusan SarandonSusan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
, there was a sketch featuring bordello workers who are college-educated and the johns who come to them for "stimulatin' dialogue." Sarandon flubbed one of her lines when she said her last customer "blew his monologue all over her after two minutes," by saying that her last customer "blew his wad all over her after two minutes." In reruns, "wad" was muted out.
Musical guests
Acts which appeared on Fridays include:- The Four Tops
- AC/DCAC/DCAC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
in their debut American TV performance with Brian JohnsonBrian JohnsonBrian Johnson is an English singer and lyricist who has been the lead singer for the rock band AC/DC since 1980. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of the band....
as singer - The Beach BoysThe Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
- Pat BenatarPat BenatarPat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
- Gary U.S. BondsGary U.S. BondsGary U.S. Bonds is an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer. He is also a prolific songwriter.-Career:...
- The Boomtown RatsThe Boomtown RatsThe Boomtown Rats were an Irish punk rock band that had a series of Irish and UK hits between 1977 and 1985. They were led by vocalist Bob Geldof.-Biography:All six members were originally from Dún Laoghaire, Ireland...
- Jimmy BuffettJimmy BuffettJames William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
and the Coral Reefer Band, the cast members danced to
The Busboys
The BusBoys are a musical group known for playing rock 'n' roll with a bar band, boogie woogie flavor.-Overview:Formed in Los Angeles in the late 1970s, the original lineup featured brothers Brian O'Neal and Kevin O'Neal , Gus Louderman , Mike Jones , Vic Johnson , and Steve Felix...
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
in their debut American TV performance
The Tubes
The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band, whose 1975 debut album included the hit single, "White Punks on Dope". During its first fifteen years or so, the band's live performances combined quasi-pornography with wild satires of media, consumerism, and politics...
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
Graham Parker
Graham Parker is a British rock singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the popular British band Graham Parker & the Rumour.-Early career :...
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
- backed by the Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
horn section
Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually scoring a total of 19 top-ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock charts...
Ian Hunter (singer)
Ian Hunter Patterson is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer of the English rock band Mott the Hoople from its inception in 1969 to its dissolution in 1974, and he again fronted them at the time of their 2009 reunion. Hunter was a musician and songwriter before Mott The Hoople, and...
with Ellen Foley
Ellen Foley
Ellen Foley is an American singer and actress, who has appeared on Broadway and television, where she co-starred in the sitcom Night Court. In music, she has released three solo albums but is best known for her collaborations with the singer Meat Loaf.- Early life and career :Foley was born in St....
and Mick Ronson
Mick Ronson
Michael "Mick" Ronson was an English guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. He is best known for his work with David Bowie, as one of The Spiders from Mars...
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
Jefferson Starship
Jefferson Starship is an American rock band formed in the early 1970s. The group is a spin-off from the iconic 1960s psychedelic/folk group Jefferson Airplane. The band has undergone several major changes in personnel and genres through the years while retaining the same Jefferson Starship name...
Jim Carroll
James Dennis "Jim" Carroll was an author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries, which was made into the 1995 film of the same name, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Carroll.-Biography:Carroll was born to a...
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
Kim Carnes
Kim Carnes is an American singer-songwriter. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner noted for her distinctive raspy vocal style. Some people have called her "The Female Rod Stewart" due to her raspy voice....
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
(their performance appears on the second disc of their Kissology Volume Two: 1978-1991
Kissology Volume Two: 1978-1991
Kissology Volume Two: 1978–1991 is a DVD/Home Video that was released by Kiss on August 14, 2007. It contains three discs, plus three separate bonus discs sold only within initial first pressings. Some initial packages included a replica ticket to Magic Mountain for Kiss meets the Phantom of the...
DVD box set)
Randy Meisner
Randy Herman Meisner is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles...
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
Quarterflash
Quarterflash was an American rock group formed in 1980 in Portland, Oregon. The band was made up of Rindy Ross , her husband Marv Ross , Jack Charles , Rick DiGiallonardo , Rich Gooch , and Brian David Willis...
Rockpile
Rockpile were a British rock and roll group of the late 1970s and early 1980s, noted for their strong rockabilly and power pop influences, and as a foundational influence on new wave...
Scandal
A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...
Sir Douglas Quintet
Sir Douglas Quintet was a rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Despite their British sounding name, they came out of San Antonio, Texas. Their career was established when they began working with Texas record-producer Huey P. Meaux, after which the band relocated to the West Coast...
- appeared on the show that featured Andy Kaufman
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...
Franke and the Knockouts
Franke and the Knockouts was a short-lived band, formed in New Jersey, USA and fronted by singer/songwriter Franke Previte.Franke and the Knockouts were signed by Millennium Records in 1981 and had three U.S. Top 40 singles and two Top 50 albums...
The Blasters
The Blasters are a rock and roll music group formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin and Dave Alvin , with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman. Phil Alvin explained the origin of the band's name: "I thought Joe Turner’s backup band on Atlantic records – I had...
Guest stars
The guest stars (some of whom hosted Saturday Night Live either before or after their Fridays appearance) include:- George CarlinGeorge CarlinGeorge Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
^ - Shelley WintersShelley WintersShelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
- Henny YoungmanHenny YoungmanHenry "Henny" Youngman was a British-born American comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners", short, simple jokes usually delivered rapid-fire...
- Valerie BertinelliValerie BertinelliValerie Anne Bertinelli is an American actress, best known for her roles as Barbara Cooper Royer on the television series One Day at a Time , Gloria on the television series Touched by an Angel and Melanie Moretti on the sitcom Hot in Cleveland .- Early years :Bertinelli was born in Wilmington,...
^ - Michael McKeanMichael McKeanMichael John McKean is an American actor, comedian, writer, composer and musician, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Squiggy's friend, Leonard 'Lenny' Kosnowski, on the sitcom Laverne and Shirley; and for his work in the Christopher Guest ensemble films, particularly as David St...
^ - David L. LanderDavid LanderDavid L. Lander is an American actor, comedian, composer, musician, and baseball scout. David is also the Goodwill Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.- Biography :...
- Andy KaufmanAndy KaufmanAndrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one...
(he never hosted an
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
^
David Steinberg
David Steinberg is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and author. At the height of his popularity, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was one of the best-known stand-up comics in the United States...
Don Novello
Don Novello is an American writer, film director, producer, actor, singer, and comedian. Novello is best known for his work on NBC's Saturday Night Live, from 1977 until 1980, and then 1985 until 1986, often as the character "Father Guido Sarducci". Novello has appeared as "Sarducci" on many...
^
Madeline Kahn
Madeline Kahn was an American actress. Kahn was known primarily for her comedic roles in films such as Paper Moon, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, What's Up, Doc?, and Clue.-Early life:...
^
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
George Hamilton (actor)
George Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Hamilton was the youngest son of bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton and his first wife, Ann Stevens . He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Blytheville, Arkansas...
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
^
Anthony Geary
Anthony Geary is an American actor. He has starred on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital as Luke Spencer from 1978 to 1984 and from 1993 to present.-Life and career:...
Genie Francis
Eugenie "Genie" Francis Frakes is an American actress known for her portrayal of Laura Spencer on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital. She is currently playing Genevieve Atkinson on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless...
Karen Allen
Karen Jane Allen is an American actress best known for her role as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...
Marty Feldman
Martin Alan "Marty" Feldman was an English comedy writer, comedian and actor who starred in a series of British television comedy shows, including At Last the 1948 Show, and Marty, which won two BAFTA awards and was the first Saturn Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Young...
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
(the youngest host at age 16;
David Naughton (actor)
David Walsh Naughton is an American actor and singer best known for his starring roles in the 1981 horror film An American Werewolf in London, the 1980 Walt Disney comedy, Midnight Madness, the 1984 comedies Hot Dog.....
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
^
Shelley Duvall
Shelley Alexis Duvall is an American film and television actress best known for her roles in The Shining, Popeye, Thieves Like Us and 3 Women....
^
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
^
Valerie Harper
Valerie Harper is an American actress, known for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on the 1970s television show The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and for her starring roles on the sitcoms Rhoda and Valerie.-Early life and career:Harper was born at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, Rockland County,...
Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major films.-Background:...
Howard Rollins
Howard Ellsworth Rollins, Jr. was an American television, film, and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Coalhouse Walker, Jr...
Bob Balaban
Robert Elmer "Bob" Balaban is an American actor, author and director.-Personal life:Balaban was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Eleanor and Elmer Balaban, who owned several movie theatres and later was a pioneer in cable television...
Victoria Principal
Victoria Principal is an American actress, best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the CBS nighttime drama Dallas from 1978 to 1987.-Early life:...
Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave, OBE was an English actress.A member of the well-known British family of actors, Redgrave trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962...
Gregory Hines
Gregory Oliver Hines was an American actor, singer, dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Born in New York City, Hines and his older brother Maurice started dancing at an early age, studying with choreographer Henry LeTang...
Marilu Henner
Mary Lucy Denise "Marilu" Henner is an American actress, producer and author. She is best known for her role as Elaine O'Connor Nardo on the sitcom Taxi from 1978 to 1983.-Early life:...
^ – also hosted Saturday Night Live
The Andy Kaufman incident
On the February 20, 1981 episode, Andy KaufmanAndy Kaufman
Andrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one...
was the host. During a sketch about couples at dinner sneaking away to the bathroom to smoke marijuana, Kaufman, who was known for causing trouble on live TV
Live television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
, broke character and refused to read his lines (saying "I can't play stoned"). Michael Richards got up from the table, grabbed the cue cards and threw them down on the table in front of Kaufman, who responded by throwing a glass of water on Richards. Some of the show's cast and crew members became angry and a small brawl broke out on stage. Since the show was broadcast live, home viewers were able to see most of these events transpire until the network cut the cameras off. Kaufman returned the following week in a taped apology to home viewers. This incident was planned by Kaufman and meant as a prank. Kaufman concocted the event with Bob Zmuda
Bob Zmuda
Bob Zmuda is an American writer, comedian, producer and director best known as the sidekick, co-writer and friend of cult personality Andy Kaufman....
. The only staff members aware of the plan were Richards, Melanie Chartoff, producer John Moffitt
John Moffitt (director)
John Moffitt is an American television director who is best known for his work on Mr. Show.-External links:...
and producer/announcer Jack Burns. This incident was reenacted in the 1999
1999 in film
The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
film Man on the Moon, starring Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
as Andy Kaufman, Bob Zmuda as Jack Burns, Norm Macdonald
Norm MacDonald
Norman Gene "Norm" Macdonald is a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is best known for his five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, which included anchoring Weekend Update for three years...
as Michael Richards and Caroline Rhea
Caroline Rhea
Caroline Gilchrist Rhea is a Canadian stand-up comedian and actress who was the original host of the reality television show The Biggest Loser on NBC until she was replaced by Alison Sweeney after the end of the third season...
as Melanie Chartoff.
The end of
Fridays The series ended in 19821982 in television
The year 1982 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1982.For the American TV schedule, see: 1982-83 American network television schedule.-Events:...
following ABC's decision to expand Nightline to five nights a week, which moved Fridays to air at midnight instead of 11:30. Although by the end of its first season in 1981, Fridays was outperforming Saturday Night Live in the ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, the later time slot hurt the show during its second season (which was also made worse by the fact that Saturday Night Live had rebounded—albeit slightly—thanks to a cast and crew overhaul). One final attempt was made by ABC to save the show by putting it on in prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
. The episode (broadcast on April 23, 1982) was scheduled against Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
, which did nothing to help the show's moribund ratings. The series was promptly canceled.
Differences between
Fridays and SNL The humor of the show differed from Saturday Night Live in several ways:Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
while performing) than its sex humor (which Fridays also had, but its sex humor was not as strong as Saturday Night Lives);
Though it was critically panned when it premiered (around the time that SNL was finishing its fifth season), the show soon became more popular than SNL after the NBC show launched its disastrous sixth season
Saturday Night Live (Season 6)
Saturday Night Live aired its sixth season during the 1980–1981 television season on NBC. Season six started on November 15, 1980 and ended on April 11, 1981, with only 13 episodes...
in November 1980
1980 in television
The year 1980 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1980.For the American TV schedule, see: 1980-81 American network television schedule.-Events:...
. Fridays actually began to lure away even SNLs most die-hard fans, as it improved comedically week after week as compared to the struggling Saturday Night Live '80.
Fridays did not have a guest host during its entire first season, though it did feature musical acts (very much like the FOX sketch show MADtv
MADtv
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
in its first three seasons) and celebrity cameos. During the second season the show began featuring guest hosts (the first was George Carlin
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
, who had also hosted the first episode of SNL in 1975
1975 in television
The year 1975 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1975.For the American TV schedule, see: 1975-76 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
), but instead of guest hosts (as SNL style), they were credited as "guest stars" (much like MADtv [which, like Fridays, was a West Coast-based sketch show that aired as a rival to Saturday Night Live] would do years later). Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
(a celebrity SNL has tried to book as a host, but failed) was the youngest person to host Fridays in 1981, at the age of 16.
The selections of musical guests were more experimental and daring, as the show featured many punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
artists. The production values for musical segments were higher, using colored concert style lighting, as opposed to SNLs flat white illumination.
DVD release and revival possibilities
No DVDs have been released yet from the series, reportedly because Richards is the only cast member who has the right to approve any home video releases from the series written into his contract. To date, he has not signed off on a DVD release, though some clips of Richards and Larry DavidLarry David
Lawrence Gene "Larry" David is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. He is best known as the co-creator , head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in...
on Fridays appear on the Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
Season 3 and 5 DVD's.
Episodes of Fridays edited to a sixty minute length appeared in syndication and on the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
later in the 1980s, but the series has not been aired since then.
A reunion of the cast and crew took place in October, 2011.