Saturday Night Live (Season 5)
Encyclopedia
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

aired its fifth season during the 1979–1980 television season on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

. The fifth season started on October 13, 1979 and ended on May 24, 1980. SNL's fifth season was released on DVD on December 1, 2009.

John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...

 and Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...

 left the show at the end of the fourth season, leaving a void in the cast that most fans thought would be the beginning of the end of the late-night sketch show.

To keep the show going, Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...

 upgraded many of the show's writers to cast member status: Peter Aykroyd
Peter Aykroyd
Peter Hugh Aykroyd was born to Lorraine and Peter Aykroyd in Canada. He is the younger brother of comedian Dan Aykroyd. Along with his older brother he was in the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto, Ontario. The two were also on the popular NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live. Peter was a cast...

 (Dan's brother), Jim Downey
Jim Downey (comedian)
James Downey is an American comedy writer and occasional actor. Downey is best known as a long-time writer for Saturday Night Live.-Writing:Downey attended Harvard University, graduating in 1974 with a degree in Russian...

, Brian Doyle-Murray
Brian Doyle-Murray
Brian Doyle-Murray is an American comedian, screenwriter, actor and voice artist. He is the older brother of actor/comedian Bill Murray and has acted together with him in several films, including Caddyshack, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II, The Razor's Edge and Groundhog Day...

 (Bill's brother), Don Novello
Don Novello
Don Novello is an American writer, film director, producer, actor, singer, and comedian. Novello is best known for his work on NBC's Saturday Night Live, from 1977 until 1980, and then 1985 until 1986, often as the character "Father Guido Sarducci". Novello has appeared as "Sarducci" on many...

, Tom Schiller
Tom Schiller
Tom Schiller is an American Emmy Award winning writer best known for his eleven-year stint writing and directing short films for Saturday Night Live...

 and Alan Zweibel
Alan Zweibel
Alan Zweibel is an American producer and writer who has worked on such productions as Saturday Night Live, PBS' Great Performances, and It's Garry Shandling's Show.-Early life:...

.

Band leader Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...

 also joined the cast, becoming the first person from the SNL band to become a cast member.

Future Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

voice actor Harry Shearer
Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...

 joined the show as a featured cast member, but was promoted to repertory status during the season, becoming the first person in the show's history to do so.

As the season progressed, all of the cast and writers, including Michaels, grew tired of the show and planned on ending it in May. NBC, on the other hand, wasn't about to let the successful series slip through their fingers and planned on keeping the show going with a new cast, new writers, and a new executive producer (a practice that initially spelled doom for the show, but has since become the secret to the show's longevity).

Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....

 was originally considered to be season six's executive producer, but after a scathing "Weekend Update" commentary about Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman is an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at the CBS, ABC and NBC networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as the series Scooby-Doo , All in the Family , The Waltons , and Charlie's Angels , as well as the...

 ("A Limo for the Lame-O"), Franken was dropped.

This would be the final season for everyone in the cast. Tom Davis
Tom Davis (comedian)
Tom Davis is an American writer and comedian. He is an Emmy Award winner, and is best known for his former partnership with Al Franken, as half of the comedy duo "Franken & Davis" on Saturday Night Live.-Life and career:...

 and Downey would return to the show in future seasons as writers. Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....

, Novello and Shearer would rejoin the cast in future seasons (Franken would also return as a writer)

The season five finale marked the last time that Buck Henry
Buck Henry
Henry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...

 would appear on the show.

Cast

Repertory cast members
  • Jane Curtin
    Jane Curtin
    Jane Therese Curtin is an American actress and comedienne. She is commonly referred to as Queen of the Deadpan.First coming to prominence as an original cast member on Saturday Night Live in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series on the 1980s...

  • Garrett Morris
    Garrett Morris
    Garrett Gonzalez Morris is an American comedian and actor from New Orleans. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980.-Early life and career:...

  • Bill Murray
    Bill Murray
    William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...

  • Laraine Newman
    Laraine Newman
    Laraine Newman is an American comedienne, actress, and writer, and was part of the original Saturday Night Live cast.-Personal life:...

  • Gilda Radner
    Gilda Radner
    Gilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...

  • Harry Shearer
    Harry Shearer
    Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...



Featured cast members
  • Peter Aykroyd
    Peter Aykroyd
    Peter Hugh Aykroyd was born to Lorraine and Peter Aykroyd in Canada. He is the younger brother of comedian Dan Aykroyd. Along with his older brother he was in the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto, Ontario. The two were also on the popular NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live. Peter was a cast...

     (first episode: November 17, 1979)
  • Tom Davis
    Tom Davis (comedian)
    Tom Davis is an American writer and comedian. He is an Emmy Award winner, and is best known for his former partnership with Al Franken, as half of the comedy duo "Franken & Davis" on Saturday Night Live.-Life and career:...

  • Jim Downey
    Jim Downey (comedian)
    James Downey is an American comedy writer and occasional actor. Downey is best known as a long-time writer for Saturday Night Live.-Writing:Downey attended Harvard University, graduating in 1974 with a degree in Russian...

     (first episode: November 17, 1979)
  • Brian Doyle-Murray
    Brian Doyle-Murray
    Brian Doyle-Murray is an American comedian, screenwriter, actor and voice artist. He is the older brother of actor/comedian Bill Murray and has acted together with him in several films, including Caddyshack, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II, The Razor's Edge and Groundhog Day...

     (first episode: December 15, 1979)
  • Al Franken
    Al Franken
    Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....

  • Don Novello
    Don Novello
    Don Novello is an American writer, film director, producer, actor, singer, and comedian. Novello is best known for his work on NBC's Saturday Night Live, from 1977 until 1980, and then 1985 until 1986, often as the character "Father Guido Sarducci". Novello has appeared as "Sarducci" on many...

  • Tom Schiller
    Tom Schiller
    Tom Schiller is an American Emmy Award winning writer best known for his eleven-year stint writing and directing short films for Saturday Night Live...

     (first episode: December 15, 1979)
  • Paul Shaffer
    Paul Shaffer
    Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...

  • Alan Zweibel
    Alan Zweibel
    Alan Zweibel is an American producer and writer who has worked on such productions as Saturday Night Live, PBS' Great Performances, and It's Garry Shandling's Show.-Early life:...

     (first episode: December 15, 1979)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

Like previous mentioned Michaels upgraded many of the show's writers to cast member status, including Aykroyd, Downey, Doyle-Murray, Novello, Schiller and Zweibel. Doyle-Murray would be the only one to return in the following season.

Movies

Movie Name Release Date Notes
The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers (film)
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James...

June 20, 1980
  • This is the first movie to be based on a character(s) that appeared on the show.
  • The film is based on "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch.
  • Cast members Dan Aykroyd
    Dan Aykroyd
    Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...

     and John Belushi
    John Belushi
    John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...

     appear in the film.
  • The film received positive reviews and was commercially successful.

Episodes

Episode
Number
Date Host(s) Musical Guest(s) Remarks
87 October 13, 1979 Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....

Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...

  • Blondie performed "Dreaming" and "The Hardest Part".
  • Until at least 1994, this episode was the highest-rated according to the Nielsen ratings.
  • Harry Shearer
    Harry Shearer
    Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...

    's first episode as a cast member.
  • Jim Downey and Paul Shaffer
    Paul Shaffer
    Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...

     appeared uncredited, and though both actors would appear in every episode in Season 5, they did not appear in the opening credit montage until the Bea Arthur/Roches broadcast.
  • Tom Davis
    Tom Davis (comedian)
    Tom Davis is an American writer and comedian. He is an Emmy Award winner, and is best known for his former partnership with Al Franken, as half of the comedy duo "Franken & Davis" on Saturday Night Live.-Life and career:...

     and Al Franken
    Al Franken
    Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....

    's first episode as cast members.
  • Buck Henry has a cameo in the "Rise" commercial parody with Steve Martin.
  • Father Guido Sarducci
    Father Guido Sarducci
    Father Guido Sarducci is a fictional character made famous by American comedian Don Novello. Sarducci, a chain-smoking priest with tinted eyeglasses, works in the United States as gossip columnist and rock critic for the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano .-Background:Novello...

     appears during Weekend Update and announces the start of the "Find the Popes in the Pizza" contest, where the viewer would try to find all the hidden popes within the picture.
88 October 20, 1979 Eric Idle
Eric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....

Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

  • Eric Idle performed with a fever (which explains why he was in a stretcher during the monologue). Buck Henry was brought in just in case Idle was too sick to perform.
  • Buck Henry also appears in the Cold Opening.
  • Bob Dylan performed "Gotta Serve Somebody", "I Believe in You", and "When You Gonna Wake Up".
  • Harry Shearer
    Harry Shearer
    Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...

    's first episode as a cast member.
  • 89 November 3, 1979 Bill Russell Chicago
    Chicago (band)
    Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...

  • Bill Russell was the first basketball player to host SNL.
  • Chicago performed "Street Player" and a cover of The Spencer Davis Group's "I'm a Man."
  • 90 November 10, 1979 Buck Henry
    Buck Henry
    Henry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...

    Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  • Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers performed "Refugee" and "Don't Do Me Like That
    Don't Do Me Like That
    "Don't Do Me Like That" is the title of a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released in November 1979 as the first single from the album Damn the Torpedoes...

    ".
  • The winner of the "Find the Popes in the Pizza" contest (see above) is announced by Father Guido Sarducci on Weekend Update.
  • 91 November 17, 1979 Bea Arthur The Roches
    The Roches
    The Roches are a female vocal group of three songwriting Irish-American sisters from Park Ridge, New Jersey, known for their "unusual" and "rich" harmonies, quirky lyrics, and casually comedic stage performances.The Roches have been active as performers and recording artists since the mid-1970s,...

  • Peter Aykroyd
    Peter Aykroyd
    Peter Hugh Aykroyd was born to Lorraine and Peter Aykroyd in Canada. He is the younger brother of comedian Dan Aykroyd. Along with his older brother he was in the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto, Ontario. The two were also on the popular NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live. Peter was a cast...

    's first episode as a cast member
  • The Roches were invited on at the behest of Paul Simon and performed two songs, "Bobby's Song" (from their upcoming second album Nurds
    Nurds
    Nurds is a 1980 album by The Roches, the follow-up to their debut. It was positively reviewed although not quite as highly as their first album. The Rolling Stone review noted that they were "not just entertaining but downright terrifying"...

    ), and "The Hallelujah Chorus", a staple of their live act but unreleased until their third album Keep On Doing
    Keep on Doing
    -Track listing:All tracks composed and arranged by Suzzy and Terre Roche except where indicated.# "The Hallelujah Chorus" # "Losing True" # "Steady with the Maestro"...

     in 1982.
  • 92 December 8, 1979 Howard Hesseman
    Howard Hesseman
    Howard Hesseman is an American actor best known for playing disc jockey Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati and schoolteacher Charlie Moore on Head of the Class.-Early life:...

    Randy Newman
    Randy Newman
    Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....

     
    First showing of the Bel Airabs
    93 December 15, 1979 Martin Sheen
    Martin Sheen
    Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...

    David Bowie
    David Bowie
    David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

    • David Bowie performed "The Man Who Sold the World
      The Man Who Sold the World
      The Man Who Sold the World is the third studio album by David Bowie. It was originally released on Mercury Records in November 1970 in the United States and in April 1971 in the UK. The album was Bowie's first with the nucleus of what would become the "Spiders from Mars", the backing band made...

      ", "TVC 15
      TVC 15
      "TVC 15" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie and released in 1976.The track was inspired by an episode in which Iggy Pop, during a drug-fuelled period at Bowie’s LA home, hallucinated and believed the television set was swallowing his girlfriend. Bowie developed a story of a holographic...

      " and "Boys Keep Swinging
      Boys Keep Swinging
      "Boys Keep Swinging" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released as a single from the album Lodger on 27 April 1979.-Recording and release:...

      "
    • Klaus Nomi
      Klaus Nomi
      Klaus Sperber , better known as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona....

       and Joey Arias
      Joey Arias
      Joey Arias is a New York City based performance artist, cabaret singer, and drag artist.Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, he was six when he moved with his family to Los Angeles. After singing with the rock band "Purlie" on Capitol Records and a stint with famed improvisational group the...

       made appearances; they sang backup for Bowie.
    • Brian Doyle-Murray
      Brian Doyle-Murray
      Brian Doyle-Murray is an American comedian, screenwriter, actor and voice artist. He is the older brother of actor/comedian Bill Murray and has acted together with him in several films, including Caddyshack, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II, The Razor's Edge and Groundhog Day...

      , Alan Zweibel
      Alan Zweibel
      Alan Zweibel is an American producer and writer who has worked on such productions as Saturday Night Live, PBS' Great Performances, and It's Garry Shandling's Show.-Early life:...

       and Tom Schiller
      Tom Schiller
      Tom Schiller is an American Emmy Award winning writer best known for his eleven-year stint writing and directing short films for Saturday Night Live...

      's first episode as cast members
    94 December 22, 1979 Ted Knight
    Ted Knight
    Ted Knight was an American actor best known for playing the comedic role of Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Henry Rush on Too Close for Comfort, and Judge Elihu Smails in Caddyshack.- Early years :...

    Desmond Child
    Desmond Child
    Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...

     & Rouge
    Rouge
    Rouge may refer to:*Rouge , a cosmetic used to color the cheeks and emphasize the cheekbones*Rouge , a 1987 Hong Kong film*Rouge , an online film journal...

     
  • Andy Kaufman mat-wrestled a woman on stage. Kaufman stated that if he lost he would shave his head bald on SNL. However, Kaufman won the match. Wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers also appeared as Andy's manager.
  • G.E. Smith, who would later lead the SNL Band for 10 years (between 1985–1995) played guitar backing Desmond Child & Rouge in one of their two performances.
  • 95 January 26, 1980 Teri Garr
    Teri Garr
    -Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...

    The B-52's
    The B-52's
    The B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...

     
  • The B-52's
    The B-52's
    The B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...

     performed "Rock Lobster
    Rock lobster
    Jasus edwardsii, the southern rock lobster, red rock lobster, or spiny rock lobster, is a species of spiny lobster found throughout coastal waters of southern Australia and New Zealand including the Chatham Islands. This species is commonly called crayfish or crays in New Zealand and in Māori...

    " and "Dance This Mess Around".
  • Congressman and 1980 Republican Presidential candidate John B. Anderson has a cameo in a sketch.
  • 96 February 9, 1980 Chevy Chase
    Chevy Chase
    Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...

    Marianne Faithfull
    Marianne Faithfull
    Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....

  • Harry Shearer
    Harry Shearer
    Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...

    's first introduction as a member of the main cast rather than as a featured performer.
  • In his monologue, Chase discusses the altercation he had with Bill Murray during his previous hosting experience in season three and invites Murray onstage to make peace and sing a duet.
  • Bert Convy
    Bert Convy
    Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy was an Emmy Award winning American actor, singer, game show host and panelist known for his tenure as the host for Tattletales, Super Password, and Win, Lose or Draw.-Early life:...

     appears as the mystery guest on the "You Can't Win" sketch.
  • Marianne Faithfull performed "Broken English" and "Guilt". Chevy Chase performed "Sixteen Tons
    Sixteen Tons
    "Sixteen Tons" is a song about the life of a coal miner, first recorded in 1946 by American country singer Merle Travis and released on his box set album Folk Songs of the Hills the following year...

    ".
  • 97 February 16, 1980 Elliott Gould
    Elliott Gould
    Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...

    Gary Numan
    Gary Numan
    Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...

  • Gary Numan performed "Cars
    Cars (song)
    Fear Factory, an American industrial metal band, recorded a version of "Cars" and released it as the second single from their third studio album, Obsolete. The song was only included as a bonus track on the limited edition digipak re-release of Obsolete and would be instrumental in breaking Fear...

    " and "Praying to the Aliens".
  • This episode features a running gag where Father Guido Sarducci attempts to interview former President Richard Nixon in New York. He only manages to get a very brief appearance at the very end of the show after the credits roll.
  • This episode is notable for its Wizard of Oz parody called "The Incredible Man," which almost didn't make it to air due to Garrett Morris's emotional breakdown over playing a flying monkey, which Morris felt was the last straw in being underused as a cast member.
  • 98 February 23, 1980 Kirk Douglas
    Kirk Douglas
    Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...

    Sam & Dave
    Sam & Dave
    Sam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor voice was Samuel David Moore , and the baritone/tenor voice was Dave Prater .Sam & Dave are members of...

  • Sam and Dave performed "You Don't Know Like I Know" and "Soul Man
    Soul Man (song)
    "Soul Man" is a 1967 song written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, first successful as a #2 hit single by Atlantic Records soul duo Sam & Dave.-Song history and background:...

    ".
  • 99 March 8, 1980 Rodney Dangerfield
    Rodney Dangerfield
    Rodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...

    The J. Geils Band  
  • Jerry Mathers
    Jerry Mathers
    Gerald Patrick "Jerry" Mathers is an American television, film, and stage actor. Mathers is best known for his role in the television sitcom series Leave It to Beaver , in which he played Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, the younger son of archetypal suburban couple June and Ward Cleaver , and the brother...

     and Tony Dow
    Tony Dow
    Tony Lee Dow is an American film producer, director, sculptor, and a television child actor of the 1950s and 1960s.Dow is best known for his role in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver, which ran in primetime from 1957 to 1963...

     appear on the Celebrity Corner on Weekend Update.
  • New opening sequence shows the cast members at the Old Town bar.
  • 100 March 15, 1980   James Taylor
    James Taylor
    James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....


    Paul Simon
    Paul Simon
    Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...


    David Sanborn
    David Sanborn
    David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...

  • The show went without a host to celebrate its 100th episode. John Belushi
    John Belushi
    John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...

     and Michael O'Donoghue
    Michael O'Donoghue
    Michael O'Donoghue was a writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live.-Childhood:O'Donoghue was born Michael Henry Donohue in Sauquoit, New York...

     made return appearances in the cold opening. Bill Murray
    Bill Murray
    William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...

     turned the monologue into a musical tribute to New York City.
  • U.S. New York Senator Daniel P. Moynihan appears in two sketches.
  • Ralph Nader
    Ralph Nader
    Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....

     appears on "Weekend Update"
  • Michael Palin
    Michael Palin
    Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....

     made a special guest appearance in the sketch "Talk or Die".
  • During the sketch "The Minstrels of Newcastle", Paul Shaffer
    Paul Shaffer
    Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...

     inadvertently said "fuckin'" on the air. The same sketch also featured a cameo appearance by Belushi.
  • Paul Simon and James Taylor performed "Cathy's Clown
    Cathy's Clown
    "Cathy's Clown" is a popular song, written and recorded by The Everly Brothers, in which an unnamed narrator informs Cathy that he "don't want your love anymore." It was their first single for Warner Bros., after spending three years on Archie Bleyer's Cadence label. "Cathy's Clown" sold eight...

    ", "Sunny Skies", and "Take Me to the Mardi Gras".
  • David Sanborn performed "Anything You Want".
  • The first episode without a host.
  • 101 April 5, 1980 Richard Benjamin
    Richard Benjamin
    Richard Benjamin is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of productions, including Goodbye, Columbus , based on the novella by Philip Roth, and Westworld .-Life and career:...


    Paula Prentiss
    Paula Prentiss
    Paula Ragusa , better known by her stage name Paula Prentiss, is an American actress well-known for her film roles in Where the Boys Are, Man's Favorite Sport?, The Stepford Wives, What's New Pussycat?, The Black Marble, and The Parallax View and her co-starring role in the television situation...

    The Grateful Dead
  • Benjamin and Prentiss are the first husband and wife to host SNL together.
  • The Grateful Dead performed "Alabama Getaway" and "Saint of Circumstance".
  • 102 April 12, 1980 Burt Reynolds
    Burt Reynolds
    Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...

    Anne Murray
    Anne Murray
    Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....

  • This episode was infamous for its sketch where a man in ancient Rome (Burt Reynolds) tries to pick up women at a vomitorium. The sketch has been dubbed by critics as season five's low point.
  • 103 April 19, 1980 Strother Martin
    Strother Martin
    Strother Martin was an American actor in numerous films and television programs. Martin is perhaps best known as the prison "captain" in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, where he uttered the line, "What we've got here is...failure to communicate."-Early life:Strother Martin Jr. was born in Kokomo,...

    The Specials
    The Specials
    The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...

  • This was Strother Martin's final acting gig as Martin died months after this episode aired. A scheduled rerun of this episode in August 1980 was pulled.
  • 104 May 10, 1980 Bob Newhart
    Bob Newhart
    George Robert Newhart , known professionally as Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide...

    Amazing Rhythm Aces
    Amazing Rhythm Aces
    The Amazing Rhythm Aces are an American country rock group. The band has characterized their music as "American Music" or "Roots Music" — rock, country, blues, R&B, folk, reggae and Latino...

     with Bill Murray
    Bill Murray
    William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...


    Bruce Cockburn
    Bruce Cockburn
    Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...

     
    105 May 17, 1980 Steve Martin
    Steve Martin
    Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....

    3-D
    3-D (band)
    3-D was a short-lived American rock band of the early 1980s, best known for the hit singles All Night Television,Telephone Number, and the New Wave classic X-ray eyes....


    Paul McCartney
    Paul McCartney
    Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

  • Featured the world premiere of McCartney's then-current single "Coming Up
    Coming Up (song)
    "Coming Up" was the opening track from Paul McCartney's McCartney II album, written by McCartney and released in 1980. Like the rest of the album, the song had a minimalist synthesized feel to it. It featured lead vocals from McCartney distorted by using vari-speed, and he played all the...

    ", a rare instance of a music video airing on SNL.
  • 3-D (the in-house musical guest that evening) performed "All-Night Television."
  • Father Guido Sarducci tries to interview Paul and Linda McCartney
    Linda McCartney
    Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....

     in London.
  • 106 May 24, 1980 Buck Henry
    Buck Henry
    Henry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...

    Andrew Gold
    Andrew Gold
    Andrew Maurice Gold was an American singer, musician and songwriter. His works include the Top 10 single "Lonely Boy" , as well as the singles "Thank You for Being a Friend" , and "Never Let Her Slip Away" ....


    Andrae Crouch
    Andrae Crouch
    Andraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....

  • This is the final program produced by Lorne Michaels
    Lorne Michaels
    Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...

     until his return in the 1985-1986 season. He later said that leaving SNL at the end of that season would be the biggest mistake of his life.
  • Jane Curtin
    Jane Curtin
    Jane Therese Curtin is an American actress and comedienne. She is commonly referred to as Queen of the Deadpan.First coming to prominence as an original cast member on Saturday Night Live in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series on the 1980s...

    , Laraine Newman
    Laraine Newman
    Laraine Newman is an American comedienne, actress, and writer, and was part of the original Saturday Night Live cast.-Personal life:...

    , Gilda Radner
    Gilda Radner
    Gilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...

    , Bill Murray
    Bill Murray
    William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...

    , Garrett Morris
    Garrett Morris
    Garrett Gonzalez Morris is an American comedian and actor from New Orleans. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980.-Early life and career:...

    , Peter Aykroyd
    Peter Aykroyd
    Peter Hugh Aykroyd was born to Lorraine and Peter Aykroyd in Canada. He is the younger brother of comedian Dan Aykroyd. Along with his older brother he was in the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto, Ontario. The two were also on the popular NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live. Peter was a cast...

    , Tom Davis
    Tom Davis (comedian)
    Tom Davis is an American writer and comedian. He is an Emmy Award winner, and is best known for his former partnership with Al Franken, as half of the comedy duo "Franken & Davis" on Saturday Night Live.-Life and career:...

    , Jim Downey, Tom Schiller
    Tom Schiller
    Tom Schiller is an American Emmy Award winning writer best known for his eleven-year stint writing and directing short films for Saturday Night Live...

    , Paul Shaffer
    Paul Shaffer
    Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...

     and Alan Zweibel
    Alan Zweibel
    Alan Zweibel is an American producer and writer who has worked on such productions as Saturday Night Live, PBS' Great Performances, and It's Garry Shandling's Show.-Early life:...

    's final episode as cast members. This was also the very last time Radner would ever appear on SNL.
  • Final appearance of Harry Shearer
    Harry Shearer
    Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...

     as a cast member until the 10th season.
  • Final appearance of Al Franken
    Al Franken
    Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....

     as a cast member until the 11th season.
  • Final appearance of Brian Doyle-Murray
    Brian Doyle-Murray
    Brian Doyle-Murray is an American comedian, screenwriter, actor and voice artist. He is the older brother of actor/comedian Bill Murray and has acted together with him in several films, including Caddyshack, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II, The Razor's Edge and Groundhog Day...

     as a cast member until the 7th season.
  • Final appearance of Don Novello
    Don Novello
    Don Novello is an American writer, film director, producer, actor, singer, and comedian. Novello is best known for his work on NBC's Saturday Night Live, from 1977 until 1980, and then 1985 until 1986, often as the character "Father Guido Sarducci". Novello has appeared as "Sarducci" on many...

    as a cast member until the 11th season.
  • In the DVD audio commentary from this episode, Buck Henry makes a point of stating that he did only two Uncle Roy sketches, when in fact he did three: the first 11-11-78 (in the living room), the second 5-26-79 (which was in the girls bedroom, and ended with him being tied up), and finally the 5-24-80 episode (again in the living room, but without Dan Aykroyd's father character).
  • The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
     
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