History of Saturday Night Live (1985–1990)

Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created by Lorne Michaels, who also produced many episodes. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.

After the 1984–85 season, producer Dick Ebersol pitched a retool of the show that emphasized taped material over live material; NBC declined and Ebersol left, reinstating Michaels. Michaels hired a new and younger cast, but the 1985–86 season received unfavorable reviews. ^[1]

Michaels fired most of the cast before the 1986–87 season, hiring a new cast that included members Phil Hartman and Dana Carvey. This cast would remain relatively stable until the 1990–91 season.

Michaels' return and near cancellation (1985-1986)

Main article: Saturday Night Live season 11

Dick Ebersol left SNL because NBC refused his request to shut the program down entirely for six months in order to shift most of the material from a live broadcast onto tape. NBC briefly considered cancelling the show, but programming head Brandon Tartikoff (a fan of SNL) decided to keep it, rehiring former producer Lorne Michaels. ^[2]

Michaels wanted a younger cast for the show. ^{[3] [4]} He hired Academy Award nominee Randy Quaid, best known for his work in The Last Detail and National Lampoon's Vacation , as well as Robert Downey Jr. and Joan Cusack. Damon Wayans was hired as a featured player.

Michaels later said about the 1985-1986 cast that "perhaps I was too young". As Al Franken stated, "You couldn't do a Senate hearing [sketch] with Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey Jr., [or] Terry Sweeney. I mean, those guys aren't senators." ^[4]

Wayans, who had been frustrated with his lack of screen time and creative freedom, went off-script in a sketch on the March 15, 1986 episode by deciding to play the small character role of a police officer as an effeminate gay stereotype. ^[5] He was fired by Michaels immediately after. ^{[6] [7]} Wayans was eventually invited back to do stand-up for the season finale and returned as a host in season 20. ^[8]

Terry Sweeney was the first openly gay male cast member. Sweeney was also the first openly gay actor ever to appear on an American television show, and the second of two SNL writers from Jean Doumanian's 1980–1981 season to be hired as a cast member in a later season. ^[9]

Michaels changed the name of the news segment from Saturday Night News back to Weekend Update. Jon Lovitz was originally speculated to be the new anchor, but was occupied with sketch work and the anchor job was given to Dennis Miller, who would hold the position for the next five seasons. ^{[10] [11]}

Jack Handey, Robert Smigel, and George Meyer joined the writing staff. ^[12]

Ratings for the season were weak, and some cast members did not expect the show to be renewed. NBC nearly cancelled the show at the end of the 1985–1986 season. ^[13] Michaels asked for another season. He ended the season's last show with a sketch in which the cast (playing themselves) get caught in a fire, and Michaels chooses to rescue only Jon Lovitz. ^{[14] [3]}

Cast

Repertory players Joan Cusack Robert Downey Jr. Nora Dunn Anthony Michael Hall Jon Lovitz Dennis Miller Randy Quaid Terry Sweeney Danitra Vance

Featured players A. Whitney Brown (debut: March 15, 1986) Al Franken (return: May 24, 1986) Don Novello Dan Vitale (final: February 8, 1986) Damon Wayans (final: March 15, 1986)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Carvey, Hartman and SNL's "second Golden Age" (1986-1987)

Main article: Saturday Night Live season 12

When the 1986-1987 season began, only Lovitz, Nora Dunn, Dennis Miller, and featured player A. Whitney Brown returned as cast members. Michaels went back to his original tactic of assembling a strong ensemble of relative unknowns, led by Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson, and Kevin Nealon. ^[15]

The first show of the 1986–1987 season opened with Madonna, host of the previous season opener, telling the audience that the entire 1985–1986 season had been a "horrible, horrible dream". ^[3] Carvey's Church Lady character debuted in this episode. ^[16]

Carvey's impression of George H. W. Bush is widely remembered, and Hartman's send-up of President Ronald Reagan kickstarted the most fruitful and successful period of political parody on SNL. ^{[17] [18]}

Other popular sketches introduced this season include Mr. Subliminal, ^[19] the Sweeney Sisters, ^[20] and Derek Stevens. ^[21]

Cast

Repertory players Dana Carvey Nora Dunn Phil Hartman Jan Hooks Victoria Jackson Jon Lovitz Dennis Miller

Featured players A. Whitney Brown Kevin Nealon

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers' strike (1987-1988)

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 13)

The season ended early due to the 1988 writers' strike. Gilda Radner had been scheduled to host the season finale in the spring. ^[22]

Notable writers that joined the writing staff this season included Conan O'Brien, Bob Odenkirk, and Greg Daniels. ^[23]

Cast

Repertory players Dana Carvey Nora Dunn Phil Hartman Jan Hooks Victoria Jackson Jon Lovitz Dennis Miller Kevin Nealon

Featured players A. Whitney Brown

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Myers joins (1988–1989)

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 14)

Mike Myers was cast and debuted midseason. ^[24] The first Wayne's World sketch debuted on February 18, 1989 and went on to become a popular reoccurring segment that spawned a successful 1992 film. ^[25] Ben Stiller, whose short film spoof of The Color of Money caught the attention of SNL and was aired in season twelve, ^[26] had a very brief stint as a featured player. ^[27] He left after only four episodes because he wanted to focus more on making short films, while the show only wanted him to perform sketch comedy. ^[27]

Gilda Radner died in May 1989 after her cancer returned. Steve Martin, Radner's close friend, hosted the season finale and paid tribute to Radner. In lieu of his planned monologue, he presented a sketch from the 1970s featuring himself and Radner dancing. ^{[28] [29]}

Cast

Repertory players Dana Carvey Nora Dunn Phil Hartman Jan Hooks Victoria Jackson Jon Lovitz Dennis Miller Kevin Nealon

Featured players A. Whitney Brown Al Franken Mike Myers (debut: January 21, 1989) Ben Stiller (debut: March 25, 1989)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

1989–1990 season

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 15)

This season included SNL's 15th Anniversary Special. ^[30] The season would be Jon Lovitz's last, but he would continue to make cameo appearances throughout the show's sixteenth season.

Andrew Dice Clay episode

Nora Dunn made headlines in 1990 when she, along with original musical guest Sinéad O'Connor, boycotted an episode hosted by comedian Andrew Dice Clay because they found his misogynistic humor offensive. After this incident, Dunn was let go from the show. ^{[31] [32]}

Cast

Repertory players Dana Carvey Nora Dunn Phil Hartman Jan Hooks Victoria Jackson Jon Lovitz Dennis Miller Mike Myers Kevin Nealon

Featured players A. Whitney Brown Al Franken

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

References

1. Rabin, Nathan (October 3, 2012). "Younger, Sexier, Inherently Doomed Case File #25: Saturday Night Live's 1985-1986 season". The A.V. Club . Retrieved April 5, 2022.
2. Shales & Miller 2002, p. 294.
3. "Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost and Found". Saturday Night Live. November 13, 2005. NBC.
4. Shales & Miller 2002, p. 299.
5. Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 308–310.
6. Wright, Megh (October 22, 2013). "Saturday Night's Children: Damon Wayans (1985-1986)". Splitsider . Archived from the original on October 24, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
7. Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 309–310.
8. Shales & Miller 2002, p. 312.
9. Hartinger, Brent (January 5, 2011). "Interview: SNL's Terry Sweeney was the First Openly Gay Regular on Network Television (and Lived to Tell About It!)". The Backlot. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
10. Heldenfels, R.D. (April 2, 1987). "Comic Miller at Union: Happy Is as Funny Does". Schenectady Gazette . p. 27. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
11. Reilly, Dan (May 18, 2014). "A Complete Ranking of Saturday Night Live 'Weekend Update' Anchors - Slideshow". Vulture. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
12. Atwater, Carleton (January 21, 2011). "Looking Back at Saturday Night Live, 1985-1990". Vulture. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
13. Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 313–314.
14. Shales & Miller 2002, p. 314.
15. Gendel, Morgan (September 30, 1986). "Another Groundling Hops To 'Snl'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved April 13, 2015.
16. Hoogenboom, Lynn (April 17, 1987). "On the Cover: "You can't compete with a memory," says Lorne Michaels". The Vindicator. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
17. Sims, David (December 3, 2018). "Dana Carvey's George H. W. Bush Was an All-Time Great 'SNL' Impression". The Atlantic . Retrieved January 11, 2022.
18. Adalian, Josef (June 2, 2017). "How Each Era of SNL Has Ridiculed American Presidents". Vulture . Retrieved January 11, 2022.
19. Harris, Mark (December 25, 1992). "1. The Cast of 'Saturday Night Live'". EW.com. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
20. Arar, Yardena (August 30, 1988). "Finally, an entertaining Emmy show". Los Angeles Daily News . p. 1C. Retrieved May 27, 2024– via Lakeland Ledger.
21. Shefchik, Rick (May 8, 1987). "'Isn't that special?' Carvey finding niche on SNL". Lewiston Journal . Knight-Ridder Newspapers. p. 1C. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
22. Hoglund, Andy (May 5, 2023). "'SNL' hosts whose episodes were canceled amid strikes: John Candy, Gilda Radner, more". EW.com. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
23. Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 326–330.
24. Shales & Miller 2002, p. 348.
25. Shales & Miller 2002, p. 349.
26. "Episodes | 03.28.1987 #11 - The Hustler of Money". SNL Archives. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
27. Simpson, Connor (February 16, 2022). "Revisiting Ben Stiller's Brief Stint as an SNL Cast Member". primetimer.com. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
28. Shales & Miller 2002, p. 352.
29. Evans, Bradford (March 22, 2012). "The Lost Roles of Gilda Radner". Vulture. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
30. "Live from New York (by Way of Chicago), It's…". Chicago Tribune . September 24, 1989. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
31. Bonaime, Ross (October 27, 2011). "The 10 Most Shocking Moments on Saturday Night Live". Paste . Archived from the original on October 29, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
32. Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 337–339.

Works cited

• Shales, Tom; Miller, James Andrew (2002). Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Little, Brown. ISBN   978-0316781466.