Saturday Night Live
Season 11
The title card for the eleventh season of Saturday Night Live.
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes18
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseNovember 9, 1985 (1985-11-09) –
May 24, 1986 (1986-05-24)
Season chronology

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.

Reception

The new cast failed to connect with audiences, due to the cast's inexperience in comedy. 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. The season was plagued by harsh criticism, low ratings, and rumours of a possible cancellation.[1] Tartikoff planned to cancel SNL after its season finale in May 1986; Michaels, however, pleaded with Tartikoff to let the show go on, provided that Lorne find better-suited cast members for the next season.

Notable sketches

Notable moments of the season included when Chevy Chase hosted the show. Chase was not popular with the cast and crew and, 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.[2]

Cast

With Ebersol's cast and writers gone, Michaels hired Academy Award nominee Randy Quaid, best known for his work in The Last Detail and National Lampoon's Vacation; as well as Joan Cusack and Robert Downey Jr.

Danitra Vance was added along with stand-up comedians Dennis Miller and Damon Wayans, and improv comedians Nora Dunn and Jon Lovitz. Don Novello returned as his popular Father Guido Sarducci character. Writer A. Whitney Brown was also added to the cast mid-season and Al Franken returned in the finale. Miller covered Weekend Update. According to a recent interview with short-term cast member Dan Vitale, actress Anjelica Huston was nearly hired as a cast member this season.[3] 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.[4]

Cast roster

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

This season's writers were A. Whitney Brown, Tom Davis, Jim Downey, Jack Handey, Lanier Laney, Carol Leifer, George Meyer, Lorne Michaels, Don Novello, Michael O'Donoghue, R. D. Rosen, Herb Sargent, Suzy Schneider, Robert Smigel, John Swartzwelder, Terry Sweeney, Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch. The head writer was Jim Downey.

Episodes

No.
overall		No. in
season		Host(s)Musical guest(s)Original air date
1961MadonnaSimple MindsNovember 9, 1985 (1985-11-09)

1972Chevy ChaseSheila ENovember 16, 1985 (1985-11-16)

1983Paul Reubens as Pee-wee HermanQueen Ida & the Bon Temps Zydeco BandNovember 23, 1985 (1985-11-23)

  • Queen Ida & the Bon Temps Zydeco Band perform "La Louisiane" and "Frisco Zydeco".[5]
  • 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). Future cast member Phil Hartman appears as a pilgrim in the same sketch and was credited for it.
  • Don Novello rejoins the cast after a five year hiatus.
  • Dan Vitale's first episode as a cast member.
  • According to Dan Vitale, the show considered George C. Scott as a possible host for this episode, before selecting Reubens.[4]
1994John LithgowMr. MisterDecember 7, 1985 (1985-12-07)

2005Tom HanksSadeDecember 14, 1985 (1985-12-14)

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

2027Harry Dean StantonThe ReplacementsJanuary 18, 1986 (1986-01-18)

  • The Replacements perform "Bastards of Young" and "Kiss Me On the Bus,"[5] 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.
  • Guest appearance by Sam Kinison.
2038Dudley MooreAl GreenJanuary 25, 1986 (1986-01-25)

  • Al Green performs "Going Away" and "True Love".[5]
  • The episode features a sketch about a beauty pageant for pregnant teenaged girls featuring Danitra Vance's Cabrini Green Jackson character.
2049Ron ReaganThe NelsonsFebruary 8, 1986 (1986-02-08)

20510Jerry HallStevie Ray Vaughan
Double Trouble		February 15, 1986 (1986-02-15)

  • Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble performs "Say What!" and "Change It".[5] 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.
20611Jay LenoThe Neville BrothersFebruary 22, 1986 (1986-02-22)

  • A. Whitney Brown's first episode as a cast member.
  • The Neville Brothers perform "The Big Chief" and "The Midnight Key".[5]
20712Griffin DunneRosanne CashMarch 15, 1986 (1986-03-15)

  • Rosanne Cash performs "Hold On" and "I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me".[5]
  • Guest appearance by Penn & Teller.
  • 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, which would later result in his firing.[7][8]
20813George Wendt
Francis Ford Coppola		Philip GlassMarch 22, 1986 (1986-03-22)

20914Oprah WinfreyJoe JacksonApril 12, 1986 (1986-04-12)

  • Joe Jackson performs "Right and Wrong" and "Soul Kiss".[5]
21015Tony DanzaLaurie AndersonApril 19, 1986 (1986-04-19)

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

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

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

  • George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic perform "Let's Take It to the Stage" and "Do Fries Go with That Shake?".[5]
  • 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 were shown to be trapped in a room on fire as a parody of TV show cliffhangers.

References

  1. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (October 3, 2012). "Younger, Sexier, Inherently Doomed Case File #25: Saturday Night Live's 1985–1986 season". AV Club. The Onion. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  2. ↑ Shales, Tom; Andrew Miller, James (October 7, 2002). Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Back Bay Books. ISBN 978-0-3167-3565-0.
  3. ↑ "Dan Vitale's Saturday Night Live War Stories". April 29, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Dan Vitale's Saturday Night Live War Stories". April 29, 2020.
  5. 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.
  6. ↑ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 212–213. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
  7. ↑ Wright, Megh (October 22, 2013). "Saturday Night's Children: Damon Wayans (1985–1986)". Splitsider. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  8. ↑ Fennessey, Sean (October 13, 2010). "SNL and The Curse of the Transitional Season". Splitsider. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
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