Saturday Night Live (season 9)

Saturday Night Live (season 9)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	19
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	October 8, 1983 – May 12, 1984

The ninth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 8, 1983, and May 12, 1984.

Cast changes

Before the start of the season the entire cast returned for another season. The only change was the hiring (and firing, then rehiring) of Jim Belushi (brother of late SNL cast member John Belushi). The notable moment of the season occurred when Eddie Murphy left the program 2 episodes short of the end of the season. After 48 Hours, Murphy's star began to eclipse that of Joe Piscopo's. From the start of season 7, Dick Ebersol made it clear that his strategy was to showcase Murphy and Piscopo as much as possible while all the other cast members would play mainly supporting roles and were treated with very little patience by the producers.

When Murphy's 48 Hours co-star Nick Nolte dropped out of hosting at the last minute, Ebersol offered Murphy the chance to host — a move that Piscopo would perceive as a major slight. Piscopo would later claim Ebersol used Murphy's success to divide the two erstwhile friends and play them against one another. Others countered that Piscopo was simply being a prima donna; said one writer, "Eddie Murphy's fame went to Joe Piscopo's head."^[1][2] When the season ended Piscopo left with no intention of returning. Robin Duke, Brad Hall and Tim Kazurinsky were all fired from the show.

Format changes

Ebersol had taken Hall off Weekend Update (known as Saturday Night News during this time) mid-season. The segment then had a revolving door of other anchors mostly involving the episode's host and, in one case, Joe Piscopo (although Piscopo only introduced a commentary and didn't tell any actual jokes).

Hosts

Future cast member Billy Crystal hosted twice this season: once with musical guest Al Jarreau and again on the season finale with Ed Koch, Edwin Newman, Betty Thomas, and former castmember Don Novello.

Cast

Repertory cast members Jim Belushi (first episode: October 22, 1983) Robin Duke Mary Gross Brad Hall Tim Kazurinsky Gary Kroeger Julia Louis-Dreyfus Eddie Murphy (final episode: April 14, 1984) Joe Piscopo bold denotes Weekend Update anchor Writers This season's writers were Jim Belushi, Andy Breckman, Robin Duke, Adam Green, Mary Gross, Nate Herman, Tim Kazurinsky, Kevin Kelton, Andy Kurtzman, Michael McCarthy, Eddie Murphy, Pamela Norris, Margaret Oberman, Joe Piscopo, Andrew Smith, Bob Tischler, Eliot Wald and Herb Sargent. The head writers were Bob Tischler and Andrew Smith. Episodes No. overall No. in season Host(s) Musical guest(s) Original air date 160 1 Brandon Tartikoff John Cougar Mellencamp October 8, 1983 John Cougar performed "Pink Houses" and "Crumblin' Down"[3] Cameo appearances by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert in which they critique the episode's sketches Larry's Corner features man who will drink anything and laughing man with milk out of his nose to hilarious effect 161 2 Danny DeVito & Rhea Perlman Eddy Grant October 15, 1983 Eddy Grant performed "I Don't Wanna Dance", "Electric Avenue", and "Living on the Front Line".[3] Dick Cavett made a cameo appearance in the Autograph Hounds sketch. 162 3 John Candy Men at Work October 22, 1983 Men at Work performed "Dr. Heckyll and Mr. Jive" and "It's a Mistake".[3] Jim Belushi's first episode as a cast member. 163 4 Betty Thomas Stray Cats November 5, 1983 Stray Cats performed "(She's) Sexy + 17" and "I Won't Stand in Your Way",[3] the latter of which featured a cameo appearance by 14 Karat Soul. 164 5 Teri Garr Mick Fleetwood's Zoo Lindsey Buckingham November 12, 1983 Mick Fleetwood's Zoo performed "Tonight"[3] and "Way Down". Magician and future creator/star of Mystery Science Theater 3000 Joel Hodgson made a guest appearance. 165 6 Jerry Lewis Loverboy November 19, 1983 Loverboy performed "Working for the Weekend".[3] Florence Henderson made a cameo appearance during the "What Famous Person Do You Look Like?" short film. 166 7 The Smothers Brothers Big Country December 3, 1983 Big Country performed "In a Big Country" and "Fields of Fire"[3] Larry Holmes made a cameo appearance during Saturday Night News Cameo appearances by Tom Seaver and Ron Luciano in the cold open, and Luciano also appears in the autograph sketch 167 8 Flip Wilson Stevie Nicks December 10, 1983 Stevie Nicks performed "Stand Back" and "Nightbird"[3] Guest appearance by Joel Hodgson Brad Hall's last episode anchoring Saturday Night News 168 9 Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello) Huey Lewis and the News January 14, 1984 Huey Lewis and the News performed "Heart and Soul" and "I Want a New Drug"[3] Guest appearance by stand-up comedian Steven Wright The first time a fictional character ever hosted Saturday Night Live 169 10 Michael Palin The Motels January 21, 1984 The Motels performed "Suddenly Last Summer" and "Remember the Nights".[3] Michael Palin's mother Mary appears during his monologue. 170 11 Don Rickles Billy Idol January 28, 1984 An off-screen Dave Wilson talks to Don Rickles during the monologue Billy Idol performed "White Wedding" and "Rebel Yell"[3] Cameo appearances by Brandon Tartikoff and John Madden during the monologue as members of the audience Dr. Joyce Brothers appears in the "Fascinating People and Their Friends" sketch Don Rickles repeatedly ad-libs extra lines and gestures throughout his sketches (mostly with Joe Piscopo), causing other cast members to break character, and a few sketches even include improvised face-slapping competitions[4] 171 12 Robin Williams Adam Ant February 11, 1984 Adam Ant performed "Strip" and "Goody Two Shoes".[3] Stand-up comedian Paula Poundstone made a guest appearance. 172 13 Jamie Lee Curtis The Fixx February 18, 1984 The Fixx performed "One Thing Leads to Another" and "Red Skies".[3] Joel Hodgson made a guest appearance. 173 14 Edwin Newman Kool & the Gang February 25, 1984 Kool & the Gang performed "Joanna" and "Celebration".[3] Magician Harry Anderson made a guest appearance. 174 15 Billy Crystal Al Jarreau March 17, 1984 Al Jarreau performed "Mornin'" and "Trouble in Paradise"[3] Cameo appearance by New York City mayor Ed Koch during the cold open Billy Crystal debuts his Fernando character 175 16 Michael Douglas Deniece Williams April 7, 1984 Deniece Williams performed "Let's Hear It for the Boy" and "Wrapped Up".[3] 176 17 George McGovern Madness April 14, 1984 Madness performed "Our House" and "Keep Moving"[3] Cameo appearance by Frankie Pace to perform his stand-up set Cameo appearance by Clara Peller (from the "Where's the Beef?" commercial) in the "White House Foods" commercial parody to say her catchphrase Eddie Murphy's final episode as a cast member 177 18 Barry Bostwick Spinal Tap May 5, 1984 Spinal Tap performed "Christmas with the Devil" and "Big Bottom",[3] and appears in a filmed interview with Bostwick Cameo appearance by Billy Crystal during Saturday Night News as Fernando Lamas Future cast member A. Whitney Brown performed his stand-up set A cameo appearance by Soupy Sales during the Turkey Lady sketch 178 19 Billy Crystal, Ed Koch, Edwin Newman, Don Novello, Betty Thomas The Cars May 12, 1984 The Cars performed "Magic" and "Drive"[3] Guest appearance by Joel Hodgson Robin Duke, Brad Hall, Tim Kazurinsky and Joe Piscopo's final episode as cast members References Fennessey, Sean (October 13, 2010). "SNL and The Curse of the Transitional Season". SplitSider. Shales, Tom (2003). Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Back Bay. ISBN 0-316-73565-5. Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 124–127. ISBN 0-395-70895-8. "January 28, 1984". SNL Archives. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011.