Saturday Night Live (season 20)

Saturday Night Live (season 20)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	20
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 24, 1994 – May 13, 1995
Season chronology

The twentieth season of Saturday Night Live, 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. 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.^[1]

This season saw the deaths of two SNL alumni: Danitra Vance and Michael O'Donoghue. 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.

This was the last season for Mike Myers, Kevin Nealon, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Jay Mohr, Michael McKean, Ellen Cleghorne, and Al Franken and the only season for Janeane Garofalo, Chris Elliott, Morwenna Banks, and Laura Kightlinger, as they all left the show at the end of the season. Myers, Garofalo, and Franken, both left the show mid-season, and Nealon, Cleghorne, McKean, Elliott, and Kightlinger, all left the show at season's end on their own terms. Farley, Sandler, Mohr, and Banks were let go from the show at the end of the season as they all did not experience any efforts to remain for another season.

Cast

Cast changes

Preceding the season 20 premiere, Phil Hartman, Melanie Hutsell, Rob Schneider, Sarah Silverman and Julia Sweeney had all left the show. In their places, the show hired Chris Elliott, Janeane Garofalo and Laura Kightlinger to the cast. Elliott and Garofalo were made repertory players, while Kightlinger was made a featured player.

As the season progressed, Morwenna Banks, Mark McKinney, and Molly Shannon were added to the cast. Jay Mohr stayed a featured player. Norm Macdonald was promoted to repertory status and made Weekend Update's latest anchor (though Kevin Nealon was no longer a Weekend Update anchor, he still remained on the show). McKinney was hired from the then-recently ended sketch show The Kids in the Hall, which was produced by Lorne Michaels.

Several cast members quit the show mid-season. Mike Myers left after the January 21, 1995 episode (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).^[2] Janeane Garofalo quit the show following the February 25 episode,^[3] citing her unhappiness with the work environment and writing material. She would later call Saturday Night Live "...an unfair boys' club" and call many of the sketches "juvenile and homophobic." Al Franken's final appearance as a featured player was on 6 May following the box office failure of the SNL spin-off film Stuart Saves His Family.

Following the May 13, 1995 season finale, nine more cast members either quit or were fired from Saturday Night Live, including Morwenna Banks, Ellen Cleghorne, Chris Elliott, Chris Farley, Laura Kightlinger, Michael McKean, Jay Mohr, Kevin Nealon and Adam Sandler. In his book, Gasping for Airtime, Jay 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. 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 plagiarizing of jokes during the season, and his multi-year contract with NBC did not allow him to unilaterally quit.^[4]

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 tenth seasons, respectively.

Cast list

Repertory cast members

Morwenna Banks (first episode: April 8, 1995)
Ellen Cleghorne
Chris Elliott
Chris Farley
Janeane Garofalo (final episode: February 25, 1995)
Norm Macdonald
Michael McKean
Mark McKinney (first episode: January 14, 1995)
Tim Meadows
Mike Myers (final episode: January 21, 1995)
Kevin Nealon
Adam Sandler
David Spade

Featured cast members

Al Franken (final episode: May 6, 1995)
Laura Kightlinger
Jay Mohr
Molly Shannon (first episode: February 25, 1995)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

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

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Host	Musical guest(s)	Original air date
367	1	Steve Martin	Eric Clapton	September 24, 1994 (1994-09-24)
This is the first season to show Dolby Surround and NBC captioning on the screen during the opening montage. Norm Macdonald's first episode anchoring Weekend Update Chris Elliott, Janeane Garofalo and Laura Kightlinger's first episode as cast members Eric Clapton performed "I'm Tore Down" and "Five Long Years". At the end of the show, Clapton sits in with the SNL Band to play the closing theme. Brian Austin Green appeared in the "O.J. Simpson Trial" sketch Bobby Bonilla, Jack McDowell, Lenny Dykstra, Mo Vaughn, and Roger Clemens appeared in the "Super Sports Tours" sketch
368	2	Marisa Tomei	Bonnie Raitt	October 1, 1994 (1994-10-01)
Bonnie Raitt performed "Love Sneakin' Up On You" and "Storm Warning".
369	3	John Travolta	Seal	October 15, 1994 (1994-10-15)
Seal performed "Prayer for the Dying" and "Crazy", and appeared in the "We Go Together" sketch. David Lander and Steve Buscemi appeared in the "Quentin Tarantino's Welcome Back, Kotter" sketch and the "We Go Together" sketch.
370	4	Dana Carvey	Edie Brickell & Paul Simon	October 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 an appearance in the cold opening and monologue, critiquing Dana Carvey's impersonation of him. Contains an "Office Space" cartoon by Mike Judge.
371	5	Sarah Jessica Parker	R.E.M.	November 12, 1994 (1994-11-12)
R.E.M. performed "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?", "Bang and Blame", and "I Don't Sleep, I Dream". Bill Murray appears near the end of the episode to announce the death of former SNL writer, Michael O'Donoghue, and to replay one of his famous sketches, "The Soiled Kimono", which aired in SNL's third season. Juliette Lewis was scheduled to host this episode, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
372	6	John Turturro	Tom Petty	November 19, 1994 (1994-11-19)
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers performed "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "Honey Bee". Dave Grohl played with the Heartbreakers, who were in between drummers at the time. Joey Buttafuoco appeared during the monologue. David Hasselhoff appeared during "Weekend Update".
373	7	Roseanne	Green Day	December 3, 1994 (1994-12-03)
Adam Sandler debuts "The Chanukah Song" on Weekend Update. Green Day performed "When I Come Around" and "Geek Stink Breath". Rip Taylor appeared in the "Lock-Up" sketch.
374	8	Alec Baldwin	Beastie Boys	December 10, 1994 (1994-12-10)
Beastie Boys performed "Sure Shot" and a medley of "Ricky's Theme" and "Heart Attack Man". Christian Slater appeared during the "Celebrity Memorabilia Auction" sketch.
375	9	George Foreman	Hole	December 17, 1994 (1994-12-17)
Hole performed "Doll Parts" and "Violet". Bruce McCulloch appeared in the "Stalking" short film. Michael Buffer appeared in the "Time Boxer" sketch. A memorial photo of Jimmy Mckearnin was shown before the goodnights.
376	10	Jeff Daniels	Luscious Jackson	January 14, 1995 (1995-01-14)
Luscious Jackson performed "Citysong" and "Here". Mark McKinney's first episode as a cast member.
377	11	David Hyde Pierce	Live	January 21, 1995 (1995-01-21)
Live performed "I Alone" and "Selling the Drama". Mike Myers' final episode as a cast member.
378	12	Bob Newhart	Des'ree	February 11, 1995 (1995-02-11)
Des'ree performed "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.
379	13	Deion Sanders	Bon Jovi	February 18, 1995 (1995-02-18)
Bon Jovi performed "Always" and "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night". Jon Bon Jovi also appeared in the "1995 ESPY Awards" sketch. Manute Bol appeared in the "1995 ESPY Awards" sketch. Deion Sanders performs a medley of "Must Be The Money" & "It's On".
380	14	George Clooney	The Cranberries	February 25, 1995 (1995-02-25)
The Cranberries performed "Zombie" and "Ode to My Family". Janeane Garofalo's final episode as a cast member. Molly Shannon's first episode as a cast member.
381	15	Paul Reiser	Annie Lennox	March 18, 1995 (1995-03-18)
Annie Lennox performed "No More I Love You's" and "Train in Vain". In reruns, the "O'Callahan and Sons" sketch is replaced with the short film, Vacation, after Jay Mohr admitted that the "O'Callahan and Sons" sketch was plagiarized from comedian, Rick Shapiro. Billy Grundfest appeared in the opening monologue.
382	16	John Goodman	The Tragically Hip	March 25, 1995 (1995-03-25)
The Tragically Hip performed "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 The Tragically Hip. Brian Dennehy and George Wendt appear in the "Bob Swerski's Super Fans" sketch.
383	17	Damon Wayans	Dionne Farris	April 8, 1995 (1995-04-08)
Dionne Farris performed "I Know" and "Blackbird". David Alan Grier appears during the "Men on Film" sketch, reprising his role as Antoine Merriweather from In Living Color. Morwenna Banks's first episode as a cast member. Damon Wayans reprises his roles as Anton Jackson and Blaine Edwards from In Living Color.
384	18	Courteney Cox	Dave Matthews Band	April 15, 1995 (1995-04-15)
Dave Matthews Band performed "What Would You Say" and "Ants Marching". Bela Fleck sat in with the SNL band.
385	19	Bob Saget	TLC	May 6, 1995 (1995-05-06)
TLC performed "Creep" and "Red Light Special". Al Franken's final episode as a cast member.
386	20	David Duchovny	Rod Stewart	May 13, 1995 (1995-05-13)
Rod Stewart performed "Leave Virginia Alone" and "Maggie May". Michael Angarano appears during the opening monologue. Naomi Campbell appears during the "You Think You're Better Than Me?" sketch. Kevin Nealon, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Ellen Cleghorne, Morwenna Banks, Jay Mohr, Laura Kightlinger, Michael McKean and Chris Elliott's final episode as cast members. Final show of G.E. Smith with the Saturday Night Live Band and as co-musical director.

Stuart Saves His Family film

Stuart Saves His Family, a film based on the popular Stuart Smalley sketches, was released on April 12, 1995.^[5] 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

↑ 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.
↑ Mike Myers (I) - Filmography on IMDb
↑ Janeane Garofalo - Filmography on IMDb
↑ Saturday Night Live Backstage (2011) on IMDb
↑ "Stuart Saves His Family (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes.

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[1] 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.

[mmimdb-2] Mike Myers (I) - Filmography on IMDb

[jgimdb-3] Janeane Garofalo - Filmography on IMDb

[4] Saturday Night Live Backstage (2011) on IMDb

[5] "Stuart Saves His Family (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes.