'The Olympia Restaurant' Skit Demonstrates 'SNL' At Its Best
Mar 24, 2020 by apost team
For over the past four decades, Saturday Night Live has entertained audiences with its colorful characters, biting wit, and real-world scenes. The show is so popular that even the biggest stars eagerly wait for their chance to host episodes. While Saturday Night Live retains some of its most important characteristics, the show’s heyday is undeniably in its first few seasons. This is best exemplified in the Olympia Restaurant skit from the 70s.
As the camera pans down, viewers are welcomed to the Olympia Restaurant, a typical diner that one can find in any big city. As patrons sit down, they are greeted by John Belushi’s Pete Dionasopoulos, the boss of the restaurant. Pete is a lot like many restaurant owners, running a tight ship with George, the restaurant cook who is played by Dan Aykroyd, and waitstaff.
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The Olympia Restaurant itself is also a lot like restaurants anyone would sit down at while visiting a big city. Like the patrons in the skit, most people have been disappointed by lack of options at eating places they’ve visited at some point in their lives. When patrons try to make an order at the Olympia Restaurant, Pete informs them that the only thing that they have available are cheeseburgers, chips, and Pepsi. Pete even mispronounces the items on the menu, calling cheeseburgers “cheeburgers” and chips “cheeps.”
During the skit, Pete even gets into a big altercation with one guest, who insists that it is too early in the morning to eat cheeseburgers. As Pete counts off all the customers enjoying the diner’s “cheeburgers,” George mistakes his “cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger” for a large order, slapping down 12 beef patties on the short order grill.
While the absurd situation makes for great laughs, the cast and crew make the skit all the more believable and show the major differences in how Saturday Night Live was performed in the 70s and how it is performed now. While today’s cast members use cue cards for their lines, each and every performer in the Olympia Restaurant skit memorized their lines. This gives the skit a much more authentic feel, which is bolstered by how the cast also uses real props. As Belushi interacts with the customers in the front of the seating area, Aykroyd cooks on a working grill with real meat. Olympia Restaurant became so popular that it was featured several times on classic Saturday Night Live episodes.
Olympia Restaurant represents Saturday Night Live at its best. Watching Belushi and Aykroyd’s acting skills makes users remember the show’s golden age. Given that viewers remain interested in the show’s classic cast, as exemplified in the record-breaking return of Eddie Murphy to the series last season, it is hopeful that the show will once again use techniques that made the show great.
What do you think of the Olympia Restaurant skit? What are your favorite Saturday Night Live skits?