Season 4

“ Now I've done it... I've cut the dickens out of my finger... ”

—Dan Aykroyd as Julia Child, December 9, 1978

Season 4
Premier	October 7, 1978
Finale	May 26, 1979
Episodes	20
Weekend Updateanchors	Jane Curtin and Bill Murray
Previous	Season 3
Next	Season 5

Season 4 is the fourth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC, and it premiered on October 7, 1978, with host and musical guests The Rolling Stones, and concluded on May 26, 1979, hosted by actor Buck Henry with musical guest Bette Midler. The title "The Not Ready for Prime Time Players" was dropped from the cast list at the beginning of the season.

Cast Changes

The entire cast from the previous season returned. The only change was Bill Murray's joining Jane Curtin as co-anchor for Weekend Update, replacing Dan Aykroyd. This would be the last season for Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as cast members, who both left the show at the end of the fourth season to pursue a career in movie, starting with The Blues Brothers.

Cast

Repertory Players

Dan Aykroyd	John Belushi	Jane Curtin
Garrett Morris	Bill Murray	Laraine Newman
	Gilda Radner

Featuring

Al Franken

Tom Davis

Episodes

Episode Number	Season Episode	Date	Host(s)	Musical Guest(s)
67	1	October 7, 1978	The Rolling Stones
68	2	October 14, 1978	Fred Willard	Devo
69	3	October 21, 1978	Frank Zappa
70	4	November 4, 1978	Steve Martin	Van Morrison
71	5	November 11, 1978	Buck Henry	Grateful Dead
72	6	November 18, 1978	Carrie Fisher	The Blues Brothers
73	7	December 2, 1978	Walter Matthau	Garret Morris
74	8	December 9, 1978	Eric Idle	Kate Bush
75	9	December 16, 1978	Elliott Gould	Peter Tosh, Mick Jagger
76	10	January 27, 1979	Michael Palin	The Doobie Brothers
77	11	February 10, 1979	Cicely Tyson	Talking Heads
78	12	February 17, 1979	Rick Nelson	Judy Collins
79	13	February 24, 1979	Kate Jackson	Delbert McClinton
80	14	March 10, 1979	Gary Busey	Eubie Blake & Gregory Hines, Gary Busey with Rick Danko, Paul Butterfield
81	15	March 17, 1979	Margot Kidder	The Chieftains
82	16	April 7, 1979	Richard Benjamin	Rickie Lee Jones
83	17	April 14, 1979	Milton Berle	Ornette Coleman
84	18	May 12, 1979	Michael Palin	James Taylor
85	19	May 19, 1979	Maureen Stapleton	Linda Ronstadt, Phoebe Snow
86	20	May 26, 1979	Buck Henry	Bette Midler

Opening montage

S4

This intro was used through the first-half of season 5; used through January 26, 1980.

Navigation

Preceded by: Season 3

Season 4 (1978— 1979)

Followed by: Season 5