Saturday Night Live aired its eleventh season during the 1985-1986 television season on NBC. Though SNL was on the chopping block over the summer of 1985, Lorne Michaels agreed to return to his executive producer position after a five-year absence. Michaels and NBC President Brandon Tartikoff asked NBC to bring the show back for an eleventh season so he could prove that he could revive the show, but due to a cast that wasn't experienced in comedy...
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Saturday Night Live aired its eleventh season during the 1985-1986 television season on NBC. Though SNL was on the chopping block over the summer of 1985, Lorne Michaels agreed to return to his executive producer position after a five-year absence. Michaels and NBC President Brandon Tartikoff asked NBC to bring the show back for an eleventh season so he could prove that he could revive the show, but due to a cast that wasn't experienced in comedy (that featured such now famous faces as Joan Cusack, Randy Quaid, and Robert Downey Jr.) and a frustrated writing crew (that featured future Simpsons writers Jon Vitti, George Meyer, and John Swartzwelder), that didn't know how to write sketches for such an eclectic cast, Tartikoff planned to cancel SNL after its season finale in May 1986. Lorne Michaels, however, pleaded with Tartikoff to let the show go on, provided that Lorne find better-suited cast members for the next season.
Despite these complications, "Weekend Update" returned to its...
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