The fifth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 13, 1979, and May 24, 1980.

To keep the show going, Michaels upgraded many of the show's writers to featured cast member status: Peter Aykroyd (Dan's brother), Jim Downey, Brian Doyle-Murray (Bill's brother), Don Novello (also credited as Father Guido Sarducci), and Paul Shaffer.

Longtime writers Tom Schiller and Alan Zweibel are credited as featured players for only the April 19th, 1980 episode.

As previously mentioned, Michaels upgraded many of the show's writers to cast member status, including Aykroyd, Downey, Doyle-Murray, Novello, Schiller and Zweibel.

(Although Downey, Franken, Davis, Michaels, Novello, Sargent, Schiller, Shearer, and Shuster would return in later seasons)