Saturday Night Live (season 33)

Saturday Night Live Season 33
The Saturday Night Live title card as seen in the opening credits of the 33rd season.
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	12
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 29, 2007 – May 17, 2008
Season chronology
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Saturday Night Live aired its thirty-third season, during the 2007–2008 television season on NBC.

Because of the 2007–2008 WGA strike, there were only 12 episodes produced in this season instead of the usual 20 (with 4 consecutive episodes made between February 23 and March 15), making this the shortest season in the series run and beating out both the sixth (1980–1981) season and the thirteenth (1987–1988) season, which had thirteen episodes. This is also the only season in SNL history not to have a new Christmas episode, since the WGA strike spanned from November 2007 to February 2008.

No changes to the cast happened over the summer and everyone from last season returned. During the strike, long-time castmember Maya Rudolph left the show, as she had no contract with SNL that year. Casey Wilson, an actress and film/television writer who frequently performs live comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, was hired in January 2008 to fill the void, but due to the strike, did not appear on the show until the episode hosted by Tina Fey.

On November 5, 2007, after the episode hosted by Brian Williams, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. It was announced that SNL would air its next episode on November 10, 2007 (with host The Rock and musical guest Amy Winehouse), live on air, with a future episode to follow, featuring Jonah Hill and musical guest Kid Rock. However, on November 7, 2007, SNL's official website confirmed that those episodes were canceled and reruns would be seen beginning November 10, and would continue during the duration of the strike. The Rock/Winehouse show was canceled, along with the Jonah Hill/Kid Rock episode (though Jonah Hill would get a second opportunity, when he hosted the March 15 episode, with musical guest Mariah Carey and The Rock would host next season, with musical guest Ray LaMontagne).

During the strike on November 17, 2007, the cast of the show, along with host Michael Cera and musical guest Yo La Tengo performed an "episode" of the show entitled Saturday Night Live - On Strike! at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (co-founded by former cast member Amy Poehler) in New York City. Every cast member except for Maya Rudolph appeared, with former cast members Horatio Sanz and Rachel Dratch and musician Norah Jones making cameo appearances.

On February 12, 2008, the strike was announced to be officially over with a 92.5% vote. Production continued on February 18, 2008 for the February 23, 2008 episode, hosted by former SNL cast member Tina Fey with musical guest Carrie Underwood.

This season also saw one of major loss in the whole SNL family when comedian/actor George Carlin who hosted the first episode in 1975 and an episode in 1984, died of heart failure on June 22. The first episode of SNL reran as a special tribute to Carlin on the 28th of June, 6 days after Carlin's passing.

Cast

Repertory players

• Fred Armisen
• Will Forte
• Bill Hader
• Darrell Hammond
• Seth Meyers
• Amy Poehler
• Maya Rudolph (final episode: November 3, 2007)
• Andy Samberg
• Jason Sudeikis
• Kenan Thompson
• Kristen Wiig

Featured players

• Casey Wilson (first episode: February 23, 2008)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers#Season 33

Listings

Regular airings

• September 29, 2007: LeBron James/Kanye West (33.1, live)
• October 6, 2007: Seth Rogen/Spoon (33.2, live)
• October 13, 2007: Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (33.3, live)
• October 20, 2007: LeBron James/Kanye West (33.1, repeat)
• October 27, 2007: Seth Rogen/Spoon (33.2, repeat)
• November 3, 2007: Brian Williams/Feist (33.4, live)
• November 10, 2007: Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (33.3, repeat)
• November 17, 2007: Brian Williams/Feist (33.4, repeat)
• November 24, 2007: SNL Family Thanksgiving Leftovers (new special)
• December 1, 2007: Alec Baldwin/Christina Aguilera (32.5, repeat)
• December 8, 2007: Jack Black/Neil Young (31.9, repeat)
• December 15, 2007: Justin Timberlake (32.9, repeat)
• December 22, 2007: Steve Martin/James Taylor (17.9, repeat)
• December 29, 2007: John C. Reilly/My Chemical Romance (32.3, repeat)
• January 5, 2008: Peyton Manning/Carrie Underwood (32.16, repeat)
• January 12, 2008: Jake Gyllenhaal/The Shins (32.10, repeat)
• January 19, 2008: The Best of Tracy Morgan (special, repeat)
• January 26, 2008: Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (33.3, repeat)
• February 2, 2008: Tom Brady/Beck (30.17, repeat)
• February 9, 2008: Brian Williams/Feist (33.4, repeat)
• February 16, 2008: LeBron James/Kanye West (33.1, repeat)
• February 23, 2008: Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood (33.5, live)
• March 1, 2008: Ellen Page/Wilco (33.6, live)
• March 8, 2008: Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend (33.7, live)
• March 15, 2008: Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey (33.8, live)
• March 22, 2008: Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood (33.5, repeat)
• March 29, 2008: Ellen Page/Wilco (33.6, repeat)
• April 5, 2008: Christopher Walken/Panic! At the Disco (33.9, live)
• April 12, 2008: Ashton Kutcher/Gnarls Barkley (33.10, live)
• April 19, 2008: Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend (33.7, repeat)
• April 26, 2008: Christopher Walken/Panic! At The Disco (33.9, repeat)
• May 3, 2008: Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey (33.8, repeat)
• May 10, 2008: Shia LaBeouf/My Morning Jacket (33.11, live)
• May 17, 2008: Steve Carell/Usher (33.12, live)
• May 24, 2008: Ashton Kutcher/Gnarls Barkley (33.10, repeat)
• May 31, 2008: Shia LaBeouf/My Morning Jacket (33.11, repeat)
• June 7, 2008: LeBron James/Kanye West (33.1, repeat)
• June 14, 2008: Steve Carell/Usher (33.12, repeat)
• June 21, 2008: Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood (33.5, repeat)
• June 28, 2008: George Carlin/Billy Preston/Janis Ian (1.1, repeat)*
• July 5, 2008: Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (33.3, repeat)
• July 12, 2008: Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey (33.8, repeat)
• July 19, 2008: Christopher Walken/Panic! At the Disco (33.9, repeat)
• July 26, 2008: Rainn Wilson/Arcade Fire (32.14, repeat)
• August 2, 2008: Seth Rogen/Spoon (33.2, repeat)
• August 9, 2008: Preempted due to the Summer Olympics
• August 16, 2008: Preempted due to the Summer Olympics
• August 23, 2008: Preempted due to the Summer Olympics
• August 30, 2008: Brian Williams/Feist (33.4, repeat)
• September 6, 2008: Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood (33.5, repeat)

(*Originally, the episode hosted by Ellen Page with musical guest Wilco was supposed to rerun, but was replaced with this episode due to George Carlin's death.)

Prime-time airings

• December 8, 2007: 9:30 The Best of Will Ferrell
• December 13, 2007: 9:30 SNL Christmas
• December 15, 2007: 8:00 SNL Christmas
• December 15, 2007: 9:30 The Best of Chris Farley
• December 22, 2007: 8:00 The Best of 2006/2007
• December 22, 2007: 9:30 SNL Goes Commercial ('aka' Best of Commercial Parodies)
• December 31, 2007: 8:00 SNL in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation
• April 22, 2008: 8:30 The Best of Chris Farley
• April 29, 2008: 8:30 The Best of Alec Baldwin
• June 15, 2008: 9:00 The Best of Mike Myers (updated version)

Specials

Special Name	Original Air Date	Notes
SNL Family Thanksgiving Leftovers	November 24, 2007	This special featured memorable Thanksgiving and family-themed moments from SNL. Sketchs in the special were "Debbie Downer", "Paul's Monologue Worries", "The Ladies' Man", "The Bird Family", "Adam Sandler's Turkey Song", "Martha Stewart Living", "Nikey Turkey", "Big Kids", "Fuzzy Memories", "Ed Grimley's Thanksgiving", "Dysfunctional Family Dinner", "Jarret's Room", "Swerski's Super Fans' Thanksgiving", "The Loud Family", and "Greetings from Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein."
The Best of Mike Myers	June 15, 2008	The special featured an updated version of his best of which included new material. The new material featured Myers and the current cast talking about him and the studio. Sketches included: "Wayne's World Meets Aerosmith", "Coffee Talk with Barbra Streisand", "Simon", "Lothar of the Hill People" and more. This special also featured Myers' personal favorite sketches that he performed with Phil Hartman and Chris Farley.

Episodes

Episode Number	Date	Host(s)	Musical Guest(s)	Remarks
625 (33.1)	September 29, 2007	LeBron James	Kanye West	In the live East Coast version, the opening credits were not announced until Seth Meyers' name appeared on-screen because Don Pardo's microphone was not turned on, but was re-recorded after the show for the West Coast airing and for the NBC reruns during the WGA strike and the summer reruns. Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine and actor Jake Gyllenhaal appeared in an SNL Digital Short called 'Iran So Far', a parody of the song "I Ran (So Far Away)" by A Flock of Seagulls. The NBC rerun of this episode contains a dress rehearsal version of the "Lyle Kane Show" sketch and an extended version of the Great Moments in Guidance Counseling sketch where Kenan Thompson plays a guidance counselor who tells Kanye West (who appears as himself) to drop out of college after a year and get rich writing songs about it. A technical error during the live performance of the latter sketch ruined a visual punchline. Kanye West performed a medley of "Stronger" and "Good Life" in his first performance. In his second performance, he performed a medley of "Champion" and "Everything I Am." After rapping part of "Everything I Am" using the original lyrics, Kanye West freestyled, notably saying "I meant to mess up" and expressing surprise that NBC would have him back on the air after his comments directed towards George W. Bush during "A Concert for Hurricane Relief".
626 (33.2)	October 6, 2007	Seth Rogen	Spoon	Chevy Chase made his first appearance on Saturday Night Live in six years to the day, with the original Weekend Update set re-created for him. His last appearance was during the Weekend Update of the Seann William Scott/Sum 41 episode when he revived his old recurring character, The Landshark. A Robert Smigel cartoon was announced during the credits, though no cartoon was shown. In NBC reruns, the announcement is cut. Spoon performed "The Underdog" and "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb."
627 (33.3)	October 13, 2007	Jon Bon Jovi	Foo Fighters	Jon Bon Jovi and his band performed "Lost Highway" during the opening monologue, even though Foo Fighters were the official musical guests. Bon Jovi also performed "Who Says You Can't Go Home" at the end of the show. The latter performance was introduced by Jack Nicholson. Jon Bon Jovi and Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters appeared in the SNL Digital Short, "People Getting Punched Just Before Eating." Foo Fighters performed "The Pretender."
628 (33.4)	November 3, 2007	Brian Williams	Feist	Barack Obama made a cameo during the cold open. Obama also started the show by uttering the famous words, "Live from New York, it's Saturday night!" Former cast member Horatio Sanz returned to play Democratic hopeful Bill Richardson in the cold opening and another sketch. Bono, Al Roker, and Matt Lauer appeared in the SNL Digital Short, "The Brian Williams Diaries." Host Brian Williams was taping an interview with Bono for NBC during the week and asked him appear in the short. Maya Rudolph's final episode as a cast member. An announcement was made for the November 10 episode hosted by The Rock with musical guest Amy Winehouse, but the episode itself was canceled when news hit the day after this episode aired that the Writers Guild of America was going on strike. Feist performed "1234" and "I Feel It All".
629 (33.5)	February 23, 2008	Tina Fey	Carrie Underwood	Fey was the third female cast member to return to SNL as a host (with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the first and Molly Shannon as the second), the second female SNL cast member (next to Molly Shannon) who used to work under Lorne Michaels, and the first female cast member who used to work as a Weekend Update anchor. Casey Wilson's first episode as a cast member. Cameos include: Amber Lee Ettinger (better known as "Obama Girl") appeared in the cold open, Steve Martin appeared in the opening monologue, and Governor Mike Huckabee appeared during "Weekend Update". Announcer Don Pardo made a rare on-screen appearance during the good nights in celebration of his 90th birthday, which was celebrated the previous day. This was the first of four consecutive live episodes produced after the end of the writer's strike. Carrie Underwood performed "All-American Girl" and "Flat on the Floor".
630 (33.6)	March 1, 2008	Ellen Page	Wilco	Hillary Clinton appeared in the cold open after Amy Poehler impersonated her. She is the second Presidential candidate to say "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" (after Barack Obama). Also appearing in the cold open was Vincent D'Onofrio as his character of Det. Robert Goren from Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani made a cameo during "Weekend Update". Wilco performed "Hate It Here" and "Walken".
631 (33.7)	March 8, 2008	Amy Adams	Vampire Weekend	Amy Adams and Kristen Wiig performed "What Is This Feeling?" from the musical Wicked in the opening monologue. Vampire Weekend performed "A-Punk" and "M79".
632 (33.8)	March 15, 2008	Jonah Hill	Mariah Carey	Jonah Hill was originally supposed to host SNL on November 17, 2007 with musical guest Kid Rock, but the episode was canceled (along with the planned episode after the Brian Williams/Feist show hosted by The Rock with musical guest Amy Winehouse) due to the writers' strike. Janet Jackson was originally confirmed on air to be the musical guest in the previous episode, but she was ill with the flu and declined on the Tuesday of the performance. Mariah Carey was confirmed soon after Jackson dropped out. Long-time SNL writer Jim Downey portrayed Andy Samberg's father, Ben Samberg, in the SNL Digital Short "Andy's Dad". Tracy Morgan made a cameo appearance during "Weekend Update". Mariah Carey performed "Touch My Body" and "Migrate", with T-Pain making an appearance during the latter song.
633 (33.9)	April 5, 2008	Christopher Walken	Panic! at the Disco	This marked the first episode hosted by Christopher Walken that did not include his recurring character, The Continental, or his song-and-dance monologue. Connecticut senator and former 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Christopher Dodd made a guest appearance during the SNL Digital Short "Laser Cats! 3D". Tina Fey appeared in the Annuale commercial (a re-aired commercial from the episode she hosted in February). Panic! at the Disco performed "Nine in the Afternoon" and "I Write Sins Not Tragedies".
634 (33.10)	April 12, 2008	Ashton Kutcher	Gnarls Barkley	Ashton Kutcher's wife, Demi Moore, appears in the opening monologue. Cameron Diaz makes a guest appearance in "The Cougar Den" sketch. Gnarls Barkley performed "Run (I'm a Natural Disaster)" and "Who's Gonna Save My Soul". Casey Wilson's "paralyzed stripper" sketch was one of the pieces she performed in her SNL audition. The three-part pre-taped sketch "Death By Chocolate" (where a walking candy bar [Ashton Kutcher] kills people in gruesome ways) was directed by Jason Reitman (director of Juno and Thank You for Smoking).
635 (33.11)	May 10, 2008	Shia LaBeouf	My Morning Jacket	My Morning Jacket performed "I'm Amazed" and "Evil Urges".
636 (33.12)	May 17, 2008	Steve Carell	Usher	Steve Carell's wife Nancy Walls, herself a cast member in season 21, appeared during the opening monologue. Ricky Gervais appeared as himself in the SNL Digital Short "Japanese Office". Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig, and Kenan Thompson reprise their impressions of Jim Halpert, Pam Beesly, and Stanley Hudson respectively, with Bill Hader appearing as Dwight Schrute. Republican presidential candidate John McCain appears as himself in a sketch, as well as Weekend Update. Usher performed "This Ain't Sex" and "Love in This Club", with Young Jeezy making an appearance during the latter song.

Canceled episodes with booked guests

Source:

Airdate	Host	Musical Guest	Comments
November 10, 2007	Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson	Amy Winehouse	Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson hosted a season 34 episode in March 2009, with musical guest Ray LaMontagne. Winehouse never appeared as a musical guest.
November 17, 2007	Jonah Hill	Kid Rock	Jonah Hill ended up hosting in March 2008, with musical guest Mariah Carey (originally, it was Janet Jackson, but she cancelled due to the flu). Kid Rock has yet to return to the show as musical guest (the last time he appeared was on the season 25 finale hosted by Jackie Chan).
December 1, 2007	Ben Affleck	Never announced	Ben Affleck ended up hosting for the fourth time on the November 1, 2008 broadcast with musical guest David Cook.
December 8, 2007	Edie Falco	Never announced	Edie Falco has yet to host an episode of Saturday Night Live.
December 15, 2007	Tom Hanks	Never announced	Tom Hanks would have hosted a Christmas episode of SNL to coincide with the premiere of the movie Charlie Wilson's War. While he has cameoed on the last episode of season 34 (host: Will Ferrell; musical guest: Green Day) and an episode of season 36 (host and musical guest: Elton John), Hanks hasn't hosted an episode since season 31.
Never announced	Alec Baldwin	Never announced	Alec Baldwin hosted a season 34 episode in February 2009, with musical guest Jonas Brothers.

In addition, Brandon Flowers has said in an interview that The Killers and Lou Reed were going to appear on the show and perform "Tranquilize" but the show was canceled due to the strike. This fact has not been confirmed by NBC. The Killers, without Reed, appeared on the Oct. 4, 2008 episode.