OHHHH NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

  I love Saturday Night Live and despite it’s many downs, but I believe there are more ups so I stay with it.

There are so many things to love:

Landshark,
Two Wild and Crazy Guys,
The Church Lady,
Beep in a Box, Ed Grimley,
Canteen Boy, Spinal Tap,
Mary Katherine Gallagher,
Father Guido Sarducci,
Matt Foley, Goth Talk,
Sarah Palin, Pat,
Celebrity Jeopardy!,
Sprockets, Wayne’s World,
Stuart Smalley,
Larry the Lobster,
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer,
Mr. Peepers, Weekend Update,
Samurai Tailor, More Cowbell,
Toonces the Driving Cat,
The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise,
Synchronized Swimming,
Chippendale’s Auditions,
Schweddy Balls,
Chronicles of Narnia (Lazy Sunday) –
I could go on and on, believe me, I could, but there’s a special place in my mind for Mr. Bill.

Mr. Bill is the clay figurine clown created by Walter Williams (sent to SNL as a Super-8 reel  as part of SNL’s request for home movies) to parody children’s shows. First aired in 1976, 2 years later Williams became a writer on SNL and yahoo, more Mr. Bill.

As a funny, both strange and amusing side note, Mr. Hands, the man seen only as a pair of hands, but who does most of the damage to poor Mr. Bill was played by Vance DeGeneres, the older brother of Ellen DeGeneres, he was also a correspondent on The Daily Show years ago.

Over the years Mr. Bill has been used to advertise products, as answers in shows, in skits, movies, games, teaching about the environment and in anti-drug campaigns – he pops up everywhere.  But always with the same pattern. Things start off well for Mr. Bill and those unfortunate enough to be around him like Sally and Spot. That doesn’t last long. Things go badly for Mr. Bill when Sluggo and Mr. Hands show up. Mr. Bill suffers terrible humiliations that escalate quickly to his ultimate demise with his shrieking in a high-pitched voice, “Ohhhh noooooooooooooo…” . Is it wrong to think it’s funny? Perhaps. Is it funny? Yes. Very much yes.