After 50 years of pushing the boundaries of network television, Saturday Night Live It has generated countless talents across multiple generations.
Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall recently took a look back at their short run on the NBC comedy during the infamous Season 11, which ran from 1985 to 1986 and was creator Lorne Michaels' attempt to modernize the show following Eddie Murphy's exit.
“I'm proud to be a part of it. It was like an out-of-body experience,” he said in the Hole on the Peacock docuseries. SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night“I was just shocked” to be the youngest member of the show's cast at 17 then, he recalls SNL “It meant a lot to me as a kid growing up in New York.”
Downey Jr. narrated his best friend and Weird science The co-star brings him the opportunity. “Michael Hall said to me, ‘I’m going to go do this SNL. “I'll give you an audition and I bet you'll come on the show too,” he said.
Hall joked that he was “still waiting for that bastard to return a favor 40 years later. Come on, Iron Man, you got it.”
The Oscar-winning MCU star added: “I learned a lot that year about who I wasn't. But there's no more exciting 90 minutes you can have, whether you're good or not.”
Although season 11 of SNL It also featured comedy legends like Damon Wayans, Joan Cusack, Randy Quaid, Jon Lovitz, Al Franken, and Nora Dunn, and is widely considered one of the worst seasons, forcing Michaels to cut several actors ahead of the twelfth season.
“I wanted to be younger. Maybe I was too young, but I wanted to be younger,” Michaels said, adding: “The baby boomers had dominated the show for 10 years, so I decided to clean house.”
“When I look back, I have some memories of it being difficult, I think, for a lot of writers to figure out how to write for this kid. I think it was quite a challenge,” Hall admitted.
With all four rings SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night Now available to stream on Peacock, SNL50: Anniversary Special It will air Sunday, February 16 at 8 PM ET on NBC and Peacock.