Mr. Bill is the clay figurine star of a series of short subjects shown from 1976 to 1980 on Saturday Night Live (SNL). The "Mr. Bill Show" was a parody of children's shows.

Mr. Bill got its start when Walter Williams sent SNL a Super-8 reel featuring the character in response to the show's request for home movies. Williams became a full-time writer for the show in 1978, writing over twenty skits based on Mr. Bill.

Each Mr. Bill episode would start innocently enough, but would quickly turn dangerous for Mr. Bill. Along with his dog, Spot, he would suffer various indignities inflicted by Mr. Hands, a man seen only as a pair of arms. Sometimes the abuse would ostensibly come from the mean Mr. Sluggo, another clay figure character. The violence would inevitably escalate, generally ending with Mr. Bill being crushed or dismembered while squealing, "Ohhhh noooooooooooooo...."

Beyond SNL

In 2004, Mr. Bill will be part of a campaign aimed at teaching people, especially children, about the loss of Louisiana's coastal marshes and swamps.

External links

• Mr. Bill's website
• Mr. Bill and the Estuarians Begin Filming