Sketches include "Frank & Sammy", "Sarducci & Nelson", "Mayor Koch's Neighborhood", "Mikko's Got Your Nose Safety Guard", "Guido On The Street", "Needleman", "Karate School", "Hello, Trudy!", and "Sushi Restaurant". The Cars perform "Magic" and "Drive". Comedian Joel Hodgson also performs.
Read MoreSketches include "Simulated Cat Fight", "Lie Detector", "Iceman", "2 On the Town", "Spinal Tap Interview", "The Turkey Lady", "La Cage aux Folles", "Unanswered Questions of the Universe", and "Dog Day P.M." Spinal Tap performs "Christmas With The Devil" and "Big Bottom". Comedian A. Whitney Brown also appears.
Read MoreSketches include "60 Minutes", "Midtown Open", "White House Foods", "Trampoline", "Direct Hits", "I Didn't Realize", "Cosmos", "Book Beat", and "Brother in Law". Madness performs "Our House" and "Keep Moving". Clara "Where's The Beef?" Peller and comedian Frankie Pace also appear.
Read MoreSketches include "Lost Script", "MTV News (two parts)", "Foldger's Crystals", "Price Waterhouse", "4 Minutes To Live", "Audition", "Footless", "Soundtrack", "TV's Foul-Ups, Bleeps, Blunders, Bloopers, Practical Jokes and Political Debates", and "Sugar or Plain". Deniece Williams performs "Let's Hear It For The Boy" and "Wrapped Up".
Read MoreSketches include "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood", "News Bar", "Buckwheat Jeans", "Larry's Corner", "Buckwheat Buys The Farm", "The Real Story", "Mr. & Mrs. T Bloody Mary Mix", "Stevie Experience", "Firing Line", "Swan Break", "Dr. Jack Badofsky", "What's New", "Buckwheat Dead", "Caribbean Vacation", "Michael's Message", "Good Morning America", "The Forum", "Singing In The Stall", and "James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub Party".
Read MoreSketches include "St. Patrick's Day Wrap-Up", "Hung Like Me", "Winston University", "Family in the Attic", "Sammy & Reagan", "Unanswered Questions of the Universe", "Bad Career Moves", "God's Place", "The Womb", and "The First Show". Al Jarreau performs "Mornin'" and "Trouble In Paradise".
Read MoreSketches include "Rappin' Jimmy B", "Tag", "Jake's Video Hut", "El Dorko", "The Julia Show", "Reagan Workout", "Rehearsal", "Persons Express", "Heart Tartare", and "Where Are They Now?". The Fixx perform "One Thing Leads To Another" and "Red Skies". Joel Hodgson also appears.
Read MoreSketches include "Winter Olympics", "Buddweiser Light", "Rock & Roll and then some", "Wild Kingdom of Heaven", "Gandhi and the Bandit", "Mime Roommate", "New Bad Babies", "MTV News", "Siamese Twins", and "Patty's Place". Adam Ant performs "Strip" and "Goody Two Shoes". Paula Poundstone also appears.
Read MoreSketches include "TV President", "I Married A Monkey", "The Hamlisch Maneuver", "Fascinating People and Their Friends", "Witness Protection", "Saint Don of Verona", "Sympathy Date", "This Is Your Afterlife", and "Anniversary Special". Billy Idol performs "White Wedding" and "Rebel Yell".
Read MoreSketches include "Donahue", "Boy George Burns: The Man and His Music", "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood", "Powerful Living Snaps", "Man On A Chain", "Mick Pitwhistle Does It All", "That's Okay", "Shoplifter", "Would You Believe It (3 parts)", "House Of Mutton", "Save Lots of Plankton", and "A Boy's Life on the Mississippi". The Motels perform "Suddenly Last Summer" and "Remember The Nights".
Read MoreSketches include "Tasteless Choice", "What's New", "Buckwheat's Ghost", "The Man Who Loved Swimmin'", "Michael's Message", and "Airport". "Countdown '84", a phone-in Democratic primary, appears throughout the show. Huey Lewis and the News perform "Heart and Soul" and "I Want A New Drug". Steven Wright also appears.
Read MoreSketches include "Dion's", "Unrequited Sex", "Airplane Restroom", "Unanswered Questions of the Universe", "Hello, Trudy!", "Older Sisters of the Young", "Pudge & Solomon", "Reverend Leroy", "Crazy Weinstein", "Shoe Tier", and "Subterraneans". Stevie Nicks performs "Stand Back" and "Nightbird". Joel Hodgson also appears.
Read MoreSketches include: "Rain Delay", "Nightline", "Know Your Neighbor", "Carvel", "Mentl", "Casino Quintet", "Dreamland", "Clark Street Garage Band", and "Autograph". Big Country performs "In A Big Country" and "Fields of Fire".
Read MoreSketches include: "Cheer Squad", "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood", "Thirsty Guy", "History: The Real Story", "Dion's", "Coronet Man", "Dopeball", "Caffeine Achievers", "Kennedy: The Man Behind The Woman!", "Sarcastic Mother Superior", "Help Me - She's A Witch", and "Man On The Street". Mick Fleetwood's Zoo performs "Tonight" and "Way Down". Joel Hodgson also appears.
Read MoreSketches include: "Astronaut", "Memorex", "James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub Party", "Curly Audition", "Special Report", "Unanswered Questions", "You Win A Dollar", "Perfectly Frank", "Swan Break", "Jane Fonda", "The Gumby Story", "Crisis '83 Update" and "Misfits". Stray Cats perform "(She's) Sexy + 17" and "I Won't Stand In Your Way".
Read MoreSketches include: "Backstage", "Old Country Ski Lodge", "Village Of The Damned Little Rascals", "Eddie in New Jersey", "Phone Booth Confession", "Movie Contract", "Backstage with Ronald McDonald", "Poly-Rock", "Brothel Sprouts", and "Men Behind Bars". Men At Work performs "Doctor Heckyll and Mister Jive" and "It's A Mistake".
Read MoreSketches include "Calvin Klein Cream Pies", "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood", "Crazy Edelman", "What Would Frank Do?", "Small World", "Mom Was Right", "Spanish Class", "Autograph Hounds", "Book Beat", "The Amos 'N Andy Show", "Masterpiece Humor", and "Body Guard". Eddy Grant performs "I Don't Wanna Dance", "Electric Avenue" and "Living On The Frontline".
Read MoreBy the summer of 1983, Saturday Night Live had re-stabilized, and had a genuine movie star in its cast: Eddie Murphy, who reached box office success with 48 Hours and Trading Places. However, the new season would prove to be his last, as it was only a matter of time before Murphy's burgeoning career would push him beyond SNL. To keep their star an extra year, NBC and SNL executive producer Dick Ebersol allowed Murphy to do the show on a part-time basis, with his appearances on his weeks off made possible by a bank of eleven sketches taped with the cast in Studio 8H on September 21, 1983.
Unlike the previous three seasons, there were no cast departures (though Gary Kroeger was fired and quickly rehired over the summer), and while Murphy was on his way out, he and Joe Piscopo still continued to be the focus of many sketches. Newer hires Kroeger and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, already contributing solid work, got a much-deserved boost in airtime, while Mary Gross began to be credited as a writer alongside Murphy, Piscopo, Tim Kazurinsky and Robin Duke. The sole new face in the cast was Jim Belushi, younger brother of John. Despite a commitment to a production of Sam Shephard's True West forcing Belushi to miss a handful of shows early in the season, he quickly became one of the show's dominant players.
The writing staff had comparatively more turnover: Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield left for Hollywood and rookie writers Paul Barrosse and Ellen L. Fogle were let go. Brought onboard for 1983-84 were Andy Breckman (poached from Late Night with David Letterman), Adam Green, Kevin Kelton (a former writer for SNL's one-time West Coast rival Fridays), and Michael Clayton McCarthy; founding SNL writer Herb Sargent also returned to take charge of the Saturday Night News segment. Of these new hires, Breckman proved to be an especially solid and prolific addition to the staff. Writer-producer Bob Tischler also began to have a stronger influence on what material made it into the show, which allowed for sharper material than what Dick Ebersol, more a "numbers guy" than a comedy writer, normally kept in the show.
Ebersol's control in other areas still remained, though, and the show still shied away from harder-edged political satire, to the dismay of several writers and performers: Tim Kazurinsky and Brad Hall both clashed with Ebersol about the material that made it to air. Hall was also removed from Saturday Night News mid-season, with the segment's anchor duties usually falling to whoever was hosting the show that week.
The second half of the season brought two more developments: the debut (and quick demise) of Lorne Michaels' new sketch show The New Show, and the show's increased use of pre-filmed sketches. The New Show's poor ratings and reviews only served to vindicate and reinvigorate the SNL staff, while the filmed sketches that appeared over the next year and a half (usually directed by regular film unit directors Claude Kerven and John Fox) would be some of the show's best-remembered work.
As with the previous three seasons, I will be posting sketch-by-sketch reviews; expect the new reviews of each show every weekend (as my schedule allows), with the Tartikoff review coming tonight or tomorrow. If anyone has information to contribute about the episodes, such as who wrote what, writer cameos, etc., I welcome it and will acknowledge my source in the sketch review.
The episodes (with links to episode summaries in the SNL Archives):
Personal website of photographer and writer Bronwyn Douwsma.
I’m on the bus. It’s too early to be human and I haven’t had my coffee yet so I don’t really want to do much; maybe read or listen to music, things that help tune out the other people or the monotony of the commute. When I leave the suburbs, it's usually dark. I sometimes look out the windows, but more to see how far I’ve traveled than at anything interesting. By the time I arrive downtown, I can see the sun coming up over the harbour.
The year is winding down. I’m preparing to go to New Brunswick for my regular Christmas visit with the family; my travel arrangements up there have all been taken care of. I haven’t bothered with Christmas shopping yet; my cash flow was a little tight until my last paycheque came in, and my tolerance for the malls has dropped over the years. Everything costs too much money now.
“Midnight Express Special” sketches include “Sunrise Semester: Basic Photography”, “Mamorex Video Tape”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Promo: Tomorrow, Today, Tonight”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “Message From Guy: Midnight Express Special”, and “Midnight Express Special”.
“Cookery Crock” sketches include “Sunrise Semester: Disasters In The Home”, “Nasex Nasal Deodorant”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Promo: The Freddie De Cordova Show”, “Cookery Crock” and “Quincy: Cartoon Coroner”.
“Two-Way TV” sketches include “Sunrise Semester: Astrology”, “Promo: Monster Chiller Horror Theatre”, “Kanadian Korner”, “SCTV News”, “Comment with David Brinkley”, “Promo: Cruisin’ Gourmet”, “Two-Way TV”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “Promo: Crazy Crafts”, and “Sermonette: Rabbi Karlov”.
“Alpha Channel” sketches include “Gordon Lightfoot Sings Every Song Ever Written”, “Cooking With Marcello”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Crazy Crafts”, “Message From Guy: Alpha Channel”, “Promo: Alpha Channel”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, and “Dialing For Dollars”.
“The Irwin Allen Show” sketches include “Men On Women”, “Message From Guy: Men On Women”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Cooking With Marcello”, “Promo: Taxi Driver”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “Message From Guy: The Irwin Allen Show”, and “The Irwin Allen Show”.
“Big Brother” sketches include “Got A Minute?”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Promo: Taxi Driver”, “Message From Guy: The New Year”, “Message From Prickley: The New Year”, “SCTV New Year’s Eve Party 1983”, “Komrade Kangaroo”, “Comrade Allen”, “Promo: Doublethink”, and “The Praise Big Brother Show”.
“Star Wars” sketches include “Sunrise Semester: Do-It-Yourself Advertising”, “Promo: Chick Monk: Roadie For The Defense”, “Kanadian Korner”, “SCTV News”, “Joni Mitchell’s For Dogs Only”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “SCTV Premiere: Star Wars”, and “Dialing For Dollars”.
“Hollywood Salutes Its Extras” sketches include “Message From Prickley: Extras”, “Mamorex Cassette Tape”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “Promo: Taxi Driver”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Howard’s Bristol Cream”, “Sneak Previews”, “Promo: Hawaii Five-Ho”, “Hollywood Salutes Its Extras”, and “Promo: White Man, Black Girl”.
There’s a podcast called The Loudest Girl In The World, hosted by Lauren Ober. The show concerns Ober’s autism diagnosis at 42, as well as her experience dealing with this information and opening up to others about it. When I listened to it last summer, I related pretty heavily to what she was talking about. I’ve also started to make peace with how my own brain works in the last few years. It’s been a rough road, though.