Lithgow thanks the audience for watching; Damon Wayans sticks his tongue out, and the dancers from Alvin Ailey School are on stage with everyone. Don Pardo announces Tom Hanks, Sade and Steven Wright will appear on next week’s show and wishes a happy Hanukkah to all his Jewish friends.

R.D. Rosen is no longer credited as writer; according to the Times article, he had resigned after not having any of his material included in the first three shows of the season. Tonight would also be the last credited show for Michael O’Donoghue, who was fired for his comments about the show’s quality in said article.

Rerun alterations: Don Pardo’s announcement of next week’s show is removed; unlike in previous seasons where the audio is replaced with a pre-recorded version of the closing theme, Pardo’s voiceover is merely mixed out.

Final thoughts: A pretty solid show and pretty enjoyable all the way through. A lot of this was thanks to Lithgow; while he didn’t take over the show the same way Pee-Wee Herman did, he was a great host and gave every sketch he appeared in a lift, particularly the first installment of Master Thespian. The only comparative weak links were the Double R ad (a quickly dated topical reference, but largely saved by Quaid’s performance) and Kinison’s slightly off performance in the live show (which was replaced in the rerun version with the much better dress rehearsal routine). As well, Anthony Michael Hall’s absence opened up opportunities for Robert Downey Jr., who’s starting to show some improvement in tonight’s show.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

Master Thespian

Ad Council

Monologue

Posterior Arthropod

SHOW LOWLIGHTS:

none

MVP:

John Lithgow

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:

cast

Joan Cusack : 3 appearances [Posterior Arthropod, Cliches, The Limits of the Imagination]

Robert Downey Jr. : 5 appearances [Halley’s Comet, Posterior Arthropod, Double R Rolls, U.S.S. Cameron, The Limits of the Imagination]

Nora Dunn : 2 appearances [Posterior Arthropod, The Limits of the Imagination]

Anthony Michael Hall : absent, appears in repeated segment only

Jon Lovitz : 4 appearances [Posterior Arthropod, Master Thespian, U.S.S. Cameron, The Limits of the Imagination]

Dennis Miller : 1 appearance [Weekend Update]

Randy Quaid : 6 appearances [Halley’s Comet, Posterior Arthropod, Double R Rolls, Vegas Nancy, U.S.S. Cameron, The Limits of the Imagination]

Terry Sweeney : 3 appearances [Vegas Nancy, U.S.S. Cameron, The Limits of the Imagination]

Danitra Vance: 2 appearances [Posterior Arthropod, The Limits of the Imagination]

featured players

Damon Wayans: 4 appearances [Posterior Arthropod, Weekend Update, U.S.S. Cameron, The Limits of the Imagination]

unbilled crew, extras and bit players

A. Whitney Brown : 1 appearance [The Limits of the Imagination]

Mark McKinney : 1 voice-over [Master Thespian]

Don Pardo : 1 voice-over [Double R Rolls]

Rex Robbins : 1 appearance [Ad Council]

John Swartzwelder : 1 appearance [U.S.S. Cameron]

Dave Wilson: 1 voice-over [Monologue]

guests

John Lithgow : 7 appearances [Halley’s Comet, Monologue, Posterior Arthropod, Master Thespian, Cliches, Vegas Nancy, U.S.S. Cameron]

Mr. Mister : 2 appearances [“Broken Wings”, “Kyrie”]

Sam Kinison: 1 appearance [Guest Performance]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:

March 8, 1986

Known alterations:

Trojans I (from 11/16/85) added

Audience sweetening: None to mild: Halley’s Comet, Monologue, Where You’re Going, Master Thespian, Double R Rolls, Ad Council, Cliches, Weekend Update, Vegas Nancy, The Limits of the Imagination. Moderate: Posterior Arthropod, U.S.S. Cameron

Dress substitutions: Guest Performance (all but intro and outro)

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.