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History of Saturday Night Live (1990-1995)

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History of Saturday Night Live series:
1975–1980
1980–1985
1985–1990
1990–1995
1995–2000
2000–2005
2005–Present
Weekend Update

The period of 1990 to 1995 was a time of great transition and contrasts for Saturday Night Live. It would see the series reach peaks and ebbs in terms of public popularity and critical acclaim. During this era SNL would field its largest cast ever, see the departure of several of the show's most popular players, the arrival of many future stars and draw more public controversy than perhaps any other period in the show's history.

Although many die-hard fans still hold the original cast to be the best, others consider the early 1990s era provided some of the strongest and most consistently funny programs to date. It was a fruitful period that led to many film spin-offs, although late in the decade fans and cast alike were dismayed by the tragic deaths of former cast members Chris Farley and Phil Hartman. Some were distressed by the sudden firing of popular "Weekend Update" host Norm MacDonald. Fans of the '86-'91 seasons consider those years to include well-written sketches and sublime performances; they criticize the '90s as being over-reliant on catch phrases and generic recurring characters, and for stooping in terms of intelligence and taste.

Contents

The Early Nineties

The 1990-91 season was yet another turnover year (Nora Dunn had left in a cloud of controversy, Jon Lovitz was gone, Jan Hooks and Dennis Miller were on their way out) and introduced a number of new regular and featured players who quickly became stars of the show — Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, David Spade and Julia Sweeney. Noted standup comedian Chris Rock appeared on the show for 3 seasons. Memorable characters and sketches from this period included Sweeney's “Pat”, Sandler's “Opera Man” and “Canteen Boy”, Schneider's annoying office geek “The Richmeister”, Hartman's brilliant take-offs of Bill Clinton, Frank Sinatra and Charlton Heston and Spade's caustic commentary pieces “Spade In America” and “Hollywood Minute”.

Sandler and Farley soon became the most popular cast members of the period. Farley's high-energy performances and surprising grace belied his heavy footballer build, but he was also not afraid to trade on his size for laughs — in one sketch he played, shirtless, opposite the trim and muscular Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze, as they auditioned for a position with the Chippendales male dance troupe. Another favourite Farley character was manic, thrice-divorced motivational speaker Matt Foley, whose schtick consisted mainly of yelling at his clients, whining about having to live “in a van… down by the river” and hurling himself around the room, demolishing everything in sight.

Farley idolised John Belushi, and they shared similar comedic strengths, but sadly it soon became tragically obvious that Farley was also plagued by similar personal demons. He was fired from the show in 1995 and starred in successful movies like Tommy Boy and Black Sheep (both with David Spade) and Beverly Hills Ninja. But after leaving SNL he began abusing drugs heavily. By the time of his last SNL'' appearance, as a guest host in 1997, he was grossly overweight, looking bloated, sweating profusely, and clearly very ill. He died from a cocaine-heroin overdose just a few months later, on December 18, 1997, aged only 33.

Sandler was a talented self-taught musician and a former stage comic whose stand-up career had started after he accepted a dare from his brother to do an open mike spot at a local comedy club. He won many fans with the humourous self-penned ditties he performed on "Weekend Update" (e.g. “Red-Hooded Sweatshirt” and “Sex-Phone Lady”), as well as his famous and popular “Opera Man” and Canteen Boy characters.

In stark contrast to the sad fate of his friend Chris Farley, Sandler became a successful and popular movie star after leaving SNL.

After the 1993-94 season, there was a very noticable change in tone. Firstly, Phil Hartman and Julia Sweeney leave on their own accord. Sweeney left due to frustration and burnout; Hartman departed on friendly terms but later described his departure as "jumping off of a sinking ship." Rob Schneider was eventually backburnered (in retaliation for taking time off to appear in a Sylvester Stallone movie), then fired, along with Silverman and Hutsell. In the eyes of many viewers, the quality of the series began to deteriorate noticeably around this time.

The “generational change” continued in 1994-95 with the arrival of Chris Elliott, Janeane Garofalo, Kids In The Hall alumnus Mark McKinney, and Molly Shannon; this season was also the last for Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers and Kevin Nealon. Norm MacDonald replaced Nealon as anchor of Weekend Update, earning a mild controversy in the role.

While MacDonald alienated many "Weekend Update" fans by frequently flubbing his lines and abandoning all attempts to seem like an actual news anchor (a tradition which had been consistent since the sketch's birth in 1975), his weekly appearances did often provide the only laughs in an otherwise dismal time period for the show. The sketches at the time were considered sophomoric, shrill, and bitterly unfunny. Many sketches seemed to have no point at all, nor a single laugh.

The vicious attacks of the critics stunned Lorne Michaels, who had gone from challenging the network establishment to being as establishment as possible. To recover from all the major losses the show was facing (Carvey and Hartman had left in '93 and '94; Mike Myers left in early 1995) Michaels hired a number of stars who were never known for their impressions or sketch comedy skill -- Chris Elliott and Michael McKean stuck out like sore thumbs and left at the end of the season. The day that Garofalo arrived on SNL's set, Adam Sandler started yelling at her because of remarks she'd made against him in her standup routine. The other female cast members (Ellen Cleghorne and Laura Kightlinger) banded against her almost immediately. Shut out by all sides and uncomfortable with the writing, Garofalo left in mid-season, replaced by Molly Shannon. Farley and Sandler were hell to deal with backstage, and their onscreen performances had grown so hammy and inconsistent that NBC finally had enough and fired them at the end of the season. Longtime featured player Jay Mohr left after NBC refused to upgrade him to contract player. Al Franken, who had worked on the show as a writer and featured player on and off since 1977 quit after Norm MacDonald was given the Weekend Update job instead of him.

Falling ratings and outraged critics sent a wakeup call to Lorne Michaels, and the show had some of its highest turnover yet. The 94-95 season had a total of 14 cast members; only five stayed for the 95-96 season: Molly Shannon, Mark McKinney, Norm Macdonald, David Spade (who agreed to stay only for a year so that he could be a bridge between the old and new casts) and Tim Meadows (who would have been fired, but the network was afraid that firing both black cast members would be seen as racist).

Season Overview

Opening montage

The 1990 season started with a montage that would go virtually unchanged (with the exception of cast changes) for four seasons. Its theme was much like that from 1988-89, in which cast members were shown around New York, and were "caught" by the camera, with various NYC footage in between.

Cast

With Featuring

Hosts and musical guests

See the list of SNL hosts and musical guests during the 16th season

Notes

1991-92 season

Opening montage

Same as the 1990 season with different cast members being the only change.

Cast

With Featuring

Hosts and musical guests

See the list of SNL hosts and musical guests during the 17th season

Notes

1992-93 season

Opening montage

Same theme as the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons, with the removal of cast members who had left in the previous years.

Cast

With Featuring

Hosts and musical guests

See the list of SNL hosts and musical guests during the 18th season

Notes

1993-94 season

Opening montage

The popular opening montage, which debuted in the 1990-91 season, returns for what turns out to be its final season.

Cast

Featuring

Hosts and musical guests

See the list of SNL hosts and musical guests during the 19th season
One host during this season, Martin Lawrence, had an opening monologue which included an extended series of comments about feminine hygiene. The syndicated version of the episode replaces the offending section of the monologue with a graphic (read by an off-screen announcer) describing in vague terms what Lawrence had said and noting it almost cost SNL employees their jobs. Lawrence was subsequently banned from appearing on SNL.

Notes

1994-95 season

Opening montage

After four seasons with the same theme, the montage changes once again. The music has also changed slightly, but is still a rendition of the music used since 1985. This montage has a 20th Anniversary theme, and it consists of the cast members' photos being projected onto various objects around New York.

Cast

Featuring

Hosts and musical guests

See the list of SNL hosts and musical guests during the 20th season

Notes

 

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