1. SNL 1980s Jean Doumanian took over the show for Season 6, hiring a completely new cast and new writers

2. It was shown to be a diasppointment by both critics and ratings Jean Doumanian was one of the only staff members of SNL who remained after season 5 There were huge budget cuts and she only had 2 months to find a new cast and crew for the show She had barely any of the help and support that was promised to her when she accepted the job

3. New Cast for Season 6 19 yr old Eddie Murphy (after begging for a shot to audition for SNL) Charles Rocket (said to be the new break-out star for the show) Denny Dillon Gilbert Gottfried Gail Matthius Joe Piscopo Ann Risley Yvonne Hudson (SNLs first Black female cast member)

4. ABCs Fridays overtook Saturday Night in Ratings in 1981 Gave the impression that NBC might cancel the show SNL was given one more chanceDick Ebersol replaced Jean Doumanian By the end of the season he fired the entire 1980s cast except Murphy and Piscopo

5. The shows ratings improved in Season 7 due greatly to Eddie Murphy Dick Ebersol said that no sketch should be over 5 minutes so that they wouldnt lost the attention of teenagers Cast and writers often wondered if Ebersol actually knew which sketched were funny and which were not

6. From 1981 to 1984, SNL was basically a 2-man show with Murphy and Piscopo playing a majority of the lead characters In 1984 Eddie Murphy left the show, as well as Piscopo, leaving Ebersol to rebuild his cast for season 10 Ebersol added new cast members, such as Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer It was the first time in the shows history that big, well-known names were added to the cast

7. The 1984-1985 season had more pre-taped segments than any other SNL era ever Larry David was hired as a writer this season, but only one of his sketches made it to the air The cast and writing staff, along with Dick Ebersol and Bob Tischler left at the end of this season

8. A completely new cast was hired for the 1985- 1986 season including: – Joan Cusack – Robert Downey, Jr. – Nora Dunn – Jon Lovitz – Dennis Miller – Danitra Vance – Terry Sweeney – Randy Quaid

9. A huge development to the show came in the middle of the 1988-1989 season when Mike Myers joined the show Also during this season, the circular Saturday Night Live logo was shown for the first time