Sketches include “Alien Dukakis”, “Carbon Paper”, “Dan Quayle: President”, “Portrait Of The Artist”, “The Crests And Troughs Of Vernon Hawley Jr.”, “Bush I”, “Forbidden Fruit”, “Bush II”, “Intimacy”, “This Old House”, “Bush III” and “Gay Communist Gun Club”. Randy Newman performs “It’s Money That Matters” and “Dixie Flyer” with Mark Knopfler.

Sketches include “Pumping Up With Hans & Franz”, “First Citywide Change Bank I”, “ABC Campaign 88”, “Mr. Short Term Memory”, “Girl Watchers”, “Jew, Not A Jew”, “Big” and “The Pat Stevens Show”. Keith Richards performs “Take It So Hard” and “Struggle”.

Sketches include “Pumping Up With Hans & Franz”, “Wilson Trap Doors”, “Church Chat”, “Airline”, “Jorge Garcia, Nice Guy Dictator”, “The Cop & The Prostitute”, “When Great Minds Meet” and “Pirates”. 10,000 Maniacs performs “Like The Weather” and “What’s The Matter Here”.

Sketches include “Calgary 1988”, “Giant Businessman”, “The Bean Cafe”, “The Pat Stevens Show”, “Girl Watchers”, “Computer Panic”, “Casey Kasem Sings The Beatles”, “Delivery Room”, “Stand-Ups III”, and “The Pawn Shop”. Randy Travis performs “Forever And Ever, Amen” and “What’ll You Do About Me”.

Sketches include “Gorbachev/Reagan”, “Handi-Off”, “At The Movies”, “Church Chat”, “Jungle Room”, “Mona Lisa”, “Ann Landers Playhouse” and “Doorman”. Bryan Ferry performs “The Right Stuff” and “Kiss And Tell” with Johnny Marr.

Sketches include “A Message From The Vice-President”, “Pumping Up With Hans & Franz”, “Anne Boleyn”, “Manufacturers of Machine Part Components United To Save Our Courts”, “Ching Change”, “Mayflower Madam”, “Country Through And Through”, “Thought Bubbles”, and “Peeping Tom”. Cher performs “We All Sleep Alone” and “I Found Someone” with Paul Shaffer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band.

Sketches include “U.S. Embassy”, “Laramie Vice”, “Reverend Dwight Henderson, World’s Meanest Methodist Minister”, “The Pat Stevens Show”, “Master Thespian”, “Discover”, “Cross Country” and “The Fighter”. Anita Baker performs “Sweet Love” and “Same Ole Love”

Sketches include “Contract”, “New York Telephone”, “One Night Stand”, “Donahue”, “Nick Slammer”, “It’s A Girl”, “Il Returno De Hercules”, “Tough Parents” and “Taxi”. Percy Sledge performs “When A Man Loves A Woman”.

Sketches include “Affair”, “Dinner at the Van Halen’s”, “Hard News Cafe”, “Discover”, “Pet Chicken Shop”, “Washington Center (two parts)”, “Let’s Go To The Movies”, “On Broadway” and “Opera Singer Doctor”. The Robert Cray Band performs “Smoking Gun” and “Right Next Door”. Eddie Van Halen performs “Stompin’ 8H” with G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band.

Sketches include “Heaven”, “Amerida”, “Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue”, “Jingle”, “Valentine’s Day”, “The Life of Golda Meir”, “Sketch Artist”, “Hardware Store” and “Miss Connie’s Fable Nook”. Paul Young performs “War Games” and “in The Long Run”. Buster Poindexter performs “Heart of Gold”. Supermodel Paulina Porizkova also appears.

Sketches include “Hip”, “What’s My Addiction?”, “Synthesizer”, “The Grenada Experience”, “The Pat Stevens Show”, “Chinese New Year”, “Ticket Line”, “Asociacion Mexicana del Riñon”, and “SNL Memories”. Bruce Hornsby and The Range perform “The Way It Is” and “Mandolin Rain”.

Sketches include “Iranian National Assembly”, “McSooshi”, “Derek Stevens”, “Two Guys”, “Sideshow of the Stars”, “Movie Talk”, “The Back Page”, “Marge and Steve”, “Casting Director”, “Bob Roberts”, and “Christmas Tree”. The Pretenders perform “Don’t Get Me Wrong” and “How Much Did You Get For Your Soul?”. G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band with Buster Poindexter performs “A Rockin’ Good Way (To Mess Around And Fall In Love)” with Chrissie Hynde. Penn & Teller also appear.

Sketches include: “Church Chat”, “Adobe”, “Parent-Teacher Conference”, “The Jungle Room”, “These Things”, “Pet Chicken Shop”, “Love Connection”, “Leaping Lord”, and “Krypton Survives”. Lou Reed performs “I Love You, Suzanne” and “The Original Wrapper”.

Sketches include “Preemption Newsreel”, “Dressing Room”, “The People’s Court”, “Church Chat”, “Helmsley Spook House”, “Pork (two parts)”, “A Couple of Sammies”, “Dog Baseball”, “Make Joan Baez Laugh”, “Miss Connie’s Fable Nook”, “I Saw God”, and “Pango, Giant Dog of Tokyo!”. Ric Ocasek performs “Emotion In Motion” and “Keep On Laughin’”.

Sketches include “Bartles & Jaymes”, “Team Xynex”, “Donahue”, “The Crosby Show”, “Instant Coffee with Bill Smith”, “Parent-Teen Contract”, “Old Hollywood” and “Dover Chalk Works”. Run-DMC performs “Walk This Way” and “Hit It Run”. G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band with Buster Poindexter performs “Hit The Road, Jack”. Spike Lee and Sam Kinison also appear.

Sketches include “It Was All A Dream”, “General Dynamics”, “Girlfriends”, “Quiz Masters”, “The Amazing Alexander”, “Hef-Tea Teabags”, “Church Chat”, “Mr. Subliminal”, “Alienses”, “Ten Weeks In Jail”, “Baby It’s Cold Outside”, “Comeback”, and “Brecht-Rogers Medley”. G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band with Buster Poindexter perform “Smack Dab In The Middle” and “Oh Me Oh My (I’m A Fool For You”). Playwright Christopher Durang also appears.

Lorne Michaels’s first year back at Saturday Night Live after a five-year hiatus wasn’t what you would call a success. While the writing staff included a mix of SNL veterans and unknowns that would soon establish themselves on the show, the new cast (which included movie stars Anthony Michael Hall and Randy Quaid) never quite clicked, and the ratings and reviews were less than favorable. The show was on the brink of cancellation that spring, but NBC president Brandon Tartikoff decided to give Michaels and SNL another chance.

Sketches include “Vietnam Story”, “AT&T”, “Nancy’s Workout”, “Lyndon LaRouche Theatre”, “30 Second Count”, “Big Time Professional Golf”, “Love Scene”, “Master Thespian” and “The Further Adventures of Biff and Salena”. Laurie Anderson performs “Babydoll” and “The Day The Devil”. Penn & Teller also appear.

Sketches include “Rapping Wrapper”, “A Dozen Eggs”, “Hildy”, “A Roy Orbison Christmas”, “The Big Tree”, and “Time Machine Trivia Game”. Dream Academy performs “Life In A Northern Town”. The Cult performs “She Sells Sanctuary”. Penn & Teller also appear.

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