Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall recall their short stint on “SNL” cast: 'Out-of-body experience'

Saturday Night Live's 11th season is widely regarded as one of the show's worst despite having a roster of recognizable faces, many of whom casual fans often forget were even cast members at all.

"I'm proud to be a part of it. It was like an out-of-body experience," Anthony Michael Hall recalled of his single season on the cast in Peacock docuseries SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night's fourth and final episode, titled "Season 11: The Weird Year."

Hall had already starred in pivotal Brat Pack flicks Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club when he was tapped to join the SNL cast at 17 years old, still the show's youngest ever hire ever. "I remember just being shocked," Hall said of landing the gig on "a show that meant so much to me as a kid growing up in New York."

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Joining Hall on the cast that season was his Weird Science costar and best friend, 20-year-old Robert Downey Jr.

"Michael Hall said to me, I'm gonna go do SNL. I'm gonna get you an audition and I bet you're gonna get yourself on the show too," recalled Downey, who would go on to become a Marvel superhero and the only Saturday Night Live cast member to win an Oscar.

"Still waiting for that bastard to repay a favor, 40 years later," Hall joked. "Come on Iron Man, you got it in ya."

Season 11, which ran from November 1985 to May 1986, marked a time of great transition at the legendary sketch show. SNL was floundering in the wake of losing comedy-wunderkind-turned-superstar Eddie Murphy, and suffering from a lackluster season 10 that put it on the brink of cancellation. That's when Lorne Michaels decided to return from a five-year hiatus to try to breath new life into his creation.

"I wanted to go younger. I perhaps went too young, but I wanted to go younger," Michaels said in SNL50, explaining that "the Baby Boomer generation had dominated the show for 10 years, so I decided to clean house."

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That led him to cast Hall's National Lampoon's Vacation costar Randy Quaid, already an Oscar nominee at the time; Joan Cusack; Danitra Vance, the first Black woman on the cast; Terry Sweeney, its first openly-gay cast member; Damon Wayans, Nora Dunn; Jon Lovitz; and Dennis Miller.

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Although much of the cast was fresh-faced, the writers room included many folks who had circulated around Studio 8H over the years, like Jim Downey, Al Franken, and Tom Davis. In hindsight, many of those interviewed acknowledged that there was a disconnect.

"When I look back I have some memories of it being difficult, I think, for a lot of the writers to figure out how to write for this kid," Hall said. "I think it was a big challenge."

Ultimately, the season was a disaster. So much so the finale ended with the cast being trapped in a fake fire and left to burn while Michaels rescued Lovitz, whose "That's the ticket" catchphrase had been a rare season highlight. A title card asked, "Who will survive? Who will perish?" As the credits rolled, there was a question mark after the name of every member of the staff, including Michaels himself, indicating cancellation may be imminent.

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For a short time during that hiatus it actually was cancelled, until NBC was convinced to give SNL one final chance. Answering the season 11 finale's big question, the only cast members Michaels brought with him for season 12 were Lovitz, Dunn, Miller, and A. Whitney Brown, who'd joined late in the season as a featured player. Everyone else was left to history as a one-season wonder.

"I learned so much in that year about what I wasn't," Downey reflected of his short stint. "But there's not a more exciting 90 minutes you could have, whether you are any good or not."

All four episodes of SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night are streaming on Peacock. Saturday Night Live returns with host Dave Chappelle Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC.

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