. Despite plans to have SNL canceled due to its disastrous 11th season,
to give the show another chance, provided that a better cast be found for the next season. As a result, many of season 11's castmembers were fired, save for
hired back as a writer). Hired in their places were
. This resulted in a new golden age for the show, as critics and (most) viewers began to comment on the show more favorably. In a
) reading a "statement" from NBC about season 11's mediocre writing and bad cast choices. According to the "statement", season 11 was "...all a dream. A horrible, horrible dream."
The 12th season started on October 11, 1986 (coincidentally, the 11th anniversary of the show's first episode), and ended on May 23, 1987.
| Episode # | Air Date | Host(s) | Musical Guest(s) | Remarks |
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| 214 (12.1) |
October 11, 1986 |
Sigourney WeaverSigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley in the Alien film series and as Dana Barrett in the Ghostbusters movies. Weaver is also a three-time Academy Award nominee for her performances in Aliens, Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl...
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- Madonna
Madonna is an American recording artist, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977, for a career in modern dance...
(the host of the previous seasonSaturday Night Live aired its eleventh season during the 1985-1986 television season on NBC. Though SNL was on the chopping block over the summer of 1985, Lorne Michaels agreed to return to his executive producer position after a five-year absence...
's premiere episode) appears in the cold opening to read a statement from NBC about the 1985-1986 season: "It was all a dream—a horrible, horrible dream" in a Dallas-esque spoof.
- Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman was a Canadian-born American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family immigrated to the United States when he was ten. After graduating from California State University, Northridge with a degree in graphic arts, he designed...
, Dana CarveyDana Thomas Carvey is an American actor and comedian, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and in the Wayne's World movies.-Early life:...
, Kevin NealonKevin Nealon is an American comedian and actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995, and his role as Doug Wilson on the series Weeds.-Early life:...
, Victoria JacksonVictoria Jackson is an American comedian, actress, and singer best known as a cast member of the NBC television sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1992.-Early life:...
and Jan HooksJanice "Jan" Hooks is an American actress and comedian best known for her work on NBC's Saturday Night Live , on which she appeared from 1986 to 1991.-Career:...
' first episode as cast members.
- Buster Poindexter and Christopher Durang
Christopher Ferdinand Durang is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s.-Life:...
appear as special guests.
- Buster Poindexter is the unnofficial "musical guest".
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| 215 (12.2) |
October 18, 1986 |
Malcolm-Jamal WarnerMalcolm-Jamal Warner is an American television actor, film director, and musician, known primarily for his roles in sitcoms, movies and television...
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Run DMC |
Special guests: Sam KinisonSamuel Burl "Sam" Kinison was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Kinison was known for his intense, harsh humor...
, Buster Poindexter, and Spike LeeShelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. He also teaches film at New York University and Columbia University...
as his Mars Blackmon"Mars Blackmon" was a fictional character from the 1986 film She's Gotta Have It. He is also the alter-ego of filmmaker Spike Lee. In the film, he was a "Brooklyn-loving", sports-loving, die-hard New York Knicks fan. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, "Mars Blackmon" became the primary pitchman...
character from She's Gotta Have ItShe's Gotta Have It is a 1986 comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee. It was also Lee's first feature-length film. The films stars Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks and John Canada Terrell.-Plot:...
During Sam Kinison's guest performance, the part where he encourages the legalization of marijuana has been muted out. |
| 216 (12.3) |
November 8, 1986 |
Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Lauren Arquette is an American actress, film director, and film producer.-Life:Arquette was born in New York City, the daughter of Brenda "Mardi" Olivia , an actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher and therapist, and Lewis Arquette, an actor and director. Arquette's...
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Ric OcasekRic Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended Bowling Green State University. He is the former vocalist and rhythm guitarist for The Cars...
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This episode marks the first time that a first-run SNL episode did not air live on the East Coast. The episode was originally supposed to air live on October 25, but was pre-empted by the 1986 World Series until 1:00 am. Rather than air the episode live at that time, it was videotaped, and aired the week after the World Series. |
| 217 (12.4) |
November 15, 1986 |
Sam KinisonSamuel Burl "Sam" Kinison was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Kinison was known for his intense, harsh humor...
† |
Lou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician best known as the guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground as well as a successful solo artist whose career has spanned several decades. The Velvet Underground gained little mainstream attention during their career,...
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This episode, much like the Richard Pryor episode from 1975 and later the Andrew "Dice" Clay episode from 1990, was put on a seven-second delay. |
| 218 (12.5) |
November 22, 1986 |
Robin WilliamsRobin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian.Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
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Paul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter. He entered the public consciousness in 1965 as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, along with longtime artistic partner Art Garfunkel. Simon solely wrote most of duo's songs, including such memorable songs as "The Sound of Silence", "The Boxer",...
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| 219 (12.6) |
December 6, 1986 |
Chevy ChaseCornelius Crane “Chevy” Chase is an American Emmy Award-winning comedian, writer, and television and film actor. Born into a prominent family, Chase worked as a professional musician as well as other jobs before moving towards comedy and working with the National Lampoon...
, Steve MartinStephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician, and composer. He was raised in Southern California in a Baptist family, where his early influences were working at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm and working magic and comedy acts at these and...
and Martin ShortMartin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian-American comedian, actor, writer, singer and producer. He is best known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...
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Randy Newman Randall Stuart “Randy” Newman is an American singer/songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is notable for his mordant pop songs and for his many film scores....
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Chevy Chase acknowledged his recent stint in the Betty Ford Center in the monologue and cold opening (a skit where klutzy people hold a support group meeting called Stumblebums Anonymous). |
| 219 (12.7) |
December 13, 1986 |
Steve Guttenberg Steven Robert "Steve" Guttenberg is an American actor and comedian. He became known during the 1980s, after a series of starring roles in major Hollywood films, including Cocoon, Three Men and a Baby, Police Academy, and Short Circuit. In 2008 Guttenberg was one of 12 contestants on the 6th season...
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The PretendersThe Pretenders are a British rock band. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
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| 220 (12.8) |
December 20, 1986 |
William ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor and novelist. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk, captain of the starship USS Enterprise, in the television series Star Trek from 1966 to 1969, Star Trek: The Animated Series and in seven of the...
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Lone Justice Lone Justice was an American country rock band formed in 1982 by guitarist Ryan Hedgecock and singer Maria McKee.-Early era:They began their career as one of the more promising bands of the L.A. cowpunk scene of the 1980s. Lone Justice was inspired by Hedgecock and McKee's mutual affection for...
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This show features the sketch where William Shatner, sick of Star Trek fans asking him inane questions, tells them to "Get a life!"
Comedian Kevin Meaney Kevin Gerard Meaney is an Irish American comedian and voice actor. He has been involved in a number of television programs, having been featured on Dr. Katz, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Garfield and Friends, Rocko's Modern Life, London Underground, and Duckman, among others...
makes a special guest appearance that was later revealed to be an audition to join the cast. |
| 221 (12.9) |
January 24, 1987 |
Joe MontanaFor the actor with a similarly pronounced name, see Joe Mantegna.Joseph Clifford Montana, Jr., , nicknamed Joe Cool and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player whose professional career in the National Football League spanned the late 1970s through the mid-1990s...
Walter PaytonWalter Payton was an American football player who spent his entire professional career with the National Football League's Chicago Bears. Walter Payton was known around the NFL as "Sweetness". He is remembered as one of the most prolific running backs in the history of American football...
† |
Debbie HarryDeborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer–songwriter and actress, most famous for being the lead singer for the New Wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she also performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
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| 222 (12.10) |
January 31, 1987 |
Paul ShafferPaul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer. Currently, he is the bandleader and sidekick on the Late Show with David Letterman...
|
Bruce Hornsby & The Range |
- With this episode, Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer. Currently, he is the bandleader and sidekick on the Late Show with David Letterman...
becomes the first (and only) member of the Saturday Night Live Band to come back and host, and the only regular from Late Night with David Letterman (later renamed The Late Show with David Letterman, following Letterman's move to CBS) to host SNL. |
| 223 (12.11) |
February 14, 1987 |
Bronson Pinchot-Personal life:Pinchot was born in , the son of Rosina , a typist, and Henry Poncharavsky, a bookbinder. His father, who was born in New York and raised in Paris, was of Russian descent....
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Paul Young Paul Antony Young is an English pop musician.-Biography:Paul Young was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. He has an older brother, Mark Young, and a younger sister, Joanne Young. As a youth, after school, he went to soccer at the Vauxhall Motors factory and in his spare time played in several...
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Special guest appearance by Buster Poindexter with the SNL Band.
Paulina Porizkova Paulina Porizkova is a Czech model and actress.-Early life:Born in Prostějov, Czechoslovakia, she was still a toddler when her father and mother left Czechoslovakia, fleeing the Warsaw Pact invasion in 1968, and moved to Lund in southern Sweden...
appears on the show. |
| 224 (12.12) |
February 21, 1987 |
Willie NelsonWillie Hugh Nelson is an American country singer-songwriter, author, poet, actor and activist. He reached his greatest fame during the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, but remains iconic, especially in American popular culture.He has continued to tour, record and perform in recent years, and...
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Credited guest star: Danny DeVitoDaniel Michael "Danny" DeVito, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer, who first gained prominence for his portrayal of "Louie De Palma" on the ABC and NBC TV series Taxi...
. |
| 225 (12.13) |
February 28, 1987 |
Valerie Bertinelli Valerie Anne Bertinelli is an American actress, best known for her role as Bonnie Franklin's daughter, Barbara Cooper Royer, on the television series One Day at a Time.-Early years:...
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Robert Cray Band |
Bertinelli's then-husband, Eddie Van HalenEdward Lodewijkz "Eddie" Van Halen , is a Dutch-born American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. Van Halen is widely known for his rapid guitar playing, tapping, and high frequency feedback...
, appeared in a sketch and played with the SNL Band. |
| 226 (12.14) |
March 21, 1987 |
Bill MurrayWilliam James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live, and went on to star in films including Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.-Early years:Murray, the fifth...
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Percy Sledge Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer.-Early career:Percy Sledge worked in a series of blue-collar jobs in the fields in Leighton, Alabama before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama...
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On the original version of this episode, there is a Donahue sketch where one of the guests (played by Nora Dunn) reveals that she had a bad relationship with Jean Doumanian-era/Dick Ebersol-era castmember Joe Piscopo. All reruns of this sketch are replaced with a dress rehearsal version where Nora reveals that she had a bad relationship with Gallagher.
With this episode Bill Murray is the only person to host shows produced by all three executive producers (Doumanian, Ebersol and Michaels).
| 227 (12.15) |
March 28, 1987 |
Charlton HestonCharlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television.Heston is known for having played heroic roles, such as Moses in The Ten Commandments, Colonel George Taylor in Planet of the Apes, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar in El Cid, and Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur, for which he won the Academy...
† |
Wynton MarsalisWynton Learson Marsalis is an American trumpeter and composer. He is among the most prominent jazz musicians of the modern era and is also a well-known instrumentalist in classical music. He is also the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center...
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The episode features a short film by Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
, who would join the cast in 1989. |
| 228 (12.16) |
April 11, 1987 |
John LithgowJohn Arthur Lithgow is an American actor, musician, and author, best known for his starring role as Dr. Dick Solomon on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. He has also achieved success on stage, film, and radio. He has earned multiple Emmy Awards and Tony Awards, as well as two Academy Award...
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Anita Baker Anita Baker is a popular American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit.-The Songstress :...
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| 229 (12.17) |
April 18, 1987 |
John LarroquetteJohn Bernard Larroquette is an American film and television actor. His best known roles include Dan Fielding on the series Night Court, Mike McBride in the Hallmark Channel series McBride and Carl Sack in Boston Legal....
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Timbuk 3 Timbuk3 was a Grammy-nominated band which released six original studio albums between 1986 and 1995 that were produced by Derrick Vedrani. They are most well-known for their Top 20 single "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades"...
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| 230 (12.18) |
May 9, 1987 |
Mark HarmonMark Harmon is an American actor who has been starring in U.S. television programs and films since the mid-1970s. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the popular CBS series NCIS.-Early life:...
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Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega is an American songwriter and singer known for her highly literate lyrics and eclectic folk-inspired music....
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| 231 (12.19) |
May 16, 1987 |
Garry ShandlingGarry Shandling is an American comedian, actor and writer. He is best known for his work in It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show....
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Los LobosLos Lobos are an American Chicano rock band. They are 3-time Grammy Award winners. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country music, folk, R&B, blues and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as boleros and norteños....
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| 232 (12.20) |
May 23, 1987 |
Dennis HopperDennis Lee Hopper is an American actor, filmmaker and artist, with a career that spanned half of the 20th century. Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1955, and appeared in two films also featuring...
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Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter and musician, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly / country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records...
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