Saturday Night Live - Season 5

Saturday Night Live - Season 5

Season 5

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.
Network
Episodes20
DatesOct 13, 1979 - May 24, 1980
Previous SeasonNext Season

Episodes

Steve Martin / Blondie
Season 5Episode 190 min

Steve Martin / Blondie

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".
Oct 13, 1979
Eric Idle / Bob Dylan
Season 5Episode 290 min

Eric Idle / Bob Dylan

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.""
Oct 20, 1979
Bill Russell / Chicago
Season 5Episode 390 min

Bill Russell / Chicago

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.""
Nov 3, 1979
Buck Henry / Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Season 5Episode 490 min

Buck Henry / Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Bucky Henry hosts; Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform.

Nov 10, 1979
Bea Arthur / The Roches
Season 5Episode 590 min

Bea Arthur / The Roches

Sketches include ""Sex Change,"" ""The Backers' Audition,"" and ""First, He Cries.""
Nov 17, 1979
Howard Hesseman / Randy Newman
Season 5Episode 690 min

Howard Hesseman / Randy Newman

Sketches include the ""Steve Marvin Radio Show"" and the debut of ""The Al Franken Decade.""
Dec 8, 1979
Martin Sheen / David Bowie
Season 5Episode 790 min

Martin Sheen / David Bowie

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""
Dec 15, 1979
Ted Knight / Desmond Child and Rouge
Season 5Episode 890 min

Ted Knight / Desmond Child and Rouge

Sketches include A Christmas Gift from The Shah, Nerds Nativity, and Java Junkie.
Dec 22, 1979
Teri Garr / The B-52's
Season 5Episode 990 min

Teri Garr / The B-52's

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.""
Jan 26, 1980
Chevy Chase / Marianne Faithfull
Season 5Episode 1090 min

Chevy Chase / Marianne Faithfull

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.""
Feb 9, 1980
Elliott Gould / Gary Numan
Season 5Episode 1190 min

Elliott Gould / Gary Numan

Sketches include ""Kramer vs. Godzilla,"" ""The Incredible Man,"" Andy Aaron's film ""Get Rid of That Building,"" and ""All-Time Radio.""
Feb 16, 1980
Kirk Douglas / Sam & Dave
Season 5Episode 1290 min

Kirk Douglas / Sam & Dave

Host Kirk Douglas; Sam & Dave perform.

Feb 23, 1980
Rodney Dangerfield / The J. Geils Band
Season 5Episode 1390 min

Rodney Dangerfield / The J. Geils Band

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.
Mar 8, 1980
Paul Simon / James Taylor
Season 5Episode 1490 min

Paul Simon / James Taylor

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.""
Mar 15, 1980
Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss / The Grateful Dead
Season 5Episode 1590 min

Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss / The Grateful Dead

Sketches include ""Women Empowerment"" and ""Hotel Room/Smell You.""
Apr 5, 1980
Burt Reynolds / Anne Murray
Season 5Episode 1690 min

Burt Reynolds / Anne Murray

Sketches include ""Burt's Not Angry,"" ""Vomitorium,"" ""The Burt Book,"" ""Be a Pepper,"" and ""Baba Wawa at Large."" Anne Murray performs ""Lucky Me.""
Apr 12, 1980
Strother Martin / The Specials
Season 5Episode 1790 min

Strother Martin / The Specials

Host Strother Martin and musical guests The Specials.  Sketches include invasion of Brain Snatchers and French Camp.

Apr 19, 1980
Bob Newhart / The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Bruce Cockburn
Season 5Episode 1890 min

Bob Newhart / The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Bruce Cockburn

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.""
May 10, 1980
Steve Martin / Paul & Linda McCartney
Season 5Episode 1990 min

Steve Martin / Paul & Linda McCartney

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.""
May 17, 1980
Buck Henry / Andrew Gold
Season 5Episode 2090 min

Buck Henry / Andrew Gold

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."
May 24, 1980

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
The Madison
Running

The Madison

The Madison is a heartfelt study of grief and human connection following a New York City family in the Madison River valley of central Montana. It is a profound love story channeled through a deeply personal family drama about resilience and transformation. The Madison is unfolding across two distinct worlds - the beautiful landscape of Montana and the vibrant energy of Manhattan - as it examines the ties that bind families together.

GenreDrama, Family, Western
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan
Running

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan

Jack Ryan is a drama featuring Tom Clancy's popular hero Jack Ryan billed as a new contemporary take on the character in his prime as a CIA analyst/operative using the novels as source material.

GenreDrama, Action, Espionage
Wednesday
Running

Wednesday

Smart, sarcastic and a little dead inside, Wednesday Addams investigates a murder spree while making new friends — and foes — at Nevermore Academy.

GenreComedy, Mystery, Supernatural
Rick and Morty
Running

Rick and Morty

Rick is a mentally gifted, but sociopathic and alcoholic scientist and a grandfather to Morty; an awkward, impressionable, and somewhat spineless teenage boy. Rick moves into the family home of Morty, where he immediately becomes a bad influence.

GenreComedy, Adventure, Science-Fiction
Memory of a Killer
Running

Memory of a Killer

Memory of a Killer is a dramatic thriller about a hitman who develops early onset Alzheimer's. Angelo lives a double life as an assassin and a family man - which all worked out well until he was hit with early onset Alzheimer's. Now his worlds are colliding, putting his family in danger.

GenreDrama, Crime, Thriller