Episode 155: Cicely Tyson/Talking Heads (February 10, 1979)

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges faced during SNL's first black female host, Cicely Tyson, and the controversial sketches that aired.

The show's first black female host. One of the coolest bands in NYC providing the tunes. Quite possibly the most amount of people watching the show in it's entire history. What could go wrong? Turns out, everything! In a move that can only be described as "yeah, that sounds like something SNL would do", the show manages to torpedo this moment in time with some of the most grim, grimy, sexist and just plain ugly sketches to ever grace your television screens. Strap in for this one, folks because it's not getting any easier.

People in this episode

Hosts: Andrew Dick, Tim Cicali

Guest: Cicely Tyson

Topics covered

• SNL history
• Cicely Tyson
• Talking Heads
• comedy sketches
• 1979 television

Keywords

• SNL
• Cicely Tyson
• Talking Heads
• comedy
• sketches
• 1979
• television

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Talking Heads

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