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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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.^{[citation needed]} 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.

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

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). Janeane Garofalo quit the show following the February 25 episode, 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

• 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

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. 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 Number	Date	Host	Musical Guest	Notes
367 (20.1)	September 24, 1994	Steve Martin	Eric Clapton	Eric Clapton performed "I'm Tore Down" and "Five Long Years". Chris Elliott, Janeane Garofalo and Laura Kightlinger's first episode as cast members. 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 (20.2)	October 1, 1994	Marisa Tomei	Bonnie Raitt	Bonnie Raitt performed "Love Sneaking Up On You" and "Storm Warning". In one sketch, Tomei reprised her role as Mona Lisa Vito, a character from My Cousin Vinny, for which she won an Academy Award.
369 (20.3)	October 15, 1994	John Travolta	Seal	Seal performed "Prayer for the Dying" and "Crazy", and appeared in the "We Go Together" sketch. David Lander and Steve Buscemi appeared in the "Welcome Back, Kotter" sketch and the "We Go Together" sketch. The Comedy Central version of this episode cuts out the cold opening where Travolta walks the halls of Studio 8H while The Bee-Gees' "Staying Alive" plays, parodying his role in the movie Saturday Night Fever. The E! version leaves the scene intact.
370 (20.4)	October 22, 1994	Dana Carvey	Edie Brickell	Edie Brickell performed "Green" and "Tommorow Comes". George H. W. Bush made an appearance in the cold opening and monologue, critiquing Dana Carvey's impersonation of him. Paul Simon joined Edie Brickell for her first performance.
371 (20.5)	November 12, 1994	Sarah Jessica Parker	R.E.M.	R.E.M. performed "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?", "Bang and Blame", and "I Don't Sleep, I Dream". Lead singer Michael Stipe sang, "Don't fuck with me" during "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" It was not caught by the censors and remains in all rebroadcasts. 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.
372 (20.6)	November 19, 1994	John Turturro	Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers	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 (20.7)	December 3, 1994	Roseanne	Green Day	Green Day performed "When I Come Around" and "Geek Stink Breath". Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong sang "Wish in one hand / Shit in the other" during "Geek Stink Breath." It was not caught by the censors and remains in all rebroadcasts. Rip Taylor appeared in the "Lock-Up" sketch.
374 (20.8)	December 10, 1994	Alec Baldwin	Beastie Boys	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. 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).
375 (20.9)	December 17, 1994	George Foreman	Hole	Hole performed "Doll Parts" and "Violet". Michael Buffer appeared in the "Time Boxer" sketch.
376 (20.10)	January 14, 1995	Jeff Daniels	Luscious Jackson	Luscious Jackson performed "Citysong" and "Here". Mark McKinney's first episode as a cast member.
377 (20.11)	January 21, 1995	David Hyde Pierce	Live	Live performed "I Alone" and "Selling the Drama". Mike Myers' final episode as a cast member.
378 (20.12)	February 11, 1995	Bob Newhart	Des'ree	Des'ree performed "You Gotta Be" and "Feels So High". 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	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.
380 (20.14)	February 25, 1995	George Clooney	The Cranberries	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 (20.15)	March 18, 1995	Paul Reiser	Annie Lennox	Annie Lennox performed "No More I Love You's" and "Train In Vain".
382 (20.16)	March 25, 1995	John Goodman	The Tragically Hip	The Tragically Hip performed "Grace, Too" and "Nautical Disaster". Dan Aykroyd appeared in the cold-open, the opening monologue, 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 appeared in the "Bob Swerski's Super Fans" sketch.
383 (20.17)	April 8, 1995	Damon Wayans	Dionne Farris	Dionne Farris performed "I Know" and "Blackbird". David Alan Grier appeared during the "Men on Film" sketch. Morwenna Banks's first episode as a cast member. Damon Wayans reprised his roles as Anton Jackson and Blaine Edwards from In Living Color.
384 (20.18)	April 15, 1995	Courteney Cox	Dave Matthews Band	Dave Matthews Band performed "What Would You Say" and "Ants Marching".
385 (20.19)	May 6, 1995	Bob Saget	TLC	TLC performed "Creep" and "Red Light Special". Al Franken's final episode as a cast member.
386 (20.20)	May 13, 1995	David Duchovny	Rod Stewart	Rod Stewart performed "Leave Virginia Alone" and "Maggie May". Michael Angarano appeared during the opening monologue. Naomi Campbell appeared 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 SNL band and as co-musical director.