Saturday Night Live Samurai
In the early years of Saturday Night Live, John Belushi portrayed a samurai—he had a dedicated concept of honor, spoke only (mock) Japanese, and wielded a katana. Each sketch had him located in a different place and time that was typically inappropriate for a samurai, yet he performed his tasks perfectly, despite scaring his clients quite a few times. The character was modeled after Toshiro Mifune's character in Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo.
Samurai Futaba would probably not have become a recurring character if not for Buck Henry's insistence that there be a second sketch featuring him when he first hosted on January 17, 1976. It is perhaps due to these origins that it became standard practice on SNL to feature a Samurai sketch every time Henry hosted, up until the time Belushi left the cast. (And except for "Samurai BMOC", each time Henry would play the same character, Mr. Dantley.)
In issue #74 of Marvel Team-Up (cover dated October, 1978), Belushi (in character as Samurai Futaba) dueled Marvel Comics supervillain Silver Samurai, who believed that Belushi was disgracing the history of the samurai. He also appears briefly in issue #54 of The Sandman.
Read more about Saturday Night Live Samurai: List of Saturday Night Live Episodes Featuring Samurai Futaba
Famous quotes containing the words saturday night, saturday, night, live and/or samurai:
“Saturday night was for wives, but Friday night at the Copa was always for the girlfriends.”
—Nicholas Pileggi, U.S. screenwriter, and Martin Scorsese. Henry Hill (Ray Liotta)
“The return of the asymmetrical Saturday was one of those small events that were interior, local, almost civic and which, in tranquil lives and closed societies, create a sort of national bond and become the favorite theme of conversation, of jokes and of stories exaggerated with pleasure: it would have been a ready- made seed for a legendary cycle, had any of us leanings toward the epic.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“The night was thick and hazy
When the “Piccadilly Daisy”
Carried down the crew and captain in the sea;
And I think the water downed ‘em;
For they never, never found ‘em,
And I know they didn’t come ashore with me.”
—Charles Edward Carryl (1841–1920)
“The revolution must end and the republic must begin. In our constitution, right must take the place of duty, welfare that of virtue, and self-defense that of punishment. Everyone must be able to prevail and to live according to one’s own nature.”
—Georg Büchner (1813–1837)
“I am the scroll of the poet behind which samurai swords are being sharpened.”
—Lester Cole, U.S. screenwriter, Nathaniel Curtis, and Frank Lloyd. Prince Tatsugi (Frank Puglia)