| Saturday Night Live | |
|---|---|
| Season 32 | |
 | |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 30, 2006 – May 19, 2007 |
| Season chronology | |
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.
As in the previous season, The Lonely Island created another popular SNL Digital Short that aired around Christmas time; this time, it was the R&B video spoof "Dick in a Box" (featuring host Justin Timberlake). The short won a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Music and Lyrics. [1] [2]
Before the start of the season, the show suffered "massive budget cuts" at NBC. Lorne Michaels said that cutting staff was chosen over reducing from 20 the number of original episodes produced. [3] As a result, longtime cast members Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz, who had both been on the show for eight seasons since 1998, were fired from the show, along with Finesse Mitchell, who had been a cast member for three seasons since 2003. [4] This was the second time Parnell had been fired from the show due to budget cuts, the first being after the 2000–01 season ended. In addition, longtime cast members Rachel Dratch (who had been on the show for seven seasons since 1999) and Tina Fey (who had been a staff writer since 1997, and a cast member for six seasons since 2000) left the show on their own terms, as both were to begin work on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock . Dratch would end up being replaced on 30 Rock by actress Jane Krakowski. [5]
Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, and Kristen Wiig were all promoted to repertory status. [5] This was the smallest cast in recent memory, with only 11 people. [6]
With Fey's departure, Seth Meyers became Amy Poehler's co-anchor on Weekend Update. [7] [8] Don Roy King was hired as director, replacing Beth McCarthy-Miller. [5]
Repertory players
bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
With this season, Paula Pell (who had been a writer on the show since 1995) is named as a co-head writer, alongside Seth Meyers and Harper Steele. [9]
Future writing supervisors Marika Sawyer and John Solomon join the writing staff with this season. [9]
Longtime writer Jim Downey also returns to the writing staff this season. [9]
Lastly, this is the final season for longtime writer Matt Murray (who had been with the show since 2000), as he left the show after seven years. [10]
| No. overall | No. in season | Host | Musical guest(s) | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 605 | 1 | Dane Cook | The Killers | September 30, 2006 | |
| |||||
| 606 | 2 | Jaime Pressly | Corinne Bailey Rae | October 7, 2006 | |
| |||||
| 607 | 3 | John C. Reilly | My Chemical Romance | October 21, 2006 | |
| |||||
| 608 | 4 | Hugh Laurie | Beck | October 28, 2006 | |
| |||||
| 609 | 5 | Alec Baldwin | Christina Aguilera | November 11, 2006 | |
| |||||
| 610 | 6 | Ludacris | Ludacris | November 18, 2006 | |
| |||||
| 611 | 7 | Matthew Fox | Tenacious D | December 2, 2006 | |
| |||||
| 612 | 8 | Annette Bening | Gwen Stefani Akon | December 9, 2006 | |
| |||||
| 613 | 9 | Justin Timberlake | Justin Timberlake | December 16, 2006 | |
| |||||
| 614 | 10 | Jake Gyllenhaal | The Shins | January 13, 2007 | |
| |||||
| 615 | 11 | Jeremy Piven | AFI | January 20, 2007 | |
| |||||
| 616 | 12 | Drew Barrymore | Lily Allen | February 3, 2007 | |
| |||||
| 617 | 13 | Forest Whitaker | Keith Urban | February 10, 2007 | |
| |||||
| 618 | 14 | Rainn Wilson | Arcade Fire | February 24, 2007 | |
| |||||
| 619 | 15 | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Snow Patrol | March 17, 2007 | |
| |||||
| 620 | 16 | Peyton Manning | Carrie Underwood | March 24, 2007 | |
| |||||
| 621 | 17 | Shia LaBeouf | Avril Lavigne | April 14, 2007 | |
| |||||
| 622 | 18 | Scarlett Johansson | Björk | April 21, 2007 | |
| |||||
| 623 | 19 | Molly Shannon | Linkin Park | May 12, 2007 | |
| |||||
| 624 | 20 | Zach Braff | Maroon 5 | May 19, 2007 | |
| |||||
| Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|
| "The Best of Darrell Hammond" | November 4, 2006 | |
This is the first (and only) time a "Best Of" special was made while the cast member in question was still in the cast at the time. Sketches include "Hardball," "Celebrity Jeopardy," "Meet The Press," "First Presidential Debate," "CBS Evening Anthrax Update," "Californians for Schwarzenegger," "Jesse Jackson," "Bill Kurtis Looping Session," "The O'Reilly Factor," "NBC Special Report," "Geraldo," "Guiliani's Press Conference," "Jimmy Carter in Cuba," "Ashcroft's Press Conference," "Celebration of Women Week," and "White House Friends". | ||
| "SNL in the '90s:Pop Culture Nation" | May 6, 2007 | |
Topics discussed include:Lorne Michaels preventing another Jean Doumanian-esque era by keeping his cast and repopulating the show with featured players (instead of letting the entire cast go and hiring new people),sketches centered on the 1992 U.S. Presidential election,how Wayne's World became popular on and off the show,SNL's raunchy turn with the hiring of Adam Sandler,David Spade,and Chris Farley,the departure of Phil Hartman,season 20 as yet another series low point,cast feuds,Lorne Michaels overhauling his show once again with new cast members and writers,how the female cast members gained prominence in a male-oriented show,SNL gaining popularity for its sketches on the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky sex scandal and the upcoming U.S. election for the year 2000,and the famous "Blue Oyster Cult/More Cowbell" sketch from the season 25 Christopher Walken episode. Alec Baldwin,Dana Carvey,Tom Davis,James Downey,Jimmy Fallon,Will Ferrell,Tina Fey,Al Franken,Ana Gasteyer,John Goodman,Darrell Hammond,Tim Herlihy,Chris Kattan,David Koechner,Norm Macdonald,Tim Meadows,Adam McKay,Lorne Michaels,Mike Myers,Kevin Nealon,Don Ohlmeyer,Cheri Oteri,Colin Quinn,Chris Rock,Molly Shannon,Sarah Silverman,Robert Smigel,David Spade,Julia Sweeney gave insight in the special. | ||
| "The Best of 2006-2007" | May 5, 2007 | |
This special aired as a compilation of some of the season's most memorable sketches. Because it aired before the season ended,no sketches from subsequent episodes hosted by Zach Braff and Molly Shannon were included in the special. | ||