1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 15

Consume mass quantities, people as we celebrate another 40th anniversary today. It's on this date in history that the Coneheads debuted on Saturday Night Live!

(L-R) Curtin, Aykroyd, and Newman as
the Coneheads, 1977.

  Over a 3-year period, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, and Laraine Newman would portray the Coneheads; an alien trio with large conical bald heads, trying to integrate into society while posing as a French immigrant family. Aykroyd, who created the idea of the Coneheads, was Beldar, the patriarch, was an instructor as a driving academy. played the matriarch Prymatt and Newman was their daughter Connie.

Image from the very first Conehead sketch.
January 15, 1977
Steve Martin (center) played a census taker.

 During the run of the Coneheads, the aliens learned new earth cultures, such as trick-or-treating, going to the movies, and were even contestants on the Family Feud. They managed to turn the canival ring toss into a form of foreplay. But what the Coneheads were most known for was the consumption of mass quantities.

    The Coneheads would drink an entire six-pack at one time. When learning to smoke, they lit the entire pack of menthols on fire. Liquid paper, wood shavings, and shaving cream were destined to become the Coneheads next snack.

Character study of Aykroyd's Beldar Character,
from the 1983 animated special.

  In 1979, Dan Aykroyd and buddy John Belushi left SNL. The Coneheads went with the comedian. But that wasn’t the end of the Coneheads. In 1983, Rankin Bass produced an animated special about the Coneheads in hopes of becoming a full series. Though it featured the voice talents of the original actors and now considered a cult classic, the cartoon Coneheads never made it past the pilot.

Official trailer to the 1994 live-action film.

The Coneheads returned again, this time is the 90s as a feature length film. Newcomer Michelle Burke replaced Laraine Newman in the of role of Connie. A Marvel comic about the family's exploits after the events of the film was also released. Both were bombs. But the 2015 commercial where Beldar and Prymatt converse with Jake from Planet State Farm was a critical success and a very memorable Super Bowl ad at that. (Laraine Newman would return to the role of Connie later that year as the Coneheads take Jake to France.)

   

Cover to the first issue of the
short-lived 1994 Marvel comic.

Finally, I have to admit, my wife got it right! A few years ago, she made me the really awesome shirt which lists all kinds of great things that were introduced in 1977 (including a certain Madman.) She had Coneheads on the list. I never told her, but I thought she was wrong and that they came about way earlier, like in 1975 when the show debuted.

   
  Here’s your credit, Pumpkin!