Jon Lovitz and Anthony Michael Hall Look Back on SNL’s Infamous ‘Weird Season’ with Robert Downey Jr. (Exclusive)
The three actors appeared on the sketch show’s 11th season
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Jon Lovitz and Anthony Michael Hall are missing Robert Downey Jr. at Studio 8H.
On the red carpet ahead of the SNL50: The Anniversary Special, the actors opened up to PEOPLE about the show’s infamous “weird” 1985-1986 season — which also starred Downey Jr. — while reflecting on their own experiences on the NBC comedy show.
“The press slammed it from the beginning,” Lovitz, 67, recalled of the infamous season. “And if you look at it, you had so many talented people and there was a lot of great stuff on the show that year, but they never wrote about it.”
“It wasn’t that weird. The cast was coming together,” he said before adding Downey Jr. “was 20 but he was brilliant.” He continued, “Anthony Michael Hall was brilliant, and Joan Cusack, brilliant.”
Lovitz added he was “honored” and “thrilled” to be part of the 50th celebration. “It’s very emotional seeing everybody. Probably the best weekend of my life,” he added while Hall, 56, called it “exciting” and “surreal.”
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Hall also wished that the Iron Man actor, 59, was able to join in on the festivities. “I wish Downey was here to celebrate with us,” he said. “I think he’s been busy.”
Downey Jr. was part of the sketch comedy show’s 11th season in 1985. Though it wasn’t a long-term gig, he appreciated the experience.
“I learned so much in that year about what I wasn’t. But there’s not a more exciting 90 minutes you could have, whether you are any good or not,” he said in the four-part docuseries, SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.
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Elsewhere in his conversation, Lovitz also spoke about how SNL changed his life. “My first year on the show was crazy, totally changed my life, gave me the life beyond what I dreamed of,” he recalled.
“I was in the Groundlings Theater improv and I hoped to get work, but I never thought I’d be on Saturday Night Live,” he continued. “I still can’t believe I was on it. It gave me the career, everything.”
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SNL50: The Anniversary Special airs on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and streams on Peacock.
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