| Saturday Night Live | |
|---|---|
| Season 30 | |
 | |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | October 2, 2004 – May 21, 2005 |
| Season chronology | |
The thirtieth season of Saturday Night Live , an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 2, 2004, and May 21, 2005.
This season was notable for a lip-syncing gaffe by Ashlee Simpson during her second performance (on the episode hosted by Jude Law). [1] [2] [3] This season was also home to many sketches focused on the 2004 U.S. Presidential election. [4] [5]
Before the start of this season, longtime cast member Jimmy Fallon left the show after six seasons with the cast since 1998. [6] In the wake of Fallon's departure, Fred Armisen was promoted to repertory status, while Finesse Mitchell and Kenan Thompson remained featured players.
New cast members this season included Rob Riggle, an improv comedian (at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater) and U.S. Marine (making him the first and, as of 2019, only SNL cast member to serve in the Marines). [7] This would also be Riggle's only season on the show. In addition, SNL writer Jason Sudeikis (who appeared in many bit roles before joining the cast) joined the cast as a featured player for the last three episodes of the season. [8]
With Fallon gone, Amy Poehler became Tina Fey's co-anchor on Weekend Update, making Fey and Poehler the first and, through at least season 50, only two-woman anchor team. [9]
Repertory players | Featured players
|
bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor
At the start of the season, longtime writer Harper Steele (who had been a writer since 1995) was named as the co-head writer alongside Tina Fey. [10]
Weekend Update writer Alex Baze is added to the writing staff this season. [10]
Near the end of the season, writer Jason Sudeikis left the writing staff to join the cast. [11]
This was initially the final season for longtime writer/writing supervisor Paula Pell (who had been a writer since 1995), as she left the show after 10 years, to work on her sitcom Thick and Thin. [12] However, that sitcom never aired so Pell (who had become writing supervisor back in 2001 for 4½ years) returned to the show early in the next season. [13] T. Sean Shannon (the other writing supervisor) was removed from his role, but remained as a writer the next season. [14]
Longtime writer Jim Downey did not write for the next season, but would return for season 32.
| No. overall | No. in season | Host | Musical guest(s) | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 566 | 1 | Ben Affleck | Nelly | October 2, 2004 | |
| |||||
| 567 | 2 | Queen Latifah | Queen Latifah | October 9, 2004 | |
| |||||
| 568 | 3 | Jude Law | Ashlee Simpson | October 23, 2004 | |
| |||||
| 569 | 4 | Kate Winslet | Eminem | October 30, 2004 | |
| |||||
| 570 | 5 | Liam Neeson | Modest Mouse | November 13, 2004 | |
| |||||
| 571 | 6 | Luke Wilson | U2 | November 20, 2004 | |
| |||||
| 572 | 7 | Colin Farrell | Scissor Sisters | December 11, 2004 | |
| |||||
| 573 | 8 | Robert De Niro | Destiny's Child | December 18, 2004 | |
| |||||
| 574 | 9 | Topher Grace | The Killers | January 15, 2005 | |
| |||||
| 575 | 10 | Paul Giamatti | Ludacris featuring Sum 41 | January 22, 2005 | |
| |||||
| 576 | 11 | Paris Hilton | Keane | February 5, 2005 | |
| |||||
| 577 | 12 | Jason Bateman | Kelly Clarkson | February 12, 2005 | |
| |||||
| 578 | 13 | Hilary Swank | 50 Cent | February 19, 2005 | |
| |||||
| 579 | 14 | David Spade | Jack Johnson | March 12, 2005 | |
| |||||
| 580 | 15 | Ashton Kutcher | Gwen Stefani | March 19, 2005 | |
| |||||
| 581 | 16 | Cameron Diaz | Green Day | April 9, 2005 | |
| |||||
| 582 | 17 | Tom Brady | Beck | April 16, 2005 | |
| |||||
| 583 | 18 | Johnny Knoxville | System of a Down | May 7, 2005 | |
| |||||
| 584 | 19 | Will Ferrell | Queens of the Stone Age | May 14, 2005 | |
| |||||
| 585 | 20 | Lindsay Lohan | Coldplay | May 21, 2005 | |
| |||||
| Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|
| "The Best of Cheri Oteri" | September 4, 2004 | |
Sketches include: "Spartan Cheerleaders", "Nadeen at the Burger Castle", "The Zimmermans", "20/20", "The View", "Monica's Interviewers", "Collete at the Pharmacy", "Morning Latte", "Judge Judy", "Rita Snowed In", "The Office Flirt", "Halloween in New Hampshire", "Rita on Halloween", "Old French Whore!", "Puff & Jennifer in Therapy", "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", "Always & Forever", "Athena in the Cockpit", "Leg Up", and some Weekend Update clips. | ||
| "The Best of Jon Lovitz" | September 25, 2004 | |
Sketches include: "Tommy Flanagan," "The Peoples' Court," "Portrait of the Artist," "The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Christmas," "Dunkin' Donuts Commercial," "Plug Away," "Johnny's Finished," "Girl Watchers on 49th Street," "ABC Campaign '88," "The Five Beatles," "Wimbledon Loss," "A Betty Ford Straight Arrow Christmas," "The Tonight Show," "Tales of Ribaldry," "Chick Hazzard, Private Investigator," and some Weekend Update clips. | ||
| "The Best of Jimmy Fallon" | October 16, 2004 | |
Sketches include: "Mick & Mick," "Celebrity Jeopardy," "Jarret's Room", "The Barry Gibb Show," "Donnie's Party," "Cork Soakers," "2001 Season's Greetings From SNL," "Summer Nights," clips of Fallon's most memorable celebrity impersonations and Weekend Update moments. | ||
| "Presidential Bash 2004: The Great Debates" | November 1, 2004 | |
This special featured some of SNL's mock presidential debates. Darrell Hammond hosted the special while impersonating Bill Clinton. Sketches include: "Debate '76," "Presidential Debate '88," "The First Presidential Debate," "The Second Presidential Debate," "Debate '92," "Perot and Stockdale Car Trip," "The Presidential Odd Couple," "First Presidential Debate 2004," and "Second Presidential Debate". | ||
| "The Best of Tom Hanks" | November 6, 2004 | |
Sketches include: "Steve's Fantasy," "The Stand-Ups," "Girl Watchers on 49th Street," "Calgary 1988," "Mr. Short-Term Memory," "Jew, Not a Jew," "Wayne's World Meets Aerosmith," "Tales of Ribaldry," "Sabra Price Is Right" and "Wilson the Volleyball with Tom Hanks". | ||
| "Live from New York: The First 5 Years of Saturday Night Live" | February 20, 2005 | |
Topics discussed include the creation of the show, the cast coming together, NBC fighting with Lorne over the show's creation, the first few episodes, the show's rise to popularity, Chevy Chase leaving the show, the disastrous Mardi Gras special, Bill Murray joining the show, several backstage fights and feuds, the creation of Weekend Update, the first crop of recurring sketches and characters, the hosts who appeared on the show, how the show struggled in its fifth season with the departure of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, and the end of the "Not Ready for Primetime" era after the last episode of season five. Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Tom Davis, James Downey, Al Franken, Elliott Gould, Buck Henry, Eric Idle, Penny Marshall, Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Don Pardo, Tom Schiller, Rosie Shuster, Paul Shaffer, Lily Tomlin and Alan Zweibel gave insight in the special. | ||
| "The Best Of Alec Baldwin" | May 28, 2005 | |
Sketches include: "Greenhilly," "French Class," "Soap Opera Digest," the infamous "Canteen Boy Goes Camping," "Buckwell's Follies," "Delicious Dish," "Brasky's Buddies at the Bar," "Inside the Actors Studio," "Gay Voicemail," "The Tony Bennett Show," "Zinger vs. Burns," and "Prince Charles' Secretary". | ||
Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance. Historically, one or two of the players are cast in the role of news anchor, presenting gag news items based on current events and acting as hosts for occasional editorials, commentaries, or other performances by other cast members or guests. In modern times, dedicated anchors are chosen among writing staff, often lead writers, in lieu of cast or featured players. Chevy Chase has said that Weekend Update – which he started as anchor in 1975 – paved the way for comedic news shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American late-night live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The show's premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary American culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that is usually based on political events and ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.
Amy Poehler is an American actress and comedian. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade. The group moved to New York City in 1996, where their act became a half-hour sketch-comedy series on Comedy Central in 1998. Along with other members of the comedy group, Poehler is a founder of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
The thirty-second season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 30, 2006, and May 19, 2007.
The thirty-third season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 29, 2007, and May 17, 2008. Due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, there were only 12 episodes produced in this season instead of the usual 20, making this the shortest season in the series run and beating out both the sixth (1980–1981) season and the thirteenth (1987–1988) season, which had thirteen episodes each and were also cut short due to WGA strikes. This is also the only season in SNL history not to have a new Christmas episode, since the WGA strike spanned from November 2007 to February 2008.
The thirty-first season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 1, 2005, and May 20, 2006. 19 episodes were produced due to the 2006 Winter Olympic Games and network budget cuts.
The twenty-ninth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 4, 2003, and May 15, 2004.
The twenty-eighth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 5, 2002 and May 17, 2003.
The twenty-seventh season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 29, 2001 and May 18, 2002.
The twenty-sixth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 7, 2000, and May 19, 2001.
The twenty-fifth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 2, 1999 and May 20, 2000.
The twenty-third season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 27, 1997, and May 9, 1998.
The sketch comedy television show Saturday Night Live aired several critically acclaimed sketches parodying then Alaskan Governor and vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin in the lead-up to the 2008 United States presidential election. The sketches featured former cast member Tina Fey, who returned as a guest star to portray Palin. Fey won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her impersonation of Palin.
The thirty-fourth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 13, 2008, and May 16, 2009.
The thirty-fifth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 26, 2009, and May 15, 2010.
Saturday Night Live in the 2000s: Time and Again is a two-hour documentary television special that showcases the years of Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2009. It features interviews with the cast and crew from those years, and aired on NBC on April 15, 2010. It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Nonfiction Special.
The thirty-eighth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 15, 2012, and May 18, 2013.
The thirty-ninth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC from September 28, 2013, with host Tina Fey and musical guest Arcade Fire and concluded on May 17, 2014, with host Andy Samberg and musical guest St. Vincent with 21 episodes.
The forty-first season of the NBC comedy series Saturday Night Live premiered on October 3, 2015, during the 2015–2016 television season. The season premiered on October 3, 2015, with host & musical guest Miley Cyrus and concluded on May 21, 2016 with host Fred Armisen and musical guest Courtney Barnett.
The long-running American late-night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) first premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, and its fiftieth and most recent season premiered on September 28, 2024. Created by Lorne Michaels, who is the original and current showrunner, its history has been shaped by its large and constantly-changing cast of performers, as well as changes in its writing staff from year to year. It has played a prominent role in American popular culture and television since its inception, and changing attitudes towards cultural diversity have been evident particularly in its recent history.