Saturday Night Live (season 31)

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The title card for the thirty-first season of Saturday Night Live.
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 19
Release
Original network NBC
Original release October 1, 2005 (2005-10-01) – May 20, 2006 (2006-05-20)
Season chronology
← Previous
season 30
Next →
season 32
List of Saturday Night Live episodes

The thirty-first season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 1, 2005, and May 20, 2006. 19 episodes were produced (rather than the usual 20) due to the 2006 Winter Olympic Games and network budget cuts.

History

This season is notable for the people who hosted the show. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, an SNL cast member from 1982 to 1985 under Dick Ebersol, became the first former female cast member to come back and host the show (and also the third cast member from Seinfeld to host). Gilda Radner was originally supposed to host in 1988, but could not due to the Writer's Guild of America Strike and then Radner's death the following year. This season is also known for the return of such frequent hosts as Alec Baldwin (who last hosted in season 29 with musical guest Missy Elliott in 2003), Tom Hanks (who last hosted the first episode of season 22 with musical guest Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 1996), and Steve Martin (who last hosted the first episode of season 20 with musical guest, Eric Clapton in 1994).

This season saw the seventh death of a former cast member when Charles Rocket (a cast member during the notoriously lackluster 1980-1981 season) committed suicide in 2005. Rocket's suicide is the first death of an SNL cast member who never worked under Lorne Michaels (another cast member who never worked under Michaels wouldn't come until Tony Rosato died in 2017) and is the first (and, so far, only) death of a Weekend Update anchor.[1]

This season was the first to broadcast in high-definition (HD), after 30 years of broadcasting in standard definition.[2]

A 30th anniversary special for the show was planned, but scrapped due to budget cuts.[citation needed]

Cast

Before the start of the season, featured player Rob Riggle was let go from the show. Finesse Mitchell and Kenan Thompson were both promoted to repertory status, while Jason Sudeikis stayed a featured player.

The show added three new cast members: Los Angeles-based sketch comedian Bill Hader, Andy Samberg (the show also hired his two friends Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone as writers, all members of The Lonely Island sketch group) and Kristen Wiig of The Groundlings. Wiig debuted on the show in November, in the episode hosted by Jason Lee. Samberg, Schaffer and Taccone would be a notable force for creating SNL Digital Shorts. One such short was "Lazy Sunday".

Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph missed episodes due to maternity leave. Fey's place on Weekend Update was briefly taken over by Horatio Sanz until her return in the episode hosted by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Fey returned to the show before her maternity leave time was up. Rudolph, however, appeared on the first episode of the new season, and then went on maternity leave and returned in February, in the episode hosted by Steve Martin.

This would also be the final season for cast members Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Finesse Mitchell, Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz, as well as the last season for longtime director Beth McCarthy-Miller. Dratch and Fey both left the show to focus on 30 Rock and McCarthy-Miller left the show on her own terms.[vague] Parnell, Mitchell, and Sanz were let go due to NBC budget cuts.

Cast roster

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

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Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 31

There were three head writers for the 31st season: Andrew Steel,[3] Tina Fey, and Seth Meyers.

Future cast member Colin Jost joined the writing staff this season.

Episodes

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Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes
No.
overall		 No. in
season		 Host Musical guest Original air date
586 1 Steve Carell Kanye West October 1, 2005 (2005-10-01)
587 2 Jon Heder Ashlee Simpson October 8, 2005 (2005-10-08)
588 3 Catherine Zeta-Jones Franz Ferdinand October 22, 2005 (2005-10-22)
589 4 Lance Armstrong Sheryl Crow October 29, 2005 (2005-10-29)
590 5 Jason Lee Foo Fighters November 12, 2005 (2005-11-12)
591 6 Eva Longoria Korn November 19, 2005 (2005-11-19)
592 7 Dane Cook James Blunt December 3, 2005 (2005-12-03)
593 8 Alec Baldwin Shakira December 10, 2005 (2005-12-10)
594 9 Jack Black Neil Young December 17, 2005 (2005-12-17)
595 10 Scarlett Johansson Death Cab for Cutie January 14, 2006 (2006-01-14)
596 11 Peter Sarsgaard The Strokes January 21, 2006 (2006-01-21)
597 12 Steve Martin Prince February 4, 2006 (2006-02-04)
598 13 Natalie Portman Fall Out Boy March 4, 2006 (2006-03-04)
599 14 Matt Dillon Arctic Monkeys March 11, 2006 (2006-03-11)
600 15 Antonio Banderas Mary J. Blige April 8, 2006 (2006-04-08)
601 16 Lindsay Lohan Pearl Jam April 15, 2006 (2006-04-15)
602 17 Tom Hanks Red Hot Chili Peppers May 6, 2006 (2006-05-06)
603 18 Julia Louis-Dreyfus Paul Simon May 13, 2006 (2006-05-13)
604 19 Kevin Spacey Nelly Furtado May 20, 2006 (2006-05-20)

Specials

Title Original air date
"The Best of David Spade" October 15, 2005 (2005-10-15)
"The Best of SNL Commercial Parodies" November 5, 2005 (2005-11-05)
"Lost & Found: SNL in the '80s" November 13, 2005 (2005-11-13)
"The Best of TV Funhouse" April 29, 2006 (2006-04-29)

References

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