The 1980s was a tumultuous decade for Saturday Night Live. Most of the original cast members had moved on. The ratings took a major hit. In fact, they were so bad in the middle of the decade that SNL was even briefly canceled. Additionally, creator/co-producer Lorne Michaels left from 1980-85 to pursue other projects, and because he was simply burned out from the grind of putting together a live 90-minute show every week.
But the ‘80s weren’t all bad. In fact, some of SNL‘s most popular sketches sprung from the decade, including “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood,” “Fernando’s Hideaway,” and “Church Chat.”
These behind-the-scenes stories from the Decade of Decadence show the highs and lows of the famed live sketch show. Here are 9 behind-the-scenes stories about the epic 1980s SNL run.
1. The Show Initially Wanted Jon Lovitz To Do ‘Weekend Update,’ But Dennis Miller Got It
Dennis Miller revealed during a 2018 radio interview that he auditioned for SNL in 1985 but didn’t make the initial cut:
They wanted [Jon] Lovitz to do the news but he was so good in all the sketches that they needed to put him in 10-12 things a night… They needed the musical act and the “Weekend Update” break to put him into prosthetic makeup for certain other characters.
The vacant anchor chair left an opening. Following Miller’s appearance on The David Letterman Show, Lorne Michaels – SNL‘s creator and co-producer – summoned Miller into his office and offered the comic the opportunity to anchor “Weekend Update.”
Miller immediately took the gig and started working the following morning. He performed as the “Weekend Update” anchor until 1991.
2. Paul Reubens Was So Angry About Being Turned Down For ’SNL,’ He Thought Up ‘The Pee-wee Herman Show’ On His Flight Home
Steve Carell and Jim Carrey are just a few of the incredibly talented people who auditioned for SNL, didn’t make the cut, and went on to have thriving show business careers. Paul Reubens tried out for the show in 1980 but was not chosen. On the plane ride back to California from his New York City audition, he used the rejection as an incentive:
I was so bitter and angry, I thought, ”You better think about doing something to take this to the next level.” So I borrowed some money and produced this show. I went from this Saturday Night Live reject to having 60 people working for me.
Reubens invented the Pee-wee Herman character and got his own HBO TV series in 1981 called The Pee-wee Herman Show. He later parlayed the popular character into two feature-length films and the CBS morning children’s program Pee-wee’s Playhouse. The series lasted five seasons and won 22 Emmy Awards.
3. Dana Carvey Turned Down A Request From Robin Williams To Be Part Of A ‘Church Lady’ Sketch
“Well, isn’t that special?”
Dana Carvey debuted Enid Strict, AKA The Church Lady, in 1986. The popular recurring SNL sketch featured a self-righteous Christian televangelist with her own talk show called Church Chat.
The longtime comedian talked about why he didn’t want Robin Williams to make a guest appearance on Church Chat during a 2023 interview on Carvey’s SNL-themed podcast Fly on the Wall:
He was a really good friend, but he really wanted to do Church Chat. And this was in the early days, this was my golden ticket, and I was very careful. I thought if Robin got so excited… I was just afraid of it.
4. Fred Rogers Didn’t Like Eddie Murphy’s ‘Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood’ Parodies, But Hugged The Comedian When They Met
Eddie Murphy first performed the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood parody “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood” on February 21, 1981. The recurring sketch became one of the most popular bits of the 1980s and helped make Murphy a superstar. The real “Mister Rogers,” Fred Rogers, typically didn’t mind comics lampooning his long-running PBS show:
Some of [the parodies] aren’t funny, but a lot of them are done with real kindness.
Although he wasn’t a fan of Murphy’s urban take on his show, Rogers was similar in real life to the compassionate character he played on TV for 31 seasons, so he gave Murphy a big hug when they met in person.
5. Mike Myers Was Hired Without Even Auditioning
In 1982, Mike Myers auditioned to be a member of Second City Theatre Company in Toronto, Canada, on his last day of high school, when he was just 19 years old. As he recalled:
I auditioned at 12, and by 3 o’clock I was a member of the Second City touring company – the junior company that goes to all the towns around Toronto, not the Mainstage company, which is the one at the theater. I don’t think I was ready yet.
By 1988, the Canadian comic had already been hired by SNL, which he described as “crazy and out of the blue,” but apparently he had made a big impression on Canadian comedian Dave Foley, American comedic actor Martin Short, and SNL co-producer Pam Thomas:
I auditioned at 12, and by 3 o’clock I was a member of the Second City touring company – the junior company that goes to all the towns around Toronto, not the Mainstage company, which is the one at the theater. I don’t think I was ready yet.
Myers spent seven seasons as a cast member, from 1989 to 1995. He created a plethora of memorable characters, including gaudy New York “Coffee Talk” hostess Linda Richman and ennui-filled German talk show interviewer Dieter. In 1992, his most famous sketch character, Midwestern metalhead Wayne Campbell, was turned into a successful comedy film, Wayne’s World.
6. Robert Downey Jr. Said He Learned What He Was NOT (A Sketch Comedian) During His Year On The Show
Robert Downey Jr. may have become one of the most successful and acclaimed actors in cinema history, but that doesn’t mean he’s good at every show business gig.
He became friends with Anthony Michael Hall after working together on 1985’s Weird Science. According to Downey, Hall was hired as a cast member for SNL and told Downey he could get him an audition. The up-and-coming actor auditioned impressively and won the role as a featured player for the 1985-86 season. However, he was not destined for SNL greatness, as he admitted to Off Camera in 2019:
I learned so much in that year about what I wasn’t. I was not somebody who was going to come up with a catchphrase. I was not somebody who was going to do impressions. I was somebody who was very ill-suited for rapid-fire sketch comedy.
7. Freddie Mercury’s Last Performance In The US With Queen Was On ‘SNL’ In 1982
On September 25, 1982, longtime British rock band Queen took center stage at 30 Rock on SNL. It was their first and only appearance on the show and final American performance with Freddie Mercury (real name Farrokh “Fred” Bulsara). The famed frontman passed in November 1991 from bronchial pneumonia, due to complications from AIDS.
Despite his illness, from which he reportedly suffered discreetly for many years before his passing, Mercury made the SNL performance a memorable one. Queen played “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” as their first number, followed by the iconic “Under Pressure.”
8. Nora Dunn Said Mondays And Tuesdays Were The Toughest On Set
Comedian Nora Dunn made her SNL debut in 1985, and described her time on the sketch show “a traumatic experience.” During a 2018 interview with Salon, she discussed what a typical week as a cast member looked like:
It was hard to come in on Monday with ideas, though they did come in with ideas for the most part. I used to call that meeting “It’s about a guy who…” because every sketch they came up with was like, “It’s about a guy who…” They never came up with any ideas for the women. We had to go off in a corner and write our own material.
The show had to be written in one night, and then the read-through was always horrible. By the time you got through Tuesday night you didn’t get any sleep. Sometimes you think you wrote a great sketch and then they would just die at read-through and you’d feel so unfunny, but it was so late you thought it was funny.
9. Teenage Anthony Michael Hall, The Show’s Youngest Member, Was ’Scared Sh*tless’ Throughout His One Season
SNL went in a strange direction in Season 11, which ran from November 1985 to May 1986. The show hired several cast members like Robert Downey Jr., Joan Cusack, and Anthony Michael Hall, who were known for their film work rather than their comedic chops.
Hall was already an established actor; the John Hughes film regular had previously starred in Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Weird Science. At the age of 17, he became the youngest SNL cast member ever – his record still stands. Season 11 was not considered one of SNL‘s best, and Hall and several other performers were fired after one year.
As he shared in an interview with The Independent:
To be very honest and candid with you, it was not great – it was a shaky-legs season. I’m grateful for the experience, but I didn’t have a breakout season. I didn’t even have any breakout characters or anything like that.