Saturday Night Live aired its fifth season during the 1979–1980 television season on NBC. 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 for the late-night sketch show. Future Simpsons voice actor Harry Shearer, as well as many of SNL's writers (see "Featured Cast Members" list below), were hired to be replacements. By 1980, all of the...
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Saturday Night Live aired its fifth season during the 1979–1980 television season on NBC. 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 for the late-night sketch show. Future Simpsons voice actor Harry Shearer, as well as many of SNL's writers (see "Featured Cast Members" list below), were hired to be replacements. By 1980, all of the cast and writers, including Lorne Michaels, grew tired of the show and planned on ending it in May. NBC, on the other hand, wasn't about to let the successful series slip through their fingers and planned on keeping the show going with a new cast, new writers, and a new executive producer (a practice that initially spelled doom for the show, but has since become the secret to the show's longevity). Al Franken was originally considered to be season six's executive producer, but after a scathing "Weekend Update" commentary about Fred Silverman ...
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