Season 7

1981 · 20 episodes · 22h 20m in all · 5.8/10

Saturday Night Live aired its seventh season during the 1981–1982 television season on NBC. The seventh season started on October 3, 1981 and ended on May 22, 1982. A total of 20 episodes were broadcast. Following the dismissal of producer Jean Doumanian and most of her cast members, the show was shut down due to the commencement of the 1981 WGA strike. Dick Ebersol, the program's developer, was hired as Doumanian's replacement. The new cast of Saturday Night Live for this season were the same ones from the episode Ebersol produced on the April 11, 1981 episode: Robin Duke, Tim Kazurinsky and Tony Rosato along with the Doumanian era's sole survivors Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo. Denny Dillon and Gail Matthius were fired following the April 1981 episode while Laurie Metcalf and unseen castmember Emily Prager weren't asked back to be cast members on the show. Ebersol then hired two new cast members: Mary Gross and Christine Ebersole. Both were hired to fill the gap left by Metcalf and Prager. Wanting to distance the show from its first five seasons, Ebersol cut the popular opening line Live from New York, It's Saturday Night! from the cold openings. In fact, sometimes cold openings weren't even shown and the monologues were skipped over almost entirely. These changes were not permanent, as Ebersol decided to reverse them for the eighth season.

1. (no host)/Rod Stewart
3 Oct 1981 · 67 min · 4.0/10
Sketches include ""Our Age is Showing,"" ""The Little Richard Simmons Show,"" ""The Clams"" (film), ""Nuns on the Beach,"" ""A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney,"" ""Prose and Cons"" (film), ""The Khaddaffi Look,"" ""Ruth Deals With Rod,"" ""Andy Warhol,"" Juggling with Michael Davis, and ""Season of Glass"" (film).
2. Susan Saint James/The Kinks
10 Oct 1981 · 67 min · 4.0/10
Sketches include ""McDonald & Wife,"" ""The Bizarro World,"" ""Buckwheat Sings,"" ""Skanky Fiancee,"" ""Cheap Laffs,"" and ""The Alan Alda Guide to Sensitivity."" The Kinks performed ""Destroyer"" and Christine Ebersole performed ""Single Bars and Single Women."" Also featured is an Anwar Sadat tribute film.
3. George Kennedy/Miles Davis
17 Oct 1981 · 67 min · 5.0/10
Sketches include ""To Tell the Truth Gone Awry,"" ""Mister Robinson's Neighborhood #2,"" ""Velvet Jones #1,"" and ""Harry Anderson's Grappler Tricks.""
4. Donald Pleasence/Fear
31 Oct 1981 · 67 min · 7.0/10
Sketches include ""Vomiting for Luck,"" ""Jogger Motel,"" ""Profiles in British Courage,"" ""Last Night I Killed My Husband"" (musical number), ""Sugar Breakfast"" and ""Andy Warhol's TV."" Fear performed ""I Don't Care About You"" and medley of ""Beef Bologna,"" ""New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones,"" and ""Let's Have A War.""
5. Lauren Hutton/Rick James
7 Nov 1981 · 67 min · 6.0/10
Sketches Include: "Here's 'Cos", "Dressing Room", "Hail To The Chief", "Transeastern", "Whisper", "Cheap Laffs", "Harlequin Romances", "Reach Out", "Velvet Jones School of Technology", "Big Baser", "William Burroughs", "Bitter People"
6. Bernadette Peters/The Go-Go's, Billy Joel
14 Nov 1981 · 67 min · 7.0/10
7. Tim Curry/Meat Loaf
5 Dec 1981 · 67 min · 7.0/10
8. Bill Murray/The Spinners, Yale Whiffenpoofs
12 Dec 1981 · 67 min · 6.0/10
Sketches include ""The Phone Company,"" ""Tales of the Unlikely,"" ""Washed-Up Tom Snyder,"" ""MX-5 Tampons,"" and ""The Economics of Christmas."" The Spinners perform ""I'll Be Around.""
9. Robert Conrad/The Allman Brothers Band
23 Jan 1982 · 67 min · 5.0/10
10. John Madden/Jennifer Holliday
30 Jan 1982 · 67 min · 6.0/10
11. James Coburn/Lindsey Buckingham
6 Feb 1982 · 67 min · 6.0/10
12. Bruce Dern/Luther Vandross
20 Feb 1982 · 67 min · 5.0/10
13. Elizabeth Ashley/Hall and Oates
27 Feb 1982 · 67 min · 5.0/10
14. Robert Urich/Mink DeVille
20 Mar 1982 · 67 min · 5.0/10
Sketches include ""He's No Burt Reynolds,"" ""Paul Harvey Radio News,"" ""Golden Age Obedience School,"" and ""Koala Bear Embryo."" Mink De Ville performed ""Maybe Tomorrow.""
15. Blythe Danner/Rickie Lee Jones
27 Mar 1982 · 67 min · 5.0/10
Sketches include ""Lorne Greene,"" ""The New Celibacy,"" ""20/20,"" ""The Uncle Tom Show,"" ""Senior Spring Fling '82,"" ""Meet the People,"" and ""Help Out Blythe Danner."" Rickie Lee Jones performed ""Pirates"" and ""Lush Life.""
16. Daniel J. Travanti/John Cougar
10 Apr 1982 · 67 min · 5.0/10
Sketches include ""Save Larry the Lobster,"" ""Whiners' Anniversary,"" ""Hill Street Blues,"" ""Too Many Ethel Mermans,"" and ""Career Corner."" John Cougar Mellencamp performed ""Hurts So Good.""
17. Johnny Cash/Elton John
17 Apr 1982 · 67 min · 9.0/10
Elton John performs the John Lennon tribute ""Empty Garden."" Sketches include ""Velvet Jones"" and ""Shadows.""
18. Robert Culp/The Charlie Daniels Band
24 Apr 1982 · 67 min · 5.0/10
19. Danny DeVito/Sparks
15 May 1982 · 67 min · 7.0/10
Sketches include ""Louis DePalma's Revenge,"" ""The Executive Test,"" ""The Whiners on an Airplane,"" ""Solomon and Pudge,"" ""Enzo,"" and ""Looks at Books."" Sparks performs ""Mickey Mouse."" Also, Brian Doyle-Murray interviews recently humbled actor-wrestler Andy Kaufman.
20. Olivia Newton-John
22 May 1982 · 67 min · 6.5/10
Sketches include ""Ebony & Ivory,"" ""I Married a Monkey,"" Grease, ""Hitler In Heaven,"" and ""Ballpark Organ Favorites."" ONJ performs the hit ""Physical"" in lieu of the opening monologue.