Saturday Night Live season 5
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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.
| Saturday Night Live | |
|---|---|
| Season 5 | |
 | |
| Starring | |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | October 13, 1979 – May 24, 1980 |
| Season chronology | |
← Previous Next → | |
| List of episodes | |
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 sudden departure caused a rift between him and Lorne Michaels which wouldn't be healed for many years.
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), Tom Schiller and Alan Zweibel. Band leader Paul Shaffer also joined the cast, becoming the first person from the SNL band to become a cast member. Harry Shearer joined the show as a featured cast member and was promoted to repertory status during the season.
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).
Repertory players
- Jane Curtin
- Garrett Morris
- Bill Murray
- Laraine Newman
- Gilda Radner
- Harry Shearer (first episode: October 20, 1979; upgraded to repertory status: February 9, 1980)
- Peter Aykroyd (first episode: January 26, 1980)
- Tom Davis
- Jim Downey (first episode: January 26, 1980)
- Brian Doyle-Murray (first episode: January 26, 1980)
- Al Franken
- Don Novello (first episode: December 8, 1979)
- Tom Schiller (first episode: April 19, 1980)
- Paul Shaffer (first episode: November 17, 1979)
- Alan Zweibel (first episode: April 19, 1980)
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.
As previously 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, as a writer, in the following season.
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.
SNL's fifth season was released on DVD on December 1, 2009.[7]
- ^ 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.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 26–27, 264. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad, Saturday Night, Beech Tree Books, 1986, p. 376
- ^ "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.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 109. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 264. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ "Saturday Night Live: Season 5, 1979-1980". Amazon. December 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2015.