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”.

When the Writer’s Guild of America went on strike in March 1988, the Winter Olympics had just finished, both the Republican and Democratic primaries were underway, and Saturday Night Live was in the middle of its 13th season. Despite the anticlimactic finish to the year (Judge Reinhold / 10,000 Maniacs), the show was continuing its resurgence.

By the summer of 1987, Saturday Night Live had survived leadership changes, cast and writer turnover, and the threat of cancellation several times over; for the first time in years, the show was in a period of stability. New performers such as Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks and Phil Hartman quickly made their mark with characters such as the Church Lady and the Sweeney Sisters, and the writing had noticeably improved, with a renewed emphasis on political satire. It would make sense that the new season would look very similar to the last.

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 “Ballad of the Mute Marine”, “Trekkies”, “Christmas Party”, “T.J. Hooker”, “Star Trek V: The Restaurant Enterprise”, “Look At That!”, “Christmas Memories”, “It’s A Wonderful Life” and “The True Life Story of Frankie Toussaint”. Lone Justice performs “Shelter” and “I Got Love”. G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band with Buster Poindexter performs “Zat You, Santa Claus?” Kevin Meaney 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 “Studio Tour”, “Target Earth”, “Dinner With Mike”, “Star Search”, “Evil Twin”, “Stand-Ups”, “Man Beat” and “The Further Adventures of Biff and Salena”. The Neville Brothers perform “The Big Chief” and “The Midnight Key”.

Sketches include: “Press Conference”, “Gulf Coast Furniture Warehouse” “Cleveland Vice”, “Death of a Gunfighter”, “Hospital”, “That Black Girl”, “Big Ball Of Sports”, “No Offense” and “Jack’s Discount Emporium”. The Replacements perform “Bastards Of Young” and “Kiss Me On The Bus”. Sam Kinison also appears.

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

In four seasons, executive producer Dick Ebersol had brought Saturday Night Live back from the cancellation, had the hottest comedian in America in the cast, and oversaw its transition from a live incubator of new comic talent to an increasingly prerecorded showcase for established comedians. By 1985, though, Ebersol found himself tired of the show’s grueling schedule, and, after toying with staying with a mostly-prerecorded version of the show that wouldn’t premiere until the next January, decided to step away. Brandon Tartikoff, president of NBC Entertainment, had to consider his options, and fast.

Sketches include “Do You Know What I Hate? (VI)”, “Hospital”, “Inside Out”, “Run, Throw & Catch Like A Girl Olympics”, “Bar Mitzvah”, “Sports Beat”, “Fernando’s Hideaway”, “Red Guys Rap” and “Good Sex with Dr. Ruth Westheimer”. Greg Kihn performs “Boys Won’t (Leave The Girls Alone)” and “Lucky”.

Billy Crystal hosts a selection of SNL’s filmed segments from the past few seasons; Siskel & Ebert are on hand to give their reviews. Films include “Synchronized Swimming”, “Kannon AE-1”, “Walking After Midnight”, “Buddweiser Light”, “Lifestyles of the Relatives of the Rich & Famous”, “Needleman”, “Prose and Cons”, “Hitchhiker”, “Video Victims”, “Ballplayers” and “White Like Eddie”.

Sketches include “Buckwheat Lives!”, “White Like Eddie”, “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood”, “Milestones”, “Lifestyles of the Relatives of the Rich & Famous”, “The End of Buckwheat”, “Broadway Gumby Rose”, “Newsmakers”, “Black History Minute”, and “Climbing the Stairs.” Robert Plant & The Honeydrippers perform “Rockin’ At Midnight” and “Santa Claus is Back in Town”.

Sketches include “Gerry and the Mon-Dells”, “The Chosen Pray”, “Baby Double”, “Fernando’s Hideaway”, “The Folksmen”, “Buddy Young Jr. is Back!”, “First Draft Theatre”, “Madonna Navel Accessories”, “PBS Pledgebration”, “Rabbi”, “Mondale Headquarters” and “SNL Fashion Report”. Chaka Khan performs “I Feel For You” and “This Is My Night”.