Miskel Spillman / Elvis Costello is a Christmas episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live that debuted on NBC on December 17, 1977. The host, Miskel Spillman, was the series' first, and to date only, non-celebrity to host an episode of the show as winner of the "Anyone Can Host" contest. A month earlier, Spillman had appeared with four other finalists on SNL and was later voted the viewers' favorite. Spillman was 80 years old at the time she hosted. Elvis Costello performed two songs as musical guest.
Holiday Sketches[]
"Gift of the Magi": John Belushi plays the husband of a hospital-bed-ridden Gilda Radner, each fretting, ala The Gift Of The Magi, that they do not have the money to buy the other the gift they really want - including the money for Gilda's operation, which will still require John's kidney. Like the husband in the original story, Belushi gives all he can to help his wife; Radner, however, instead of cutting off and selling her long luxuriant hair, merely sells her brush to get him a much cheaper gift. Belushi breaks down and then begins to strangle her (in a cartoony, sitcom-esque way).
"Wino Santa" A drunken department store Santa (Bill Murray) acts abusively toward a girl (Gilda Radner).
On Weekend Update, Bill Murray offers up a clueless review of Miracle On 34th Street.