In July 1999, when executive producer Lorne Michaels held auditions for the season, NBC introduced a new contract for first-year cast members, replacing the five- or six-year deals they had used in the past.[1] The terms were established by NBC executives Scott Sassa and Garth Ancier. According to Peter Bogdanovich, the new contract came with the following terms:[1]
| Special Name |
Original Air Date |
Notes |
| 25th Anniversary Special |
September 25, 1999 |
- A special celebrating the 25th anniversary of the show. A long list of cast members, guest hosts and other special people stop by to honor the show's anniversary.
- Beastie Boys, Elvis Costello, the Eurythmics and Al Green perform.
- John Belushi, Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, Michael O'Donoghue, Gilda Radner and Danitra Vance all received a tribute in the special.
- Dan Aykroyd, Alec Baldwin, James Van Der Beek, Candice Bergen, Garth Brooks, David Bowie, Chevy Chase, Billy Crystal, Michael Douglas, James Downey, Nora Dunn, Al Franken, Sarah Michelle Gellar, John Goodman, Tom Hanks, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson, Catherine Zeta Jones, Jon Lovitz, Norm Macdonald, Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, Dennis Miller, Jay Mohr, Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Kevin Nealon, Laraine Newman, Don Pardo, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, Paul Shaffer, Martin Short, Paul Simon, Robert Smigel, Kevin Spacey, David Spade, Lily Tomlin, Christopher Walken and many more attended the event.
|
| Best of Game Show Parodies |
February 29, 2000 |
- The special featured some of the best material featuring game show parodies featured on the show.
- Sketches include "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", "Celebrity Jeopardy", "Old French Whore", "Stand-Up and Win", "Who Wants to Eat?", "The Bensonhurst Dating Game", "Who Wants to Be Groped by an Eleven Thousand-aire?"
- The clip show was hosted by Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek and Darrell Hammond as Regis Philbin.
|
| The Best of Tim Meadows |
September 9, 2000 |
- A compilation of some of Tim Meadows' best sketches from his 10-year stint on the show.
|
| Episode # |
Air Date |
Host(s) |
Musical Guest(s) |
Remarks |
| 466 (25.1) |
October 2, 1999 |
Jerry Seinfeld |
David Bowie |
- Dean Winters, Harold Perrineau, J. K. Simmons, and Lee Tergesen appear as their characters from the HBO prison drama Oz in a pre-taped sketch that has Jerry Seinfeld sent to the Oswald Correctional Facility following his jail time on the series finale of Seinfeld.
- AJ Benza appeared in the "...And a Pizza Place" sketch. NBC Late Night Executive Rick Ludwin briefly shows up as well in this sketch. Ludwin was influential in supporting Seinfeld as well Conan O'Brien during their rocky starts at NBC.
- David Bowie performed "Thursday's Child" and "Rebel, Rebel."
|
| 467 (25.2) |
October 16, 1999 |
Heather Graham |
Marc Anthony |
|
| 468 (25.3) |
October 23, 1999 |
Norm Macdonald |
Dr. Dre,
Snoop Dogg, & Eminem |
- This episode was delayed 14 minutes due to the World Series.
- All reruns of this episode mute out Norm Macdonald's use of the word "goddamn" (he says it once in the monologue when he asked, "How did I get so goddamned funny?" and three times during the Inside the Actor's Studio sketch).
- The 60-minute rerun of this episode only airs the performance of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, even though Eminem's name is mentioned in the opening credits.
- Rachel Dratch's first episode as a cast member.
- Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg performed "Still D.R.E." for the first performance.
- Dr. Dre and Eminem performed "Forgot About Dre" for the second performance.
|
| 469 (25.4) |
November 6, 1999 |
Dylan McDermott |
Foo Fighters |
|
| 470 (25.5) |
November 13, 1999 |
Garth Brooks |
Chris Gaines |
- In a callback to Brooks' appearance when he hosted and was musical guest on season 23, Brooks does a skit with Mango as Chris Gaines, then unmasks him.
- Chris Gaines performed "Way of the Girl."
|
| 471 (25.6) |
November 20, 1999 |
Jennifer Aniston |
Sting |
|
| 472 (25.7) |
December 4, 1999 |
Christina Ricci |
Beck |
|
| 473 (25.8) |
December 11, 1999 |
Danny DeVito |
R.E.M. |
- Jim Carrey (who, at the time, was in the film Man on the Moon) was originally scheduled to host, but backed out due to scheduling conflicts.
- R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe makes an appearance in a "Mango" sketch with Chris Kattan.
- The Rockettes guest star in a sketch featuring Molly Shannon's character Sally O'Malley.
- Almost all of the sketches in this episode either feature recurring characters, recurring celebrity impersonations, or are recurring sketches. The only non-recurring sketch is the "Press Conference Playset" fake commercial.
- R.E.M. performed "The Great Beyond" and "Man on the Moon."
|
| 474 (25.9) |
January 8, 2000 |
Jamie Foxx |
Blink-182 |
|
| 475 (25.10) |
January 15, 2000 |
Freddie Prinze, Jr. |
Macy Gray |
|
| 476 (25.11) |
February 5, 2000 |
Alan Cumming |
Jennifer Lopez |
|
| 477 (25.12) |
February 12, 2000 |
Julianna Margulies |
DMX |
- Julianna Marguiles is the third cast member, and the only female cast member, from the NBC medical drama ER to host SNL.
- The "Regurgitating Family" sketch almost didn't make it to air because everyone involved in the sketch couldn't stop cracking up. The sketch did make it to the live show, with Julianna Margulies the only one to crack up after Will Ferrell chokes on some food during his rant and ad-libs, "I'm upset!" [1]
- DMX performed "Party Up" and "What's My Name."
|
| 478 (25.13) |
February 19, 2000 |
Ben Affleck |
Fiona Apple |
- Gwyneth Paltrow makes an appearance in Affleck's monologue (Affleck made an appearance in Paltrow's monologue when she hosted in 1999).
- The "Fanatic" pretaped sketch where an orphan (Ben Affleck) meets Anna Nicole Smith (Molly Shannon) was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
- Fiona Apple performed "Limp."
|
| 479 (25.14) |
March 11, 2000 |
Joshua Jackson |
'N Sync |
- 'N Sync performed "Bye, Bye, Bye and "I Thought She Knew" and also appeared in two sketches.
- SNL writer and stand up comic Kevin Brennan appeared in as himself in a Weekend Update commentary on presidential candidates.
|
| 480 (25.15) |
March 18, 2000 |
The Rock |
AC/DC |
|
| 481 (25.16) |
April 8, 2000 |
Christopher Walken |
Christina Aguilera |
- Former cast member Dana Carvey returns in this episode as George H. W. Bush during the cold opening.
- The sketch "Behind the Music: Blue Oyster Cult" was an award winner for Christopher Walken, and the slogan - "(I Gotta Have) More Cowbell!" - would be featured on various memorabilia.
- Tina Fey (back when she was a writer for the show) appears in the "Viagra" fake commercial as one of the unhappy wives.
- A sketch that got cut after dress rehearsal, about a dying hospital patient (Ana Gasteyer) who meets a strange angel (Christopher Walken) and doesn't believe that he's here to save her, can be seen as an extra in the DVD version of the SNL special, "The Best of Christopher Walken".
- Christina Aguilera performed "I Turn to You", "At Last", and "What A Girl Wants."
|
| 482 (25.17) |
April 15, 2000 |
Tobey Maguire |
Sisqó |
- Reruns on NBC and E! have a dress rehearsal version of Sisqo's musical performance because in the live show, his microphone went dead and he had to wait for a stage hand to give him another one.
- Sisqó performed "The Thong Song."
|
| 483 (25.18) |
May 6, 2000 |
John Goodman |
Neil Young |
|
| 484 (25.19) |
May 13, 2000 |
Britney Spears |
|
| 485 (25.20) |
May 20, 2000 |
Jackie Chan |
Kid Rock |
- Cameos by Sarah Michelle Gellar, Gina Gershon, Florence Henderson, and former SNL band leader, G.E. Smith.
- With this episode, Jackie Chan becomes the first Asian movie star to host SNL.
- Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio joined Kid Rock on guitar for his second song "Only God Knows Why".
- The NBC rerun of this episode edits out the "Zimmermans At The Golf Course" sketch and replaces it with a short film called, "The Procedure" starring Andy Richter and Willem Dafoe.
- Tim Meadows, Cheri Oteri and Colin Quinn's final episode as cast members.
- Stage manager Bob Van Ry and musical director Cheryl Hardwick retire effective with this show; both are mentioned by name in a sketch during the show.
- Stuntman Brad Allan, one of Jackie Chan's Stunt Team appears as a Opening Monologue Thug (uncredited).
- Kid Rock performed "American Bad Ass" and "Only God Knows Why." He also appears in the Elvis Impersonator sketch.
|