The San Diego Union-Tribune
May 14, 1990, Monday

Base is boffo: SNL's' Clay ratings soar

   Foulmouthed comedian Andrew Dice Clay has apparently lifted "Saturday Night
Live" to its highest ratings all season.

   The show, which was boycotted by cast member Nora Dunn and singer Sinead
O'Connor because of Clay's brand of humor, averaged a rating of 11.6 and got a
31-percent share of the audience in the 24-city overnight Nielsens, NBC said.

   That was 8 points higher than the Feb. 24 "Saturday Night Live" with Fred
Savage of ABC's "The Wonder Years" as host, NBC said.

   The highest overnight rating for Saturday's broadcast was in Chicago, where
it had a 17.8 rating and a 37-percent share.  In New York, the nation's largest
TV market, it averaged a 15.2 rating and a 33-percent share.

   National ratings were to be released today.

   NBC's New York and Burbank, Calif., offices got 1,764 calls against Clay and
198 in his favor in what was probably the highest number of pre-show protests in
the program's 15-year history, NBC spokesman Curt Block said.

   Clay's appearance, broadcast with a five-second delay to allow bleeps, drew
heavy advance publicity because of the boycotts. Clay's act has been branded
racist and offensive to women and homosexuals.

   Security was heavy for the show, NBC said.  Guards with metal detectors
checked out guests entering both the dress rehearsal and the live broadcast.

   The only incident in the studio occurred during Clay's opening monologue,
when a couple began shouting "Clay, Clay, go away!" They were ejected.

   Clay was paid what an NBC official estimated at $5,000 for his work.

   During the program, Clay said he was donating his fee to "Comic Relief '90,"
a benefit for the homeless televised live on HBO Saturday night.

   One NBC affiliate, WETM-TV in Elmira, N.Y., refused to broadcast the program
because station officials did not "trust (Clay) on the air."

   The five-second delay -- which NBC also has used during earlier appearances
on the show by comics Richard Pryor and Sam Kinison -- enabled the network to
edit out two potentially offensive words repeatedly used by Clay and other cast
members during one sketch, entitled, "Daddy, What's Sex?"

   Clay bantered with a man sitting in the front row of the audience, asking him
about his relationship with his girlfriend.  When the man said he was going to
marry her, Clay made fun of the woman wearing a white dress at her wedding.

   Many of the skits during the 90-minute show exploited Clay's swaggering stage
demeanor and were laced with sexual references.

   After the show, Clay said in a prepared statement that "hosting Saturday
Night Live was a phenomenal experience that I and the rest of the country will
never forget."

   "I appreciate the support of the cast and crew," he said, adding jokingly
that he looked forward to becoming the show's permanent host.

   Some of the skits Saturday included references to Dunn's and O'Connor's
refusal to appear, including one that featured mock front pages of New York
newspapers with screaming banner headlines about the controversy.