The thirteenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 17, 1987 and February 27, 1988. Although the changes to the cast and writers were minimal, the season was cut short due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike.
Production
During a dress rehearsal for the season premiere, a fire broke out near Studio 8H and was planned to be postponed. However, episode host Steve Martin pushed the cast to carry on with the show, making the Steve Martin/Sting episode the only episode without a dress rehearsal.[1]
On March 7, the Writers Guild of Americawent on strike. The strike continued until August, thus cutting the season short at 13 episodes. Gilda Radner had been scheduled to host the season finale in the spring.[2]
James Taylor performs "That Lonesome Road", "Sweet Potato Pie" and "Never Die Young".[4] ("Lonesome Road" was a song that Taylor had sung at the funeral of John Belushi in 1982. This episode aired the day before what would've been Belushi's 39th birthday.)
A planned episode with original cast member Gilda Radner as host was cancelled due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America Strike.[2] Radner would never get another chance to host, due to her death in 1989. This episode would have marked the first time a female cast member came back to host, a milestone that wasn't reached until Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosted on May 13, 2006. U2 would perform on the show on December 9, 2000.
