Saturday Night Live (season 10)

Saturday Night Live (season 10)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	17
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	October 6, 1984 – April 13, 1985

The tenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 6, 1984, and April 13, 1985. Only 17 episodes were produced due to a writer's strike and budget constraints.

Cast changes

During the previous season Eddie Murphy left the show mid season. Because of Murphy's departure Joe Piscopo also left the show because he did not want to do it without Murphy. Dick Ebersol then fired Robin Duke, Brad Hall and Tim Kazurinsky. Ebersol then wanted to blow up the show by adding seasoned comedians instead of newcomers. He hired Billy Crystal (who hosted twice in season nine and was originally set to appear in SNL's first episode), Harry Shearer (who was a cast member on SNL in its fifth season), New Zealander Pamela Stephenson (from "Not The Nine O'Clock News"), Rich Hall (best known for his work on "Not Necessarily the News" and "Fridays"), Martin Short (from "SCTV"), and Christopher Guest (a frequent contributor to The National Lampoon Radio Hour in the early 1970s). Guest would become the anchor of Saturday Night News.

In the middle of the season, Harry Shearer left the show due to "creative differences". Shearer told the AP, "I was creative, and they were different."^[1] Despite his departure, his image is still shown in the opening credits (spray-painting an elevated train as it goes down the track).

Changes to format

This season also featured a new opening sequence, depicting the SNL cast as giants in and around New York City landmarks. At the end of the season, Ebersol requested to completely revamp the show to include mostly prerecorded segments. Short, Guest, and Hall had tired of the show's demanding production schedule and showed little interest in returning for another season, leaving Crystal the only "A-cast" member available for Season 11. Like Lorne Michaels at the end of Season 5, Ebersol made taking the show off the air for several months to re-cast and rebuild a condition of his return. Another idea was to institute a permanent rotation of hosts (Billy Crystal, David Letterman and Joe Piscopo) for "a hip The Ed Sullivan Show". After briefly canceling the show, NBC decided to continue production only if they could get Michaels to produce again. Ebersol, along with his writing staff and most of the cast, left the show after this season. Those who wished to stay, such as Crystal, were not rehired for the following season.

Cast

Repertory cast members Jim Belushi Billy Crystal Mary Gross Christopher Guest Rich Hall Gary Kroeger Julia Louis-Dreyfus Harry Shearer (final episode: January 12, 1985) Martin Short Pamela Stephenson

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

Billy Crystal, Larry David, Christopher Guest, Rich Hall, Rob Riley, and Martin Short joined the writing staff. Jim Downey and Harry Shearer rejoined the staff after a four year hiatus. Robin Duke, Adam Green, Tim Kazurinsky, Michael McCartney, Eddie Murphy, Pamela Norris, and Joe Piscopo left the staff.

This season's writers were Jim Belushi, Andy Breckman, Billy Crystal, Larry David, Jim Downey, Christopher Guest, Rich Hall, Nate Herman, Kevin Kelton, Andy Kurtzman, Margaret Oberman, Rob Riley, Herb Sargent, Martin Short, Harry Shearer, Andrew Smith, Bob Tischler and Eliot Wald. The head writer was Bob Tischler.

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Host(s)	Musical guest(s)	Original air date
179	1	(none)	Thompson Twins	October 6, 1984
The Thompson Twins performed "Hold Me Now" and "The Gap"[2] Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Rich Hall, Martin Short and Pamela Stephenson's first episode as cast members Harry Shearer rejoined the cast after a four-year hiatus Crystal, as Fernando, anchored Saturday Night News Contains the first appearance of Ed Grimley on SNL,[3] as well as the "Synchronized Swimming" sketch.[4]
180	2	Bob Uecker	Peter Wolf	October 13, 1984
Peter Wolf performed "Lights Out" and "I Need You Tonight"[2] Bob Uecker anchors Saturday Night News Guest appearance by Yogi Berra
181	3	Jesse Jackson	Andrae Crouch Wintley Phipps	October 20, 1984
Jesse Jackson performs "Red Rubber Ball" and "Jean"[5] Andrae Crouch performed "Right Now" and Wintley Phipps performed "Tell Me Again"[2] The first appearance of Willie and Frankie on the "You Know What I Hate?" sketch[6] Jesse Jackson anchors Saturday Night News
182	4	Michael McKean	Chaka Khan The Folksmen	November 3, 1984
Chaka Khan performed "I Feel for You" and "This Is My Night"[2] Edwin Newman anchors Saturday Night News Bobby Fraraccio appears as Barry Manilow on "Fernando's Hideaway" Rich Hall parodies David Byrne and his big suit.[7]
183	5	George Carlin	Frankie Goes to Hollywood	November 10, 1984
Frankie Goes to Hollywood performed "Two Tribes" and "Born to Run".[2] Carlin anchors Saturday Night News.
184	6	Ed Asner	The Kinks	November 17, 1984
The Kinks performed "Do It Again" and "Word of Mouth".[2] Ed Asner anchors Saturday Night News.
185	7	Ed Begley, Jr.	Billy Squier	December 1, 1984
Billy Squier performed "Rock Me Tonite" and "All Night Long".[2] Christopher Guest hosts Saturday Night News.
186	8	Ringo Starr	Herbie Hancock	December 8, 1984
Herbie Hancock performed "Junku" and "Rockit".[2] Guest appearance by Barbara Bach, wife of host Ringo Starr.
187	9	Eddie Murphy	Robert Plant & the Honeydrippers	December 15, 1984
Robert Plant and the Honeydrippers performed "Rockin' at Midnight" and "Santa Claus Is Back in Town".[2]
188	10	Kathleen Turner	John Waite	January 12, 1985
Harry Shearer's final episode as a cast member. John Waite performed "Saturday Night".[2]
189	11	Roy Scheider	Billy Ocean	January 19, 1985
Billy Ocean performed "Caribbean Queen" and "Loverboy".[2]
190	12	Alex Karras	Tina Turner	February 2, 1985
Tina Turner performed "What's Love Got to Do with It," "Better Be Good to Me," and "Private Dancer".[2]
191	13	Harry Anderson	Bryan Adams	February 9, 1985
Bryan Adams performed "Somebody" and "Run to You".[2] Guest appearances in the audience by Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Marty Stuart, Christopher Reeve, and Carol Burnett.
192	14	Pamela Sue Martin	Power Station	February 16, 1985
Power Station performed "Some Like It Hot" and "Get It On (Bang a Gong)".[2] Pre-recorded guest appearances by Terri Garr, Susan Lucci, Morgan Fairchild, Lynn Swann, and Ann-Margret.
193	15	Mr. T Hulk Hogan	The Commodores	March 30, 1985
The Commodores performed "Nightshift" and "Animal Instinct".[2] Guest appearances by Steve Landesberg, Liberace, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and Bob Orton, Jr..
194	16	Christopher Reeve	Santana	April 6, 1985
Santana performed "Say It Again" and "Right Now".[2] Guest appearance by Steven Wright.
195	17	Howard Cosell	Greg Kihn	April 13, 1985
Greg Kihn performed "Boys Won't" and "Lucky."[2] Jim Belushi, Billy Crystal, Mary Gross, Christopher Guest, Rich Hall, Gary Kroeger, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Martin Short and Pamela Stephenson's final episode as cast members Dick Ebersol's final episode as executive producer

Specials

Title	Original air date
"SNL Film Festival"	March 2, 1985
Hosted by Billy Crystal, presenting short films and commercial parodies. Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, Robin Williams, Tim Kazurinsky, and Stevie Wonder make appearances in pre-recorded segments from previous seasons. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert review the show. John Candy and Eugene Levy plug next week's show with musical guests Hall & Oates (who don't end up appearing due to a writers strike).
"The Best of John Belushi"	August 3, 1985
The special featured some of the best material featuring John Belushi during his stint on the show. Sketches include Sam Peckinpah, Beethoven Composes 'My Girl', Beethoven Composes 'What I Say', Vito Corleone in Therapy, Samurai Deli, Wilderness Comedian, The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise, The Bee Honeymooners, Dragnet, Tomorrow with Tom Snyder, Mussolini Reenactment, Little Chocolate Donuts, Olympia Cafe, Don't Look Back In Anger, The Academy Awards, Superhero Party and Miles Cowperthwaite, Part Two: I Am Nailed to the Hull." The special also features musical numbers Belushi performs on the show: Belushi as Joe Cocker performs A Little Help From My Friends and The Blues Brothers performs "King Bee," "Soul Man," and "B-Movie Boxcar Blues."

References

1. Steele, Brian (April 26, 2015). "11 Things We Learned About Harry Shearer From His WTF Episode". IFC. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
2. Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 124–127. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
3. Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 156–158. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
4. Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. p. 159. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
5. Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. p. 264. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
6. Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 160–161. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
7. Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. p. 120. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.