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Saturday Night Live season 22

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Saturday Night Live
Season 22
The title card for the twenty-second season of Saturday Night Live.
No. of episodes20
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 28, 1996 (1996-09-28) –
May 17, 1997 (1997-05-17)
Season chronology
← Previous
season 21
Next →
season 23
List of episodes

The twenty-second season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 28, 1996, and May 17, 1997.

This season is notable for the host selection. Seven of the 20 hosts were former cast members. They included Dana Carvey, Robert Downey Jr. (the second of three season 11 cast members to come back and host the show joining Damon Wayans [who hosted during the show's 20th season] and, later in season 23, Jon Lovitz), Phil Hartman, Chris Rock, Martin Short (who hosted before with Steve Martin and Chevy Chase on the show's 12th season, and the only cast member out of the seven to not have worked under Lorne Michaels, as Short was a Dick Ebersol cast member), Chase and Mike Myers. This would mark Chase's final time hosting before getting banned[1] (returning much later for numerous guest appearances).

Cast

[edit]

Many changes happened before the start of the season. David Koechner and Nancy Walls were both let go after one season, and longtime cast member David Spade, who had been with the cast for six seasons since 1990, left the show on his own terms.[2]

Comedian and singer Ana Gasteyer and stand-up comedian Tracy Morgan were hired to replace Koechner and Walls,[3] being promoted to repertory status when hired.

Chris Kattan was promoted to repertory status, while Colin Quinn and Fred Wolf remained as featured players.

This was the final season for Mark McKinney, who had been on the show for three seasons since 1995.[4] Wolf also left his position as featured player and co-head writer after the season's first three episodes.[5] Overall, Wolf had been on the show as a writer and featured player for six seasons since 1992. This was also the final season to show the Dolby Surround and NBC logos during the opening montage.[6]

Cast roster

[edit]

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

[edit]
Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 22

Adam McKay, who had joined the writing staff at the start the previous season in season 21, became head writer alongside Tim Herlihy.[7] While Steve Higgins (who was also promoted to producer) and Fred Wolf remained on the writing staff. Robert Carlock and Stephen Colbert[8] joined the writing staff for this season.

Additionally, former writer Robert Smigel (who previously wrote for the show from 1985 to 1993) returned to the writing staff to produce the "TV Funhouse" cartoons.[9]

Wolf (who joined the writing staff in 1993) left the show after the Bill Pulman-hosted episode after about three calendar years.[10]

This was Norm Hiscock's final season as a writer. Hiscock (joining the writing staff in 1994) departed from the series after three seasons.[11] Hiscock was one of the few writers who survived the writer/cast overhaul after season 20 in 1995.

Episodes

[edit]
Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		HostMusical guestOriginal air date
4071Tom HanksTom Petty & the HeartbreakersSeptember 28, 1996 (1996-09-28)

4082Lisa KudrowSheryl CrowOctober 5, 1996 (1996-10-05)

4093Bill PullmanNew EditionOctober 19, 1996 (1996-10-19)

4104Dana CarveyDr. DreOctober 26, 1996 (1996-10-26)

4115Chris RockThe WallflowersNovember 2, 1996 (1996-11-02)

4126Robert Downey Jr.Fiona AppleNovember 16, 1996 (1996-11-16)

4137Phil HartmanBushNovember 23, 1996 (1996-11-23)

  • Bush performs "Swallowed" and "Insect Kin".
  • Rodney Dangerfield appears on Weekend Update.
  • Cliff Robertson appears in the pre-filmed "Lux 420SL" commercial parody.
  • Hartman once again brings back his impersonation of Frank Sinatra on "The Joe Pesci Show" sketch.
  • This was Hartman's second and last hosting appearance on SNL before his death on May 28, 1998.
4148Martin ShortNo DoubtDecember 7, 1996 (1996-12-07)

  • No Doubt performs "Don't Speak" and "Excuse Me Mr."
  • Chevy Chase makes a cameo appearance during a sketch featuring Short's Ed Grimley character.
  • First appearance of the Celebrity Jeopardy! sketch. The episode re-aired in November 2020 following the passing of Alex Trebek, with a clip of Trebek in a Celebrity Jeopardy! sketch from a future season following the original sketch
4159Rosie O'DonnellWhitney HoustonDecember 14, 1996 (1996-12-14)

41610Kevin SpaceyBeckJanuary 11, 1997 (1997-01-11)

41711David Alan GrierSnoop Doggy DoggJanuary 18, 1997 (1997-01-18)

41812Neve CampbellDavid BowieFebruary 8, 1997 (1997-02-08)

41913Chevy ChaseLiveFebruary 15, 1997 (1997-02-15)

  • Live performs "Lakini's Juice" and "Heropsychodreamer".
  • As mentioned above, the episode marks the final hosting by Chase as of 2024; he was believed to have been banned from doing so again due to his longtime difficulties performing with the cast, with the final straw an alleged incident in which he slapped Cheri Oteri in the head after she messed up a line during dress rehearsals for the "7 Action News" sketch.
42014Alec BaldwinTina TurnerFebruary 22, 1997 (1997-02-22)

42115StingVeruca SaltMarch 15, 1997 (1997-03-15)

  • Veruca Salt performs "Shutterbug".
  • Sting performs "My One & Only Love".
  • Sting's wife Trudie Styler appears during the "Audition" sketch.
  • Mark Hamill appears during the "Shopping at Home Network" sketch.
42216Mike MyersAerosmithMarch 22, 1997 (1997-03-22)

42317Rob LoweSpice GirlsApril 12, 1997 (1997-04-12)

42418Pamela AndersonRollins BandApril 19, 1997 (1997-04-19)

  • Rollins Band performs "Starve".
  • Anderson's then-husband, rocker Tommy Lee, appeared as himself in the "Movie Shoot" sketch and "Hey, Remember The 80s" sketch.
42519John GoodmanJewelMay 10, 1997 (1997-05-10)

42620Jeff GoldblumEn VogueMay 17, 1997 (1997-05-17)

References

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  1. ^ Kennedy, Michael (March 12, 2022). "Saturday Night Live: Everyone Banned From Performing & Why". ScreenRant. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  2. ^ "'SNL' yanks Koechner, Walls, Spade". New York Daily News. September 10, 1996. p. D4. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  3. ^ "'Saturday Night' starts season". Rome News-Tribune. September 5, 1996. p. 8-A. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Wright, Megh (June 6, 2012). "Saturday Night's Children: Mark McKinney (1995-1997)". Vulture. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  5. ^ Wright, Megh (September 11, 2014). "Saturday Night's Children: O'Hara, Hudson, Prager, and Wolf". Vulture. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  6. ^ "Season 22: Opening Montage Variants". r/LiveFromNewYork. March 31, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  7. ^ McKay, Adam (February 13, 2015). "Adam McKay: What It's Like to Write for 'SNL'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  8. ^ "10 People You Didn't Know Were Writers On SNL". HowStuffWorks. February 24, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  9. ^ "Tom Hanks/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers". Saturday Night Live. Season 22. Episode 1. September 28, 1996. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
  10. ^ "Bill Pulman/New Edition". Saturday Night Live. Season 22. Episode 3. October 19, 1996. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
  11. ^ "Jeff Goldblum/En Vogue". Saturday Night Live. Season 22. Episode 20. May 17, 1997. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
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