Saturday Night Live season 11

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Saturday Night Live
Season 11
SNLseason11.jpg
No. of episodes18
Release
Original network NBC
Original releaseNovember 9, 1985 (1985-11-09) –
May 24, 1986 (1986-05-24)
Season chronology
← Previous
season 10
Next →
season 12
List of episodes

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.

The season marked Lorne Michaels' return to SNL as showrunner after a five-year hiatus. [1] Michaels hired new cast members, but instead of his usual approach of recruiting from comedy clubs and improv groups, he cast established names such as Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey Jr., and Joan Cusack. [2] Due to their relative inexperience in comedy, the new cast failed to connect with audiences. [3]

The show also featured a frustrated writing crew (including future Simpsons writers Jon Vitti, George Meyer and John Swartzwelder), who didn't know how to write sketches for such an eclectic cast. [3] The season was plagued by harsh criticism, low ratings, and rumors of a possible cancellation. [4] NBC president Brandon Tartikoff planned to cancel SNL after its season finale in May 1986; Michaels, however, pleaded with Tartikoff to let the show go on. [5] Most of the cast was let go for the following season, with only Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz and Dennis Miller along with featured player A. Whitney Brown returning, making it one of the more notable cast overhauls alongside season 6 and season 20. [6] [7]

Cast

With Dick Ebersol 's cast and writers gone, Michaels hired Academy Award nominee Quaid, best known for his work in The Last Detail and National Lampoon's Vacation ; as well as Cusack and Downey Jr. [8] Part of the reasoning that Michaels chose younger performers was due to SNL's original audience, which comprised baby boomers, now nearing middle age, meaning that producers and NBC executives needed to appeal to a younger audience. [9]

Danitra Vance was added along with stand-up comedians Miller and Damon Wayans, and improv comedians Dunn [10] and Lovitz. [11] Terry Sweeney, who had been a writer on season 6 of SNL, [1] was added to the cast, making him the first openly gay male cast member. [12] Don Novello returned as a featured player sporadically throughout the season, often reprising his popular Father Guido Sarducci character. Writer Brown was also added to the cast midway through the season, performing his "The Big Picture" segment on Weekend Update, and Al Franken returned in the finale. Miller became the new anchor for Weekend Update. [1] Despite the season's negative reception, Lovitz would gain popularity with characters like the Pathological Liar and Master Thespian. [2]

Chris Elliott, then a performer and writer on Late Night with David Letterman , auditioned for the cast this season and was offered the job. He turned it down in order to remain at Letterman, [13] [14] though he would later join the SNL cast for one season in 1994. According to a recent interview with short-term cast member Dan Vitale, actress Anjelica Huston was nearly hired as a cast member this season. [15] Huston, a friend of Lorne's, was begged to join the show as a cast member; instead she co-hosted the season finale with Billy Martin. [15]

Controversy

When Chevy Chase hosted the show, there were reports of tension amongst the cast and crew. 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. [16]

Cast roster

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Damon Wayans is credited as a featured player for all of the first twelve episodes, except for episode 10. He exits the show after episode 12 but returns as a guest to do standup for the season finale. The rest of the featured players aren't credited in many episodes: Don Novello is only credited for five, A. Whitney Brown only appears in six (though uncredited for three appearances, mostly due to him not having been made a featured player yet), Vitale is only credited for two, and Franken is only credited for the season finale.

Writers

This season's writers were A. Whitney Brown, Tom Davis, [3] Jim Downey, Al Franken, [3] Jack Handey, Lanier Laney, Carol Leifer, [17] George Meyer, Lorne Michaels, Don Novello, Michael O'Donoghue, R. D. Rosen, [9] Herb Sargent, Suzy Schneider, Robert Smigel, [18] John Swartzwelder, Terry Sweeney, Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch. The head writer was Downey. Downey and Sargent were the only writers from the previous season to return to the show.

Special Guests

Penn & Teller and Sam Kinison are featured in the opening credits as special guests for many episodes this season, performing a segment of their own acts each time they appear. Penn & Teller did six episodes, while Kinison did four. Each act appears as a special guest once more in the 1986-87 season before this type of variety show performance is discontinued and the focus of the show becomes the cast. Steven Wright, who had been a special guest to do standup on four episodes of the previous season, returns for one episode of this season.

Episodes

No.
overall		No. in
season		Host(s)Musical guest(s)Original release date
1961 Madonna Simple Minds November 9, 1985 (1985-11-09)

1972 Chevy Chase Sheila E November 16, 1985 (1985-11-16)

1983 Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman Queen Ida & the Bon Temps Zydeco Band November 23, 1985 (1985-11-23)

  • Queen Ida & the Bon Temps Zydeco Band performs "La Louisiane" and "Frisco Zydeco". [19]
  • Credited Featured Players: Don Novello, Dan Vitale, Damon Wayans
  • Former cast member Robin Duke appears in the "Pee-Wee Herman Thanksgiving Special" sketch as one of the audience members during the performance by Diana Ross (Terry Sweeney).
  • Don Novello rejoins the cast after a five year hiatus.
  • Dan Vitale's first of two episodes as a featured player.
  • According to Vitale, the show considered George C. Scott as a possible host for this episode, before selecting Reubens. [15]
1994 John Lithgow Mr. Mister December 7, 1985 (1985-12-07)

2005 Tom Hanks Sade December 14, 1985 (1985-12-14)

2016 Teri Garr The Dream Academy
The Cult 		December 21, 1985 (1985-12-21)

2027 Harry Dean Stanton The Replacements January 18, 1986 (1986-01-18)

  • The Replacements perform "Bastards of Young" and "Kiss Me On the Bus," [19] both from the Tim album. The entire band was drunk during both 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 solo musical guest during the 19th season. [22]
  • Featured Player: Damon Wayans
  • Guest appearance by Sam Kinison.
2038 Dudley Moore Al Green January 25, 1986 (1986-01-25)

  • Al Green performs "Going Away" and "True Love". [19]
  • Featured Player: Damon Wayans
  • The episode features a sketch about a beauty pageant for pregnant teenaged girls featuring Danitra Vance's Cabrini Green Jackson character.
2049 Ron Reagan The Nelsons February 8, 1986 (1986-02-08)

  • The Nelsons perform "Won't Walk Away" and "Do You Know What I Mean". [19]
  • Credited Featured Players: Dan Vitale, Damon Wayans
  • Guest appearance by Penn & Teller.
  • Writer A. Whitney Brown appears on Weekend Update to do "The Big Picture", although he is not officially made a featured player until later in the season.
  • Dan Vitale's second of two episodes credited as a featured player.
20510 Jerry Hall Stevie Ray Vaughan
Double Trouble 		February 15, 1986 (1986-02-15)

  • Credited Featured Players: (none)
  • Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble performs "Say What!" and "Change It". [19] 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.
20611 Jay Leno The Neville Brothers February 22, 1986 (1986-02-22)

  • Credited Featured Player: Damon Wayans
  • A. Whitney Brown performs "The Big Picture" on Weekend Update but isn't credited as a featured player in the opening.
  • The Neville Brothers perform "The Big Chief" and "The Midnight Key". [19]
  • The dog actor "Mike the Dog" is credited as a special guest in the opening.
20712 Griffin Dunne Rosanne Cash March 15, 1986 (1986-03-15)

    • Credited Players: A. Whitney Brown, Don Novello, Damon Wayans
  • Rosanne Cash performs "Hold On" and "I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me". [19]
  • Guest appearance by Penn & Teller.
  • A. Whitney Brown's first episode as a featured player.
  • Damon Wayans' final episode as a cast member.
  • In the "Mr. Monopoly" sketch, Wayans plays a minor police officer character role as a gay stereotype; according to Wayans himself, an utterly furious Lorne Michaels would chew him out for his renegade move after the sketch finished, and proceeded to fire him from the show then and there, though he would finish out the episode and, as mentioned below, would return for the finale as a stand-up guest. [23] [24] [25]
20813 George Wendt
Francis Ford Coppola 		Philip Glass March 22, 1986 (1986-03-22)

20914 Oprah Winfrey Joe Jackson April 12, 1986 (1986-04-12)

  • Credited Featured Players: A. Whitney Brown, Don Novello
  • Joe Jackson performs "Right and Wrong" and "Soul Kiss". [19]
21015 Tony Danza Laurie Anderson April 19, 1986 (1986-04-19)

21116 Catherine Oxenberg
Paul Simon 		Paul Simon
Ladysmith Black Mambazo 		May 10, 1986 (1986-05-10)

21217 Jimmy Breslin Level 42
E.G. Daily 		May 17, 1986 (1986-05-17)

21318 Anjelica Huston
Billy Martin 		George Clinton
Parliament-Funkadelic 		May 24, 1986 (1986-05-24)

  • Credited Featured Players: A. Whitney Brown, Al Franken, Don Novello (credited under the name of his character Father Guido Sarducci).
  • George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic perform "Let's Take It to the Stage" and "Do Fries Go with That Shake?". [19]
  • Damon Wayans returns to perform stand-up.
  • Al Franken rejoins the cast after a six-year hiatus. This is also his only appearance as a cast member until season 14.
  • Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, Don Novello, Randy Quaid, Terry Sweeney and Danitra Vance's final episode as cast members.
  • All the cast members (except Lovitz, who Lorne Michaels purports was because he was the only cast member worth saving) were shown to be trapped in a room on fire as a parody of TV show cliffhangers; this is preceded by the last sketch of the night being interrupted by an "intoxicated" Martin being kicked off, and starting the fire in retaliation. [18] [27]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Belkin, Lisa (November 3, 1985). "A Decade Old, 'Saturday Night Live' Looks to Fresh Faces". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Shales & Miller 2002, p. 293.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 299–300.
  4. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (October 3, 2012). "Younger, Sexier, Inherently Doomed Case File #25: Saturday Night Live's 1985–1986 season". The A.V. Club . The Onion. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  5. ↑ Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 313–314.
  6. ↑ Atwater, Carleton (January 21, 2011). "Looking Back at Saturday Night Live, 1985-1990". Vulture. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  7. ↑ Evans, Bradford (September 27, 2013). "The 8 Biggest Transitional Seasons in 'SNL' History". Vulture. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  8. ↑ Shales & Miller 2002, p. 297.
  9. 1 2 Bennetts, Leslie (December 12, 1985). "Struggles At the New 'Saturday Night'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  10. ↑ Nelson, Samantha (February 5, 2016). "SNL alum Nora Dunn's show recalls her starstruck days". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  11. ↑ Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 297–298.
  12. ↑ Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 300–301.
  13. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/02/07/chris-elliotts-ascent-into-madness/3e763b10-bfc9-4cc7-b019-ed1ff72f3fef/
  14. ↑ https://www.salon.com/2012/10/22/chris_elliott_snl_looks_like_a_lot_of_fun_but_youre_constantly_auditioning/
  15. 1 2 3 "Dan Vitale's Saturday Night Live War Stories". Vulture . April 29, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  16. ↑ Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 302–303.
  17. ↑ Shales & Miller 2002, p. 300.
  18. 1 2 Rabin, Nathan (August 4, 2004). "Robert Smigel". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp.  124–127. ISBN   0-395-70895-8.
  20. ↑ "10 'SNL' Sketches Cut From the Reruns". Splitsider. May 1, 2012. Archived from the original on May 3, 2012.
  21. ↑ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp.  212–213. ISBN   0-395-70895-8.
  22. ↑ Mehr, Bob (February 12, 2016). "Inside the Replacements' Disastrous 'Saturday Night Live' Debut". Rolling Stone . Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  23. ↑ Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 308–310.
  24. ↑ Wright, Megh (October 22, 2013). "Saturday Night's Children: Damon Wayans (1985–1986)". Splitsider. Archived from the original on October 24, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  25. ↑ Fennessey, Sean (October 13, 2010). "SNL and The Curse of the Transitional Season". Vulture. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  26. ↑ Seibold, Witney (March 12, 2023). "Francis Ford Coppola's Saturday Night Live Episode Might Just Be The Weirdest". SlashFilm . Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  27. ↑ Shales & Miller 2002, p. 314.

Works cited

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