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Saturday Night Live
Season 5
1979
20 Episodes
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.
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Episodes
Episode 1
Steve Martin/Blondie
Sketches include ""The Pope's Doorman,"" ""Craig's Travellers' Checks,"" ""Free Spanish Lesson,"" ""Juvenile Delinquent Vandal,"" ""Rise,"" ""Carole King,"" ""The David Susskind Show,"" ""Bolshoi Ballet,"" ""The All-New Mr. Bill Show,"" ""What the Hell is That?"". Blondie performs "Dreaming" and "The Hardest Part".
Episode 2
Eric Idle/Bob Dylan
Sketches include ""Eric's Sick,"" ""Hotel-Motel Art Fair,"" ""Mr. Howard's Shoe Store,"" ""Prince Charles Tells You How To Pick Up Girls!,"" ""Hardcore II,"" ""Heavy Sarcasm,"" and ""Ask Elvis.""
Bob Dylan performs ""Gotta Serve Somebody,"" ""I Believe In You,"" and ""When You Gonna Wake Up.""
Episode 3
Bill Russell/Chicago
Sketches include ""Kennedy in '80,"" ""Banshee,"" ""The Black Shadow,"" ""The Landers Files,"" ""Mr. Bill at Home,"" ""Nick in the Arctic,"" ""Eleanor Roosevelt,"" ""Sports Hot Line,"" and ""Big n' Tall That's All.""
Chicago performs their 1970 hit ""I'm a Man"" and their then-current single ""Street Player.""
Episode 4
Buck Henry/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Sketches include ""Rush Home to the Bathroom,"" ""Find the Popes in the Pizza Contest drawing,"" ""Nerds #12,"" ""Harley's Bristol Cream"" and ""Banshee"" commercial parodies, and one of Aviva Slesin's ""First Love"" films.
Episode 5
Bea Arthur/The Roches
Sketches include ""Sex Change,"" ""The Backers' Audition,"" and ""First, He Cries.""
Episode 6
Howard Hesseman/Randy Newman
Sketches include the ""Steve Marvin Radio Show"" and the debut of ""The Al Franken Decade.""
Episode 7
Martin Sheen/David Bowie
Sketches include ""Quick Sex Change Operation,"" ""Le Shoe,"" ""Afraid of the Dark,"" ""Striking Teachers,"" ""Apocolypse Now,"" ""First Love, Part 2,"" ""Foreveready,"" ""Criminals,"" ""Minota AM-3 Camera,"" ""Revisions of Freudian History,"" ""Martin Sheen Hairspray""
Episode 8
Ted Knight/Desmond Child and Rouge
Sketches include A Christmas Gift from The Shah, Nerds Nativity, and Java Junkie.
Episode 9
Teri Garr/The B-52's
Sketches include ""Paul McCartney in Japan: Day 11,"" ""Craig's,"" ""Somewhere Near Mason City, Iowa,"" ""Debs Behind Bars,"" ""Anchovy Council of America,"" ""Bad Playhouse,"" ""Baby Casting Director,"" and ""The Mr. Bill Show."" The B-52's perform ""Rock Lobster"" and ""Dance This Mess Around.""
Episode 10
Chevy Chase/Marianne Faithfull
Live from New York, it's…Chevy Chase! Sketches include ""Henry Kissinger and Gerald Ford,"" ""Pre-Chewed Charlies,"" The Bel Airabs, ""You Can't Win,"" Speaking of Fashion, ""Linden Palmer, Hollywood's Forgotten Director,"" and ""Honduras.""
Episode 11
Elliott Gould/Gary Numan
Sketches include ""Kramer vs. Godzilla,"" ""The Incredible Man,"" Andy Aaron's film ""Get Rid of That Building,"" and ""All-Time Radio.""
Episode 12
Kirk Douglas/Sam and Dave
Sketches include ""Kirk's Greatest Kirks,"" ""What If?,"" ""Arlene Meets Kirk Douglas,"" ""Greg's Bar Mitzvah,"" ""Prime Time Saturday,"" and ""Mask of Fear""
Episode 13
Rodney Dangerfield/J. Geils Band
Sketches include-- Dressing Room opening, Dr. Shockley's House of Sperm, Niggerands, Manhasset, The Subsitute Judge, Celebrity Corner: Bill Murray talks with Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow.
Episode 14
Paul Simon/James Taylor
Sketches include ""Anniversary Seance,"" ""Todd's Campaign,"" ""The Biggest Leprechaun,"" ""The Flogging Musicians,"" ""Talk or Die,"" and ""The David Susskind Show.""
Paul Simon and James Taylor perform ""Cathy's Clown / Take Me to the Mardi Gras"" and David Sanborn performs ""Anything You Want.""
Episode 15
Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss/The Grateful Dead
Sketches include ""Women Empowerment"" and ""Hotel Room/Smell You.""
Episode 16
Burt Reynolds/Anne Murray
Sketches include ""Burt's Not Angry,"" ""Vomitorium,"" ""The Burt Book,"" ""Be a Pepper,"" and ""Baba Wawa at Large."" Anne Murray performs ""Lucky Me.""
Episode 17
Strother Martin/The Specials
The host for the episode is Strother Martin, and the musical guest is The Specials. The skits for this episode are as follows: Rosalyn Carter talks about sections of the 1980 census intended for illegal aliens, including questions about how they got into the US, where they would hide if the INS came to their homes, and how much they would be willing to do housework for. During his opening monologue, Strother Martin reveals that he was asked to host the show because Lorne Michaels mistook him for Tennessee Williams, and so far he's been keeping up the act. At Camp Beau Soleil, the campers are forced to learn French by the brutal camp counselor, Le Capitain, but a camper named Luke is determined to escape. Additional skits include a variety show will, the Conductor's Club, Any Town, and Food. The Specials perform "Gangsters" and "Too Much, Too Young".
Episode 18
Bob Newhart/The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Bruce Cockburn
Sketches include ""Mysteries of the Universe,"" ""The Dating Zone,"" ""Writing Home,"" and ""Mr. Bill."" The Amazing Rhythm Aces (featuring Bill Murray) perform ""Third-Rate Romance.""
Episode 19
Steve Martin/Paul and Linda McCartney
Sketches include: ""Father Guido Sarducci, Live from London,"" ""Real Incredible People,"" ""Stretch Marks Record Offer,"" ""Reagan's Dinner,"" and ""The Hominids.""
3-D performed ""All-Night Television.""
Episode 20
Buck Henry/Andrew Gold
Live from New York, it's Harry Shearer!
Sketches include "Election '80: Almost Halfway Over," "The SNL Stars of the Future" monologue, "Lord and Lady Douchebag," "Uncle Roy," and "Nick at Trader Nick's."