The Ebersol Era Begins
SNL was given one more chance when Dick Ebersol, one of the original developers of SNL in 1974 and the man responsible for hiring Lorne Michaels as show-runner in 1975, was hired to replace Doumanian. In his first week, Ebersol fired Gottfried, Risley, and Rocket, replacing them with Catherine O'Hara, Tim Kazurinsky, and Tony Rosato. At the end of the season, he would eliminate the rest of the 1980 cast except for Murphy and Piscopo. Ebersol made offers to John Candy and O'Hara of SCTV to join the cast. Candy turned down the offer, so Tony Rosato was added to the cast in his place. O'Hara initially accepted, but changed her mind after Michael O'Donoghue – the show's original head writer, who had been brought in to rejuvenate the show – screamed at the cast about the season's poor writing and performances. O'Hara suggested Robin Duke as her replacement, and Duke was brought in. O'Hara never appeared on SNL as a cast member. Laurie Metcalf and Emily Prager joined as featured players.
Dick Ebersol's first produced episode was on April 11, 1981. After Ebersol's first episode, the 1981 Writers' Guild of America strike started, forcing the show into a hiatus during which it was extensively retooled.
Read more about this topic: Saturday Night Live (season 6)
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