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.

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)
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.

Michaels wanted a younger cast for the show. 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."

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. He was fired by Michaels immediately after. Wayans was eventually invited back to do stand-up for the season finale and returned as a host in season 20.

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.

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.

Jack Handey, Robert Smigel, and George Meyer joined the writing staff.

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. 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.

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)
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.

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". Carvey's Church Lady character debuted in this episode.

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.

Other popular sketches introduced this season include Mr. Subliminal, the Sweeney Sisters, and Derek Stevens.

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

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

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)
Mike Myers was cast and debuted midseason. 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. Ben Stiller, whose short film spoof of The Color of Money caught the attention of SNL and was aired in season twelve, had a very brief stint as a featured player. 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.

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.

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
This season included SNL's 15th Anniversary Special. 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.

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