Saturday Night Live (season 33)
| Saturday Night Live Season 33 | |
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 The Saturday Night Live title card as seen in the opening credits of the 33rd season. |
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| 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 writer who frequently performs 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 they returned on February 23, 2008.
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 [filling in for a flu-stricken Janet Jackson] and The Rock would host next season, with musical guest Ray LaMontagne. Amy Winehouse would never get the chance to be a musical guest, host, or even cameo due to her death in 2011).
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 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.[1]
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 the death of the show's very first host: comedian/actor George Carlin. A scheduled rerun of the episode hosted by Ellen Page was replaced with a rerun of the show's very first episode, which had Carlin as host and Janis Ian and Billy Preston as musical guests.
Contents |
Cast [edit]
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bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
Writers [edit]
Episodes [edit]
| No. | # | Host(s) | Musical guest(s) | Original airdate |
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| 625 | 1 | LeBron James | Kanye West | September 29, 2007 |
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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. 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". |
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| 626 | 2 | Seth Rogen | Spoon | October 6, 2007 |
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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. Spoon performed "The Underdog" and "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb." |
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| 627 | 3 | Jon Bon Jovi | Foo Fighters | October 13, 2007 |
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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." |
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| 628 | 4 | Brian Williams | Feist | November 3, 2007 |
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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." Maya Rudolph's final episode as a cast member. Feist performed "1234" and "I Feel It All". |
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| 629 | 5 | Tina Fey | Carrie Underwood | February 23, 2008 |
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Casey Wilson's first episode as a cast member. 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. Carrie Underwood performed "All-American Girl" and "Flat on the Floor". |
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| 630 | 6 | Ellen Page | Wilco | March 1, 2008 |
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Hillary Clinton appeared in the cold open after Amy Poehler impersonated her. 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". |
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| 631 | 7 | Amy Adams | Vampire Weekend | March 8, 2008 |
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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". |
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| 632 | 8 | Jonah Hill | Mariah Carey | March 15, 2008 |
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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. Janet Jackson was originally confirmed to be the musical guest, but she was ill with the flu and declined on the Tuesday before the live show.[2] |
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| 633 | 9 | Christopher Walken | Panic! at the Disco | April 5, 2008 |
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Connecticut senator and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Christopher Dodd made a guest appearance during the SNL Digital Short "Laser Cats! 3D". Panic! at the Disco performed "Nine in the Afternoon" and "I Write Sins Not Tragedies". |
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| 634 | 10 | Ashton Kutcher | Gnarls Barkley | April 12, 2008 |
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Ashton Kutcher's then-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". 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. |
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| 635 | 11 | Shia LaBeouf | My Morning Jacket | May 10, 2008 |
| My Morning Jacket performed "I'm Amazed" and "Evil Urges". | ||||
| 636 | 12 | Steve Carell | Usher | May 17, 2008 |
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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". 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. |
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Specials [edit]
| # | Special | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "SNL Family Thanksgiving Leftovers" | November 24, 2007 |
| This special featured memorable Thanksgiving and family-themed moments from SNL. Sketches 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." | ||
| 2 | "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. | ||
References [edit]
- ^ SNL stages two-hour live theatre show in Manhattan
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (March 12, 2008). "Janet Jackson Cancels "SNL" Appearance, Blames Flu". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
