Saturday Night Live (season 20)

Saturday Night Live Season 20

The Saturday Night Live title card as seen in the opening credits of the 20th season.
Country of origin  United States
No. of episodes 20
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Original run September 24, 1994 – May 13, 1995
Season chronology
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21

Saturday Night Live aired its twentieth season during the 1994–95 television season on NBC. The twentieth season began on September 24, 1994 and ended on May 13, 1995.

Much like seasons six and eleven, this season was lambasted by critics for its decline in quality. Season twenty suffered from having sketches based on very thin premises, a high number of which focused on or mentioned O. J. Simpson's 1995 murder trial.

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 (SNL's first black female repertory player, who was on the show's 11th season), who died of breast cancer, and Michael O'Donoghue (a longtime writer and sometimes castmember), who died of a cerebral hemorrhage. The Sarah Jessica Parker/R.E.M. episode featured a special appearance by Bill Murray, who introduced a clip of "Mr. Mike's Least Favorite Bedtime Stories" in O'Donoghue's memory.

Contents

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 not 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 Lorne Michaels happened to produce.

Several cast members quit the show throughout the season. Mike Myers left after the January 21, 1995 episode, 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 May 6, 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.

Cast list

Repertory cast members
Featured cast members

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

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, Tim Herlihy and Robert Smigel.

Movies

Movie Name Release Date Notes
Stuart Saves His Family April 12, 1995
  • The movie is based on the popular Stuart Smalley sketches.[4]
  • 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.
  • Franken was so upset that the film failed he did a Stuart Smalley sketch that parodied the poor box office returns. Stuart was depressed and bitter throughout the entire segment and lambasted the audience for choosing other movies (such as Dumb and Dumber) over his.

Episodes

Episode # Air Date Host(s) Musical Guest(s) Remarks
367 (20.1) September 24, 1994 Steve Martin Eric Clapton
368 (20.2) October 1, 1994 Marisa Tomei Bonnie Raitt
369 (20.3) October 15, 1994 John Travolta Seal
370 (20.4) October 22, 1994 Dana Carvey Edie Brickell
  • George H. W. Bush made an appearance in the cold opening and monologue, critiquing Dana Carvey's impersonation of him.
371 (20.5) November 12, 1994 Sarah Jessica Parker R.E.M.
372 (20.6) November 19, 1994 John Turturro Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
373 (20.7) December 3, 1994 Roseanne Green Day
374 (20.8) December 10, 1994 Alec Baldwin Beastie Boys
  • Alec Baldwin mentions the infamous "Canteen Boy Goes Camping" sketch and the resulting complaints in the monologue (and performs a more politically correct version of the sketch with Adam Sandler as Canteen Boy).
  • Guest appearance by Christian Slater
375 (20.9) December 17, 1994 George Foreman Hole
376 (20.10) January 14, 1995 Jeff Daniels Luscious Jackson
  • The names of former NBA stars Bob McAdoo, Kevin McHale, and Kurt Rambis are used for characters in the "Mystery Dinner Theater" sketch.
  • Mark McKinney's first episode as a cast member.
377 (20.11) January 21, 1995 David Hyde Pierce Live
378 (20.12) February 11, 1995 Bob Newhart Des'ree
  • The end of the episode has a part where Bob Newhart wakes up next to Suzanne Pleshette (as he did on the last episode of "Newhart") and tells him about his nightmare hosting SNL. Pleshette's remark, "Saturday Night Live? Is that show still on?" is a jab at the show's longevity and (at the time) perceived decline in quality.
379 (20.13) February 18, 1995 Deion Sanders Bon Jovi
380 (20.14) February 25, 1995 George Clooney The Cranberries
  • Janeane Garofalo's final episode as a cast member.
  • Molly Shannon's first episode as a cast member.
  • George Clooney is the first cast member from the NBC medical drama E.R. to host SNL.
  • Features the Bruce McCulloch short film entitled "Snowbird".
381 (20.15) March 18, 1995 Paul Reiser Annie Lennox
382 (20.16) March 25, 1995 John Goodman The Tragically Hip
  • Dan Aykroyd made an appearance reprising two of his recurring characters in this episode: dangerous toy manufacturer Irwin Mainway from "Consumer Probe" and Elwood Blues from The Blues Brothers. He also introduces The Tragically Hip before they play.
  • Under the guise of a significant weight gain, Goodman fills in for the departed Mike Myers in a "Superfans" sketch, at the end of which Brian Dennehy appears, announcing that Goodman, Farley, George Wendt and himself constitute the most "fat guys" ever to simultaneously appear on a single sketch. (Total cast weight: 1342 lbs.)
383 (20.17) April 8, 1995 Damon Wayans Dionne Farris
  • Damon Wayans brought some of his famous characters from In Living Color over to this episode, including homeless wino Anton Jackson and flamboyant Men on Film film critic Blaine Edwards. During the sketch featuring the latter character, David Alan Grier reprised his role as Antoine Merriweather, Blaine's co-host.
  • Morwenna Banks's first episode as a cast member
  • With this episode, Damon Wayans becomes the first cast member from the 1985–1986 season (the first season to have Lorne Michaels return as executive producer) to come back and host. Other SNL alumni who share this distinction are Robert Downey, Jr. (in season 22) and Jon Lovitz (from season 23).
384 (20.18) April 15, 1995 Courteney Cox Dave Matthews Band
385 (20.19) May 6, 1995 Bob Saget TLC
  • Al Franken's final episode as a cast member.
  • Bob Saget is the first cast member from the ABC sitcom Full House to host SNL. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen hosted in season 29.
386 (20.20) May 13, 1995 David Duchovny Rod Stewart
  • Guest appearance by Naomi Campbell
  • 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 SNL band and as co-musical director.

References

  1. ^ Comedy Isn't Funny
  2. ^ IMDB page: "Mike Myers Filmography by TV.
  3. ^ IMDB page: "Janeane Garofalo - Filmography by TV."
  4. ^ Stuart Saves His Family: The Movie
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