A Few Moments with Mr. Bill

 

Mr. Bill made his clayish premier on Saturday Night Live on February 28, 1976, the night of my 18^th birthday. I have no recollection of that night. Or many other birthdays. But I do remember becoming an instant fan of his appearances. His innocent adventures always took a dark turn at the hands of his stop-motion nemesis, Mr. Hands. 

Or the dreaded, Sluggo.

The Mr. Bill shorts had an absurdist flavor that mirrored the unusual comedy of Monty Python and fellow SNL writer Michael “Needles in the Eyes” O’Donohue. 

Created by Mr. Walt Williams, Mr. Bill became a quick fan favorite. Particularly among Boomers who grew up with SNL and relished his all too infrequent appearance.

Last week, while toying with some ignorant Red Hats -- I know, redundant -- on the LinkedIn platform, Mr. Bill in the human form of his creator, Walt Williams, came to my defense from out of the ether. I peaked at his profile and was stunned to find that Mr. Williams was indeed who he said he was. As some of you might know, I had dreams of graduating Syracuse University, moving to NYC and finding some way to become a writer on SNL. Or National Lampoon. Or Spy Magazine. 

It didn’t work out that way for me. And from what I’ve read about the brutal machinations at 30 Rock, it appears I dodged a bullet. Mr. Bill has agreed to a short interview. When I asked if he’d be game his response was “…sure, why not?” 

Which was a lot better than “Oh nooooo.”

RS:  Prior to SNL, what we were you and Mr. Bill doing?

Mr. Bill: Night watchman, disco DJ, sold popcorn...anything to survive but not take up my brain. I worked on a low budget movie as a teenager and borrowed the filmmakers Super 8 camera and started making comedy shorts and presenting then live and on UHF TV.

RS: When Lorne Michaels put out the request for short interstitial films, how many responses did he receive and what was your reaction to being called up to the Big Show, if I can borrow from the baseball world?

Mr. Bill: Not sure how many they received, but they picked Mr. Bill out of my reel of about 10 super 8s. I called and John Head said it would be on that Saturday night, which happened to be preempted in New Orleans for a Mardi Gras parade. They let me watch the local feed and sure enough, it was on.

 

RS: Describe the feeling you had when Mr. Bill first burst into the living rooms of America?

Mr. Bill: After watching at the NBC affiliate in New Orleans, no one believed me the next week that it was actually on. It was exciting and helped inspire me to keep going. I moved to New York and starved few years while submitting more Mr. Bill's for free.

RS: Is the Mr. Bill character based on you, someone else, who? Also, to that end who is the Sluggo character based on?

Mr. Bill: Nah, Mr. Bill just fits a formula I came up involving the 4 main characters. I fashioned it as a a bad kids show, except the hero got pulverized. Whatever went into influencing me is up for discussion, because I had no conscious decisions other the adventure and the gags.

RS: Would Sluggo ever wear a blonde wig?

Mr. Bill: No, but Sluggette might.

RS: Do you still watch SNL? What do you think of the show?

Mr. Bill: I watch occasionally, but past my bedtime. I don't know how Lorne does it. When I was there he was always there around the clock. I assume that's still the case.

RS:  It seems the current iteration of the show has abandoned the short film interstitial, which was always tighter and funnier than many skits, which sadly don’t know how to end with a punchline. Why doesn’t Lorne bring back the shorts?

Mr. Bill: I have no clue what goes into Lorne's decision making, though it's certainly been highly successful for a long time.

RS: Would you ever return to the show? 

Mr. Bill: Sure, if I was invited.

RS: What is Mr. Bill doing now?

Mr. Bill: Recovering from hip replacement.

RS: How does it feel to be a cultural icon of the 70’s and 80’s? 

Mr. Bill: Old.