Harry Shearer left mid-season, in January of 1985, due to creative differences. He did not enjoy the experience and atmosphere of working on SNL. He was the co-creator, co-writer and co-star of the 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap. He has provided many voices for The Simpsons, which has been on Fox since 1989.
Martin Short joined the cast of SCTV later in its run, 1982-83, where he was known for characters like Ed Grimley, defense attorney Nathan Thurm, and songwriter Irving Cohen. His Ed Grimley character had a shock of hair sticking up like Alfalfa from The Little Rascals. His catchphrase was “I must say.” Ed was obsessed with Wheel of Fortune and its host Pat Sajak. Nathan Thurm was a paranoid lawyer who would appear in a 60 Minutes parody on SNL. In that skit, Christopher Guest played the novelty toymaker, Herb Minkman. Irving Cohen was a very old songwriter, and his catchphrase was “Give me a C, a bouncy C.” He would reminisce about the old days of Vaudeville. Jackie Rogers Junior was an odd albino performer who was in a memorable SNL skit where he was a game show host. It was called “Jackie Rogers Junior’s $100,000 Jackpot Wad.” In his autobiography, “I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend,” Short said that he preferred SCTV over SNL, since the former was taped, not live. He liked being able to perfect a sketch and try it many times, but this was not possible on SNL. He was hesitant to join the SNL cast but said yes after hearing that the show had hired Crystal, Shearer and Guest. Those four signed one-year only contracts. 40 years later, Short is still going, after a career with a wide variety of TV and movie projects. He appeared in the films Three Amigos, Father of the Bride, Innerspace, Captain Ron and Mars Attacks. He played the clueless celebrity interviewer Jiminy Glick on Comedy Central from 2001-03 on the show Primetime Glick. In 2016 he had an NBC variety show with SNL alum Maya Rudolph called Maya and Marty. He currently stars in a Hulu series called “Only Murders in the Building” with Steve Martin and Selena Gomez. Martin Short and Steve Martin have a very funny live stage show that has toured the country. For 50 years, Short has been friends with musician and fellow Canadian Paul Shaffer, who was part of the SNL band before he worked as David Letterman’s bandleader. A memorable skit from the 10th season had Short and Harry Shearer playing dim witted synchronized swimmers. The skit was directed by fellow cast member Christopher Guest. Short is 74 years old but still in demand. All this week he is the guest host on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Billy Crystal had appeared in the sitcom “Soap” (1977-81), but SNL allowed him to appear on a sketch show. His character Fernando, had the catch phrase “You look marvelous.” He would also say “It is better to look good than to feel good.” He was based on the actor Fernando Lamas. He did a segment called Fernando’s Hideaway where he would interview celebrities. Episode 15 had him interviewing Mr. T and Hulk Hogan. Fernando became so popular that he had his own song and music video, “You Look Marvelous.” On SNL, Crystal portrayed New York City talk show host Joe Franklin. People outside the New York area probably did not realize that Franklin was a real talk show host, and Crystal was doing a spoof. One Joe Franklin skit had Martin Short playing magician Doug Henning, and one had Short playing singer Jackie Rogers Jr.
The writers acknowledged that they did not utilize Julia Louis-Dreyfus as much as they should. It didn’t hurt her career since she went on to have success with Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Veep.
Jim Belushi had the goal of establishing himself as a funny sketch player, but it must have been rough to be in the shadow of his late brother, John Belushi, an SNL legend. Jim starred in the sitcom According to Jim from 2001-2009.
Rich Hall was a writer-performer on David Letterman’s morning show in 1980. He appeared on the late-night show Fridays from 1980-82. He is the only person to have been a cast member of both Fridays and SNL. He currently splits time between Montana and London. He has become better known overseas than in America.
After leaving SNL, Christopher Guest became known for his mockumentary films such as Spinal Tap, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind and more. In SNL, Guest and Crystal played co-workers Willie and Frankie who describe painful situations they bring on themselves. Their catchphrase was “I hate it when that happens.” Guest played a Spanish ventriloquist who appeared in the Joe Franklin Show spoof.
Mary Gross is the sister of Michael Gross, who played Steven Keaton in Family Ties. On SNL she played Alfalfa from The Little Rascals, and did many impressions, such as Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Pee-Wee Herman and Mary Tyler Moore.
Pamela Stephenson was born in New Zealand. A Rolling Stone writer called her “A bright spot in a weak season.” She has a doctorate in psychology and has been married to comic Billy Connolly since 1989.
On SNL, Gary Kroeger impersonated Walter Mondale. He played Donny Osmond in a sketch where Julia Louis-Dreyfus played Marie Osmond. After leaving SNL he appeared in various TV shows and has relocated to his hometown in Iowa. He writes a column for a newspaper and has owned a restaurant. He has appeared in community theater productions.
The musical guests for this season included: The Thompson Twins, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Kinks, Billy Squier, Tina Turner, Bryan Adams, The Commodores and more.
I still look back fondly on season 10 and it was my introduction to the comedy of Martin Short. He is my favorite comedic actor.
*Some information from imdb and wikipedia.
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