SNL 1987-88: Final thoughts

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In summary: If there was one word to describe the 13th season of SNL, it would be “consistent”. No longer on the bubble thanks to the previous year’s success, SNL in 1987-88 continued pretty much in the same direction as the last season with a little more confidence and a little less to prove.

There weren’t any particularly bad episodes this year; even the weakest show (Justine Bateman) was buoyed by two very strong sketches. That said, this season doesn’t quite reach the same highs as the last one, though it does come close in the Paul Simon Christmas show; there were still a few duds here and there, and Dennis Miller’s Weekend Update in particular hits a bit of a slump a few episodes into the year. However, the overall vibe is a lot more comfortable than it’s been in a while, and the cast and writing are starting to really gel here.

While introducing new characters like Hans & Franz, it felt like the writers were easing up on the older recurring sketches, or at least using them more creatively than before. The presidential campaigns brought in more strong political humour, including two very good debate sketches, while Jack Handey’s return to the show meant there was a lot more absurdist material. New writers like Bob Odenkirk, Greg Daniels, Conan O’Brien and Shannon Gaughan also brought a fresh perspective to the second part of the season. This year also had some of the best commercial parodies the show ever did, including Compulsion, Handi-Off, and Wilson Trap Doors.

The writer’s strike that began in March meant that the season ended on a middling note with the Judge Reinhold episode, but it also scuttled the last seven shows of the year, including Gilda Radner’s sadly unrealized return to SNL. As such, this year has an incomplete quality to it; fans can only speculate as to the potential that wasn’t quite met.

Strongest shows:

  1. Paul Simon / Linda Ronstadt with The Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán (average sketch rating: 3.83/5)

  2. Carl Weathers / Robbie Robertson (average sketch rating: 3.78/5)

  3. Robert Mitchum / Simply Red (average sketch rating: 3.55/5)

Weakest shows:

  1. Justine Bateman / Terence Trent D’Arby (average sketch rating: 3.06/5)

  2. Angie Dickinson / David Gilmour, Buster Poindexter (average sketch rating: 3.14/5)

  3. (tie) Dabney Coleman / The Cars and Robin Williams / James Taylor (average sketch rating: 3.17/5)

Best sketches:

  1. Succinctly Speaking

  2. Family Ties

  3. Anne Boleyn

Worst sketches:

  1. Derek’s Comeback

  2. Stockbroker

  3. Jorge Garcia: Nice Guy Dictator

Best musical guests:

  1. Bryan Ferry

  2. Robbie Robertson

  3. Terence Trent D’Arby

Worst musical guests:

  1. The Cars

  2. Simply Red

Writer tally and turnover:-

(*) indicates the writer remained credited on-staff next season and (~) indicates a returning writer from an earlier season.

  • A. Whitney Brown (*, ~)

  • Greg Daniels (*, credited for 01/23/88-02/27.88 only)

  • Tom Davis (*, ~)

  • James Downey (*, ~)

  • Al Franken (*, ~)

  • Shannon Gaughan (*, credited for 02/27/88 only)

  • Jack Handey (*, ~)

  • Phil Hartman (*)

  • George Meyer (~, credited for 10/17/87-12/05/87 only)

  • Lorne Michaels (*, ~)

  • Conan O’Brien (*, credited for 01/23/88-02/27/88 only)

  • Bob Odenkirk (*, credited for 12/05/87-02/27/88 only)

  • Herb Sargent (*,~)

  • Rosie Shuster (~, credited for 10/31/87, 11/14/87 and 12/19/87 only)

  • Robert Smigel (*)

  • Bonnie & Terry Turner (*,~)

  • Christine Zander (*, ~)

Guest writers:

  • Andy Breckman

  • Sandy Frank

  • Brian McConnachie

Special thanks to everyone who have contributed to the process of writing these reviews; as well, an additional thanks to Darren O’Toole for his notes on changes to repeat airings. I also thank all those who regularly visit the site and leave comments; while I may not reply to all of you (particularly if I don’t feel like I have anything to add to what you say), I do appreciate it a lot.

I consider this blog a living document, so any new information that comes to light will be added to the reviews as it becomes available. If any SNL writers, performers, or crew members from this time frame have information they would like to contribute or correct, I welcome their insight and encourage them to get in contact with me.

I will be taking a break from the reviews for a while; I’m feeling a little burnt out on the process of watching, note-taking, screencapping and writing. My brain has the tendency to turn hobbies into chores, and I manage to feel guilt for doing something else when I should be posting, or not having a new review up on schedule. I’ve also been feeling creatively blocked, and while the next few seasons of the show are a bit of a hot streak, I struggle to figure out exactly what to say without it all being samey or being too close to Stooge’s takes on One SNL A Day.

I don’t have any timeframe as to when I’ll return to the reviews, but I will be doing some tweaks to some older posts while continuing to migrate the full episode screen captures off Photobucket. I’ll also try to have some other posts up here and there.