Scot Bertram

In this episode, available for free to all listeners, we discuss Season Ten, the season of Saturday Night Live in which Executive Producer Dick Ebersol brought in a slew of high-priced, proven talent to give the show a boost.

Those new cast members included Billy Crystal, who effectively became Eddie Murphy’s replacement in Season Nine, hosting two of the final five shows and showing up as a special guest in another. Ebersol also brought on Martin Short, who had a suitcase full of plug-and-play recurring characters from his years on SCTV.

Ebersol also mined the previous year’s smash hit movie This Is Spinal Tap for talent, bringing on performer Christopher Guest and former SNL cast member Harry Shearer. As you may recall, Shearer did a mercurial stint on the show in Season Five, where he battled the writers and other cast members. Season Ten turned out to be no different; by episode ten, Shearer had quit the show.

The season relied heavily both on pre-filmed bits and sketches starring recurring characters. Episodes were loaded with sketches featuring Ed Grimley, Joe Franklin, Jackie Rogers, Jr., Fernando, Frankie and Willie, and on and on.

Listen for more here.