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The sweet and hapless clay character Mr. Bill made his national TV debut in 1976 during Saturday Night Live’s first season, and as his adventures unspooled via Super 8 film over five seasons and 20 sketches, it was clear to viewers that the popular character’s fate was sealed. Mr. Bill and his dog Spot, in a loose parody of children’s Claymation shows, were created by SNL writer Walter Williams, who seemed to delight in poor Bill’s torment. Mr. Bill and Spot are put through the wringer in every short; Bill could never defeat his fickle “creator” and co-star, Mr. Hands – who downplays danger in a friendly off-camera voice while inviting chaos into Bill’s otherwise quiet existence – or his clay nemesis Sluggo. Mr. Bill ends up dismembered and crushed in every appearance – as he cries out in his trademark falsetto “Ohhhh nooooo!” – so it was no surprise when his first retirement from SNL in its 1979-80 season depicted him homeless, psychologically traumatized and thrown in prison.
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In 1976 Super 8 was in it's prime, and so was Mr Bill! I wonder if any of those Super 8 films from those five seasons survived?
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I LOVE Mr. Bill! I have a laserdisc of the best of Mr. Bill, with the flipside being the best of "Toonces the Driving Cat". I know that the first episode was definitely super 8, but I think that most of the rest of the episodes may well have been 16mm, based on the major upgrade of quality from episode 2 on up!
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