
Existentialist Weightlifting
Classic SNL Review: October 8, 1988: Tom Hanks / Keith Richards (S14E01)
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”.
Classic SNL Review: April 11, 1987: John Lithgow / Anita Baker (S12E16)
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”
SNL Up Close: 1986-87
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.