Saturday Night Live — Season 15
Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!
About this season
Saturday Night Live aired its fifteenth season during the 1989 - 1990 television season on NBC. The fifteenth season started off with a 15th anniversary special on September 24, 1989 and ended on May 19, 1990. 21 episodes were produced, including the anniversary special. Few changes happened before the start of the season. The only change was the absence of Ben Stiller. After being on the show for five episodes, Stiller left the show due to creative differences with Lorne Michaels. Mike Myers was upgraded to repertory status. This season saw the first hosting gigs of three celebrities who would go on to be frequent SNL hosts: John Goodman, Christopher Walken, and Alec Baldwin. This season is also notorious for an in-cast spat towards the end of the season. Nora Dunn staged a boycott over the host of the episode, controversial comedian Andrew Dice Clay. Dunn refused to appear in the episode because of Clay's profane jokes about women. The original musical guest for the episode, Sinéad O'Connor, joined Dunn in her boycott and canceled her scheduled appearance. O'Connor was replaced by Julee Cruise and The Spanic Boys.
Episodes (20)
1. Bruce Willis/Neil Young
Aired 30 September 1989 • 67 min
Sketches include: Thirtysomething, Wayne's World, Donahue, Home Improvement, New Leading Man, Sprockets, Bruce Willis: The Man and His Music
2. Rick Moranis/Rickie Lee Jones
Aired 7 October 1989 • 67 min
Sketches include: The Big Bitch Bulldyke Bust Out of '89, Honey I Shrunk Hans & Franz, Resorts International Hotel, Wild Horse, New Commissioner, Baby Talk, Word Busters
3. Kathleen Turner/Billy Joel
Aired 21 October 1989 • 67 min
Sketches Include: Plug Away With Harvey Fierstein, Die Squaren Ost Berliner, Egg Man, Really Ordinary People, All About Deborah Norville, Lank Thompson: I'm A Handsome Man, 555-Toon, Maxwell House
4. James Woods/Don Henley
Aired 28 October 1989 • 67 min
Sketches include ""The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,"" ""Yard-a-pult,"" ""Dracula and AIDS,"" ""Primetime Live,"" ""Ventriloquist Act,"" ""Falling in Love,"" ""Three Dudes Holistic Automotive,"" ""Hemsley Spook House,"" and ""Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein.""
5. Chris Evert/Eurythmics
Aired 11 November 1989 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Wimbledon,"" ""Oneupmanship,"" and ""Lothar of the Hill People.""
6. Woody Harrelson/David Byrne
Aired 18 November 1989 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Jack Nicholson,"" ""Pumping Up with Hans & Franz,"" ""A&E Attitudes,"" ""Sprockets,"" and ""Three Very Lonesome Cowboys.""
7. John Goodman/k.d. lang & The Reclines
Aired 2 December 1989 • 67 min
Sketches include ""It's a Wonderful Savings and Loan,"" ""Wayne's World,"" ""Cooking with the Anal-Retentive Chef,"" ""Toonces The Cat Who Could Drive a Car,"" ""The Mike Ditka Type-A Christmas Special,"" and ""The Referee Pitman Show"".
8. Robert Wagner/Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville
Aired 9 December 1989 • 67 min
Sketches include ""George Bush and Dan Quayle"", ""Yard-A-Pult,"" ""Messy Date"", ""Tales of the Runaway Boulder,"" ""Attack of the Masturbating Zombies,"" ""Rockefeller is Evil,"" ""A Betty Ford Straight Arrow Christmas"", and ""In the Middle."" Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville performed ""Don't Know Much"" and ""When Something Is Wrong.""
9. Andie MacDowell/Tracy Chapman
8.0Aired 16 December 1989 • 67 min
Sketches included ""Interrupted PSA,"" ""Church Chat,"" ""The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Christmas,"" ""Hal Jerome Tribute,"" and ""Before the Wedding."" Tracy Chapman performed ""Gimme One Reason.""
10. Ed O'Neill/Harry Connick, Jr.
Aired 13 January 1990 • 67 min
Sketches include ""George Bush,"" ""Bizilady,"" ""I Got What You Need,"" ""Wayne's World,"" ""The Nagging,"" ""Dennis Woo's Real Estate Fortunes The Easy Way,"" ""Ceaucescu's Wake,"" ""Lothar of the Hill People,"" and ""SNL in the 90's"".
11. Christopher Walken/Bonnie Raitt
Aired 20 January 1990 • 67 min
Sketches include ""The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson,"" ""Eternity,"" ""Hired Break-Up,"" ""The Continental,"" ""Attitudes,"" ""Lease With an Option to Kill,"" ""Hardbound""
12. Quincy Jones
Aired 10 February 1990 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Pumping Up With Hans and Franz,"" ""Century 21 Marriage Counselors,"" ""Toonces,"" ""Bob Waltman Special,"" ""Jazz Perspective,"" ""Reverend and Rabbi,"" ""Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein,"" ""Soviet Central Committee,"" ""House Committee on Dials and Gauges"".
13. Tom Hanks/Aerosmith
Aired 17 February 1990 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Ivana Trump Pre-Nup"", ""Wayne's World,"" ""Tales of Ribaldry,"" ""Tradtional Irish Drinking Songs for St. Patrick's Day,"" ""The Mob,"" ""Singles Cruise,"" and ""Black History Minute."" Aerosmith performed ""Jamie's Got a Gun"" and ""Monkey On My Back.""
14. Fred Savage/Technotronic
Aired 24 February 1990 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Church Chat,"" ""Left Alone with a Gun,"" ""The Pat Stevens Show,"" ""Imaginary Friend,"" and ""Hooked on Sushi"" (film). Technotronic performed ""Pump Up The Jam.""
15. Rob Lowe/The Pogues
Aired 17 March 1990 • 67 min
Sketches include "George Bush/Rob Lowe", "Irish Drinking Songs", "Church Chat", "Sprockets", "Arsenio Beckman Show", "Lambada Prison", "Helmet Head", and "Alexander's Fur World".
16. Debra Winger/Eric Clapton
Aired 24 March 1990 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Reagan Census Count,"" ""Wayne's World,"" ""Toonces the Cat Who Could Drive a Car,"" ""Calamity Jane,"" and ""Senate Record Labelling Hearings"", ""Weekend Update""
17. Corbin Bernsen/Smithereens
Aired 14 April 1990 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Cable Shopping Network,"" ""Celebrity Lawyer Court,"" ""Hanukkah Harry,"" ""George F. Will's Sports Machine,"" ""His Face,"" ""Movers and Shakers,"" and ""Playgirl Models"".
18. Alec Baldwin/The B-52's
Aired 21 April 1990 • 67 min
Sketches include "Bush Talks to Nation", "Greenhilly", "The Environmentally Conscious One", "Sexual Tension Diner", "The Garbo I Knew", "Only In New York", "Nude Talk Show" and "Middle Aged Man". The B-52's perform "Cosmic Thing" and "Channel Z".
19. Andrew Dice Clay/Spanic Boys & Julee Cruise
Aired 12 May 1990 • 67 min
Sketches include ""It's a Wonderful Dice,"" ""Diceman Employment Agency,"" ""Cooking With the Anal-Rententive Chef,"" ""What's Sex?"", ""DJ Tony Trailer,"" ""Jan Hooks Protest,"" ""Cool Mite,"" ""Ridiculous Bull,"" ""Kevin Nealon Protest""
20. Candice Bergen/Notting Hillbillies
Aired 19 May 1990 • 67 min
Sketches include ""George Bush,"" ""Toonces The Cat Who Can Drive a Car,"" ""The Carsenio Show,"" and ""Wayne's World.""