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Saturday Night Live season 10

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Saturday Night Live
Season 10
The title card for the tenth season of Saturday Night Live.
No. of episodes17
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseOctober 6, 1984 (1984-10-06) –
April 13, 1985 (1985-04-13)
Season chronology
← Previous
season 9
Next →
season 11
List of episodes

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. This was the only season to feature renowned comedians Billy Crystal, Martin Short, and Christopher Guest as cast members, and became known as the "All-Star" cast season.[1] Only 17 episodes were produced due to a writers' strike and budget constraints.[2] This was the final season of the Ebersol-run era.

Opening credits

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This season also featured a new opening sequence produced by Charlex (who also created The Cars' "You Might Think" video earlier in 1984), depicting the SNL cast as giants in and around New York City landmarks.[3]

Cast

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During the previous season, Eddie Murphy left the show midseason. Because of Murphy's departure, Joe Piscopo also left the show because he did not want to do it without Murphy. Dick Ebersol fired Robin Duke, Brad Hall and Tim Kazurinsky.[1]

Ebersol and head writer Bob Tischler then wanted to "blow up" the show by adding seasoned comedians instead of newcomers.[4][5] He hired Billy Crystal (who hosted twice in season 9 and was originally set to appear in SNL's first episode),[6] Christopher Guest (a frequent contributor to The National Lampoon Radio Hour in the early 1970s), Rich Hall (best known for his work on "Not Necessarily the News" and the early 1980s ABC sketch show "Fridays"), Harry Shearer (who was a cast member on SNL in season 5), Martin Short (from "SCTV") and New Zealander Pamela Stephenson (from "Not The Nine O'Clock News").[1] Stephenson beat out Geena Davis and Andrea Martin for the spot.[7] Christopher Guest became the anchor of Saturday Night News.

In the middle of the season, Harry Shearer left the show due to "creative differences".[8] Shearer told the AP, "I was creative, and they were different."[9] Despite his departure, his image is still shown in the opening credits (spray-painting an elevated train as it goes down the track).

The remaining cast members left the show at the end of the season. Ebersol had been wanting to completely revamp the show to include mostly prerecorded segments.[10] Short, Guest, and Hall ultimately grew 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.[1] 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,[11] David Letterman and Joe Piscopo) for "a hip The Ed Sullivan 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.[1]

Cast roster

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Repertory players

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

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Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 10

Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Rich Hall, Rob Riley, and Martin Short joined the writing staff. Jim Downey, Herb Sargent, 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, 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.

Larry David spent one season on the writing staff.[12] He described this period as a miserable experience due to his conflicts with Dick Ebersol and being able to get only one sketch on the air, which aired in the final moments of Episode 7.[13] He would later take some of his unused ideas and work them into his show Seinfeld.[13] David would return to host SNL in 2017[14] and to portray Bernie Sanders.[15]

Episodes

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Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		Host(s)Musical guest(s)Original air date
1791(none)Thompson TwinsOctober 6, 1984 (1984-10-06)

1802Bob UeckerPeter WolfOctober 13, 1984 (1984-10-13)

1813Jesse JacksonAndrae Crouch
Wintley Phipps		October 20, 1984 (1984-10-20)

1824Michael McKeanChaka Khan
The Folksmen		November 3, 1984 (1984-11-03)

  • Chaka Khan performs "I Feel for You" and "This Is My Night".[16]
  • Shelia E. was originally announced as the musical guest for this episode, but was replaced by Chaka Khan.
  • Edwin Newman anchors Saturday Night News.
  • Cameraman Bobby Fraraccio fills in for Barry Manilow on "Fernando's Hideaway".
  • Contains the first appearance as the faux-folk group The Folksmen (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer), performing their "hit", "Old Joe's Place" (in addition to a pre-taped segment featuring the band's "reunion"). The Folksmen appeared 19 years later in the film A Mighty Wind.
  • Larry David appears off-camera during the monologue as a heckler.
  • Jim Belushi was missing from this episode, as mentioned by McKean during the goodnights.
  • Michael McKean joined the cast of SNL 10 years later at the end of season 19, making him one of only two people to be a host, musical guest (as part of Spinal Tap in season 9) and cast member of SNL (Dan Aykroyd being the other).
1835George CarlinFrankie Goes to HollywoodNovember 10, 1984 (1984-11-10)

1846Ed AsnerThe KinksNovember 17, 1984 (1984-11-17)

  • The Kinks performs "Do It Again" and "Word of Mouth".[16]
  • Bill Murray was originally announced as the host, but backed out and was replaced by Ed Asner.
  • Ed Asner anchors Saturday Night News.
1857Ed Begley, Jr.Billy SquierDecember 1, 1984 (1984-12-01)

1868Ringo StarrHerbie HancockDecember 8, 1984 (1984-12-08)

  • Herbie Hancock performs "Junku" and "Rockit".[16]
  • This is the only episode of the series not to have a news segment, like "Saturday Night News", as it was known then.
  • Cameo by Barbara Bach, wife of host Ringo Starr.
1879Eddie MurphyThe HoneydrippersDecember 15, 1984 (1984-12-15)

18810Kathleen TurnerJohn WaiteJanuary 12, 1985 (1985-01-12)

18911Roy ScheiderBilly OceanJanuary 19, 1985 (1985-01-19)

19012Alex KarrasTina TurnerFebruary 2, 1985 (1985-02-02)

19113Harry AndersonBryan AdamsFebruary 9, 1985 (1985-02-09)

19214Pamela Sue MartinPower StationFebruary 16, 1985 (1985-02-16)

19315Mr. T
Hulk Hogan		The CommodoresMarch 30, 1985 (1985-03-30)

19416Christopher ReeveSantanaApril 6, 1985 (1985-04-06)

19517Howard CosellGreg KihnApril 13, 1985 (1985-04-13)

Specials

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TitleOriginal air date
"SNL Film Festival"March 2, 1985 (1985-03-02)
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.[10] 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).[2]
"The Best of John Belushi"August 3, 1985 (1985-08-03)
The special included 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

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  1. ^ a b c d e Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost and Found. NBC. November 13, 2005.
  2. ^ a b Bedell Smith, Sally (March 6, 1985). "Scant Initial Effect Seen for TV Writers' Strike". The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  3. ^ "Saturday Night Live Season 10 Intro HQ". YouTube. June 20, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  4. ^ Martinsen, Dan (November 6, 1984). "Saturday Night Live Turns to Proven Talent". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. LA Times-Washington Post News Service. p. 9D. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  5. ^ Kornbluth, Jesse (October 1, 1984). "Revived from New York, It's 'Saturday Night'!". New York. Vol. 17, no. 39. pp. 52–57. ISSN 0028-7369. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  6. ^ Mansfield, Stephanie (July 27, 1985). "A simply mahhhvellous success story". Vancouver Sun. p. D4. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  7. ^ Shales & Miller 2002, p. 261.
  8. ^ "Shearer suspended on NBC's 'SNL'". The Vindicator. February 13, 1985. p. 33. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  9. ^ Shales & Miller 2002, p. 287.
  10. ^ a b Blevins, Joe (November 18, 2015). "The Night Siskel and Ebert Took Over 'SNL'". Vulture. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  11. ^ Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 291–292.
  12. ^ Hirschberg, Lynn (September 12, 2016). "Julia Louis-Dreyfus Is Bonded to Larry David By Their Misery". W. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 269–273.
  14. ^ Love, Matthew (November 5, 2017). "Saturday Night Live Recap: Larry David Berns His Enthusiasm". Vulture. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  15. ^ "'SNL': Larry David Returns as Bernie Sanders for a Campaign Postmortem From His Living Room (Video)". Yahoo Entertainment. April 12, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 124–127. ISBN 978-0-395-70895-8.
  17. ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 156–158. ISBN 978-0-395-70895-8.
  18. ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 159. ISBN 978-0-395-70895-8.
  19. ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 264. ISBN 978-0-395-70895-8.
  20. ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-0-395-70895-8.
  21. ^ "Going Up". NBC. August 14, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2024 – via YouTube.

Works cited

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