Saturday Night Live (season 18)

Saturday Night Live (season 18)
The title card for the eighteenth season of Saturday Night Live.
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	20
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 26, 1992 (1992-09-26) – May 15, 1993 (1993-05-15)

The eighteenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 26, 1992, and May 15, 1993.

Many changes happened before the start of the season. Long term cast member Victoria Jackson left the show after six seasons. Newer cast members Beth Cahill and Siobhan Fallon were both fired to make room in the cast.

Unlike the past two seasons Lorne Michaels did not hire any new cast members. Rob Schneider was upgraded to repertory status. Ellen Cleghorne, Tim Meadows, Adam Sandler, and David Spade remained in the middle category. Melanie Hutsell was promoted to the middle category. Robert Smigel remained as a featured cast member.

Long-term cast member Dana Carvey decided to leave the show mid season. This would also be the final season for Chris Rock and Robert Smigel.

After three years with the show, Rock decided to quit the show at the end of the season. Rock had become frustrated with never quite finding a voice on the show and wanted to instead focus on his stand-up career. Writer and featured player Smigel left to become the head writer for Late Night with Conan O'Brien, but would later return to the show in 1996 to write and produce the "TV Funhouse" cartoons.

This was also the last season to feature three separate categories for cast members. Starting next season, the show returned to the original "repertory" and "featured" cast lists.

This season was also home to one of SNL's most infamous moments: Sinéad O'Connor tore a photograph of Pope John Paul II at the end of her second performance on the episode hosted by Tim Robbins.

Due to the success of the film Wayne's World, Michaels decided it was a good idea to jump onto the popularity of the film and make more movies based on SNL characters. However, none would prove to be as successful as Wayne's World, critically or commercially.

Cast

Repertory cast members

• Dana Carvey (final episode: February 6, 1993)
• Chris Farley
• Phil Hartman
• Mike Myers (on leave until December 5, 1992)
• Kevin Nealon
• Chris Rock
• Rob Schneider
• Julia Sweeney

Featured

• Ellen Cleghorne
• Melanie Hutsell
• Tim Meadows
• Adam Sandler
• David Spade

With

• Al Franken
• Robert Smigel

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § Season 18

Episodes

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Host	Musical guest(s)	Original air date
327	1	Nicolas Cage	Bobby Brown	September 26, 1992
Bobby Brown performs "Humpin' Around" and "Good Enough". Brown also appeared in the "Queen Shenequa Show" sketch. Guest appearances by Jan Hooks as Mia Farrow and Hillary Clinton Cameo appearance from Cher during "Weekend Update".
328	2	Tim Robbins	Sinéad O'Connor	October 3, 1992
Sinéad O'Connor performs "Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home" and the Bob Marley song "War". At the end of her second song, "War", Sinéad O'Connor held up a picture of Pope John Paul II, exclaimed, "Fight the real enemy," and tore the picture to pieces. During the earlier rehearsal taping, O'Connor held up a picture of a starving African child before leaving the stage. Director Dave Wilson gave the order to not light up the audience applause light following "War," as he felt she had "railroaded" the crew and producers. The segment marked one of only a few times that a sketch or performance ended with a quiet studio. NBC received 4,484 complaints about O'Connor, and 725 calls supporting her.
329	3	Joe Pesci	The Spin Doctors	October 10, 1992
Presidential debate opening sketch, featuring Dana Carvey portraying George Bush and Ross Perot simultaneously (as Perot on tape) The Spin Doctors performs "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" and "Jimmy Olsen's Blues". During his monologue, Pesci displays the photo of Pope John Paul II that Sinéad O'Connor had infamously destroyed during the previous week's episode, now taped back together. Pesci's frequent collaborators, Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, appear in the closing sketch.
330	4	Christopher Walken	Arrested Development	October 24, 1992
Arrested Development performs "Tennessee" and "People Everyday." Guest appearance by Jan Hooks, who portrays Sinéad O'Connor in two sketches.
331	5	Catherine O'Hara	10,000 Maniacs	October 31, 1992
10,000 Maniacs performs "These Are Days" and "Candy Everybody Wants."
332	6	Michael Keaton	Morrissey	November 14, 1992
Morrissey performs "Glamorous Glue" and "Suedehead."
333	7	Sinbad	Sade	November 21, 1992
Adam Sandler debuts "The Thanksgiving Song" during the Weekend Update segment. Sade performs "No Ordinary Love" and "Cherish the Day."
334	8	Tom Arnold	Neil Young	December 5, 1992
Neil Young performs "From Hank to Hendrix" and "Harvest Moon" from Harvest Moon. Guest appearances by George Wendt and Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus in the Bill Swerski's Superfans sketch. Guest appearance by Rosanne Barr on "Weekend Update" Mike Myers returns from hiatus in this episode.
335	9	Glenn Close	The Black Crowes	December 12, 1992
Jon Lovitz cameos during "Weekend Update." Guest appearance by Mary Beth Hurt. The Black Crowes performs "Sometimes Salvation" and "Non-Fiction."
336	10	Danny DeVito	Bon Jovi	January 9, 1993
Guest appearances by George Wendt, Joe Mantegna, and Mike Ditka in the Bill Swerski's Superfans cold opening. Guest appearance by Jan Hooks as Mary Jo Buttafuoco. Bon Jovi performs "Bed of Roses" and "Wanted Dead or Alive."
337	11	Harvey Keitel	Madonna	January 16, 1993
Madonna performs "Fever" and "Bad Girl". During "Bad Girl," she imitated Sinéad O'Connor's actions from earlier in the season by ripping a photo and yelling "Fight the real enemy". The photo Madonna used, however, was of Joey Buttafuoco. She additionally appeared in the Clinton Inauguration sketch. Guest appearance by Jan Hooks as Hillary Clinton.
338	12	Luke Perry	Mick Jagger	February 6, 1993
Dana Carvey's final episode as a cast member. Guest appearances by Jan Hooks (as Hillary Clinton) and Giorgio Armani. Mick Jagger appears on "Point/Counterpoint" on "Weekend Update" as Keith Richards (with Mike Myers playing Jagger) and also appears during the Prince Charles tampon sketch. He also performs "Sweet Thing" and "Don't Tear Me Up".
339	13	Alec Baldwin	Paul McCartney	February 13, 1993
Paul McCartney performs "Get Out of My Way" and "Biker Like an Icon" from Off the Ground, as well as The Beatles song "Hey Jude." Paul McCartney appears during the monologue, the "Mimic" sketch, the "Chris Farley Show" sketch and Weekend Update. Linda McCartney performs alongside Paul McCartney during the musical segments and appears during Weekend Update.
340	14	Bill Murray	Sting	February 20, 1993
Steve Martin makes a cameo appearance during "Weekend Update with Kevin Nealon," specifically during "Hollywood Minute" as David Spade criticizes Martin's current movie at the time, "Leap of Faith." Spade leaves and Martin takes over, criticizing Spade's lack of film career. Sting performs "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You", "Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven)", and "Every Breath You Take". Guest appearance by Don Novello as Father Guido Sarducci.
341	15	John Goodman	Mary J. Blige	March 13, 1993
Mary J. Blige performs "Reminisce" and "Sweet Thing."
342	16	Miranda Richardson	Soul Asylum	March 20, 1993
Soul Asylum performs "Somebody to Shove" and "Black Gold." Richardson's The Crying Game co-star Stephen Rea appears during the Pat sketch.
343	17	Jason Alexander	Peter Gabriel	April 10, 1993
Gabriel performs "Steam" and "In Your Eyes."
344	18	Kirstie Alley	Lenny Kravitz	April 17, 1993
Lenny Kravitz performs "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and "Always on the Run".
345	19	Christina Applegate	Midnight Oil	May 8, 1993
This episode features the first Matt Foley sketch. Midnight Oil performs "Truganini" and "My Country".
346	20	Kevin Kline	Willie Nelson & Paul Simon	May 15, 1993
Willie Nelson and Paul Simon perform "Graceland" and "Still Is Still Moving To Me." Guest appearances by Jan Hooks (as Hillary Clinton), and Dan Aykroyd. Chris Rock and Robert Smigel's final episode as cast members.

Special

Title	Original air date
"SNL Presidential Bash"	November 1, 1992
This special featured some of SNL's best political sketches throughout its 18-year run. Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman hosted the special as George Bush, Ross Perot and Bill Clinton, respectively. Sketches include "The Pepsi Syndrome", "Ask President Carter", "Debate '92", and "Stockdale's Joyride."

Coneheads film

Coneheads, a film based on the popular Coneheads sketches that appeared on the show in the 1970s, was released on July 23, 1993. Cast members Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Jon Lovitz, Michael McKean, Tim Meadows, Garret Morris, Kevin Nealon, Laraine Newman, Adam Sandler, David Spade, and Julia Sweeney all appear in the film. The film did not do well at the box office and was largely panned by critics.