Saturday Night Live paid tribute to actress Shelley Duvall just hours after her death on Thursday, July 11, remembering the unique way she kicked off an episode of the show’s second season.
The actress was known for her roles in The Shining as well as her work with Robert Altman in movies like Nashville and 3 Women. It was just after the release of that latter film (for which she won Best Actress at Cannes and received a BAFTA nomination) that Duvall hosted SNL for her first and only time and where she appeared in an unusual cold open.
The May 14, 1977 episode opens with Duvall and John Belushi in bumblebee outfits, arguing with showrunner Lorne Michaels. Duvall addresses the audience to explain the supposedly unforeseen circumstance.
“Originally we were going to start the show tonight with me and John Belushi doing a love scene from ‘Flight of the Bumblebee,’” Duvall says. “But just now, a network executive contacted our producer Lorne Michaels, and we had to change our plans.”
Duvall goes on to read the supposed NBC memo, which explains that the network is delaying the start of the show to rebroadcast a boxing match between Duane Bobick and Ken Norton. Three days earlier, Norton had knocked out Bobick in only 58 seconds in the much-anticipated fight.
“Because of the high cost-per-minute ratio,” Duvall reads, “all NBC programs broadcast between now and June 15 will begin with the aforementioned Bobick-Norton fight.”
Viewers are then taken backstage, where Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner get into an altercation of their own as the boxing match plays on a TV screen behind them. Jane Curtin breaks up the altercation as Duvall enters, kicking off a back-and-forth of brash comments between the four women.
On the screen behind them, the boxing match ends—but rather than cut to SNL’s opening sequence, the backstage sketch continues. The SNL titles roll on the screen over their shoulder, and announcer Don Pardo’s voice can only faintly be heard in the background. It’s a rare moment in which the show’s iconic opening sequence doesn’t take center stage.
The fake behind-the-scenes moment then merges seamlessly with the real show. As the opening wraps up, the group heads to the home base of Studio 8H and take the stage for their first sketch: a musical performance as the “Video Vixens.”
Real SNL stage manager Bob Van Ry, who died earlier this month, also makes a brief appearance.
Newman herself paid tribute to Duvall on X/Twitter yesterday afternoon, writing, “Oh man. I was friends with Shelly Duvall and have fond memories of games of Pictionary at her house and an entire room for her birds. She was funny and kind and delightfully eccentric. RIP adorable lady.”
Duvall’s 1977 episode may have been her only appearance on Saturday Night Live, but in that “delightfully eccentric” fashion, she made it a standout moment in the show’s history.