The Graduates: For ''SNL'' alummi, life beyond live TV has had its ups and downs

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Harry Shearer
1979-1980, 1984-1985
Peaks: Spinal Tap's brooding bassist Derek Smalls; voice for Fox's The Simpsons
Valley: An Italian tailor in the Sly Stallone fiasco Oscar (1991)
Next: Back with Spinal Tap

Martin Short
1984-1985
Peaks: Innerspace (1987); cameos in The Big Picture (1989) and Father of the Bride (1991)
Valleys: Almost everything else (Three Fugitives, Pure Luck, etc.)
Next: A 10-year-old brat in Clifford, not yet scheduled

Pamela Stephenson
1984-1985
Peak: Returned to Britain and married Scottish comic Billy Connolly
Valley: U.K. films and TV projects haven't made it across the Atlantic
Next: Living in L.A. with Connolly and their five kids

Joan Cusack
1985-1986
Peak: Oscar-nominated as a Staten Island secretary in Working Girl(1988)
Valley: Fell for Rick Moranis in My Blue Heaven (1990)
Next: Supporting role in Barry Levinson's Toys, due for Christmas

Robert Downey Jr.
1985-1986
Peak: Held his own with James Woods in True Believer (1989)
Valley: His insufferable turn as The Pick-Up Artist (1987)
Next: Chaplin in Sir Richard Attenborough's Charlie, due at year's end

Anthony Michael Hall
1985-1986
Peak: A convincing jock bully in Edward Scissorhands (1990) Valley: An unconvincing jock in Johnny Be Good (1988)
Next: A spoiled Hollywood star in Into the Sun, now playing

Terry Sweeney
1985-1986
Peak: It's Still My Turn, his one-man/woman show as Nancy Reagan
Valley: Cowrote Shag (1989), swept under at the box office
Next: Developing a gay-themed film to star in and direct

Randy Quaid
1985-1986
Peaks: A redneck in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989); NBC's LBJ: The Early Years
Valley: Reprised Last Picture Show role in the flaccid Texasville(1990)
Next: Davis Rules, now on CBS

Danitra Vance
1985-1986
Peaks: Played a doctor in Little Man Tate (1991)
Valley: Appeared in the failed feminist farce Sticky Fingers (1988)
Next: Jumpin' at the Boneyard, shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January

Damon Wayans
1985-1986
Peaks: Fox's In Living Color; costarred with Bruce Willis in The Last Boy Scout (1991)
Valley: Also worked with Willis on 1990's Look Who's Talking Too
Next: Mo' Money, due in June

Nora Dunn
1985-1990
Peak: her one-woman show Nobody's Rib played seven weeks in San Francisco
Valley: Nobody's Rib book published, and nobody noticed
Next: Nobody's Rib may open Off Broadway this spring

Jon Lovitz
1985-1990
Peak: Tom Hanks' uptight coworker in Big (1988)
Valley: Dan Aykroyd's swingin' bro in My Stepmother Is an Alien(1988)
Next: Dick and Marge Save the World, with Teri Garr, due in August

Jan Hooks
1985-1991
Peak: First episode as a cast member of CBS' Designing Women got show's highest ratings
Valley: Ratings have dropped since
Next: An image consultant to the Penguin in Batman Returns, due in June

Dennis Miller
1986-1991
Peak: Promising ratings for the first week of his syndicated talk show
Valley: Show's reviews have been decidedly mixed
Next: Waiting for Johnny Carson to retire