Saturday Night Live - Season 5
Description: Saturday Night Live aired its fifth season during the 1979–1980 television season on NBC, and also the final season with the original cast. This fifth season started on October 13, 1979 and ended on May 24, 1980. SNL's fifth season was released on DVD on December 1, 2009.
John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd left the show at the end of the fourth season, leaving a void in the cast that most fans thought would be the beginning of the end of the late-night sketch show.
To keep the show going, Lorne Michaels upgraded many of the show's writers to cast member status: Peter Aykroyd, Jim Downey, Brian Doyle-Murray, Don Novello, Tom Schiller and Alan Zweibel. Band leader Paul Shaffer also joined the cast, becoming the first person from the SNL band to become a cast member. Harry Shearer joined the show as a featured cast member and was promoted to repertory status during the season.
This would be the final season for everyone in the cast. Tom Davis and Downey would return to the show in future seasons as writers. Al Franken, Doyle-Murray, Novello, and Shearer would rejoin the cast in future seasons.
Episodes
Steve Martin/Blondie
Aired: Oct 13, 1979
Sketches include ""The Pope's Doorman,"" ""Craig's Travellers' Checks,"" ""Free ...
Eric Idle/Bob Dylan
Aired: Oct 20, 1979
Sketches include ""Eric's Sick,"" ""Hotel-Motel Art Fair,"" ""Mr. Howard's Shoe ...
Bill Russell/Chicago
Aired: Nov 3, 1979
Sketches include ""Kennedy in '80,"" ""Banshee,"" ""The Black Shadow,"" ""The La...
Buck Henry/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Aired: Nov 10, 1979
Sketches include ""Rush Home to the Bathroom,"" ""Find the Popes in the Pizza Co...
Bea Arthur/The Roches
Aired: Nov 17, 1979
Sketches include ""Sex Change,"" ""The Backers' Audition,"" and ""First, He Crie...
Howard Hesseman/Randy Newman
Aired: Dec 8, 1979
Sketches include the ""Steve Marvin Radio Show"" and the debut of ""The Al Frank...
Martin Sheen/David Bowie
Aired: Dec 15, 1979
Sketches include ""Quick Sex Change Operation,"" ""Le Shoe,"" ""Afraid of the Da...
Ted Knight/Desmond Child and Rouge
Aired: Dec 22, 1979
Sketches include A Christmas Gift from The Shah, Nerds Nativity, and Java Junkie...
Teri Garr/The B-52's
Aired: Jan 26, 1980
Sketches include ""Paul McCartney in Japan: Day 11,"" ""Craig's,"" ""Somewhere N...
Chevy Chase/Marianne Faithfull
Aired: Feb 9, 1980
Live from New York, it's…Chevy Chase! Sketches include ""Henry Kissinger...
Elliott Gould/Gary Numan
Aired: Feb 16, 1980
Sketches include ""Kramer vs. Godzilla,"" ""The Incredible Man,"" Andy Aaron's f...
Kirk Douglas/Sam and Dave
Aired: Feb 23, 1980
Sketches include ""Kirk's Greatest Kirks,"" ""What If?,"" ""Arlene Meets Kirk Do...
Rodney Dangerfield/J. Geils Band
Aired: Mar 8, 1980
Sketches include-- Dressing Room opening, Dr. Shockley's House of Sperm, Niggera...
Paul Simon/James Taylor
Aired: Mar 15, 1980
Sketches include ""Anniversary Seance,"" ""Todd's Campaign,"" ""The Biggest Lepr...
Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss/The Grateful Dead
Aired: Apr 5, 1980
Sketches include ""Women Empowerment"" and ""Hotel Room/Smell You.""...
Burt Reynolds/Anne Murray
Aired: Apr 12, 1980
Sketches include ""Burt's Not Angry,"" ""Vomitorium,"" ""The Burt Book,"" ""Be a...
Strother Martin/The Specials
Aired: Apr 19, 1980
The host for the episode is Strother Martin, and the musical guest is The Specia...
Bob Newhart/The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Bruce Cockburn
Aired: May 10, 1980
Sketches include ""Mysteries of the Universe,"" ""The Dating Zone,"" ""Writing H...
Steve Martin/Paul and Linda McCartney
Aired: May 17, 1980
Sketches include: ""Father Guido Sarducci, Live from London,"" ""Real Incredible...
Buck Henry/Andrew Gold
Aired: May 24, 1980
Live from New York, it's Harry Shearer! Sketches include "Election '80: Almost ...