Whats the real story with Elvis Costello and SNL?
While I don’t recall if Elvis Costello story is specifically covered in this book it does however mention that improvisation (except for Weekend Update anchors) is verboten for cast members so I can only imagine what would happen if a guest did it.
The problem with this story is while “Radio Radio” is certainly something that 1970s network exec types might balk at, SNL was doing far more controversial stuff than that, and it doesn’t seem like that big a deal compared to all the blatant drug references, etc. that they got away with every week. Seconding that drug and sex references get people tuning in, and that criticizing corporate/media censoring practices just makes the network look foolish (by having an invited guest criticize them live). For the version I had heard, it was a mixture of your two stories and the one about the network wanting an established song. I had always heard Elvis wanted to debut “Radio, Radio” right before “This Year’s Model” came out. Network wanted an established song, demanded “Less Than Zero.” Everything was scheduled according to that song. Show ran late. Elvis also claimed he felt the show had been really lackluster, unfunny, and generally uninteresting. Elvis decided to seize the opportunity of b
