History Of Saturday Night Live (1980–1985)
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History Of Saturday Night Live (1980–1985)
''Saturday Night Live'' is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975. After the 1979–80 season, Michaels attempted to take a break and appoint writer Al Franken his successor. However, then-president of NBC Fred Silverman passed on Franken and gave the job to associate producer Jean Doumanian, bringing in a brand new cast and mostly new writers, and resulting in the most critically unstable season in ''SNL'''s history. Doumanian was fired and replaced with Dick Ebersol, who brought in a new cast, keeping only Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo. Murphy and Piscopo became breakout stars and restored the show's popularity. During the 1983–84 season, Murphy left ''SNL'' and went on to foster a successful film career. Piscopo and several other cast members also left after the season, prompting Ebersol to rebuild the cast for the following year with already-established celebrities such as ...
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Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves as the program's showrunner. The show premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title ''NBC's Saturday Night''. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show. In 1980, Michaels left the series to explore other opportunities. He was r ...
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Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen ratings, an audience measurement system of television viewership that for years has been the deciding factor in canceling or renewing television shows by television networks. As of May 2012, it is part of Nielsen Holdings. NMR began as a division of ACNielsen, a 1923-founded marketing research firm. In 1996, NMR was split off into an independent company, and in 1999, was purchased by the Dutch conglomerate VNU. In 2001, VNU also purchased ACNielsen, thereby bringing both companies under the same corporate umbrella. NMR is also a sister company to Nielsen//NetRatings, which measures Internet and digital media audiences. VNU was reorganized and renamed the Nielsen Company in 2007. History The Nielsen TV Ratings have been produced in the U ...
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Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member of The Credibility Gap, a radio comedy group. Following the breakup of the group, Shearer co-wrote the film ''Real Life'' (1979) with Albert Brooks and worked as a writer on Martin Mull's television series ''Fernwood 2 Night''. Shearer was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' between 1979 and 1980, and 1984 and 1985. Shearer co-created, co-wrote and co-starred in the film '' This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), a satirical rockumentary, which became a hit. In 1989, he joined the cast of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''; he provides voices for characters including Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, Kent Brockman, formerly Dr. Hibbert, and more. Shearer has appeared in films including ''The Truman ...
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Rod Serling
Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone''. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen, and helped form television industry standards. He was known as the "angry young man" of Hollywood, clashing with television executives and sponsors over a wide range of issues, including censorship, racism, and war. Early life Serling was born on December 25, 1924, in Syracuse, New York, to a Jewish family. He was the second of two sons born to Esther (née Cooper, 1893–1958), a homemaker, and Samuel Lawrence Serling (1892–1945). Serling's father had worked as a secretary and amateur inventor before his children were born but took on his father-in-law's profession as a grocer to earn a steady income. Sam Serling later became a butcher after the Great Depr ...
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John Belushi
John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his career, Belushi had a personal and artistic partnership with his fellow ''SNL'' star Dan Aykroyd, whom he met while they were both working at Chicago's Second City comedy club. Born in Chicago to Albanian-American parents, Belushi started his own comedy troupe with Tino Insana and Steve Beshekas, called "The West Compass Trio". After being discovered by Bernard Sahlins, he performed with The Second City and met Aykroyd, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Harold Ramis. In 1975, Chevy Chase and Michael O'Donoghue recommended Belushi to ''SNL'' creator and showrunner Lorne Michaels, who accepted him as a new cast member of the show after an audition. Belushi developed a series of characters on the show that reached great success, including his performa ...
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Bill Murray
William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1977 to 1980, where he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. He starred in comedy films including '' Meatballs'' (1979), ''Caddyshack'' (1980), ''Stripes'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), ''Ghostbusters'' (1984), ''Scrooged'' (1988), ''What About Bob?'' (1991), '' Groundhog Day'' (1993), '' Kingpin'' (1996), ''The Man Who Knew Too Little'' (1997), '' Charlie's Angels'' (2000), and ''Osmosis Jones'' (2001). His only directorial credit is ''Quick Change'' (1990), which he co-directed with Howard Franklin. Murray's performance in Sofia Coppola's '' Lost in Translation'' (2003) earned him a Golden Globe and a British Academy Film Award and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. He has frequentl ...
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Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the show. As both a performer and a writer, he earned three Primetime Emmy Awards out of five nominations and two Golden Globe Award nominations. Chase's early roles include the romantic comedies '' Foul Play'' (1978) and '' Seems Like Old Times'' (1980) opposite Goldie Hawn. He portrayed Clark W. Griswold in five ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' films including ''Vacation'' (1983), ''European Vacation'' (1985), ''Christmas Vacation'' (1989), and ''Vegas Vacation'' (1997). He also played Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher in '' Fletch'' (1985) and its sequel ''Fletch Lives'' (1989). He also starred in ''Caddyshack'' (1980), ''Spies Like Us'' (1985), '' Three Amigos!'' (1986), and ''Hot Tub Time Machine'' (2010). He has hosted the Academy Awards twice ( 19 ...
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Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s. Elliott's breakthrough role was in the ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The following year Gould starred as Capt. Trapper John in Robert Altman film ''M*A*S*H'' (1970) for which he received BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations. He continued working with Altman in '' The Long Goodbye'' (1973) and ''California Split'' (1974). Other notable film roles include Alan Arkin's ''Little Murders'' (1971), Ingmar Bergman's '' The Touch'' (1971), Richard Attenborough's '' A Bridge Too Far'' (1977), ''Capricorn One'' (1978), ''The Silent Partner'' (1978), Warren Beatty's '' Bugsy'' (1991), ''American History X'' (1998), Steven Soderbergh's '' Contagion'' (2011), and ''Ruby Sparks'' (2012). He starred as Reuben Tishkoff in the ''Ocean's'' film series (2001, 20 ...
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Yvonne Hudson
Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupational name meaning "archer". Yvonne/Ivonne is also a Spanish girl name. This name first arrived in England with the Norman invasion, along with variations such as Yvette and male versions of the same name. It was the most popular of all of these names, but would fall out of favor. It was reintroduced into English-speaking countries in the early 20th century, when it was very popular. It is currently 173rd in the United States popular names list, but is an uncommon name in younger generations. It has also lost popularity in France, where in 1900 it was the 7th most popular name. It is a popular Protestant name in Northern Ireland. Yvonne has several name days: May 26 in Sweden and December 11th in Ireland and Scotland. People This is a li ...
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Ann Risley
Anna F. "Ann" Risley (born September 30, 1949, Madison, Wisconsin) is a retired American actress and comedian. She was a cast member of the TV series ''Saturday Night Live'' for the 12 episodes of the 1980–1981 season. These 12 broadcasts were the first episodes after producer Lorne Michaels left the show. Life and career She was spotted by Woody Allen in a theatre production of his material and encouraged her to pursue an acting career in New York. Risley was cast in small parts in Allen's films ''Annie Hall'', ''Manhattan'' and ''Stardust Memories''. Before joining the cast of ''Saturday Night Live'', she had a cameo on the show in 1976 as a psychiatrist's patient. She was cast for ''Saturday Night Live'' by Jean Doumanian, who had previously been the show's guest-booker, then associate producer. After 12 episodes, Doumanian was let go and replaced by Dick Ebersol, who fired Gilbert Gottfried, Charles Rocket, and Risley from the cast before his first episode. In a 1999 artic ...
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Gail Matthius
Gail Matthius (born December 14, 1953) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' during its critical and ratings low point at the time (the 1980–1981 season, produced by Jean Doumanian), and co-anchored the ''Weekend Update'' segment with Charles Rocket in 1981. ''Saturday Night Live'' Matthius had worked as a comedian in Los Angeles appearing at The Comedy Store before successfully auditioning for Doumanian's cast. In 2015, the magazine ''Rolling Stone'' ranked Matthius at, out of 141 cast members, the 74th best of ''Saturday Night Live'', calling her, "A flicker of hope in the ''Saturday Night Live'' 1980 debacle, with a sharp valley girl mall-chick character named Vickie. Matthius and Vickie both deserved better." Recurring characters *Vickie, a valley girl who, along with her friend, Debbie (played by Denny Dillon), annoy people with their persistent questions and shallow statements. *Roweena, a Midwestern-accented haird ...
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Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York accent, and his edgy, often controversial, sense of humor. His numerous roles in film and television include voicing Iago in the ''Aladdin'' animated films and series, Digit LeBoid in ''Cyberchase'', Kraang Subprime in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', and the Aflac Duck. He was also known for his role as Mr. Peabody in the '' Problem Child'' film series. Gottfried hosted the podcast ''Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast'' (2014–2022), which featured discussions of classic films and celebrity interviews, most often with veteran actors, comedians, musicians, and comedy writers. The documentary ''Gilbert'' (2017) explored his life and career; it won the Special Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2017 deadCENTER Film Festival. Early life Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried was born on February 28, 1955, in th ...
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