“ Thank you all for coming. Goodnight... and goodbye.
”
—Buck Henry on the season's last episode, May 24, 1980
Season 5 began in 1979 and ended in 1980. Since John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd had left the show at the end of the fourth season, many thought the show was coming to an end, but NBC was determined to keep it going.
Season 5 introduced the "featured players" cast category, which remains a part of the show today. Most of the original featured players were writers who had made many uncredited cameos throughout the show's first four seasons.
Cast[]
Not returning:
Repertory[]
 Jane Curtin |
 Garrett Morris |
 Bill Murray |
 Laraine Newman |
 Gilda Radner |
Featured[]
 Peter Aykroyd |
 Tom Davis |
 Jim Downey |
 Brian Doyle-Murray |
 Al Franken |
 Don Novello |
 Tom Schiller |
 Paul Shaffer |
 Harry Shearer |
 Alan Zweibel |
Changes[]
- Harry Shearer: Promoted to Repertory Player as of February 9
- Peter Aykroyd: First January 26
- Brian Doyle-Murray: First January 26
- Tom Schiller: First April 19
- Alan Zweibel: First April 19
Episodes[]
- October 13, 1979 Steve Martin / Blondie
- October 20, 1979 Eric Idle / Bob Dylan
- November 3, 1979 Bill Russel / Chicago
- November 10, 1979 Buck Henry / Tom Petty
- November 17, 1979 Bea Arthur / The Roaches
- December 8, 1979 Howard Hessemen / Randy Newman
- December 15, 1979 Martin Sheen / David Bowie
- December 22, 1979 Ted Knight / Desmond Child, Rogue
- January 26, 1980 Teri Garr / The B-52's
- February 9, 1980 Chevy Chase / Marianne Faithful
- February 16, 1980 Elliot Gould / Garry Newman
- February 23, 1980 Kirk Douglas / Sam & Dave
- March 8, 1980 Rodney Dangerfield / The J. Geils Band
- March 15, 1980 / James Taylor, Paul Simon, David Sanborn
- April 5, 1980 Richard Benjamin, Paul Prentiss / The Greatful Dead
- April 12, 1980 Burt Reynolds / Anne Murray
- April 19, 1980 Strother Martin / The Specials
- May 10, 1980 Bob Newhart / Amazing Rhythm Aces with Bill Murray, Bruce Cockburn
- May 17, 1980 Steve Martin / 3-D, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney
- May 24, 1980 Buck Henry / Andrew Gold, Andrea Crouch, Voices of Unity
Births[]
- Mikey Day (March 20, 1980)
- Casey Wilson (October 24, 1980)
| Preceded by: Season 4 |
Season 5 (1979— 1980) |
Followed by: Season 6 |
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| Seasons | |
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