The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between November 9, 1985, and May 24, 1986, the eleventh season of SNL.
A Danitra Vance sketch. Debuted November 9, 1985.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
11 | November 9, 1985 | Madonna | |
11 | November 23, 1985 | Pee-wee Herman | |
11 | December 21, 1985 | Teri Garr | |
11 | January 25, 1986 | Dudley Moore | |
11 | April 12, 1986 | Oprah Winfrey | |
11 | May 17, 1986 | Jimmy Breslin |
A Damon Wayans and Anthony Michael Hall sketch. Debuted November 9, 1985.
The Limits of the Imagination was a short-lived sketch featured on the 1985–1986 season. It featured Randy Quaid as "The Floating Head", a Rod Serling-like character who would introduce a creepy, Twilight Zone -esque story with a weak ending (or no ending at all). The title was also reminiscent of the 1960s sci-fi anthology The Outer Limits .
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
11 | November 9, 1985 | Madonna | In a loose parody of The Twilight Zone episode "The Hitch-hiker", Madonna plays a female motorist who is being followed by a crazy man (played by Jon Lovitz) living in the engine of her car. |
11 | December 7, 1985 | John Lithgow | Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Nora Dunn, and Terry Sweeney play restaurant patrons who are trapped at an "all-you-can-eat" fish restaurant where patrons are forced to eat everything on the menu. |
11 | January 25, 1986 | Dudley Moore | Dudley Moore plays a bad comedian who sells his soul to the devil (played by Jon Lovitz) in order to be popular. |
11 | February 8, 1986 | Ron Reagan | In a parody of several Twilight Zone episodes, notably "Person or Persons Unknown", Ron Reagan Jr. plays a man who is treated like a stranger by his wife (Joan Cusack), son (Robert Downey Jr.), and friends (Jon Lovitz, Damon Wayans, and Dan Vitale). |
11 | February 15, 1986 | Jerry Hall | Jerry Hall plays "Maggie the Cat" from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , who traps and seduces a gay man (played by Terry Sweeney) in her hotel room. |
11 | May 10, 1986 | Catherine Oxenberg, Paul Simon | Young Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel (played by Robert Downey, Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall) sell their souls to the Devil (Jon Lovitz) for success. Later, an elderly Paul Simon (who appears as himself) lives out his personal hell of listening to Muzak versions of his greatest hits while stuck in an elevator. |
Nora Dunn played the host, a somewhat dim, shallow, ex-model who thought Vogue was literature. Debuted November 16, 1985.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
11 | November 16, 1985 | Chevy Chase | |
11 | November 23, 1985 | Pee-wee Herman | |
11 | December 14, 1985 | Tom Hanks | |
11 | January 25, 1986 | Dudley Moore | |
11 | February 8, 1986 | Ron Reagan | |
11 | February 15, 1986 | Jerry Hall | |
11 | April 12, 1986 | Oprah Winfrey | |
11 | May 17, 1986 | Jimmy Breslin | |
12 | December 6, 1986 | Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Martin Short | |
12 | January 31, 1987 | Paul Shaffer | |
12 | April 11, 1987 | John Lithgow | |
13 | October 31, 1987 | Dabney Coleman | |
13 | February 20, 1988 | Tom Hanks | |
14 | October 8, 1988 | Tom Hanks | |
14 | November 19, 1988 | John Lithgow | |
14 | February 18, 1989 | Leslie Nielsen | |
15 | February 24, 1990 | Fred Savage |
An Anthony Michael Hall sketch. Debuted November 16, 1985.
The Pathological Liar is a character created and portrayed by Jon Lovitz, often appearing on Weekend Update segments to share his farcical views. The character's name was Tommy Flanagan ( /fləˈneɪɡən/ flə-NAY-gən) — not to be confused with the jazz pianist) — and he would tell outrageous whoppers in an effort to make himself seem important (such as his claim that he invented rock and roll). One recurring lie was claiming he was married to Morgan Fairchild, and thus had seen her naked, "more than once." His devious look, hand rubbing and nervous speech made it clear he was making up lies, one after the other, on the spot. After a particularly outrageous lie he would often use an old Humphrey Bogart line, "Yeah! That's the ticket!", as a catchphrase.
One of his biggest lies, however, would work to his great advantage. During the cold opening when Jerry Hall hosted, Flanagan claimed to be an old friend of her then-boyfriend Mick Jagger; when Jagger entered moments later, he shocked her by revealing that the two were longtime friends, and had actually spent the previous weekend together, while she had no idea of his whereabouts, on a fishing trip. As he and Hall got up to leave, Jagger told Flanagan, "I owe you for this one," before opening the show.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
11 | November 16, 1985 | Chevy Chase | |
11 | November 23, 1985 | Pee-wee Herman | |
11 | December 14, 1985 | Tom Hanks | |
11 | January 25, 1986 | Dudley Moore | |
11 | February 15, 1986 | Jerry Hall | |
11 | February 22, 1986 | Jay Leno | |
11 | March 15, 1986 | Griffin Dunne | |
11 | March 22, 1986 | George Wendt, Francis Ford Coppola | |
11 | April 12, 1986 | Oprah Winfrey | |
11 | May 10, 1986 | Catherine Oxenberg, Paul Simon | |
11 | May 17, 1986 | Jimmy Breslin | |
12 | October 11, 1986 | Sigourney Weaver | |
12 | November 8, 1986 | Rosanna Arquette | |
12 | December 6, 1986 | Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Martin Short | |
12 | January 24, 1987 | Joe Montana, Walter Payton | |
12 | February 21, 1987 | Willie Nelson | |
12 | May 23, 1987 | Dennis Hopper | |
14 | April 1, 1989 | Mel Gibson | |
23 | November 8, 1997 | Jon Lovitz |
Jon Lovitz plays a ruthlessly ambitious, egomaniacal actor who spoke with a plummy "Shakespearean" English accent and often elicited the sympathy of other characters in the sketch, only to reveal the ruse by declaring his catchphrase, "Acting!" His arch-rival and mentor, Baudelaire (John Lithgow), often had the last laugh in the escalating one-upmanship, in reality childish pranks and paperthin disguises that they both fell for, ostensibly due to their brilliant acting. On the few occasions we actually see him act, it is clear that he is not as good as his reputation would have us believe, on occasion seeming completely oblivious to the concept of acting. The sketch debuted December 7, 1985 and appeared 13 times between 1985 and 1989.
In 2016, Lovitz stated that the character was based on Canadian actor William Needles, who was his drama professor at the University of California at Irvine. [1]
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
11 | December 7, 1985 | John Lithgow | |
11 | January 25, 1986 | Dudley Moore | |
11 | February 15, 1986 | Jerry Hall | |
11 | March 22, 1986 | George Wendt, Francis Ford Coppola | |
11 | April 19, 1986 | Tony Danza | |
12 | November 22, 1986 | Robin Williams | |
12 | April 11, 1987 | John Lithgow | |
13 | December 19, 1987 | Paul Simon | |
13 | January 23, 1988 | Carl Weathers | |
14 | November 19, 1988 | John Lithgow | |
14 | December 10, 1988 | Kevin Kline | |
14 | February 25, 1989 | Glenn Close |
A Randy Quaid and Robert Downey, Jr. sketch. Debuted December 7, 1985.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
11 | December 7, 1985 | John Lithgow | |
11 | January 18, 1986 | Harry Dean Stanton | |
11 | March 15, 1986 | Griffin Dunne |
A Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz and Damon Wayans and Dennis Miller sketch. Debuted December 14, 1985.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
11 | December 14, 1985 | Tom Hanks | |
11 | February 22, 1986 | Jay Leno | |
13 | February 20, 1988 | Tom Hanks |
Tom Hanks reprised his Paul character from this sketch in a Cut For Time "Bruce Chandling" Weekend Update feature on October 22, 2016 (Season 42, Episode 4).
A Danitra Vance sketch. Debuted January 18, 1986.
A Jon Lovitz sketch. Debuted January 18, 1986.
A Jon Lovitz sketch. Debuted January 25, 1986.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
11 | January 25, 1986 | Dudley Moore | |
11 | May 10, 1986 | Catherine Oxenberg, Paul Simon | |
11 | May 24, 1986 | Anjelica Huston, Billy Martin | |
12 | November 8, 1986 | Rosanna Arquette | |
12 | December 6, 1986 | Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Martin Short | |
12 | February 21, 1987 | Willie Nelson | |
14 | December 17, 1988 | Melanie Griffith | |
14 | February 18, 1989 | Leslie Nielsen | |
15 | March 24, 1990 | Debra Winger | |
15 | May 12, 1990 | Andrew Dice Clay |
A Weekend Update commentary segment with A. Whitney Brown.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
11 | February 8, 1986 | Ron Reagan | |
11 | February 22, 1986 | Jay Leno | |
11 | March 15, 1986 | Griffin Dunne | |
11 | April 12, 1986 | Oprah Winfrey | |
11 | May 10, 1986 | Catherine Oxenberg, Paul Simon | |
11 | May 24, 1986 | Anjelica Huston, Billy Martin | |
12 | October 11, 1986 | Sigourney Weaver | |
12 | November 8, 1986 | Rosanna Arquette | |
12 | November 22, 1986 | Robin Williams | |
12 | January 24, 1987 | Joe Montana, Walter Payton | |
12 | February 14, 1987 | Bronson Pinchot | |
12 | February 21, 1987 | Willie Nelson | |
12 | April 11, 1987 | John Lithgow | |
12 | May 9, 1987 | Mark Harmon | |
12 | May 23, 1987 | Dennis Hopper | |
13 | November 14, 1987 | Robert Mitchum | |
13 | December 12, 1987 | Angie Dickinson | |
13 | January 30, 1988 | Carl Weathers | |
13 | February 27, 1988 | Judge Reinhold | |
14 | October 15, 1988 | Matthew Broderick | |
14 | November 5, 1988 | Matthew Modine | |
14 | December 10, 1988 | Kevin Kline | |
14 | January 21, 1989 | John Malkovich | |
14 | February 25, 1989 | Glenn Close | |
14 | May 20, 1989 | Steve Martin | |
15 | September 30, 1989 | Bruce Willis | |
15 | October 21, 1989 | Kathleen Turner | |
15 | October 28, 1989 | James Woods | |
15 | March 17, 1990 | Rob Lowe | |
15 | April 21, 1990 | Alec Baldwin | |
15 | May 19, 1990 | Candice Bergen | |
16 | October 27, 1990 | Patrick Swayze | |
16 | January 12, 1991 | Joe Mantegna | |
16 | February 9, 1991 | Kevin Bacon | |
16 | March 16, 1991 | Michael J. Fox |
A Nora Dunn sketch. Debuted February 15, 1986.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
11 | February 15, 1986 | Jerry Hall | Weekend Update |
11 | April 19, 1986 | Tony Danza | Weekend Update |
12 | December 13, 1986 | Steve Guttenberg | Weekend Update |
12 | February 14, 1987 | Bronson Pinchot | |
12 | April 18, 1987 | John Larroquette | Weekend Update |
12 | May 16, 1987 | Garry Shandling | Teeny Café |
13 | October 24, 1987 | Sean Penn | Teeny Café |
The various mundane events in the lives of a seemingly mentally disabled couple (Jon Lovitz and Joan Cusack). Debuted February 22, 1986.
A Nora Dunn and Robert Downey Jr sketch. Debuted March 22, 1986.
Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
11 | March 22, 1986 | George Wendt, Francis Ford Coppola | |
11 | April 12, 1986 | Oprah Winfrey | |
11 | May 24, 1986 | Anjelica Huston, Billy Martin |
Jonathan Michael Lovitz is an American actor, comedian and singer. He is best known as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990. He starred as Jay Sherman in The Critic and has appeared in numerous other television series and films.
Danitra Vance was an American comedian and actress best known as a cast member on the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live (SNL) during its eleventh season and for work in feature films like Sticky Fingers (1988), Limit Up (1990) and Jumpin' at the Boneyard (1992). She performed for The Second City, was an "Off-Broadway favorite", and was the first black woman of the primary SNL cast and tied for the first LGBT member, though she was not openly out. Her comedy and theater work featured themes of social issues, including that of being consistently stereotyped during casting. During her career, she received an Obie Award and an NAACP Image Award.
Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.
Nora Eloise Dunn is an American actress and comedian, who was a cast member on the NBC sketch variety TV series Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990.
Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live sketches, organized alphabetically by title. The referenced date is the date when the sketch first appeared.
Weekend Update has been a platform for Saturday Night Live characters to grow and gain popularity ever since Gilda Radner used it to create Emily Litella and Roseanne Roseannadanna. Many cast members have used Update as the primary vehicle for a certain character. Don Novello was featured almost exclusively on the news segment as his breakout character, Father Guido Sarducci, and Tim Kazurinsky, in the face of Eddie Murphy's overshadowing popularity, created characters almost exclusively for Update. Before becoming an anchor on Update, Colin Quinn used the segment as his main sounding board as well.
Saturday Night Live has long mocked the television medium with many fake commercials and parodies of TV shows themselves. Another of the show's frequently used styles of recurring sketches has been the talk show format. However, anything from cop shows to children's shows has been fair game for the ever-changing cast.
The sixteenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 29, 1990, and May 18, 1991.
The twelfth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 11, 1986 and May 23, 1987.
The eleventh season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between November 9, 1985, and May 24, 1986.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between October 7, 1978, and May 26, 1979, the fourth season of SNL.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between October 11, 1986, and May 23, 1987, the twelfth season of SNL.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between October 17, 1987, and February 27, 1988, the thirteenth season of SNL.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between October 8, 1988, and May 20, 1989, the fourteenth season of SNL.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 24, 1989, and May 19, 1990, the fifteenth season of SNL.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live (SNL) characters and sketches introduced between September 28, 1991, and May 16, 1992, the seventeenth season of SNL.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 25, 1999, and May 20, 2000, the twenty-fifth season of SNL.