The ninth season of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'', an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

between October 8, 1983, and May 12, 1984.

Format changes

Dick Ebersol had taken

Brad Hall William Bradford Hall (born March 21, 1958) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known as a ''Weekend Update'' news anchor on ''Saturday Night Live'' and for creating the sitcoms ''The Single Guy'' and ''Watching Ellie''. H ...

off ''Weekend Update'' (known as ''Saturday Night News'' during this time) mid-season. The segment then had a revolving door of other anchors mostly involving the episode's host and, in one case,

Joe Piscopo Joseph Charles John Piscopo ( ; born June 17, 1951) is an American actor, comedian and conservative radio talk show host. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1980 to 1984, where he played a variety of recurring characters. His f ...

(although Piscopo only introduced a commentary and didn't tell any actual jokes).

Hosts

Future cast member

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...

hosted twice this season: once with musical guest Al Jarreau and again on the season finale with

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...

Edwin Newman Edwin Harold Newman (January 25, 1919 – August 13, 2010) was an American newscaster, journalist, and author. After beginning his career with the wire services and serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Newman worked in radio for CBS News ...

Betty Thomas Betty Thomas (born Betty Lucille Nienhauser; July 21, 1948) is an American actress, director, and producer. She is known for her Emmy Award-winning role as Sergeant Lucy Bates on the television series '' Hill Street Blues''. As of March 2018, T ...

and former cast member

Don Novello Donald Andrew Novello (born January 1, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, singer, writer, film director and producer. He is best known for his work on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1978 to 1980, and again from 1985 to 1986, often as the ...

, with

The Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes ( keyboard ...

as musical guest.

Cast

Before the start of the season, the entire cast returned for another season. The only change was the hiring (and firing, then rehiring) of

Jim Belushi James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...

. Belushi became the first person to be hired then fired then rehired, future cast member Chris Parnell will later become the second. Eddie Murphy left the program two episodes before the end of the season. When the season ended,

Robin Duke Robin Duke (born March 13, 1954) is a Canadian actress, comedian, and voice actress. Duke may be best known for her work on the television comedy series '' SCTV'' and, later, ''Saturday Night Live''. She co-founded ''Women Fully Clothed'', a ske ...

Tim Kazurinsky Timothy James Kazurinsky (born March 3, 1950) is an American actor and screenwriter best known as a cast member and writer on ''Saturday Night Live'' and for his role as Carl Sweetchuck in the '' Police Academy'' films. Early life Kazurinsky wa ...

and

left the show.

Cast roster

Repertory players *

(first episode: October 22, 1983) *

Mary Gross Mary Martha Gross is an American voice actress, comedian, and actress known for her four-year stint on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1981 to 1985. Her credits also include minor roles on ''Animaniacs'', ''Boston Legal'', ''That's So Raven'', '' ...

Gary Kroeger Gary Kroeger (born April 13, 1957) is an American businessman, columnist, and actor best known for his work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1982 to 1985, and his work on various game shows. He ran in the Democratic Congressional ...

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus ( ; born January 13, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and producer who worked on the comedy television series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1982–1985), ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), ''The New Adventures ...

* Eddie Murphy (final episode: February 25, 1984) *

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

This season's writers were Jim Belushi, Andy Breckman, Robin Duke, Adam Green, Mary Gross, Nate Herman, Tim Kazurinsky, Kevin Kelton, Andy Kurtzman, Michael McCarthy, Eddie Murphy, Pamela Norris, Margaret Oberman, Joe Piscopo, Andrew Smith, Bob Tischler, Eliot Wald and Herb Sargent. The head writers were Bob Tischler and Andrew Smith.

Episodes

References

{{Saturday Night Live 09 1983 American television seasons 1984 American television seasons Saturday Night Live in the 1980s