Saturday Night Live — Season 5
Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!
About this season
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.
Episodes (20)
1. Steve Martin/Blondie
7.0Aired 13 October 1979 • 67 min
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".
2. Eric Idle/Bob Dylan
6.0Aired 20 October 1979 • 67 min
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.""
3. Bill Russell/Chicago
5.0Aired 3 November 1979 • 67 min
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.""
4. Buck Henry/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
6.5Aired 10 November 1979 • 67 min
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.
5. Bea Arthur/The Roches
5.0Aired 17 November 1979 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Sex Change,"" ""The Backers' Audition,"" and ""First, He Cries.""
6. Howard Hesseman/Randy Newman
5.0Aired 8 December 1979 • 67 min
Sketches include the ""Steve Marvin Radio Show"" and the debut of ""The Al Franken Decade.""
7. Martin Sheen/David Bowie
7.0Aired 15 December 1979 • 67 min
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""
8. Ted Knight/Desmond Child and Rouge
6.0Aired 22 December 1979 • 67 min
Sketches include A Christmas Gift from The Shah, Nerds Nativity, and Java Junkie.
9. Teri Garr/The B-52's
7.0Aired 26 January 1980 • 67 min
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.""
10. Chevy Chase/Marianne Faithfull
7.0Aired 9 February 1980 • 67 min
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.""
11. Elliott Gould/Gary Numan
7.0Aired 16 February 1980 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Kramer vs. Godzilla,"" ""The Incredible Man,"" Andy Aaron's film ""Get Rid of That Building,"" and ""All-Time Radio.""
12. Kirk Douglas/Sam and Dave
Aired 23 February 1980 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Kirk's Greatest Kirks,"" ""What If?,"" ""Arlene Meets Kirk Douglas,"" ""Greg's Bar Mitzvah,"" ""Prime Time Saturday,"" and ""Mask of Fear""
13. Rodney Dangerfield/J. Geils Band
7.0Aired 8 March 1980 • 67 min
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.
14. Paul Simon/James Taylor
6.0Aired 15 March 1980 • 67 min
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.""
15. Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss/The Grateful Dead
7.0Aired 5 April 1980 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Women Empowerment"" and ""Hotel Room/Smell You.""
16. Burt Reynolds/Anne Murray
9.0Aired 12 April 1980 • 67 min
Sketches include ""Burt's Not Angry,"" ""Vomitorium,"" ""The Burt Book,"" ""Be a Pepper,"" and ""Baba Wawa at Large."" Anne Murray performs ""Lucky Me.""
17. Strother Martin/The Specials
7.0Aired 19 April 1980 • 67 min
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".
18. Bob Newhart/The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Bruce Cockburn
8.0Aired 10 May 1980 • 67 min
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.""
19. Steve Martin/Paul and Linda McCartney
Aired 17 May 1980 • 67 min
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.""
20. Buck Henry/Andrew Gold
8.0Aired 24 May 1980 • 67 min
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."