Cast promotion
Kevin Nealon moves to repertory
Nealon is promoted after one season as a featured player, creating an eight-player repertory cast with A. Whitney Brown as the season’s only featured player.
SNL Stats Archive / Oct 17, 1987 – Feb 27, 1988
Season 13.
Every indexed episode, running order, Weekend Update feature, musical performance, and notable event from the season.
Episodes
13
Segments
184
Season file / context
Notable season events.
Production event
Three notable writers join
Greg Daniels, Conan O’Brien and Bob Odenkirk join the writing staff during Season 13.
Production event
Oct 17, 1987
A fire disrupts the season premiere
A fire near Studio 8H interrupts dress rehearsal. The Steve Martin episode proceeds without a completed dress rehearsal.
Production event
Feb 27, 1988
The writers’ strike ends the season early
The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike cuts Season 13 short after 13 episodes.
Milestone
Gilda Radner’s planned episode is canceled
A May 14 episode planned for Gilda Radner with U2 is canceled during the strike. It would have been Radner’s return to host SNL.
184 indexed segments
Broadcast file.
S13 E1 · Oct 17, 1987
Steve Martin
Music: Sting
14 segments
S13 E2 · Oct 24, 1987
Sean Penn
Music: LL Cool J & The Pull
14 segments
S13 E3 · Oct 31, 1987
Dabney Coleman
Music: The Cars
15 segments
S13 E4 · Nov 14, 1987
Robert Mitchum
Music: Simply Red
14 segments
S13 E5 · Nov 21, 1987
Candice Bergen
Music: Cher
14 segments
S13 E6 · Dec 5, 1987
Danny DeVito
Music: Bryan Ferry
13 segments
S13 E7 · Dec 12, 1987
Angie Dickinson
Music: David Gilmour & Buster Poindexter
14 segments
S13 E8 · Dec 19, 1987
Paul Simon
Music: Linda Ronstadt & The Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán
16 segments
S13 E9 · Jan 23, 1988
Robin Williams
Music: James Taylor
14 segments
S13 E10 · Jan 30, 1988
Carl Weathers
Music: Robbie Robertson
14 segments
S13 E11 · Feb 13, 1988
Justine Bateman
Music: Terence Trent D'Arby
12 segments
S13 E12 · Feb 20, 1988
Tom Hanks
Music: Randy Travis
15 segments
S13 E13 · Feb 27, 1988
Judge Reinhold
Music: 10,000 Maniacs
15 segments