The twelfth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 11, 1986 and May 23, 1987.
Saturday Night Live | |
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Season 12 | |
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No. of episodes | 20 |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Original release | October 11, 1986 May 23, 1987 | –
Season chronology | |
History
editWhen the 1986-1987 season began, only Lovitz, Nora Dunn, Dennis Miller, and featured player A. Whitney Brown returned as cast members. Michaels went back to his original tactic of assembling a strong ensemble of relative unknowns, led by Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson, and Kevin Nealon.[1]
The first show of the 1986–1987 season opened with Madonna, host of the previous season opener, telling the audience that the entire 1985–1986 season had been a "horrible, horrible dream".[2] Carvey's Church Lady character debuted in this episode.[3]
Carvey's impression of George H. W. Bush is widely remembered, and Hartman's send-up of President Ronald Reagan kickstarted the most fruitful and successful period of political parody on SNL.[4][5]
Other popular sketches introduced this season include Mr. Subliminal,[6] the Sweeney Sisters,[7] and Derek Stevens.[8]
Cast
editReturning cast members included A. Whitney Brown, Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz and Dennis Miller. Al Franken was rehired as a writer. In rebuilding the cast, Lorne Michaels returned to his usual practice of hiring unknown performers from stand-up and improv comedy backgrounds.[9] New cast members included Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson and Kevin Nealon.[10][11]
Cast roster
edit
Repertory players |
Featured players
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bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
Writers
editThis season's writers were Andy Breckman, A. Whitney Brown, E. Jean Carroll, Tom Davis, Jim Downey, Al Franken, Phil Hartman, George Meyer, Lorne Michaels, Kevin Nealon, Herb Sargent, Marc Shaiman, Rosie Shuster, Robert Smigel, Bonnie Turner, Terry Turner, Jon Vitti and Christine Zander. Downey also served as head writer.
Episodes
editNo. overall | No. in season | Host(s) | Musical guest | Original air date | |
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214 | 1 | Sigourney Weaver | None | October 11, 1986 | |
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215 | 2 | Malcolm-Jamal Warner | Run-DMC | October 18, 1986 | |
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216 | 3 | Rosanna Arquette | Ric Ocasek | November 8, 1986 | |
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217 | 4 | Sam Kinison | Lou Reed | November 15, 1986 | |
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218 | 5 | Robin Williams | Paul Simon | November 22, 1986 | |
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219 | 6 | Chevy Chase Steve Martin Martin Short | Randy Newman | December 6, 1986 | |
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220 | 7 | Steve Guttenberg | The Pretenders | December 13, 1986 | |
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221 | 8 | William Shatner | Lone Justice | December 20, 1986 | |
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222 | 9 | Joe Montana Walter Payton | Deborah Harry | January 24, 1987 | |
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223 | 10 | Paul Shaffer | Bruce Hornsby & the Range | January 31, 1987 | |
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224 | 11 | Bronson Pinchot | Paul Young | February 14, 1987 | |
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225 | 12 | Willie Nelson | Willie Nelson | February 21, 1987 | |
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226 | 13 | Valerie Bertinelli | Robert Cray Band | February 28, 1987 | |
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227 | 14 | Bill Murray | Percy Sledge | March 21, 1987 | |
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228 | 15 | Charlton Heston | Wynton Marsalis | March 28, 1987 | |
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229 | 16 | John Lithgow | Anita Baker | April 11, 1987 | |
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230 | 17 | John Larroquette | Timbuk 3 | April 18, 1987 | |
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231 | 18 | Mark Harmon | Suzanne Vega | May 9, 1987 | |
232 | 19 | Garry Shandling | Los Lobos | May 16, 1987 | |
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233 | 20 | Dennis Hopper | Roy Orbison | May 23, 1987 | |
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References
edit- ^ Gendel, Morgan (September 30, 1986). "Another Groundling Hops To 'Snl'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
snl20051113
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Hoogenboom, Lynn (April 17, 1987). "On the Cover: "You can't compete with a memory," says Lorne Michaels". The Vindicator. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- ^ Sims, David (December 3, 2018). "Dana Carvey's George H. W. Bush Was an All-Time Great 'SNL' Impression". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Adalian, Josef (June 2, 2017). "How Each Era of SNL Has Ridiculed American Presidents". Vulture. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Harris, Mark (December 25, 1992). "1. The Cast of 'Saturday Night Live'". EW.com. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- ^ Arar, Yardena (August 30, 1988). "Finally, an entertaining Emmy show". Los Angeles Daily News. p. 1C. Retrieved May 27, 2024 – via Lakeland Ledger.
- ^ Shefchik, Rick (May 8, 1987). "'Isn't that special?' Carvey finding niche on SNL". Lewiston Journal. Knight-Ridder Newspapers. p. 1C. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- ^ Shales, Tom; Miller, James Andrew (2002). Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Little, Brown. p. 314. ISBN 978-0316781466.
- ^ Gendel, Morgan (September 30, 1986). "Another Groundling Hops to 'SNL'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- ^ "'Saturday Night Live' announces cast". The Lewiston Daily Sun. Associated Press. September 30, 1986. p. 21. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x 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. 214–217. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 120. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 218–219. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
- ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 42. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.