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Saturday Night Live
Season 13
The title card for the thirteenth season of Saturday Night Live.
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes13
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseOctober 17, 1987 (1987-10-17) –
February 27, 1988 (1988-02-27)
Season chronology
← Previous
season 12
Next →
season 14
List of episodes

The thirteenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 17, 1987 and February 27, 1988. Although the changes to the cast and writers were minimal, the season was cut short due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike.

Production

During a dress rehearsal for the season premiere, a fire broke out near Studio 8H and was planned to be postponed. However, episode host Steve Martin pushed the cast to carry on with the show, making the Steve Martin/Sting episode the only episode without a dress rehearsal.[1]

On March 7, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. The strike continued until August, thus cutting the season short at 13 episodes.

Cast

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 13

New hires this season were Greg Daniels, Conan O'Brien and Bob Odenkirk.

The writers for this season included A. Whitney Brown, Tom Davis, Greg Daniels, Jim Downey, Al Franken, Jack Handey, Phil Hartman, George Meyer, Lorne Michaels, Conan O'Brien, Bob Odenkirk, Herb Sargent, David Borowitz, Rosie Shuster, Robert Smigel, Bonnie Turner, Terry Turner and Christine Zander. The head writer, like the previous season, was Jim Downey.

Episodes

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		HostMusical guest(s)Original air date
2341Steve MartinStingOctober 17, 1987 (1987-10-17)

2352Sean PennLL Cool J
Michael Penn		October 24, 1987 (1987-10-24)

  • LL Cool J performed "Go Cut Creator Go".[2] and appeared in the opener.
  • Michael Penn, older brother of host Sean, performed "This and That" with his band The Pull.[2]
2363Dabney ColemanThe CarsOctober 31, 1987 (1987-10-31)

2374Robert MitchumSimply RedNovember 14, 1987 (1987-11-14)

2385Candice BergenCherNovember 21, 1987 (1987-11-21)

2396Danny DeVitoBryan FerryDecember 5, 1987 (1987-12-05)

2407Angie DickinsonBuster Poindexter
David Gilmour		December 12, 1987 (1987-12-12)

  • Buster Poindexter performs "Hot Hot Hot".[2]
  • David Gilmour performs "Ah, Robertson, It's You"[2] and an instrumental guitar jam with the SNL house band called "Song For My Sara".
2418Paul SimonLinda RonstadtDecember 19, 1987 (1987-12-19)

2429Robin WilliamsJames TaylorJanuary 23, 1988 (1988-01-23)

  • James Taylor performs "That Lonesome Road", "Sweet Potato Pie" and "Never Die Young".[2] ("Lonesome Road" was a song that Taylor had sung at the funeral of John Belushi in 1982. This episode aired the day before what would've been Belushi's 39th birthday.)
24310Carl WeathersRobbie RobertsonJanuary 30, 1988 (1988-01-30)

24411Justine BatemanTerence Trent D'ArbyFebruary 13, 1988 (1988-02-13)

24512Tom HanksRandy TravisFebruary 20, 1988 (1988-02-20)

24613Judge Reinhold10,000 ManiacsFebruary 27, 1988 (1988-02-27)

Canceled episodes with booked guests

Airdate Host Musical Guest Comments
May 14, 1988 Gilda Radner U2 A planned episode with original cast member Gilda Radner as host was cancelled due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America Strike. Radner would never get another chance to host, due to her death in 1989. This episode would have marked the first time a female cast member came back to host, a milestone that wasn't reached until Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosted on May 13, 2006. U2 would perform on the show on December 9, 2000.

References

  1. ^ Shales, Tom; Miller, James Andrew (October 7, 2002). Live From New York: An Uncensored History Of Saturday Night Live (1st ed.). Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-3167-8146-6.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 124–127. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
  3. ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 220–223. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
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