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Saturday Night Live season 11 

Saturday Night Live aired its eleventh season during the 1985-1986 television season on NBC. Though it was cancelled over the summer of 1985, Lorne Michaels returned to be executive producer, after a five year absence. Michaels and NBC Vice-President Brandon Tartikoff asked NBC to bring the show back for an eleventh season so he could prove that he could revive the show, but due to a cast that wasn't experienced in comedy (that featured such now famous faces as Joan Cusack and Robert Downey, Jr.) and a frustrated writing crew (that featured future Simpsons writers Jon Vitti, George Meyer, and John Swartzwelder), that didn't know how to write sketches for such an eclectic cast, Tartikoff planned to have the show cancelled after its season finale in May. Lorne Michaels, however, pleaded with Tartikoff to let the show go on, provided that Lorne find better castmembers for his next season.

Despite these complications, "Weekend Update" returned to its original name for the first time since the 1980-1981 season, with comedian Dennis Miller as the segment's latest anchor, proving to be a highlight in a season plagued by harsh criticism, low ratings, and rumors of a possible cancellation. The season also saw the first (and so far only) time that SNL has ever had a male homosexual castmember (Terry Sweeney, who worked as a writer for Jean Doumanian's ill-fated sixth season) and a seventeen-year-old castmember (Anthony Michael Hall, who starred with Chevy Chase [who hosted this season] in the 1980s movie National Lampoon's Vacation), as well as the first (but not the last) time that SNL hired a black woman (Danitra Vance) to be a repertory player (unlike season six's Yvonne Hudson, who was just hired as a feature player).

The season started on November 9, 1985 and ended on May 24, 1986.

Contents

Cast

Repertory cast members

Featured cast members

Episodes

Episode
Number		 Date Host(s) Musical Guest(s) Remarks
196 November 9, 1985 Madonna Simple Minds
  • The episode originally had a cold opening that only aired once where Lorne Michaels and Brandon Tartikoff issue urine tests to check the new castmembers for drug use, ending with Anthony Michael Hall delivering the opening line, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" (in a bit of foreshadowing, both Robert Downey, Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall would deal with drug abuse issues in the 1990s--Downey, Jr., especially). Network executives found this to be "in bad taste" and asked for it to be cut, so all syndicated versions and reruns go straight to the opening sequence.
  • Joan Cusack, Nora Dunn, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, Jon Lovitz, Dennis Miller, Randy Quaid, Terry Sweeney, Danitra Vance, Dan Vitale and Damon Wayans's first episode as cast members
  • Don Novello rejoins the cast after a five year hiatus.
  • Prior to being a castmember, Terry Sweeney was a writer for Jean Doumanian's only season of SNL (season six; 1980-1981) and was featured in a season six sketch about Ronald Reagan's (Charles Rocket) birthday.
  • According to the book Live from New York: The Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, in the "Pinklisting" sketch, a stage light fell in an empty pool, scaring Terry Sweeney to the point that he screamed and nearly fell out of his chair. This action was not planned (on a side note, in Live from New York..., Damon Wayans, who only appeared in the "Jones Brothers" fake commercial in this episode, was erroneously credited with telling this story.
197 November 16, 1985 Chevy Chase Sheila E
  • This is the first of three episodes to feature a different opening than what was shown in the Madonna/Simple Minds episode. This opening (consisting of paper cut-outs of castmembers and shots of New York City) would only be used for this episode, the Pee-Wee Herman episode, and the John Lithgow episode.
  
198 November 23, 1985 Pee Wee Herman Queen Ida & the Bon Temps Zydeco Band
  • Former SNL castmember Robin Duke appears in the "Pee Wee Herman Thanksgiving Special" sketch as one of the audience members during Diana Ross's (Terry Sweeney) performance. In addition, Phil Hartman (who would later be hired as a season 12 castmember) appeared as a Pilgrim in the same sketch and was credited for writing the "Pee Wee Herman Thanksgiving Special" sketch. Hartman and Herman/Reubens worked together on The Pee-wee Herman Show, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, and the first season of Pee-Wee's Playhouse.
  
199 December 7, 1985 John Lithgow Mr. Mister
  • This is the last episode to use the paper cut-out opening sequence.
  
200 December 14, 1985 Tom Hanks Sade
  • This episode (up until the Anjelica Huston and Billy Martin episode) goes back to using the "limo ride through the city" opening sequence that was used on the Madonna/Simple Minds episode.
  
201 December 21, 1985 Teri Garr Dream Academy
The Cult		  
202 January 18, 1986 Harry Dean Stanton The Replacements
  • The Replacements were banned from playing on the show again as some of the band members were under the influence of alcohol and the lead singer yelled the "f word" during the first song. They played "Bastards of Young" and "Kiss Me On the Bus", both from the Tim album.
203 January 25, 1986 Dudley Moore Al Green
  • The episode has a live show sketch that was only shown once about a beauty pageant for pregnant teenaged girls featuring Danitra Vance's Cabrini Green Jackson character. In reruns, the sketch is replaced with a taped sketch called Big Ball of Sports (from the previous episode hosted by Harry Dean Stanton) and a dress rehearsal sketch where Dudley Moore plays a man who dates a woman (played by Nora Dunn) who reminds him of his ex (played by Joan Cusack).
204 February 8, 1986 Ron Reagan The Nelsons
  • According to the book Live From New York: The Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, there was a sketch cut after dress rehearsal where a pair of homosexual men (Terry Sweeney and Ron Reagan) are hired to redecorate a woman's (Nora Dunn) house.
  • Dan Vitale's final episode as a cast member
205 February 15, 1986 Jerry Hall Stevie Ray Vaughan
Jimmie Vaughan
  • Mick Jagger appears in this episode's cold opening where Tommy Flanagan (Jon Lovitz) hits on the host at a bar.
206 February 22, 1986 Jay Leno The Neville Brothers

 
207 March 15, 1986 Griffin Dunne Rosanne Cash
  • Damon Wayans, unhappy with the parts he had been getting, decided to play the minor police officer character he'd been assigned in one sketch as gay, though it did not fit the role. For this, Lorne Michaels fired him.
208 March 22, 1986 George Wendt
Francis Ford Coppola		 Philip Glass
  • The Philip Glass Ensemble performs "Rubric" from Glassworks and "Lightning" from Songs from Liquid Days. The show's opening theme song was replaced by "Façades," also from Glassworks.
  • Francis Ford Coppola only appears in between sketches in a running gag throughout the episode where he, Lorne Michaels, and Terry Sweeney try to fix up SNL on the air to boost the show's sagging ratings.
  • Al Franken rejoins the cast after a five and a half year hiatus
209 April 12, 1986 Oprah Winfrey Joe Jackson  
210 April 19, 1986 Tony Danza Laurie Anderson  
211 May 10, 1986 Catherine Oxenberg
Paul Simon		 Ladysmith Black Mambazo  
212 May 17, 1986 Jimmy Breslin
Marvin Hagler		 Level 42
E.G. Daily		  
213 May 24, 1986 Anjelica Huston
Billy Martin		 George Clinton
Parliament-Funkadelic
  • Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, Randy Quaid, Terry Sweeney, Don Novello and Danitra Vance's final episode as cast members, all of the cast members were shown to trapped in a room on fire as parody of tv show cliffhangers, however Lorne is shown pulling Jon Lovitz out. Credits rolled with question marks on each name.
  • Final appearance of Al Franken as a cast member until 10/17/1987
  • After having been fired from SNL, Damon Wayans returns to perform stand-up.
  • Brandon Tartikoff, unhappy with SNL's ratings at the time, wanted this episode to be the last one, but Lorne Michaels pleaded with Tartikoff to keep the show on provided that he find a better cast.
  
Preceded by
Season 10		 Saturday Night Live
Season 11		 Succeeded by
Season 12
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