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Saturday Night Live (season 12)
The twelfth season of ''Saturday Night Live'', an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 11, 1986 and May 23, 1987. History The season opened with Madonna, host of the previous season opener, reading a "statement" from NBC about season 11's mediocre writing and bad cast choices. According to the "statement", the entire 1985–86 season was "...all a dream. A horrible, horrible dream." The season included "Mastermind", a skit written by Jim Downey and Al Franken, in which Phil Hartman portrayed two sides of Ronald Reagan; 25 years later Todd Purdum called the skit "surely among the show's Top 10 of all time". Also during this season, singer David Johansen made several guest appearances as his famous persona, Buster Poindexter, performing with the SNL house band. A new logo was introduced for this season: it consisted of a yellow square and a small black rectangle; the yellow square had "SATURDAY" and "LIVE" in it; between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saturday Night Live (season 11)
The eleventh season of ''Saturday Night Live'', an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between November 9, 1985, and May 24, 1986. Background Dick Ebersol left the show after the 1984–85 season, when the network refused his request to shut the program down entirely for six months and shift much of the material onto tape, not live broadcast. Once again, NBC briefly considered cancelling the show, but programming head Brandon Tartikoff (who was something of an ''SNL'' fan) decided to continue the show and re-hire producer Lorne Michaels. This season featured a new logo, which was used only for this season: the title, ''Saturday Night Live'' in an all caps, graffiti-style pink lettering (not the same logo as used in season6). Reception The new cast failed to connect with audiences, due to the cast's inexperience in comedy. The show also featured a frustrated writing crew (including future ''Simpsons'' writers Jon Vitti, George Meyer, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria Jackson
Victoria Jackson (born August 2, 1959) is an American actress, comedian, and singer who was a cast member of the NBC television sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) from 1986 to 1992. Early life Jackson was born in Miami, Florida, the daughter of Marlene Esther (née Blackstad) and James McCaslin Jackson, a gym coach. From the age of 5 until she was 18, Jackson's father trained her in gymnastics. After graduating from high school, Jackson attended Florida Bible College in Hollywood, Florida, later transferring to Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina on a gymnastics scholarship. At Furman, she was cast in her first play. She transferred to Auburn University in 1979 for her senior year, changing her major to theater. Midway through her senior year, she left Auburn to pursue an acting career. In the 2000s, Jackson earned a degree in theatre from Palm Beach Atlantic University. Acting and comedy While doing summer stock theater in Alabama, Jackson met for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosie Shuster
Rosie Shuster (born June 19, 1950) is a Canadian-born comedy writer and actress. She was a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' during the 1970s and 1980s. Biography Shuster was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Ruth (''née'' Burstyn), an interior designer, and Frank Shuster, a comedian of Wayne and Shuster fame. She is a cousin of ''Superman'' co-creator Joe Shuster. She is of Jewish descent. Shuster was married to ''Saturday Night Live'' creator, Lorne Michaels, from 1971 to 1980. The pair first met in junior high school, when Michaels, born Lorne Lipowitz, followed her home hoping to meet her famous father. Together Shuster and Michaels wrote and performed comedy sketches through high school, summer camp, and college. They began their TV career on the '' Hart and Lorne'' show for Canadian TV on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Appearing on the show were Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner, among others. Shuster and Michaels moved to Los Angeles to work on '' The Lily To ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman (; born October 22, 1959) is an American composer and lyricist for films, television, and theatre, best known for his collaborations with lyricist and director Scott Wittman. He wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics for the Broadway musical version of the John Waters film ''Hairspray''. He has won a Grammy, an Emmy, and a Tony, and been nominated for seven Oscars. Personal life Shaiman was born to a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Claire (née Goldfein) and William Robert Shaiman. He grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and attended Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, but got his GED and left school at age 16 to start working in New York's theaters. He lives in both Manhattan and upstate New York. He is openly gay, and married Louis Mirabal, a retired lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy, on March 26, 2016. Career Shaiman started his career as a theatre/cabaret musical director. He started working at ''Saturday Night Live'' as an arranger/writer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herb Sargent
Herbert Sargent (born Supowitz; July 15, 1923 – May 6, 2005) was an American television writer, a producer for such comedy shows as ''The Tonight Show'' and ''Saturday Night Live'', and a screenwriter ('' Bye Bye Braverman''). During his tenure at ''Saturday Night Live'', he and Chevy Chase created Weekend Update, the longest-running sketch in the show's history, and one of the longest-running sketches on television. Biography He was born Herbert Supowitz in Philadelphia on July 15, 1923. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning screenwriter Alvin Sargent. Raised in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, he studied architecture at Penn State University before serving with the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He moved to Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA. Sargent then moved to New York City and began his career in radio. Moving to television, he was one of the writers for the much-acclaimed Steve Allen Show (on N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' Late Night'' series (since 1993), ''The Kids in the Hall'' (from 1989 to 1995) and '' The Tonight Show'' (since 2014). He has received 21 Primetime Emmy Awards from 98 nominations, holding the record for being the most nominated individual in the award show's history. Early life Lorne Michaels was born on November 17, 1944, to Florence (née Becker) and Henry Abraham Lipowitz. His place of birth is disputed; multiple sources have said he was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, while others state he was born on a kibbutz in the then British mandate of Palestine (now Israel) and that his Jewish family immigrated to Toronto when he was an infant. Michaels and his two younger siblings were raised in Toronto; he attended Forest Hill Collegiate In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Meyer
George Meyer (born 1956) is an American producer and writer. Meyer is best known for his work on ''The Simpsons'', where he led the group script rewrite sessions. He has been publicly credited with "thoroughly shap ng... the comedic sensibility" of the show. Raised in Tucson, Meyer attended Harvard University. There, after becoming president of the ''Harvard Lampoon'', he graduated in 1978 with a degree in biochemistry. Abandoning plans to attend medical school, Meyer attempted to make money through dog racing but failed after two months. After a series of short-term jobs he was hired in 1981 by David Letterman, on the advice of two of Meyer's ''Harvard Lampoon'' cowriters, to join the writing team of his show '' Late Night with David Letterman''. Meyer left after two seasons and went on to write for ''The New Show'', ''Not Necessarily the News'' and ''Saturday Night Live''. Tired of life in New York, Meyer moved to Boulder, Colorado where he wrote a screenplay for a film fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Handey
Jack Handey (born February 25, 1949) is an American humorist. He is best known for his "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey", a large body of surrealistic one-liner jokes, as well as his "Fuzzy Memories" and "My Big Thick Novel" shorts, and for his deadpan delivery. Although many assume otherwise, Handey is a real person, not a pen name or character. Career Handey's earliest writing job was for a newspaper, the ''San Antonio Express-News''. He lost the job after writing an article that, in his words, "offended local car dealerships". His first comic writing was with comedian Steve Martin. According to Martin, Handey got a job writing for ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) after Martin introduced him to the show's creator, Lorne Michaels. For several years, Handey worked on other television projects: the Canadian sketch series '' Bizarre'' in 1980, the 1980 Steve Martin television special ''Comedy Is Not Pretty!'', and Lorne Michaels' short-lived sketch show on NBC called ''The New Show'' in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Davis (comedian)
Thomas James Davis (August 13, 1952 – July 19, 2012) was an American comedian, writer, and author. He is best known for his comedy partnership with Al Franken, as half of the comedy duo "Franken & Davis" on ''Saturday Night Live''. Life and career Davis was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended Blake School (Minneapolis, Minnesota), The Blake School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he began his friendship and professional partnership with Al Franken. In 1975, Davis got his big break as one of the original writers for ''Saturday Night Live'' where he and Franken also performed together. The duo wrote the screenplay for and appeared in the film ''One More Saturday Night (film), One More Saturday Night'', and had brief appearances in ''Trading Places'' and ''All You Need Is Cash, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash''. Davis was a frequent guest on ''The Al Franken Show'', appearing in sketches as various characters. In a well-known sketch on ''Saturday Night Live'', he provi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Breckman
Andrew Ross Breckman (born March 3, 1955) is an American television and film writer and a radio personality on WFMU. He is the creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series ''Monk'' on the USA Network, and is co-host of WFMU radio's long-running conceptual comedy program ''Seven Second Delay''. He has written screenplays for a number of comedy films including '' Sgt. Bilko'' (starring Steve Martin) and ''Rat Race'' (directed by Jerry Zucker), and is frequently hired as a " script doctor" to inject humorous content into scripts written by other screenwriters. Television work Breckman wrote for '' Late Night with David Letterman'' from 1982 to 1984, and contributed sketches to ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1983 to 1996. One of his most well-known vignettes was a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch called "White Like Me" (which he also directed), in which Eddie Murphy disguises himself as a Caucasian for a day. In 2003 he served as a jokewriter for comedia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Cusack
Joan Mary Cusack (; born October 11, 1962) is an American actress. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the comedy-drama ''Working Girl'' (1988) and the romantic comedy '' In & Out'' (1997). Her other starring roles include those in ''Addams Family Values'' (1993), '' Runaway Bride'' (1999), '' School of Rock'' (2003), and '' Confessions of a Shopaholic'' (2009). She has also provided the voice of Jessie in the ''Toy Story'' franchise (1999–present) and Abby Mallard in ''Chicken Little'' (2005). Cusack was a cast member on the comedy sketch show ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1986. She starred on the Showtime hit drama/comedy series '' Shameless'' (2011–2021) as Sheila Jackson, a role for which she received five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning for the first time in 2015. She is the sister of actress Ann Cusack and actor John Cusack. Early life Cusack was born on October 11, 1962, in New Yo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Helen Stephenson, Lady Connolly (born 4 December 1949) is a New Zealand-born psychologist, writer, and performer who is now a resident in both the United Kingdom and the United States. She is best known for her work as an actress and comedian during the 1980s, particularly in ''Not the Nine O'Clock News; History of the World, Part I;'' and ''Superman III.'' She has written several books, which include a biography of her husband Sir Billy Connolly, and presented a psychology-based interview show called '' Shrink Rap'' on British and Australian television. Early life Pamela Helen Stephenson was born on 4 December 1949 in Takapuna, Auckland. In 1953, she moved to Australia with her scientist parents and two sisters. She attended Boronia Park Primary School in Sydney and then Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School, Darlinghurst. According to her own autobiography, Stephenson was raped at age 16 while she was living in Australia by a 35-year-old heroin addict, co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
