Saturday Night Live | |
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Season 7 | |
No. of episodes | 20 |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Original release | October 3, 1981 – May 22, 1982 |
Season chronology | |
The seventh season of Saturday Night Live , an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 3, 1981, and May 22, 1982. It was the first full season produced by Dick Ebersol.
After the end of the previous season, which was cut short because of the 1981 Writers Guild of America strike, Ebersol dismissed two more of Jean Doumanian's hires, repertory players Denny Dillon and Gail Matthius. [1] Featured players Laurie Metcalf and Emily Prager, who only appeared in the previous season's final episode, were not asked back as cast members.
The new cast of Saturday Night Live for season 7 included returning veterans Robin Duke, Tim Kazurinsky, Tony Rosato, Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo. [2] Two new cast members were added: Second City alum Mary Gross and Broadway actress Christine Ebersole. [2] Writer Brian Doyle-Murray joined as a featured player. Doyle-Murray became the new Weekend Update (then called SNL Newsbreak) host, and was teamed first with Mary Gross before anchoring solo for three months, then back again with Gross for one more month. [3] For the remainder of the season, Doyle-Murray was paired with Christine Ebersole.
Murphy quickly rose to prominence in the cast, and Dick Ebersol heavily featured both Murphy and Piscopo in the show. [4] [5]
Repertory players | Featured players |
bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
This season's writers were Barry W. Blaustein, Joe Bodolai, Brian Doyle-Murray, Nate Herman, Tim Kazurinsky, Nelson Lyon, Maryilyn Suzanne Miller, Pamela Norris, Mark O'Donnell, Michael O'Donoghue, Margaret Olberman, Tony Rosato, David Sheffield, Rosie Shuster, Andrew Smith, Terry Southern, Bob Tischler and Eliot Wald. The head writers were Michael O'Donoghue (episodes 1–8) and Bob Tischler (episodes 9-20). [2] [6]
Michael O'Donoghue, whom Ebersol brought back to the show in March, remained as head writer for the first half of season 7. Some sketches, as well as the appearances of artists like Fear and William S. Burroughs, reflected the increasingly bizarre ideas O'Donoghue had for the show. [4] However, after developing a tense relationship with Ebersol and berating the cast in a meeting following the December 12 episode, O'Donoghue was fired, with Bob Tischler taking the role of head writer. [7]
No. overall | No. in season | Host(s) | Musical guest(s) | Original air date | |
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120 | 1 | None | Rod Stewart | October 3, 1981 | |
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121 | 2 | Susan Saint James | The Kinks | October 10, 1981 | |
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122 | 3 | George Kennedy | Miles Davis | October 17, 1981 | |
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123 | 4 | Donald Pleasence | Fear | October 31, 1981 | |
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124 | 5 | Lauren Hutton | Rick James | November 7, 1981 | |
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125 | 6 | Bernadette Peters | The Go-Go's Billy Joel | November 14, 1981 | |
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126 | 7 | Tim Curry | Meat Loaf | December 5, 1981 | |
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127 | 8 | Bill Murray | The Spinners The Whiffenpoofs | December 12, 1981 | |
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128 | 9 | Robert Conrad | The Allman Brothers Band | January 23, 1982 | |
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129 | 10 | John Madden | Jennifer Holliday | January 30, 1982 | |
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130 | 11 | James Coburn | Lindsey Buckingham | February 6, 1982 | |
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131 | 12 | Bruce Dern | Luther Vandross | February 20, 1982 | |
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132 | 13 | Elizabeth Ashley | Hall & Oates | February 27, 1982 | |
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133 | 14 | Robert Urich | Mink DeVille | March 20, 1982 | |
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134 | 15 | Blythe Danner | Rickie Lee Jones | March 27, 1982 | |
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135 | 16 | Daniel J. Travanti | John Cougar Mellencamp | April 10, 1982 | |
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136 | 17 | Johnny Cash | Elton John | April 17, 1982 | |
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137 | 18 | Robert Culp | The Charlie Daniels Band | April 24, 1982 | |
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138 | 19 | Danny DeVito | Sparks | May 15, 1982 | |
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139 | 20 | Olivia Newton-John | Olivia Newton-John | May 22, 1982 | |
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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.
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.
Antonio Rosato was an Italian-Canadian actor and comedian, who appeared in television and films. He was best known as a cast member on both SCTV and Saturday Night Live, and for voicing Luigi in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.
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