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Saturday Night Live season 20

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Saturday Night Live
Season 20
The title card for the twentieth season of Saturday Night Live.
No. of episodes20
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 24, 1994 (1994-09-24) –
May 13, 1995 (1995-05-13)
Season chronology
← Previous
season 19
Next →
season 21
List of episodes

The twentieth season of Saturday Night Live (also branded Saturday Night Live 20), an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 24, 1994, and May 13, 1995.

Much like the 1980–1981 season and the 1985–1986 season, NBC worried over SNL's decline in quality (and in the ratings) and initially decided that now would be the best time to pull the plug on the show once and for all. According to the prime time special Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation, Lorne Michaels credits this season as the closest he's ever been to being fired.[1] In the end, the cast member firings and crew turnover resulting from this season represented the biggest involvement into the show's affairs by NBC executives since the 1980–1981 season and the biggest cast overhaul since the 1985–1986 season.[2][3]

This season saw the deaths of two SNL alumni: season 11 cast member Danitra Vance (who died of breast cancer)[4] and "Not Ready for Primetime"-era writer and occasional performer Michael O'Donoghue (who died of a brain hemorrhage after years of suffering from migraine headaches). The Sarah Jessica Parker-hosted episode featured a special appearance by Bill Murray, who introduced a clip from season 3, "The Soiled Kimono", aired in O'Donoghue's memory.[5]

Cast

[edit]

Preceding the season 20 premiere, longtime cast members Phil Hartman, Melanie Hutsell, Rob Schneider, and Julia Sweeney all left the show, alongside featured player Sarah Silverman.[6] In their places, the show hired Late Night with David Letterman writer Chris Elliott, as well as stand-up comedians Janeane Garofalo and Laura Kightlinger, to the cast.[2][6] Elliott and Garofalo were made repertory players, while Kightlinger was made a featured player.[6]

Jay Mohr remained a featured player and Norm Macdonald was promoted to repertory status and made Weekend Update's latest anchor.[7] (Though Kevin Nealon was no longer a Weekend Update anchor, he still remained on the show to the end of the season.)[8]

As the season progressed, Morwenna Banks, Mark McKinney[9] and Molly Shannon[10][11] were added to the cast. (McKinney was hired from the then-recently ended sketch show The Kids in the Hall, which was produced by Michaels.)[9]

According to New York magazine, former cast member Dana Carvey (who was previously a cast member from 1986 to 1993) almost returned to the cast this season, but that ended up not happening.[12] He would however, host an episode of the show during this season.

Several cast members quit during the season. Longtime cast member Mike Myers left after the January 21, 1995 episode[13][14] (exactly six years after his first episode on January 21, 1989) largely due to his increasing fame as a film star (notably with his role in 1992's Wayne's World).[15] Garofalo quit the show following the February 25 episode, citing her unhappiness with the work environment and writing material.[16][17] She would later call Saturday Night Live "... an unfair boys' club" and called many of the sketches "juvenile and homophobic."[2][18] Longtime staff writer and cast member Al Franken's final appearance as a featured player was on May 6 following the box office failure of the SNL spin-off film Stuart Saves His Family.[7]

Following the May 13, 1995 season finale, nine more cast members either quit or were fired: Banks, Ellen Cleghorne, Elliott, Chris Farley, Kightlinger, Michael McKean, Mohr, Nealon and Adam Sandler. Nealon, Cleghorne, McKean, Elliott and Kightlinger left the show at season's end on their own terms; Farley, Sandler, Banks and Mohr were let go after the finale.[19]

In his book Gasping for Airtime, Mohr wrote that following the season, he demanded a promotion to repertory status, among other things; the network procrastinated his wishes throughout the summer of 1995 and he chose to quit the show.[20][21] Mohr's account of his voluntary departure from SNL has been widely discounted, however. He was under a cloud of suspicion due to his admitted plagiarism of jokes during the season[22] and his multi-year contract with NBC did not allow him to unilaterally quit.

This was also the final season for director Dave Wilson and bandleader G.E. Smith, who had been with the program since its first and eleventh seasons, respectively.[23]

Cast roster

[edit]

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

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Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 20

Notable writers during the 20th season of Saturday Night Live included Jim Downey, Al Franken, and Tim Herlihy.

Brian Kelley and Norm Hiscock were hired as writers.[24]

This would be Franken's final season as a writer (after having been one of the original writers from its inception in 1975 to 1980; and had been writing for the show again since 1985), as he permanently left the show after 15 accumulative years.[25]

It was also the final season for fellow longtime/original writers Herb Sargent (who had written for the show from 1975 to 1980; and had been writing for it again since 1984) and Marilyn Suzanne Miller (who initially wrote for the show from 1975-1978; and wrote for the 1981-82 season, and returned in 1993 midway through season 18). Sargent presumably retired after 16 accumulative years with the show, while Miller left after seven accumulative seasons.[25]

This was Downey's last season as head writer (a role he had been in since 1985) as he was forced out of the role, after 10 years.[25] He did return to the show the next season, but as a producer for Weekend Update.[26]

This was also the final season for David Mandel, Ian Maxtone-Graham (who both joined as writers in 1992, and departed after three years), and Lewis Morton (who joined the writing staff back in 1993), departing after two years.[25]

The only writers to return to the show the next season were Downey, Herlihy, Hiscock, Steve Koren, and Fred Wolf (who would be named as the show's head writer next season in place of Downey).[26]

Episodes

[edit]
Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		HostMusical guest(s)Original air date
3671Steve MartinEric ClaptonSeptember 24, 1994 (1994-09-24)

3682Marisa TomeiBonnie RaittOctober 1, 1994 (1994-10-01)

3693John TravoltaSealOctober 15, 1994 (1994-10-15)

3704Dana CarveyEdie BrickellOctober 22, 1994 (1994-10-22)

  • Edie Brickell performed "Green" and "Tomorrow Comes". Paul Simon joined Brickell for her first performance.
  • George H. W. Bush made a filmed appearance in the cold opening and monologue.
  • Contains an "Office Space" cartoon by Mike Judge
3715Sarah Jessica ParkerR.E.M.November 12, 1994 (1994-11-12)

3726John TurturroTom PettyNovember 19, 1994 (1994-11-19)

3737RoseanneGreen DayDecember 3, 1994 (1994-12-03)

3748Alec BaldwinBeastie BoysDecember 10, 1994 (1994-12-10)

  • Beastie Boys perform "Sure Shot" and a medley of "Ricky's Theme" and "Heart Attack Man".
  • Christian Slater appears during the "Celebrity Memorabilia Auction" sketch.
3759George ForemanHoleDecember 17, 1994 (1994-12-17)

37610Jeff DanielsLuscious JacksonJanuary 14, 1995 (1995-01-14)

37711David Hyde PierceLiveJanuary 21, 1995 (1995-01-21)

37812Bob NewhartDes'reeFebruary 11, 1995 (1995-02-11)

  • Des'ree performs "You Gotta Be" and "Feels So High".
  • At the end of the episode, Bob Newhart wakes up next to Suzanne Pleshette (as he did on the last episode of "Newhart") and tells her about his nightmare hosting SNL.
37913Deion SandersBon JoviFebruary 18, 1995 (1995-02-18)

38014George ClooneyThe CranberriesFebruary 25, 1995 (1995-02-25)

38115Paul ReiserAnnie LennoxMarch 18, 1995 (1995-03-18)

38216John GoodmanThe Tragically HipMarch 25, 1995 (1995-03-25)

  • The Tragically Hip performs "Grace, Too" and "Nautical Disaster".
  • Dan Aykroyd appears in the cold open, the opening monologue (as Elwood Blues), the "Bob Swerski's Super Fans" sketch, the "Late Late Show" sketch, the "Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern" sketch, the "Unsolved Mysteries" sketch, the "Coal Miners" sketch, and introduced both of the Tragically Hip’s performances. It is believed the reason for Aykroyd's heavy involvement, despite not being officially credited as host, was because Goodman had run into scheduling conflicts with his role on Roseanne, to the point the cast and crew were unsure if he would be forced to back out as a result; further adding credence to this, his bumper pictures were the ones from his previous hosting gig the prior season, simply reskinned to match the current season's design.
  • Brian Dennehy, Robert Smigel, and George Wendt appear in the "Bob Swerski's Super Fans" sketch.
38317Damon WayansDionne FarrisApril 8, 1995 (1995-04-08)

38418Courteney CoxDave Matthews BandApril 15, 1995 (1995-04-15)

38519Bob SagetTLCMay 6, 1995 (1995-05-06)

  • TLC performs "Creep" and "Red Light Special".
  • Al Franken's final episode as a cast member.
  • During Weekend Update, a clip of Howard Cosell in an Ed Grimley sketch is shown from when he hosted in 1985 as a commemoration to Cosell's death that occurred three weeks before the episode aired.
38620David DuchovnyRod StewartMay 13, 1995 (1995-05-13)

Critical reception

[edit]

Negative critical reception of the show began building in season 18, after the departure of veteran cast member Dana Carvey.[27] The criticism intensified after Phil Hartman left.[6][28] Without Hartman and Carvey, critics expressed that SNL lacked an anchor to hold its sketches together, leaving Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, and David Spade to carry much of the show.[29] Critics also expressed the show was missing its signature political humor, and pointed out that veteran writers like Jack Handey, Robert Smigel, and Conan O'Brien had already left the staff.[30] By season 19, the show's lackluster reputation had become a joke that was referenced by guest hosts during their opening monologue.[29] Sandler himself criticized the show's writing when he told TV Guide "The writing sucks this season."[31][32] Sandler later said he was misquoted.[14]

Critics expressed distaste for the sophomoric, juvenile humor that characterized the "Bad Boy" era of SNL.[33][34][30][35] In the New York Daily News, Eric Mink opined that SNL appeared to be exclusively catering to younger, male audiences with its humor.[36] Critics also pointed to the large cast size as a problem, as African-American members like Tim Meadows and Ellen Cleghorne went underused.[29][37] Another criticism was that the show had become much more interested in launching cast members into movie stardom than in the show's quality of writing and comedy.[28][37] Hartman attributed the drop in quality to the show's decision to hire mostly stand-up comics, saying, "[Stand-up comics are] competitive, and they don't generally work as well in an ensemble of actors who come out of an improvisational background."[38]

The critical drubbing culminated in a 1995 New York magazine cover story that detailed the dysfunction among cast and crew.[2]

Norm Macdonald's first year as Weekend Update anchor was seen as a lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing year.[39][36]

Stuart Saves His Family film

[edit]

Stuart Saves His Family, a film based on the popular Stuart Smalley sketches, was released on April 12, 1995.[40] Cast members Robin Duke, Al Franken and Julia Sweeney appear in the film. The film received modest reviews from critics but was a box office bomb. During the season, Franken performed a Stuart Smalley sketch that parodied the film's poor box office returns. Stuart was depressed and bitter throughout the entire segment, eating cookies and lambasting the audience for choosing other movies (such as Dumb and Dumber and anything Pauly Shore had out at the time) over his.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation (TV special). NBC. May 6, 2007. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Smith, Chris (March 13, 1995). "Comedy Isn't Funny: Saturday Night Live at twenty – how the show that transformed TV became a grim joke". New York Magazine.
  3. ^ Rabin, Nathan (July 14, 2016). "Everything old is new again case file #65: the 1994-95 season of Saturday Night Live". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  4. ^ Brantley, Ben (August 23, 1994). "Danitra Vance, 35, an Actress; Worked at Shakespeare Festival". The New York Times. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  5. ^ Fennessey, Sean (October 13, 2010). "SNL and The Curse of the Transitional Season". Vulture. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Hill, Doug (October 2, 1994). "Television; Can 'Saturday Night' Regain Its Bite?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 433–444.
  8. ^ "Nealon jumping 'SNL' ship". The Spokesman-Review. May 8, 1995. p. B5. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Wright, Megh (June 6, 2012). "Saturday Night's Children: Mark McKinney (1995-1997)". Vulture. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  10. ^ Wild, David (November 27, 1997). "Looking for the Heart of 'Saturday Night Live'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  11. ^ Wright, Megh (August 2, 2011). "Saturday Night's Children: Molly Shannon (1995-2001)". Vulture. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  12. ^ Smith, Chris (March 13, 1995). "Comedy Isn't Funny: Saturday Night Live at twenty – how the show that transformed TV became a grim joke". New York Magazine.
  13. ^ "Myers quits SNL". The Spokesman-Review. February 4, 1995. p. E5. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Huff, Richard (February 19, 1995). "Sandler explains 'SNL' criticism". New York Daily News. p. 8E. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  15. ^ "'Saturday Night Live' cast changing". New York Daily News. August 14, 1992. p. 9D – via Star-News.
  16. ^ Shales & Miller 2002, p. 387.
  17. ^ Wright, Megh (February 28, 2012). "Saturday Night's Children: Janeane Garofalo (1994-1995)". Vulture. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  18. ^ Cerasaro, Pat (February 25, 2012). "InDepth InterView: Reality Bites? Janeane Garofalo on RUSSIAN TRANSPORT, GENERAL EDUCATION, BAD PARENTS & More!". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  19. ^ Stern, Marlow (September 12, 2014). "Adam Sandler Talks Getting Fired From 'SNL,' Bad Reviews, and His Desire to Play A Villain". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  20. ^ Mohr, Jay (2004). Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live. Hatchette Books. pp. 284–288. ISBN 978-1401399818.
  21. ^ Wright, Megh (October 10, 2012). "Saturday Night's Children: Jay Mohr (1993-1995)". Vulture. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  22. ^ Gupta, Prachi (October 7, 2014). "5 sketches that "SNL" allegedly plagiarized". Salon. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  23. ^ "'Saturday Night Live': Show gets new blood to infuse sagging ratings". The Washington Post. September 1, 1995. p. B12. Retrieved April 19, 2024 – via The Vindicator.
  24. ^ "Steve Martin/Eric Clapton". Saturday Night Live. Season 20. Episode 1. September 24, 1994. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
  25. ^ a b c d "David Duchovny/Rod Stewart". Saturday Night Live. Season 20. Episode 20. May 13, 1995. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
  26. ^ a b "Mariel Hemingway/Blues Traveler". Saturday Night Live. Season 21. Episode 1. September 30, 1995. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
  27. ^ Mink, Eric (September 25, 1993). "Talent turmoil at 'Saturday Night Live'". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via Record-Journal.
  28. ^ a b Rosenthal, Phil (May 13, 1994). "Saturday Night Live will always have its ups and downs". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Kingston, Ontario. ProQuest 353232333. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via ProQuest.
  29. ^ a b c Mendoza, Manuel (April 3, 1994). "Saturday Night Dead? ;Viewers have noticed the show's decline. Ratings are slipping. What's next for Saturday Night Live?". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. p. F4. ProQuest 432632802. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via ProQuest.
  30. ^ a b "Dear 'Saturday Night': It's Over. Please Die". Newsweek. October 16, 1994. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  31. ^ "Why the Complaints from 'SNL' Actor? 'The Writing Sucks'". Sun-Sentinel. February 13, 1995. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  32. ^ Moore, Frazier (May 12, 1995). "Fans Hope 'SNL' Pulls Out Of Slump Comedy Program Concludes 20th Season Amid Biting Reviews". The Spokesman-Review. The Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 7, 2024. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  33. ^ Fretts, Bruce (March 11, 1994). "Is 'Saturday Night' dead?". EW.com. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  34. ^ O'Connor, John J. (October 20, 1994). "Television Review; After Two Decades, How Much Longer?". The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  35. ^ Bellafante, Ginia (February 12, 1996). "Television: The Battle for Saturday Night". Time.
  36. ^ a b Mink, Eric (February 23, 1995). "'Saturday Night Live' facing uphill battle to fix problems". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via Herald-Journal.
  37. ^ a b O'Connor, John J. (March 14, 1993). "Television View; A Prosperous 'Saturday Night' Grows Tame". The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  38. ^ Funk, Tim (July 21, 1995). "'Saturday Night Dead' to be renovated". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  39. ^ Huff, Richard (April 21, 1995). "Norm Macdonald a bright spot on 'SNL'". New York Daily News. p. 37. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via Reading Eagle.
  40. ^ "Stuart Saves His Family (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes.

Works cited

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