As “Saturday Night Live” marks its 50th anniversary, The Canadian Press is looking back at some of the sketch comedy show’s most notable Canadian musical performances.
Musical Guest: Loverboy
Song: “Working for the Weekend”
Host: Jerry Lewis
Date: Nov. 19, 1983
THE SHOW: "SNL"'s 9th season included several notable changes. Jim Belushi had joined the show, just over a year after his older brother John Belushi — an original cast member — died of a drug overdose. And in this episode, Eddie Murphy made one of his rare live appearances of the season before embarking on a full-time film career.
BACKSTAGE: Loverboy lead singer Mike Reno recalls the band’s dressing room was directly across from Lewis's: “I opened my door at the exact same time Jerry opened his door. I looked at him, and I don't know where this came from, but I did a Jerry Lewis (impression) for Jerry Lewis.” The comedian responded with his own spastic, arms-flailing impression and for a moment, the two were “mirror images.” “After that, he invited me out for dinner,” Reno says.
THE REHEARSAL: Reno says Lewis – whose appearance followed double-bypass surgery the previous year – hurt himself doing a physical gag in rehearsal. “The doctor went into (Lewis’ dressing room) and the next thing you know he’s pretty goofed up,” Reno said. “He must’ve given him some painkillers.”
LIVE ON AIR: Lewis’s extensive ad-libs pushed his live sketches into overtime, as well as his introduction of Loverboy. After waving his hands and shouting “Baby! Baby!” as he turned to the Calgary band, he turned serious: “I’d like to present a group whose name sounds like it should be the title of one of my films.”
Clad in a black leather vest, matching pants, and red and blue bandanas, Reno spun across the stage and pumped his fist to the synth and guitar hooks of their 1981 hit “Working for the Weekend.” But a planned performance of Loverboy's “Hot Girls in Love” later in the episode was yanked due to time.
“It was a major disappointment, of course,” Reno said. “But you got to say to yourself, ‘I'm a kid from a little town in British Columbia, and I'm on 'Saturday Night Live.' I don't care if I'm on for one minute.”
THE LEGACY: Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend” got a second airing in 1990, when cast member Chris Farley and guest host Patrick Swayze gyrated to the tune as wannabe strippers in a beloved sketch dubbed “Chippendales Audition.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2025.
David Friend, The Canadian Press
