VINTAGE NR4PTP: The Early Years of SNL: S02E03 Eric Idle/Joe Cocker, Stuff (10/2/76) Artwork

The Not Ready for Prime Time Project: An SNL Retrospective

An in-depth journey into the legacy of one of television's most iconic and influential shows - Saturday Night Live. Through deep dives into its most memorable eras, behind-the-scenes stories, and analysis of its evolution, we celebrate and debate all things SNL - the show that has become an institution, defining comedy for over 50 years.

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The Not Ready for Prime Time Project: An SNL Retrospective

VINTAGE NR4PTP: The Early Years of SNL: S02E03 Eric Idle/Joe Cocker, Stuff (10/2/76)

July 15, 2025 • Two Pints Productions, Inc.

Another VINTAGE episode of The Early Years of SNL this week as we take a look back at Eric Idle's first time hosting Saturday Night Live early in Season 2. With the help of musical guest Joe Cocker (and Stuff), the Monty Python legend's outing delivers one of the best shows of the original era.

Top to bottom, this is a great episode. While it leans heavily on Idle and feels very reminiscent of all things Python, there are still plenty of classic SNL moments that stand out—including Baba Wawa, The Bees, and John Belushi doing his Joe Cocker impression alongside the real Joe Cocker during the musical performance. If that wasn't enough, this is also the episode that introduced us to "The Rutles."

We were joined by our "English Correspondent," Thomas Sena, making his second appearance on the podcast to help break down this Python-meets-SNL masterpiece.

This episode was originally released on October 17th, 2023.

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