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Saturday Night Live season 5

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Saturday Night Live
Season 5
The title card for the fifth season of Saturday Night Live.
Starring
No. of episodes20
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseOctober 13, 1979 (1979-10-13) –
May 24, 1980 (1980-05-24)
Season chronology
← Previous
season 4
Next →
season 6
List of episodes

The fifth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 13, 1979, and May 24, 1980.

Cast

[edit]

Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi left the show at the end of season 4, leaving a void in the cast that most fans thought would be the beginning of the end of the late-night sketch comedy show. Belushi left to make movies while Aykroyd had intended to stay for the fifth season, only to change his mind to concentrate on filming The Blues Brothers only weeks leading up to the season premiere. Aykroyd's sudden departure caused a rift between him and Lorne Michaels which wouldn't be healed for many years.

This is the first season of the show where the opening credits include "featured players" as we know them today, starting with the fifth episode. The concept evolves onscreen, with Harry Shearer being credited as "a little of Harry Shearer" in the second episode before the "featuring" category is introduced in the fifth episode. To keep the show going, Michaels upgraded many of the show's writers to featured cast member status: Peter Aykroyd (Dan's brother), Jim Downey, Brian Doyle-Murray (Bill's brother), Don Novello (also credited as Father Guido Sarducci), and Paul Shaffer. Longtime writers Tom Schiller and Alan Zweibel are credited as featured players for only the April 19th, 1980 episode. Shearer was promoted to repertory status midway through the season.

Although Al Franken, Tom Davis, and Don Novello were credited as special guests for individual episodes in which they performed their own segments in earlier seasons of the show (with Franken and Davis being semi-official cast members for the previous two seasons[1][2]), they officially became featured players starting midway through this season when the featured player category was introduced. Novello is credited as a guest star under his character Father Guido Sarducci's name in two episodes before he becomes a featured player.

This season was the first to have two members of the same family as cast members (Bill Murray and Brian Doyle-Murray).

This would be the final season for everyone in the cast. Tom Davis and Jim Downey would return to the show in future seasons as writers. Al Franken, Brian Doyle-Murray, Don Novello, and Harry Shearer would rejoin the cast in future seasons (Al Franken would also return as a writer).

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Featured cast members announced and shown during the "Opening Introductions" varied from week to week, as noted below in each episode's description. Harry Shearer is credited for seven episodes as a featured player before becoming part of the main cast. Tom Davis is credited as a featured player for 12 episodes. Brian Doyle-Murray, Al Franken, and Paul Shaffer are credited for 10 episodes each. Don Novello is credited as a featured player for eight episodes (not counting the two episodes he guest starred in prior to becoming a feautred player). Peter Aykroyd is credited for six episodes, Jim Downey is credited for three, and Tom Schiller and Alan Zweibel are each credited for one episode only.

Writers

[edit]
Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § Season 5

As previously mentioned, Michaels upgraded many of the show's writers to cast member status, including Aykroyd, Downey, Doyle-Murray, Novello, Schiller and Zweibel.

This season's writers were Peter Aykroyd, Anne Beatts, Tom Davis, Jim Downey, Brian Doyle-Murray, Al Franken, Tom Gammill, Lorne Michaels, Matt Neuman, Don Novello, Sarah Paley, Max Pross, Herb Sargent, Tom Schiller, Harry Shearer, Rosie Shuster, and Alan Zweibel. The head writer was Herb Sargent. Doyle-Murray would be the only one to return as a writer in the following season. (Although Downey, Franken, Davis, Michaels, Novello, Sargent, Schiller, Shearer, and Shuster would return in later seasons)

Episodes

[edit]
Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		Host(s)Musical guest(s)Original release date
871Steve MartinBlondieOctober 13, 1979 (1979-10-13)

882Eric IdleBob DylanOctober 20, 1979 (1979-10-20)

  • Eric Idle's fourth and final time hosting.
  • Dylan performs "Gotta Serve Somebody", "I Believe in You" and "When You Gonna Wake Up".[3]
  • Special Guest: Andy Kaufman
  • Buck Henry has an uncredited cameo in the cold open.
  • Kaufman challenges the women in the studio audience to a wrestling match.
  • Harry Shearer's first episode as cast member. He is not announced as a featured player. Rather, Don Pardo announces "and a little of Harry Shearer."
893Bill RussellChicagoNovember 3, 1979 (1979-11-03)

  • Chicago performs "I'm a Man" and "Street Player".[3]
  • Mr. Bill Stays Home.
  • Harry Shearer appears in the show but does not receive credit in the opening.
904Buck HenryTom Petty and the HeartbreakersNovember 10, 1979 (1979-11-10)

  • Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers performs "Refugee" and "Don't Do Me Like That".[3]
  • Special Guest: Father Guido Sarducci
  • Harry Shearer appears in the show but does not receive credit in the opening.
915Bea ArthurThe RochesNovember 17, 1979 (1979-11-17)

  • The Roches performs "Bobby's Song" (from their second album, "Nurds") and "The Hallelujah Chorus" (from their third album, "Keep On Doing").[3]
  • Andy Kaufman guest stars.
  • Mr. Bill Builds A House.
  • This is the first episode where the opening credits have a "featured" category and the first instance of featured players as we know them today.
  • Tom Davis and Paul Shaffer's first episodes as featured players.
  • Credited Featured Players: Tom Davis, Paul Shaffer and Harry Shearer.
926Howard HessemanRandy NewmanDecember 8, 1979 (1979-12-08)

937Martin SheenDavid BowieDecember 15, 1979 (1979-12-15)

948Ted KnightDesmond Child & RougeDecember 22, 1979 (1979-12-22)

959Teri GarrThe B-52'sJanuary 26, 1980 (1980-01-26)

9610Chevy ChaseMarianne Faithfull
Tom Scott		February 9, 1980 (1980-02-09)

9711Elliott GouldGary NumanFebruary 16, 1980 (1980-02-16)

9812Kirk DouglasSam & DaveFebruary 23, 1980 (1980-02-23)

  • Sam & Dave perform "You Don't Know Like I Know" and "Soul Man".[3]
  • Credited Featured Players: Tom Davis, Jim Downey, Brian Doyle-Murray and Al Franken
  • This episode re-aired on February 8, 2020 as a tribute to Kirk Douglas who had died 3 days prior.
  • It was announced during the previous episode’s goodnights that the original musical guest for this episode was James Brown, but he cancelled for reasons unknown.
9913Rodney DangerfieldThe J. Geils BandMarch 8, 1980 (1980-03-08)

10014(none)Paul Simon
James Taylor
David Sanborn		March 15, 1980 (1980-03-15)

  • No announced guest host. There was no monologue. Instead, Bill Murray performs a song about New York.
  • Paul Simon and James Taylor perform "Cathy's Clown", "Sunny Skies" and "Take Me to the Mardi Gras".[3]
  • Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan from New York and Ralph Nader appear on the show as themselves. Moynihan introduces a sketch about leprechauns and appears in a sketch about sophisticated winos that ends up being an ad for wines from New York State. Nader appears in a segment on "Weekend Update".
  • Michael Palin appears in a sketch called "Talk or Die" that includes Jane Curtin playing Rula Lenska.
  • David Sanborn performs "Anything You Want".[3]
  • During a sketch about a medieval band rehearsing for a performance (which features John Belushi towards the end), Paul Shaffer said the word "fuck" live on the air.[4]
  • Credited Featured Players: Peter Aykroyd, Tom Davis, Brian Doyle-Murray and Paul Shaffer.
  • The show's 100th episode, featuring several cameos (including John Belushi and Michael O'Donoghue).
10115Richard Benjamin
Paula Prentiss		Grateful DeadApril 5, 1980 (1980-04-05)

10216Burt ReynoldsAnne MurrayApril 12, 1980 (1980-04-12)

10317Strother MartinThe SpecialsApril 19, 1980 (1980-04-19)

10418Bob NewhartThe Amazing Rhythm Aces
Bruce Cockburn		May 10, 1980 (1980-05-10)

10519Steve Martin3-D
Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney		May 17, 1980 (1980-05-17)

  • 3-D performs "All-Night Television".[3]
  • Paul McCartney premieres the music video for his single "Coming Up".[6]
  • Credited Featured Player: Don Novello
  • Don Novello's final episode as a cast member (until season 11).
  • Steve Martin's final episode as host (until season 12).
10620Buck HenryAndrew Gold
Andrae Crouch & the Voices of Unity		May 24, 1980 (1980-05-24)

Home media

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SNL's fifth season was released on DVD on December 1, 2009.[9]

References

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  1. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20150328102043/http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/explore/season-3
  2. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20150328102043/http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/explore/season-4
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 124–127. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
  4. ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 26–27, 264. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
  5. ^ Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad, Saturday Night, Beech Tree Books, 1986, p. 376
  6. ^ "Saturday Night Live: Steve Martin/Paul and Linda McCartney Episode Summary". TV.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  7. ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 109. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
  8. ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 264. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
  9. ^ "Saturday Night Live: Season 5, 1979-1980". Amazon. December 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
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