Saturday Night Live season 32

Saturday Night Live
Season 32
No. of episodes	20
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 30, 2006 (2006-09-30) – May 19, 2007 (2007-05-19)
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.

History

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.

Cast

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. As a result, longtime cast members Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz, who had both been on the show for eight seasons since 1998, was fired from the show, along with Finesse Mitchell, who had been a cast member for three seasons since 2003. 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.

Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, and Kristen Wiig were all promoted to repertory status. This was the smallest cast in recent memory, with only 11 people.

With Fey's departure, Seth Meyers became Amy Poehler's co-anchor on Weekend Update. Don Roy King was hired as director, replacing Beth McCarthy-Miller.

Cast roster

Repertory players

• Fred Armisen
• Will Forte
• Bill Hader
• Darrell Hammond
• Seth Meyers
• Amy Poehler
• Maya Rudolph
• Andy Samberg
• Jason Sudeikis
• Kenan Thompson
• Kristen Wiig

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 32

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.

Future writing supervisors Marika Sawyer and John Solomon join the writing staff with this season.

Longtime writer Jim Downey also returns to the writing staff this season.

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.

Episodes

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Host	Musical guest(s)	Original air date
605	1	Dane Cook	The Killers	September 30, 2006 (2006-09-30)
The Killers perform "When You Were Young" and "Bones", the latter with SNL Band members Lenny Pickett, Earl Gardner, and Steve Turre. Brian Williams appears in a brief sketch immediately before Weekend Update; in it, Williams briefly talks to Poehler believing he would be the new co-anchor, and appearing visibly disappointed when Meyers revealed he was picked instead. Seth Meyers' first episode as Weekend Update co-anchor. Don Roy King's first episode as director.
606	2	Jaime Pressly	Corinne Bailey Rae	October 7, 2006 (2006-10-07)
Corinne Bailey Rae performs "Put Your Records On" and "Like a Star".
607	3	John C. Reilly	My Chemical Romance	October 21, 2006 (2006-10-21)
My Chemical Romance performs "Welcome to the Black Parade" and "Cancer". Will Ferrell, Reilly's Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby co-star, appears as James Lipton in the opening monologue.
608	4	Hugh Laurie	Beck	October 28, 2006 (2006-10-28)
Beck performs "Nausea" and "Clap Hands". Sacha Baron Cohen and Ken Davitian appear in the cold open, reprising their Borat roles as Borat Sagdiyev and Azamat Bagatov. Laurie performs "The Protest Song" from A Bit of Fry & Laurie.
609	5	Alec Baldwin	Christina Aguilera	November 11, 2006 (2006-11-11)
Christina Aguilera performs "Ain't No Other Man," "Hurt," and "Steppin' Out with My Baby" with Tony Bennett. Additionally, Bennett appears in The Tony Bennett Show sketch. Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan, Baldwin's 30 Rock co-stars, appear in the opening monologue. Takeru Kobayashi appears in the pre-filmed TV Funhouse cartoon "Kobayashi". Steve Martin, Paul McCartney, and Martin Short appear in the "Platinum Lounge" sketch.
610	6	Ludacris	Ludacris	November 18, 2006 (2006-11-18)
Ludacris performs "Money Maker" and "Runaway Love" with Mary J. Blige. Jason Sudeikis' first episode impersonating George W. Bush, taking over the role from Will Forte. Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Kristen Wiig introduce Ludacris' first musical performance. Kenan Thompson introduces Ludacris' second musical performance.
611	7	Matthew Fox	Tenacious D	December 2, 2006 (2006-12-02)
Tenacious D performs "Kickapoo" and "The Metal", with JR Reed appearing during the latter performance.
612	8	Annette Bening	Gwen Stefani Akon	December 9, 2006 (2006-12-09)
Gwen Stefani performs "Wind It Up". Akon performs "I Wanna Love You". Alec Baldwin appears in the opening monologue and the pre-filmed "Valtrex" sketch, a repeat from the episode he hosted earlier in the season. Matthew Fox appears in an SNL Digital Short.
613	9	Justin Timberlake	Justin Timberlake	December 16, 2006 (2006-12-16)
Justin Timberlake performs "My Love" and "What Goes Around... Comes Around". Jimmy Fallon appears in The Barry Gibb Talk Show sketch and introduces Timberlake's second performance. Cameron Diaz, Timberlake's then-girlfriend, introduces his first performance. After the episode, NBC put an uncensored version of the Digital Short "Dick in a Box" on its website and YouTube. It quickly became an Internet phenomenon, much like "Lazy Sunday" did a year earlier, and won an Emmy in 2007.
614	10	Jake Gyllenhaal	The Shins	January 13, 2007 (2007-01-13)
The Shins perform "Phantom Limb" and "New Slang".
615	11	Jeremy Piven	AFI	January 20, 2007 (2007-01-20)
AFI performs "Love Like Winter" and "Miss Murder". Common appears in the "Blizzard Man" sketch. A picture of Michael DiBari, a cameraman who had died of cancer earlier in the week, was shown before the goodnights.
616	12	Drew Barrymore	Lily Allen	February 3, 2007 (2007-02-03)
Lily Allen performs "Smile" and "LDN". Horatio Sanz appears as Elton John in the "Versace Super Bowl Party". Barrymore reprises her role as Charlie McGee from the movie Firestarter in the "Firestarter Brand Smoked Sausages" sketch.
617	13	Forest Whitaker	Keith Urban	February 10, 2007 (2007-02-10)
Keith Urban performs "Stupid Boy" and "Once in a Lifetime".
618	14	Rainn Wilson	Arcade Fire	February 24, 2007 (2007-02-24)
Arcade Fire performs "Intervention" and "Keep the Car Running", and appear in the SNL Digital Short. Following the show, the band performs "Rebellion (Lies)" and "Wake Up" for the studio audience. Rashida Jones, Wilson's The Office co-star, appears during the opening monologue in character.
619	15	Julia Louis-Dreyfus	Snow Patrol	March 17, 2007 (2007-03-17)
Snow Patrol performs "You're All I Have" and "Chasing Cars". Chris Rock appears in the cold open.
620	16	Peyton Manning	Carrie Underwood	March 24, 2007 (2007-03-24)
Carrie Underwood performs "Before He Cheats" and "Wasted". Archie Manning, Eli Manning, and Olivia Manning, Manning's father, brother, and mother, respectively, appear in the opening monologue. Additionally, Eli and Cooper Manning, Manning's other brother, appear during the goodnights, wheeling out a cake to celebrate the fact that Peyton Manning was hosting the show on his thirty-first birthday. Dan Aykroyd appears on Weekend Update.
621	17	Shia LaBeouf	Avril Lavigne	April 14, 2007 (2007-04-14)
Avril Lavigne performs "Girlfriend" and "I Can Do Better," and appears as Elle Fanning in the Dakota Fanning Show sketch. Alec Baldwin appears in the pre-filmed "Hathaway Mustache Ride Company" sketch.
622	18	Scarlett Johansson	Björk	April 21, 2007 (2007-04-21)
Björk performs "Earth Intruders" and "Wanderlust". New York Senator Chuck Schumer appears in the pre-filmed portion of the cold open.
623	19	Molly Shannon	Linkin Park	May 12, 2007 (2007-05-12)
Linkin Park performs "What I've Done" and "Bleed It Out".
624	20	Zach Braff	Maroon 5	May 19, 2007 (2007-05-19)
Maroon 5 performs "Makes Me Wonder" and "Won't Go Home Without You". Braff's Scrubs co-stars Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke were in attendance for this episode.

Specials

Title	Original air date
"The Best of Darrell Hammond"	November 4, 2006 (2006-11-04)
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 (2007-05-06)
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 (2007-05-05)
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.