Saturday Night Live
Rocket was cast for the 1980–81 season, which followed the departure of the remaining members of the show's original cast and executive producer Lorne Michaels. Singled out by new executive producer Jean Doumanian, he was promoted as a cross between Bill Murray and Chevy Chase. Rocket was tapped to anchor Weekend Update, and was featured in more sketches than any other male cast member that season with the exception of Joe Piscopo.
The February 21, 1981 episode hosted by Dallas star Charlene Tilton featured a parody of the famed "Who Shot J.R.?" story arc from the then-popular nighttime soap. During the show, Rocket was shot in the chest by a sniper in the middle of a sketch. In the show's closing moments, as cast members gathered with the host to say good night, Tilton asked Rocket how he felt about being shot. In character, Rocket improvised, "Oh, man, it’s the first time I've ever been shot in my life. I'd like to know who the fuck did it."
Due partially to the violation of broadcast standards, along with Saturday Night Live's low ratings and constant barrage of negative press over the new cast, Doumanian and Rocket were soon fired (along with most of the writers and fellow cast members Gilbert Gottfried and Ann Risley). Piscopo and Eddie Murphy were the only cast members to survive the axe, as new producer Dick Ebersol replaced Denny Dillon and Gail Matthius after one episode. In Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live, it is reported that Rocket was particularly hostile to Murphy and Piscopo.
Read more about this topic: Charles Rocket
Famous quotes containing the word night:
“The first in time and the first in importance of the influences upon the mind is that of nature. Every day, the sun; and after sunset, night and her stars. Ever the winds blow; ever the grass grows.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)