The Richard Pryor Special?

Overview

--Opening sketch with John Belushi (takes place on a ship). Pryor learns that he has been selected to do a special for NBC. --Backstage: A religious woman (LaWanda Page) tells Pryor that he needs to add a preacher to his special. --Sketch: Pryor as the Reverend James L. White (greedy TV preacher). --Backstage: A woman (Shirley Hemphill), on an NBC tour, suggests Pryor have "...and the Pips" on his show. --Sketch: "...and the Pips" - The Pips appear without Gladys Knight. They sing the background chorus for "Midnight Train to Georgia." --Backstage: A man who is stealing "Wheel of Fortune" prizes starts talking to Pryor. --Sketch: Pryor as Uganda's Idi Amin Dada. --Segment about the beauty of African-American women. A narrator reads the Langston Hughes poem "Harlem Sweeties." --Backstage: Pryor get his shoes shined by an old man (also played by Pryor). --Bar sketch with Pryor as an alcoholic (and John Belushi as the bartender). --2nd part of bar sketch: Pryor's character arrives at home. Maya Angelou plays his wife. --Backstage: Children suggest to Pryor that he do something educational on his special. (Soap actor Kristoff St. John plays one of the kids.) The kids sing "This World Was Made for All Men." --Backstage: Pryor is confronted by his writers who want him to do radical sketches (Sandra Bernhard cameo). --Pryor is now ready to tape his "special." But instead of being innovative, Pryor begins the "special" by singing a wholesome song. While he sings, the closing credits roll.

Episode Information