History of Saturday Night Live (1985–1990)

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History of Saturday Night Live series:

1975–1980
(seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
1980–1985
(seasons 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
1985–1990
(seasons 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
1990–1995
(seasons 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
1995–2000
(seasons 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
2000–2005
(seasons 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
2005–2010
(seasons 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
2010–2015
(seasons 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
2015–2020
(seasons 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
2020–present
(seasons 46, 47, 48)

Weekend Update

Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created by Lorne Michaels, who has produced the show for most its run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.

After the 1984–85 season, then-producer Dick Ebersol pitched a retool of the show that included placing an emphasis on taped material over live material, which NBC declined. Ebersol subsequently left and original producer Michaels was reinstated. Michaels hired a new, younger, cast, and the subsequent 1985–86 season received unfavorable reviews.[1]

Michaels fired most of this cast before the 1986–87 season and hired a new cast that included members such as Phil Hartman and Jon Lovitz. This cast would remain relatively stable until the 1990–91 season.

History

Dick Ebersol left the show after the 1984–85 season when the network refused his request to shut the program down entirely for six months and shift much of the material onto tape, not live broadcast. Once again, NBC briefly considered canceling the show, but programming head Brandon Tartikoff (A fan of SNL) decided to continue the show and re-hire former producer Lorne Michaels.

1985-1986 cast

Michaels wanted a younger cast for the show.[2] He hired Academy Award nominee Randy Quaid, best known for his work in The Last Detail and National Lampoon's Vacation, as well as Joan Cusack and Robert Downey, Jr.

Ratings were weak and some cast members did not expect the show to be renewed. NBC did briefly cancel the show at the end of the 1985–1986 season, but Michaels asked for another season. He ended the last show of the season with a sketch in which the cast (playing themselves) get caught in a fire, and Michaels chooses to rescue only Lovitz.[2]

Return to form

Of the entire cast, only Dunn, Lovitz, Miller, and featured player A. Whitney Brown returned when the 1986–1987 season rolled around. Michaels returned 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.[3]

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".[2]

With the new cast, SNL gained renewed popularity. The 1987–1988 season, was cut short by a writers' strike. Gilda Radner had been penciled in to host the season finale that spring, but by 1989, her cancer had returned. She died in May 1989. Steve Martin, Radner's close friend, was scheduled to host SNL that night. Instead of his planned monologue, he presented a sketch from the 1970s featuring himself and Radner dancing.[4]

Dana Carvey

Carvey's impression of George H. W. Bush was notable, and with Hartman's send-up of President Ronald Reagan, they allowed for the most fruitful and successful period of political parody on SNL.[5][6]

Other events

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. Cast member Jon Lovitz discussed Dunn's boycott of the show in detail during an episode of “The ABCs of SNL” with director Kevin Smith:[7]

Anyway, it’s the [second to last episode of the season], and Nora, uh, you know, she caused a lot of trouble and she was very hard to get along with, so [SNL] wasn’t going to ask her back, anyway. And it’s the [second to] last show, and she goes to the press and says, I’m not doing this show. He’s against women, and I’m not doing it. And this is how the press works, and I’m telling you, I’m on the inside of this. They don’t know this story. They don’t know she’s just doing it to get press. It’s her last hurrah. They’re not asking her back on the show.[7]

After this incident, Dunn was fired from the show.[8]

Season breakdown

1985–1986 season

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 11)

Cast

Featuring

Notes

  • Wayans was fired on March 15, 1986. He was sick of the way the show treated him and camped up a "straight" character so that Lorne Michaels would fire him.[9]
  • Terry Sweeney is the first openly homosexual male cast member. Sweeney is 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.[10]

1986–1987 season

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 12)

Cast

Featuring

1987–1988 season

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 13)

Cast

Featuring

1988–1989 season

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 14)

Cast

Featuring

1989–1990 season

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 15)

This season included SNL's 15th anniversary special.

Cast

Featuring

References

  1. ^ "Younger, Sexier, Inherently Doomed Case File #25: Saturday Night Live's 1985-1986 season". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2022-04-05.
  2. ^ a b c "Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost and Found". Saturday Night Live. 2005-11-13. NBC.
  3. ^ Gendel, Morgan (September 30, 1986). "Another Groundling Hops To 'Snl'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  4. ^ Evans, Bradford (March 22, 2012). "The Lost Roles of Gilda Radner". Splitsider. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  5. ^ Sims, David (2018-12-03). "Dana Carvey's George H. W. Bush Was an All-Time Great 'SNL' Impression". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
  6. ^ Adalian, Josef. "How Each Era of SNL Has Ridiculed American Presidents". Vulture. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
  7. ^ a b Rowles, Dustin (December 8, 2014). "Jon Lovitz Explains The Real Reason Nora Dunn Refused To Appear On The Andrew Dice Clay Episode Of 'SNL'". Uproxx. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  8. ^ Bonaime, Ross (October 27, 2011). "The 10 Most Shocking Moments on Saturday Night Live". Paste. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  9. ^ Wright, Megh (October 22, 2013). "Saturday Night's Children: Damon Wayans (1985-1986)". Splitsider. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  10. ^ 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. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
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