Saturday Night Live (season 11)

Saturday Night Live (season 11)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	18
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	November 9, 1985 – May 24, 1986

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.

Background

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 cancelling the show, but programming head Brandon Tartikoff (who was something of an SNL fan) decided to continue the show and re-hire producer Lorne Michaels.

In some ways the job Michaels returned to was more challenging than the one he took on in 1975. For starters, Michaels' "golden boy" reputation was somewhat tarnished. His most recent effort, the previous season's The New Show confused critics and was ignored by audiences. Also, the 1984-1985 season had been a critical and ratings hit, generating memorable characters and stand-out performers. However, Michaels would not be the only member of the old guard to return: original writers Al Franken and Tom Davis would return as producers, and Jim Downey would be head writer. Fans and critics welcomed Michaels and many of the original producers and writers back, calling it a return to the show's roots.

With Ebersol's cast and writers gone, Michaels went out to find the rest of his staff. 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.. Milestones included the first black female regular, Danitra Vance (Yvonne Hudson had been a featured player in 1980 and appeared in uncredited bit parts from 1978 to 1980), Terry Sweeney, the first and, to date, only openly gay male cast member (and one of Jean Doumanian's writers during the show's 1980-1981 season), and Anthony Michael Hall, yet another fresh face from Hollywood, who had appeared with Quaid in Vacation and starred in The Breakfast Club earlier that year; At 17 years old, Hall was the youngest male cast member, beating out Eddie Murphy, who was only 19 when he joined SNL during Jean Doumanian's turbulent, short-lived era. Rounding out the cast were unknowns: stand-up comedians Dennis Miller and Damon Wayans and improv comedians Nora Dunn and Jon Lovitz. Don Novello, another member of the old guard, would also return as his popular Father Guido Sarducci character. Writer A. Whitney Brown was also added to the cast mid-season.

Wayans, unhappy with the parts he had been getting, decided to play the minor police officer character he'd been assigned in one sketch as gay, though it did not fit the role. For this, Michaels fired him.

Reception

The new cast failed to connect with audiences, due to the cast's inexperience in comedy. The show also featured a frustrated writing crew (that featured future Simpsons writers Jon Vitti, George Meyer, and John Swartzwelder), that didn't know how to write sketches for such an eclectic cast. The season was plagued by harsh criticism, low ratings, and rumours of a possible cancellation.^[1] Tartikoff planned to cancel SNL after its season finale in May 1986; Michaels, however, pleaded with Tartikoff to let the show go on, provided that Lorne find better-suited cast members for the next season.

Weekend Update

"Saturday Night News" was changed to its original name "Weekend Update" starting with this season. "Weekend Update" proved to be a highlight in the season, with new anchor Dennis Miller (who rarely appeared outside of "Update") becoming the most popular anchor since Chevy Chase in 1975. The only people to return to the show in the following season would be Brown, Dunn, Lovitz and Miller.

Notable sketches

Notable moments of season included when Chevy Chase hosted the show. Chase was not popular with the cast and crew and, according to the book Live From New York: The Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, Chase pitched an idea for a sketch that featured openly gay cast member Sweeney as a person with AIDS who is weighed by a doctor to see how much weight he lost.^[2]

Another notable moment of the season was in the episode hosted by George Wendt. During the show, Francis Ford Coppola appeared in between sketches where he, Michaels and Sweeney try to fix up SNL to boost the show's sagging ratings by turning creative control over to Coppola. With the exception of the "Who Shot C.R.?" storyline back in season six, this episode marks the series' only attempt at extending a plot throughout an episode, as Oscar-winner Coppola turns out to be an incompetent director.

In the season finale, Michaels invited Wayans back to perform stand up on the show, even though he had been fired from the show two months prior. Also, in the final sketch, Billy Martin is shown dumping gasoline around the studio and then setting it on fire. The entire cast is shown to be trapped in a room as a parody of TV show cliffhangers. Credits rolled with question marks on each name, signaling that the viewer didn't know which cast members would be returning the next season. Cast members were angered by an ending added to the sketch, in which Michaels has the opportunity to rescue the cast from the fire, but chooses to save only Lovitz.

Cast

Repertory cast members Joan Cusack Robert Downey Nora Dunn Anthony Michael Hall Jon Lovitz Dennis Miller Randy Quaid Terry Sweeney Danitra Vance

Featured cast members A. Whitney Brown (first episode: February 22, 1986) Al Franken (first episode: March 22, 1986) Don Novello (first episode: November 23, 1985) Dan Vitale (first episode: November 23, 1985, final episode: February 8, 1986) Damon Wayans (final episode: March 15, 1986)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

This season's writers were A. Whitney Brown, Tom Davis, Jim Downey, Al Franken, Jack Handey, Lanier Laney, Carol Leifer, George Meyer, Lorne Michaels, Don Novello, Michael O'Donoghue, R. D. Rosen, Herb Sargent, Suzy Schneider, Robert Smigel, John Swartzwelder, Terry Sweeney, Mark McKinney and Bruce McCullough. The head writers were Al Franken and Tom Davis.

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Host(s)	Musical guest(s)	Original air date
196	1	Madonna	Simple Minds	November 9, 1985
Simple Minds performs "Alive and Kicking."[3] Joan Cusack, Nora Dunn, Robert Downey, Anthony Michael Hall, Jon Lovitz, Dennis Miller, Randy Quaid, Terry Sweeney, Danitra Vance, and Damon Wayans's first episode as cast members. In the episode's cold opening, Lorne Michaels and Brandon Tartikoff issue urine tests to check the new cast members for drug use. First appearance of "Limits of the Imagination," a "Twilight Zone" spoof that recurs throughout the season. Guest appearance by Penn & Teller. Note: Lorne Michaels returns as executive producer as of this episode.
197	2	Chevy Chase	Sheila E	November 16, 1985
Sheila E performs "Hollyrock" and "A Love Bizarre."[3] First appearance of Tommy Flanagan, The Pathological Liar.[4]
198	3	Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman	Queen Ida & the Bon Temps Zydeco Band	November 23, 1985
Queen Ida & the Bon Temps Zydeco Band performs "La Louisiane" and "Frisco Zydeco."[3] Former cast member Robin Duke appears in the "Pee-wee Herman Thanksgiving Special" sketch as one of the audience members during Diana Ross's (Terry Sweeney) performance. Future cast member Phil Hartman appears as a pilgrim in the same sketch and was credited for writing the "Pee-wee Herman Thanksgiving Special" sketch. Don Novello rejoins the cast after a five year hiatus. Dan Vitale's first episode as a cast member.
199	4	John Lithgow	Mr. Mister	December 7, 1985
Mr. Mister performs "Broken Wings" and "Kyrie."[3] Guest appearance by Sam Kinison.
200	5	Tom Hanks	Sade	December 14, 1985
Sade performs "Is It A Crime" and "The Sweetest Taboo."[3] The Entertainment Tonight opening sketch references Spying Isn't Cool a fake public service ad with Brooke Shields, mentioned as a joke on Weekend Update in the previous episode. Joan Cusack plays Shields, claiming that her movie career stalled after her mother turned down her offer to play roles for movies with Al Pacino (Scarface) and Robert De Niro (Once Upon a Time in America). Guest appearance by Steven Wright.
201	6	Teri Garr	The Dream Academy The Cult	December 21, 1985
The Dream Academy performs "Life in a Northern Town".[3] The Cult performs "She Sells Sanctuary".[3] Guest appearance by Penn & Teller.
202	7	Harry Dean Stanton	The Replacements	January 18, 1986
The Replacements performed "Bastards of Young" and "Kiss Me On the Bus,"[3] both from the Tim album. The entire band was drunk during both of their performances. As one reviewer succinctly observed, the band could quite often be "mouthing profanities into the camera, stumbling into each other, falling down, dropping their instruments, and generally behaving like the apathetic drunks they were." After this incident, they were banned permanently from SNL, although lead singer Paul Westerberg would return as a musical guest during the 19th season. Guest appearance by Sam Kinison.
203	8	Dudley Moore	Al Green	January 25, 1986
Al Green performs "Going Away" and "True Love."[3] The episode features a sketch about a beauty pageant for pregnant teenaged girls featuring Danitra Vance's Cabrini Green Jackson character.
204	9	Ron Reagan	The Nelsons	February 8, 1986
The Nelsons performs "Walk Away" and "Do You Know What I Know."[3] Dan Vitale's final episode as a cast member. Guest appearance by Penn & Teller. A. Whitney Brown appears on Weekend Update to do "The Big Picture."
205	10	Jerry Hall	Stevie Ray Vaughan Double Trouble	February 15, 1986
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble performs "Say What!" and "Change It."[3] Jimmie Vaughan appears on "Change It". Mick Jagger appears in this episode's cold opening where Tommy Flanagan (Jon Lovitz) hits on the host at a bar — told by Hall that Flanagan claims to know him, Jagger "confirms" this and remarks that the two had been on a fishing trip during a recent weekend where Hall didn't know where he was, telling Flanagan "I owe you for this one." Guest appearance by Sam Kinison.
206	11	Jay Leno	The Neville Brothers	February 22, 1986
The Neville Brothers performs "The Big Chief" and "The Midnight Key."[3] A. Whitney Brown's first episode as a cast member.
207	12	Griffin Dunne	Rosanne Cash	March 15, 1986
Rosanne Cash performs "Hold On" and "I Don't Know Why."[3] In the "Mr. Monopoly" sketch, Damon Wayans plays a minor police officer character role as gay, which would later result in his firing.[5][6] Damon Wayans' final episode as a cast member. Guest appearance by Penn & Teller.
208	13	George Wendt Francis Ford Coppola	Philip Glass	March 22, 1986
The Philip Glass Ensemble performs "Rubric" from Glassworks and "Lightning" from Songs from Liquid Days.[3] The show's opening theme song was replaced by "Façades," also from Glassworks. Francis Ford Coppola appears in between sketches in a running gag throughout the episode where he, Lorne Michaels, and Terry Sweeney try to improve SNL on the air to boost the show's sagging ratings. Al Franken rejoins the cast.
209	14	Oprah Winfrey	Joe Jackson	April 12, 1986
Joe Jackson performs "Right and Wrong" and "Soul Kiss."[3]
210	15	Tony Danza	Laurie Anderson	April 19, 1986
Laurie Anderson performs "My Brian," "Baby Doll," and "Day the Devil."[3] Guest appearance by Penn & Teller.
211	16	Catherine Oxenberg Paul Simon	Ladysmith Black Mambazo	May 10, 1986
Paul Simon performs "Homeless," "Graceland," and "You Can Call Me Al."[3] Ladysmith Black Mambazo performs on "Homeless." Guest appearance by Penn & Teller.
212	17	Jimmy Breslin	Level 42 E.G. Daily	May 17, 1986
Level 42 performs "Something About You"[3] E.G. Daily performs "Say It, Say It."[3] Guest appearance by Sam Kinison and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
213	18	Anjelica Huston Billy Martin	George Clinton Parliament-Funkadelic	May 24, 1986
George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic performs "Let's Take It to the Stage" and "Do Fries Go with That Shake?"[3] Joan Cusack, Robert Downey, Anthony Michael Hall, Don Novello, Randy Quaid, Terry Sweeney, and Danitra Vance's final episode as cast members. All of the cast members were shown to be trapped in a room on fire as parody of TV show cliffhangers. Final appearance of Al Franken as a cast member until the 13th season. Damon Wayans returns to perform stand-up.

References

1. Rabin, Nathan (October 3, 2012). "Younger, Sexier, Inherently Doomed Case File #25: Saturday Night Live’s 1985-1986 season". AV Club. The Onion. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
2. Shales, Tom; Andrew Miller, James (October 7, 2002). Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Back Bay Books. ISBN 978-0-3167-3565-0.
3. Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 124–127. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
4. Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 212–213. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
5. Wright, Megh (October 22, 2013). "Saturday Night's Children: Damon Wayans (1985-1986)". Splitsider. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
6. Fennessey, Sean (October 13, 2010). "SNL and The Curse of the Transitional Season". Splitsider. Retrieved March 17, 2015.