In the book "Live From New York - an uncensored history of Saturday Night Live", Al Franken reveals that he originally wrote the first Stuart Smalley sketch with the intention of having Mike Myers play the part, but when Myers read it during read-through, it didn't really work because Franken had written it in his own voice. According to Franken, it was probably Robert Smigel who suggested that Al should play the part himself. Franken also confessed that after the character became popular, he would also be present when Lorne Michaels decided which sketches would be cut between the dress rehearsal and the live show, and Franken would often demand that his sketches were kept in.
Tim Meadows's first appearance as a cast member. He plays Colin Powell during The Dark Side with Nat X sketch, wearing a prosthetic jaw to make his face look fuller. After dress rehearsal, Meadows decided not to remove these prosthetics, and he can be seen wearing them during the cold open and the Richmeister sketches. However, in reruns footage from the dress rehearsal (when he wasn't wearing the make-up appliances) was edited into both these sketches to make him look more natural.