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Saturday Night Live Season 11
Series	Saturday Night Live
Country of origin	United States
Network	NBC
Original run	November 9, 1985 – May 24, 1986
No. of episodes	18
Previous season	10
Next season	12

Saturday Night Live aired its eleventh season during the 1985-1986 television season on NBC. Though SNL was on the chopping block over the summer of 1985, Lorne Michaels agreed to return to his executive producer position after a five-year absence. Michaels and NBC President Brandon Tartikoff asked NBC to bring the show back for an eleventh season so he could prove that he could revive the show, but due to a cast that wasn't experienced in comedy (that featured such now famous faces as Joan Cusack, Randy Quaid, and Robert Downey Jr.) and a frustrated writing crew (that featured future Simpsons writers Jon Vitti, George Meyer, and John Swartzwelder), that didn't know how to write sketches for such an eclectic cast, Tartikoff planned to cancel SNL after its season finale in May 1986. Lorne Michaels, however, pleaded with Tartikoff to let the show go on, provided that Lorne find better-suited cast members for the next season.

Despite these complications, "Weekend Update" returned to its original name for the first time since the 1980-1981 season, with comedian Dennis Miller as the segment's latest anchor, proving to be a highlight in a season plagued by harsh criticism, low Neilsen ratings, and rumors of a possible cancellation. The season also saw the first (and so far only) time that SNL has ever had an openly gay male cast member (Terry Sweeney, who worked as a writer for Jean Doumanian's ill-fated sixth season) and a seventeen-year-old cast member (Anthony Michael Hall, who starred with Chevy Chase [who hosted this season] in the 1983 movie National Lampoon's Vacation), as well as the first (but not the last) time that SNL hired an African American woman (Danitra Vance) to be a repertory player (though Yvonne Hudson was the first black female SNL castmember, Hudson was only a featured player on the 1980-1981 season and was never promoted to repertory status).

The season started on November 9, 1985 and ended on May 24, 1986.

1 Cast
- 1.1 Repertory cast members
- 1.2 Featured cast members
2 Episodes

Cast

Repertory cast members

Featured cast members

A. Whitney Brown (First Episode: February 22, 1986)
Al Franken (First Episode: March 22, 1986)
Don Novello
Dan Vitale
Damon Wayans (Final episode: March 15, 1986)

Episodes

Episode Number	Date	Host(s)	Musical Guest(s)	Remarks
196	November 9, 1985	Madonna	Simple Minds	Joan Cusack, Nora Dunn, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, Jon Lovitz, Dennis Miller, Randy Quaid, Terry Sweeney, Danitra Vance, Dan Vitale and Damon Wayans's first episode as cast members Don Novello rejoins the cast after a five year hiatus. Prior to being a castmember, Terry Sweeney was a writer for Jean Doumanian's only season of SNL (season six; 1980-1981) and was featured in a sketch that year about Ronald Reagan's (Charles Rocket) birthday. The episode originally had a cold opening that only aired once where Lorne Michaels and Brandon Tartikoff issue urine tests to check the new cast members for drug use, ending with Anthony Michael Hall delivering the opening line, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!". Network executives found this to be "in bad taste" and asked for it to be cut, so all syndicated versions and reruns go straight to the opening sequence. To fill time, a dress rehearsal performance of Simple Minds' second song aired in repeats (they only performed "Alive & Kicking" in the original live show). According to the book Live from New York: The Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, in the "Pinklisting" sketch, a stage light fell in an empty pool, scaring Terry Sweeney to the point that he screamed and nearly fell out of his chair.
197	November 16, 1985	Chevy Chase	Sheila E
198	November 23, 1985	Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman	Queen Ida & the Bon Temps Zydeco Band	Former SNL castmember Robin Duke appears in the "Pee-wee Herman Thanksgiving Special" sketch as one of the audience members during Diana Ross's (Terry Sweeney) performance. In addition, Phil Hartman (who would later be hired as a season 12 castmember) appeared as a pilgrim in the same sketch and was credited for writing the "Pee-wee Herman Thanksgiving Special" sketch. Hartman and Herman/Reubens worked together on The Pee-wee Herman Show, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, and the first season of Pee-wee's Playhouse.
199	December 7, 1985	John Lithgow	Mr. Mister	This is the last episode to use the paper cut-out opening sequence.
200	December 14, 1985	Tom Hanks	Sade	This episode (up until the season finale hosted by Anjelica Huston and Billy Martin) uses the "limo ride through the city" opening instead of the paper cut-out opening. The Entertainment Tonight opening sketch references Spying Isn't Cool a fake public service ad with Brooke Shields, mentioned as a joke on Weekend Update in the previous episode. Joan Cusack played Shields, claiming that her movie career stalled after her mother turned down her offer to play roles for movies with Al Pacino (Scarface) and Robert DeNiro (Once Upon a Time in America)
201	December 21, 1985	Teri Garr	The Dream Academy The Cult
202	January 18, 1986	Harry Dean Stanton	The Replacements	The Replacements played "Bastards of Young" and "Kiss Me On the Bus", both from the Tim album.
203	January 25, 1986	Dudley Moore†	Al Green	The episode has a live show sketch that was only shown once about a beauty pageant for pregnant teenaged girls featuring Danitra Vance's Cabrini Green Jackson character. In reruns, the sketch is replaced with a taped sketch called Big Ball of Sports (from the previous episode hosted by Harry Dean Stanton) and a dress rehearsal sketch where Dudley Moore plays a man who dates a woman (played by Nora Dunn) who reminds him of his ex (played by Joan Cusack).
204	February 8, 1986	Ron Reagan	The Nelsons	According to the book Live From New York: The Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, there was a sketch cut after dress rehearsal where a two homosexual men (Terry Sweeney and Ron Reagan) are hired to redecorate a woman's (Nora Dunn) house. Dan Vitale's final episode as a cast member; he appeared in three episodes total.
205	February 15, 1986	Jerry Hall	Stevie Ray Vaughan† Jimmie Vaughan	Mick Jagger appears in this episode's cold opening where Tommy Flanagan (Jon Lovitz) hits on the host at a bar - told by Hall that Flanagan claims to know him, Jagger "confirms" this and remarks that the two had been on a fishing trip during a recent weekend where Hall didn't know where he was, telling Flanagan "I owe you for this one" before "Live, from New York!".
206	February 22, 1986	Jay Leno	The Neville Brothers	A. Whitney Brown's first episode as a cast member
207	March 15, 1986	Griffin Dunne	Rosanne Cash	Damon Wayans, unhappy with the parts he had been getting, decided to play the minor police officer character he'd been assigned in one sketch as gay, though it did not fit the role. For this, Lorne Michaels fired him.
208	March 22, 1986	George Wendt Francis Ford Coppola	Philip Glass	The Philip Glass Ensemble performs "Rubric" from Glassworks and "Lightning" from Songs from Liquid Days. The show's opening theme song was replaced by "Façades," also from Glassworks. Francis Ford Coppola only appears in between sketches in a running gag throughout the episode where he, Lorne Michaels, and Terry Sweeney try to fix up SNL on the air to boost the show's sagging ratings. Al Franken rejoins the cast after a five and a half year hiatus
209	April 12, 1986	Oprah Winfrey	Joe Jackson
210	April 19, 1986	Tony Danza	Laurie Anderson
211	May 10, 1986	Catherine Oxenberg Paul Simon	Ladysmith Black Mambazo
212	May 17, 1986	Jimmy Breslin Marvin Hagler	Level 42 E.G. Daily
213	May 24, 1986	Anjelica Huston Billy Martin†	George Clinton Parliament-Funkadelic	Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, Randy Quaid, Terry Sweeney, Don Novello and Danitra Vance's final episode as cast members, all of the cast members were shown to trapped in a room on fire as parody of tv show cliffhangers, however Lorne is shown pulling Jon Lovitz out. Credits rolled with question marks on each name. Final appearance of Al Franken as a cast member until 10/17/1987 After having been fired from SNL, Damon Wayans returns to perform stand-up. Brandon Tartikoff, unhappy with SNL's ratings at the time, wanted this episode to be the last one, but Lorne Michaels pleaded with Tartikoff to keep the show on provided that he find a better cast.

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Related lists	Episodes (Five-Timers) • Compilation albums and videos • Commercials • Cast members • Writers • Hosts • Cast member hosts • Simultaneous host/performer guests

Recurring characters and sketches	Alphabetical • Chronological • By cast member • List of recurring musical sketches • Weekend Update characters • Short-lived recurring characters

Sketch lists	TV shows (1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s) • Animal • SNL Digital Shorts • TV Funhouse episodes

Sketches	Barry Gibb Talk Show • Bill Swerski's Superfans • The Blues Brothers • Celebrity Jeopardy! • The Chris Farley Show • Coffee Talk • The Coneheads • The Continental • Decabet • Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey • Delicious Dish • Dick in a Box • Goth Talk • Happy Fun Ball • Hollywood Minute • Jeffrey's • Jizz in My Pants • Landshark • Larry the Lobster • Lazy Sunday • MacGruber • More cowbell • The Needlers • Olympia Cafe • Rialto Grande • Sarah Palin • The Schoeners • Sprockets • Surprise • Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber • TV Funhouse • Vinny Vedecci • Wake Up and Smile • Wayne's World • Weekend Update • Z105 with Joey Mack

Films based on sketches	The Blues Brothers (1980) • Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1980) • Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures (1986) • Bob Roberts (1992) • Mr. Saturday Night (1992) • Wayne's World (1992) • Wayne's World 2 (1993) • Coneheads (1993) • It's Pat! (1994) • Stuart Saves His Family (1995) • A Night at the Roxbury (1998) • Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) • Office Space (1999) • Superstar (1999) • The Ladies Man (2000) • Harold (2008) • MacGruber (2010) • Key Party (TBD)

Characters	Adult Students • Bill Brasky • The Bloder Brothers • The Boston Teens • Canteen Boy • The Church Lady • Debbie Downer • Ed Grimley • Emily Litella • Father Guido Sarducci • Hanukkah Harry • Hans and Franz • Judy Grimes • Lisa Loopner • Lovers • Mango • Mary Katherine Gallagher • Master Thespian • Matt Foley • Merv the Perv • Nick The Lounge Singer • Pat • Roseanne Roseannadanna • Samurai Futaba • The Spartan Cheerleaders • Stuart Smalley • Toonces the Driving Cat • Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer • Velvet Jones • The Whiners

Related topics	Lorne Michaels • "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" • Dick Ebersol • Don Pardo • Frank Oz • "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" • Incredibad • Jean Doumanian • Jim Henson • Mel Brandt • Bill Hanrahan • Saturday Night Live Band • Strategery • Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday

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Saturday Night Live

Contents

Cast

Repertory cast members

Featured cast members

Episodes