The eleventh season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between November 9, 1985, and May 24, 1986.

With Dick Ebersol's cast and writers gone, Michaels hired Academy Award nominee Quaid, best known for his work in The Last Detail and National Lampoon's Vacation; as well as Cusack and Downey Jr.[8] Part of the reasoning that Michaels chose younger performers was due to SNL's original audience, which comprised baby boomers, now nearing middle age, meaning that producers and NBC executives needed to appeal to a younger audience.

Writer Brown was also added to the cast midway through the season, performing his "The Big Picture" segment on Weekend Update, and Al Franken returned in the finale.

[2] Chris Elliott, then a performer and writer on Late Night with David Letterman, auditioned for the cast this season and was offered the job.

This season's writers were A. Whitney Brown, Tom Davis,[3] Jim Downey, Al Franken,[3] Jack Handey, Lanier Laney, Carol Leifer,[17] George Meyer, Lorne Michaels, Don Novello, Michael O'Donoghue, R. D. Rosen,[9] Herb Sargent, Suzy Schneider, Robert Smigel,[18] John Swartzwelder, Terry Sweeney, Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch.

Penn & Teller and Sam Kinison are featured in the opening credits as special guests for many episodes this season, performing a segment of their own acts each time they appear.