Lorne's Missing Links: Steve Martin's Best Show Ever and The New Show

Lorne's Missing Links: Steve Martin's Best Show Ever and The New Show

Lorne Michaels stepped away from Saturday Night Live after the show’s fifth season, and his creation was kept alive by other producers, writers and actors for the next five years; when he returned to the show in 1985, he had a whole new cast, but many of the behind-the-scenes personnel were those who had been associated with his original five year tenure, and there were a handful of additions that would shape the show’s tone and look for years to come. Because the Jean Doumanian and Dick Ebersol eras each had their own specific directions and mostly unique personnel. one wonders what the show would have been like if Michaels had stuck around during that time. There are a few hints of what a Michaels-helmed SNL would have looked like in two of his TV productions during that period: Steve Martin’s Best Show Ever, a special Martin did for NBC in November 1981, and The New Show, Michaels’ ill-fated return to weekly network television

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Classic SNL Review: March 7, 1981: Bill Murray / Delbert McClinton (S06E12)

Classic SNL Review: March 7, 1981: Bill Murray / Delbert McClinton (S06E12)

Sketches include: "Dressing Room", "Formula for the Good Life", "The Writer", "Altered Walter", "ChapStick", "Nick Rivers", "Cut Flowers", "No Sex With Mary", "Cat's Name" and "Bubba's Wash, Fayetta's Dry".Delbert McClinton performs "Givin' It Up For Your Love" and "Shotgun Rider" with Bonnie Bramlett.Mark King also appears.

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Classic SNL Review: December 12, 1981: Bill Murray / The Spinners, Yale Whiffenpoofs of 1982 (S07E08)

Classic SNL Review: December 12, 1981: Bill Murray / The Spinners, Yale Whiffenpoofs of 1982 (S07E08)

Sketches include: "The Phone Company", "Tales Of The Unlikely", "No Tomorrow", "MX-5 Tampons", "SNL Newsbreak", "Fairytale", "Sarducci's Predictions", "At Home With The Psychos", and "Supply Side Christmas". The Spinners perform a medley of "Then Came You", "I'll Be Around", "Working My Way Back To You". The Yale Whiffenpoofs of 1982 perform a medley of "The Whiffenpoof Song", "Boar's Head Carol", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman", "Jingle Bells". Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello) and Juggler Michael Davis make guest appearances.

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