Emily Litella was portrayed as an elderly woman with a hearing problem who appeared 26 times on SNL's Weekend Update op-ed segment in the late 1970s. Attired in a frumpy dress, sweater and Lisa Loopner glasses, Litella was introduced with professional dignity by the news anchors, who could sometimes be seen cringing slightly in anticipation of the malapropisms they knew would follow.
Gilda Radner (as Litella) would peer through her reading glasses and, in the character's trademark high-pitched, warbly voice, would read a prepared statement in opposition to an editorial that the TV station had supposedly broadcast. These sketches were, in part, a parody of the Fairness Doctrine, which at the time required broadcasters in the United States to present opposing viewpoints on public issues.
Litella would become increasingly agitated as her statement progressed. Midway in her commentary, it became apparent that she had misheard and/or misunderstood the subject of the editorial to which she was responding.
In this video clip, Weekend Update news anchor Chevy Chase introduces Litella to respond to an editorial about saving Soviet Jewry.
Enjoy...and never mind!
A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS: THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.
#Throwback Thursday #TBT
Posts
What a fantastic actress.
ReplyDeleteVery funny
ReplyDeleteI have saved this and watch it every once in a while just to get "refreshed."
ReplyDelete