An Exclusive Eyewitness Account…Billy Crystal & The Debut Of SNL

In an earlier post today, we looked at the history of the show’s missed start date and the first episode. As you know, Billy Crystal was scheduled to appear, but he didn’t.

You are about to learn the real story of why he didn’t from someone who was there…Joel Spector, who was on the audio crew for the first 17 years of SNL.

Many, including me, were curious about how this happened…was it a last minute thing or did it come earlier in the week? Did he appear in the dress rehearsal? In later years, Billy had talked about the disappointment of being bumped but thanks to Joel, we’ll hear what really happened. Here is his account…

“This is the real story. Billy did indeed appear in the dress rehearsal and got big laughs. I was at the post-dress rehearsal production meeting. For this week only, every staff and crew member attended this meeting, held right in the middle of the studio.

There were three “new young comedians” scheduled to appear that week, in addition to host George Carlin. They were Andy Kaufman, Billy Crystal and Valri Bromfeld. Lorne announced that the show was very long and that only two of the three new comedians could be on the air show: Andy (with two spots) worked to recorded music, “which couldn’t be cut.”

“Billy was set to do his “Late Show” routine, in which he did all of he sounds for the typical late movie show on a local station, complete with badly spliced film hiccups. He said that he had been doing this routine for some time and that it had already been refined to be “just right.” “I understand that this might rule me out,” he said.”

“Valri piped up: “I can cut down my piece…no problem.” Lorne then wished Billy well and promised him a spot during the next few weeks. Soon after, he was cast on “Soap” and became a big star. Andy went on to the comedy stratosphere until his untimely demise. Valri did her shortened and not very funny routine and then resumed her career as a comic actor and writer.” – Joel Spector

To follow up on Joel’s account, as Lorne had promised, Billy returned on April 17, 1976 on Season 1’s 17th Episode which was hosted by President Ford’s Press Secretary, Ron Nessen with musical guest Patti Smith.

Thanks to Joel, we now know that it was only after the dress rehearsal that Crystal was cut. Till now, that part had never been known. Many thanks to Joel for this missing piece of history and to the many that share similar first hand information on this page.

In the photo below we see our friends Joel Spector (L) and Gady Reinhold (R)…friends since childhood and television veterans extraordinaire. Joel joined NBC in 1965 and Gady joined CBS a year later. Both have been a tremendous help to this site and their passion for television’s history and friendship is greatly appreciated! Enjoy and Share! – Bobby Ellerbee

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