Did he just say Mattituck?
That might have been your reaction if you stayed up late last night to watch the replay of the first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live.
In one sketch of the series’ inaugural episode from Oct. 11, 1975, original cast member John Belushi made reference to our hometown, saying he was bit by a shark while visiting his summer home in Mattituck, Long Island. (We tried uploading the scene, but could not due to copyright issues. You can read a transcript of the sketch here and Hulu Plus subscribers can view the entire episode.)
The bit, which co-starred Jane Curtin, was called “Victims of Shark Bite” and it appears just after Janis Ian’s performance of “At Seventeen.” The sketch was a play off the movie “Jaws,” which was released four months earlier and has its own connections to the East End.
Ian was one of two musical guests in the first episode, which was hosted by comedian George Carlin and features a much different format than what we’ve grown accustomed to over the past four decades.
SNL celebrates its 40th anniversary with a primetime special at 8 p.m. on NBC tonight. The special will have many other connections to Long Island, including the much-anticipated return of Roosevelt native Eddie Murphy to the show he departed 30 years ago.
