Saturday Night Live: Season 10

Season overview

The tenth season of Saturday Night Live aired on NBC during the 1984-1985 television season, consisting of 18 episodes. The production was ultimately shortened due to budget constraints and a writer's strike. Following the departure of Eddie Murphy during the previous season, Joe Piscopo chose to leave the program as well. Dick Ebersol subsequently fired cast members Robin Duke, Brad Hall, and Tim Kazurinsky. In an effort to revitalize the show, Ebersol shifted his strategy from hiring newcomers to recruiting seasoned comedians. The new cast included Billy Crystal, Harry Shearer, Pamela Stephenson, Rich Hall, Martin Short, and Christopher Guest, with Guest taking on the role of anchor for Saturday Night News. During the middle of the season, Harry Shearer departed the show citing creative differences, though his image remained in the opening credits for the duration of the season. This period marked a significant transition for the long-running sketch comedy and variety series as it attempted to reconstruct its ensemble cast following the loss of several prominent performers. The season serves as a record of these structural changes and the external pressures that impacted the show's broadcast schedule and personnel stability throughout the 1984-1985 cycle.