Saturday Night Live
Ray Charles / Ray Charles and The Raelettes
TV Flash files “Ray Charles / Ray Charles and The Raelettes” as hour 51 of 1009 in the TV Flash guide — Saturday Night Live (1975–present) on NBC, season 3, episode 5, aired 1977-11-12, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E05: listed hour 51 of 1009 in the Saturday Night Live guide, hour 5 of 20 in season 3. It aired 1977-11-12 (90 min). The listed hour before it is “Charles Grodin / Paul Simon and The Persuasions” (S03E04). Next is “Buck Henry / Leon Redbone” (S03E06). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Ray Charles hosts and performs.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Ray Charles / Ray Charles and The Raelettes sit in the Saturday Night Live guide?
S03E05 is listed hour 51 of 1009 — hour 5 of 20 in season 3, season 3 episode 5.
When did Saturday Night Live S03E05 air?
Ray Charles / Ray Charles and The Raelettes aired 1977-11-12 and is listed at 90 minutes.
Where should I start if I cannot watch fifty seasons?
Do not start at season forty and scroll. Take the first Carlin hour for the live contract, Pryor for the danger, then one later event night (Walken or Timberlake) to see the factory still printing heat.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Not for a thousand recaps — for the live stain. Cold opens as weather, musical guests as alibis, and a talent factory that still prints stars, firings, and Sunday-morning arguments no For You page can schedule.
Flash: October 11, 1975, George Carlin in a cream suit that already looks like a dare, Billy Preston and Janis Ian as the musical alibi, and a late-night hour NBC had not yet learned how to brand. They called it Saturday Night. The afterglow is still on. Someone in 8H is already whispering that the host is terrified, the sketch will run long, and the cut that matters will not be the one Standards & Practices circled. Live television is a carpet that cannot be steam-cleaned until Sunday. I live for that stain.
Filed against
- Lorne Michaels as Creator / Executive Producer
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- John Belushi as Not Ready for Prime Time Player
John Belushi was an original Not Ready for Prime Time Player when Saturday Night Live was still called Saturday Night — Studio 8H as afterparty, talent mill, and live stain. Cold opens as weather, musical mythology in the building. On TV…
- Dan Aykroyd as Not Ready for Prime Time Player
Dan Aykroyd helped invent Saturday Night Live’s original chaos — Bass-O-Matic energy, Blues Brothers heat, and the talent factory that never fully sleeps. Live sketch as career launchpad from a 1975 hour NBC had not yet learned to brand.…
- Gilda Radner as Not Ready for Prime Time Player
Gilda Radner was an original Not Ready for Prime Time Player on Saturday Night Live — Studio 8H as after-party and talent mill, live television as a carpet that cannot be steam-cleaned until Sunday. TV Flash files her as the first-look…