| Saturday Night Live | |
|---|---|
| Season 16 | |
 | |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 29, 1990 – May 18, 1991 |
| Season chronology | |
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.
Extensive changes occurred before the start of the season. Nora Dunn and Jon Lovitz were both dropped from the show. Following her boycott of the episode hosted by Andrew Dice Clay the previous season, Dunn chose to leave the cast. [1] [2] [3]
Before the season began, Lovitz requested time off so he could film Mom and Dad Save the World , which would cause him to miss the first several episodes of the season. Michaels refused, because he did not view this to be fair to the other cast members. Lovitz subsequently quit. However, he made several cameo appearances throughout the 16th season. [4]
With Dunn and Lovitz gone, Michaels was put in an unusual situation. Most of the cast had been on the show for five seasons. He did not want to be put in the spot of having to replace the entire cast all at once (and to avoid repeating Jean Doumanian's mistake—and his previous mistake in the case of the season 11 cast—of hiring a cast of new, inexperienced cast members with little to no comedic chemistry). Instead, he promoted writers Rob Schneider and David Spade to the cast and hired Chris Farley, [3] Chris Rock [3] and Julia Sweeney. He later hired Tim Meadows and Adam Sandler to the cast mid-season.
Starting with this season, the cast was divided into three groups. A middle group was created, and this new category would be introduced with the word "with," following the introduction of the repertory players. The first cast members added to the new group were Farley and Rock, with Meadows and Sweeney added mid-season.
This season would also be the final season for Dennis Miller, Jan Hooks and A. Whitney Brown. Hooks left on her own terms at the end of the season, and Brown left the show mid-season to move on to other acting opportunities. Miller, who also departed at the end of the season, was at the time the longest running anchor of Weekend Update , having done the job for six full seasons, until Seth Meyers broke the record in season 38. However, Miller still holds the record as the longest solo anchor of Weekend Update as Meyers was paired with Amy Poehler in his first three seasons on Weekend Update and Cecily Strong in his final season on the show.
Phil Hartman was also planning on leaving the show, but NBC convinced Hartman to stay on for a few more seasons by promising him his own comedy show, [5] which was later scrapped. [6] Hartman's third wife, Brynn, appears in this season's opening credits montage as the woman whom Hartman is speaking with in a restaurant booth.
Repertory players | Middle players
| Featured players
|
bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
Notable writers from season 16 included Jim Downey, Al Franken, Tom Davis, Jack Handey, Conan O'Brien, Adam Sandler (who was a new writer), Rob Smigel and Bob Odenkirk.
Season 16 would prove to be the final year for O'Brien and Odenkirk as Saturday Night Live writers. O'Brien left to write for The Simpsons , and would later host NBC's Late Night and Tonight Show late night talk shows. Odenkirk would go on to write for future cast member Chris Elliott's Get a Life and The Dennis Miller Show as well as The Ben Stiller Show , for which he was also a cast member. In 1995, he would co-create and co-star on HBO's Mr. Show with Bob and David . [7]
| No. overall | No. in season | Host | Musical guest | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 287 | 1 | Kyle MacLachlan | Sinéad O'Connor | September 29, 1990 | |
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| 288 | 2 | Susan Lucci | Hothouse Flowers | October 6, 1990 | |
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| 289 | 3 | George Steinbrenner | Morris Day & The Time | October 20, 1990 | |
| 290 | 4 | Patrick Swayze | Mariah Carey | October 27, 1990 | |
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| 291 | 5 | Jimmy Smits | World Party | November 10, 1990 | |
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| 292 | 6 | Dennis Hopper | Paul Simon | November 17, 1990 | |
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| 293 | 7 | John Goodman | Faith No More | December 1, 1990 | |
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| 294 | 8 | Tom Hanks | Edie Brickell & New Bohemians | December 8, 1990 | |
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| 295 | 9 | Dennis Quaid | The Neville Brothers | December 15, 1990 | |
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| 296 | 10 | Joe Mantegna | Vanilla Ice | January 12, 1991 | |
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| 297 | 11 | Sting | Sting | January 19, 1991 | |
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| 298 | 12 | Kevin Bacon | INXS | February 9, 1991 | |
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| 299 | 13 | Roseanne Barr | Deee-Lite | February 16, 1991 | |
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| 300 | 14 | Alec Baldwin | Whitney Houston | February 23, 1991 | |
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| 301 | 15 | Michael J. Fox | The Black Crowes | March 16, 1991 | |
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| 302 | 16 | Jeremy Irons | Fishbone | March 23, 1991 | |
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| 303 | 17 | Catherine O'Hara | R.E.M. | April 13, 1991 | |
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| 304 | 18 | Steven Seagal | Michael Bolton | April 20, 1991 | |
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| 305 | 19 | Delta Burke | Chris Isaak | May 11, 1991 | |
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| 306 | 20 | George Wendt | Elvis Costello | May 18, 1991 | |
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Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance. Historically, one or two of the players are cast in the role of news anchor, presenting gag news items based on current events and acting as hosts for occasional editorials, commentaries, or other performances by other cast members or guests. In modern times, dedicated anchors are chosen among writing staff, often lead writers, in lieu of cast or featured players. Chevy Chase has said that Weekend Update – which he started as anchor in 1975 – paved the way for comedic news shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American late-night live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and streams on Peacock. Michaels currently serves as the program's showrunner. The show's premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary American culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that was usually based on political events and ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.
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Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American sketch comedy series that was co-created by Dick Ebersol and Lorne Michaels, with Michaels also serving as the producer. The series premiered on the American broadcast television network NBC on October 11, 1975.
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