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Season of television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 | |
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Season 5 | |
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Starring | |
No. of episodes | 20 |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Original release | October 13, 1979 – May 24, 1980 |
Season chronology | |
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).
Featured players
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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.
No. overall | No. in season | Host(s) | Musical guest(s) | Original air date | |
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87 | 1 | Steve Martin | Blondie | October 13, 1979 | |
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88 | 2 | Eric Idle | Bob Dylan | October 20, 1979 | |
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89 | 3 | Bill Russell | Chicago | November 3, 1979 | |
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90 | 4 | Buck Henry | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | November 10, 1979 | |
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91 | 5 | Bea Arthur | The Roches | November 17, 1979 | |
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92 | 6 | Howard Hesseman | Randy Newman | December 8, 1979 | |
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93 | 7 | Martin Sheen | David Bowie | December 15, 1979 | |
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94 | 8 | Ted Knight | Desmond Child & Rouge | December 22, 1979 | |
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95 | 9 | Teri Garr | The B-52's | January 26, 1980 | |
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96 | 10 | Chevy Chase | Marianne Faithfull Tom Scott | February 9, 1980 | |
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97 | 11 | Elliott Gould | Gary Numan | February 16, 1980 | |
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98 | 12 | Kirk Douglas | Sam & Dave | February 23, 1980 | |
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99 | 13 | Rodney Dangerfield | The J. Geils Band | March 8, 1980 | |
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100 | 14 | (none) | Paul Simon James Taylor David Sanborn | March 15, 1980 | |
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101 | 15 | Richard Benjamin Paula Prentiss | Grateful Dead | April 5, 1980 | |
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102 | 16 | Burt Reynolds | Anne Murray | April 12, 1980 | |
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103 | 17 | Strother Martin | The Specials | April 19, 1980 | |
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104 | 18 | Bob Newhart | The Amazing Rhythm Aces Bruce Cockburn | May 10, 1980 | |
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105 | 19 | Steve Martin | 3-D Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney | May 17, 1980 | |
106 | 20 | Buck Henry | Andrew Gold Andrae Crouch & the Voices of Unity | May 24, 1980 | |
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SNL's fifth season was released on DVD on December 1, 2009.[7]
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