The seventh season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 3, 1981, and May 22, 1982. It was the first full season produced by Dick Ebersol.
New cast members for the 1981 season included Christine Ebersole, Mary Gross, and 1979 featured player Brian Doyle-Murray, who ran the Weekend Update (under the title Saturday Night Live Newsbreak & Current Affairs) desk for one season.[1] Also returning were Second City veterans Robin Duke, Tim Kazurinsky, and Tony Rosato, who had debuted April 11.
Ebersol ran a very different show from Michaels had in the 1970s. Many of the sketches were built less on "smart" and "revolutionary" comedy that was abundant in the early days and followed a much more "straightforward" approach.[2][3] This shift alienated some fans and even some writers and cast members. Ebersol was eager to attract the younger viewers that advertisers craved.[4] He dictated that no sketch should run longer than five minutes, so as not to lose the attention of teenagers.[5]
Having come from the ranks of management, Ebersol was adept at dealing with the network.[6] Ebersol was also not fond of political humor, and he and NBC mostly eschewed jokes about President Reagan during his time as showrunner.[7] Later in his tenure, he was handling much of the business aspects and day-to-day production affairs, leaving producer Bob Tischler in charge of most of the creative facets of the show.
Unlike Michaels,[8] Ebersol had no difficulty firing people. Among the first casualties after the 1981 season were Rosato (who later said that the firing was the best thing to ever happen to him, as he felt that the show's atmosphere encouraged his drug addiction)[9] and Ebersole, who got the axe because of her frequent complaints that the women on the show had little airtime and what they did receive cast them in sexist and humiliating light.[10] Michael O'Donoghue was fired in December 1981, after repeated arguments with Ebersol over the creative direction of the show, and because of his abusive treatment of the cast.[11]
Joe Piscopo and Eddie Murphy were the only performers from Doumanian's cast to appear on SNL for season seven. Murphy, who had already emerged as a breakout star on Doumanian's season, continued to thrive under Ebersol, and his soaring popularity helped restore the show's ratings.[12] He created memorable characters, including the empty-headed former child movie star Buckwheat and an irascible, life-size version of the Gumby toy character, complete with life-size star ego. Piscopo was also popular, renowned for his Frank Sinatra impersonation, as well as his character Paulie Herman.[13]
After the end of the previous season, which was cut short because of the 1981 Writers Guild of America strike, Ebersol dismissed two more of Jean Doumanian's hires, repertory players Denny Dillon and Gail Matthius.[14] Featured players Laurie Metcalf and Emily Prager, who only appeared in the previous season's final episode, were not asked back as cast members.
The new cast of Saturday Night Live for season 7 included returning veterans Robin Duke, Tim Kazurinsky, Tony Rosato, Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo.[15] Two new cast members were added: Second City alum Mary Gross[16] and Broadway actress Christine Ebersole.[15] Writer Brian Doyle-Murray joined as a featured player. Doyle-Murray became the new Weekend Update (then called SNL Newsbreak) host, and was teamed first with Mary Gross before anchoring solo for three months, then back again with Gross for one more month.[17] For the remainder of the season, Doyle-Murray was paired with Christine Ebersole.
Murphy, who had already emerged as a cast breakout last season, continued to rise in popularity in season 7, and Dick Ebersol heavily featured both Murphy and Piscopo in the show.[18][19]
bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
The only writers brought back from the previous season were Barry Blaustein, Pamela Norris, and David Sheffield; as well as Michael O'Donoghue and Bob Tischler (who were hired at the end of the previous season), who were named as this season's head writers.
O'Donoghue, whom Ebersol brought back to the show in March, remained as head writer for the first half of season 7. Some sketches, as well as the appearances of artists like Fear and William S. Burroughs, reflected the increasingly bizarre ideas O'Donoghue had for the show.[18] However, after developing a tense relationship with Ebersol and berating the cast in a meeting following the December 12 episode, O'Donoghue was fired, with Bob Tischler becoming the sole head writer.[20]
This season's writers were Barry W. Blaustein, Joe Bodolai, Brian Doyle-Murray, Nate Herman, Tim Kazurinsky, Nelson Lyon, Maryilyn Suzanne Miller, Pamela Norris, Mark O'Donnell, Michael O'Donoghue, Margaret Oberman, Tony Rosato, David Sheffield, Rosie Shuster, Andrew Smith, Terry Southern, Bob Tischler and Eliot Wald. The head writers were Michael O'Donoghue (episodes 1–8) and Bob Tischler.[15][21]