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History of Saturday Night Live (2005–2010)

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Template:History of SNL

Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.

2005–2006 season

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 31)

Saturday Night Live promised changes for the 2005–06 season, one of which was broadcasting in high-definition.[1] Lorne Michaels added four new featured players: Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig (partway through the season), and Jason Sudeikis, who was added for the last three episodes of the previous season.

Hader quickly became popular for his impersonations, such as Vincent Price, Lindsey Buckingham, Al Pacino, Alan Alda, James Carville, John Boehner, Julian Assange, and many others. Hader also created multiple signature characters. These characters included New York City correspondent Stefon, Italian talk show host Vinny Vedecci, and Hollywood gossip reporter Brady Trunk as well as many others.

Hired along with Samberg were his longtime friends and The Lonely Island collaborators Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer, who joined the writing staff. The three would create a new SNL mainstay feature in the SNL Digital Shorts, the most popular being "Lazy Sunday". Wiig, who first appeared when Jason Lee hosted, gained popularity with impersonations of Drew Barrymore, Felicity Huffman and Megan Mullally, also creating memorable characters such as the Two A-Holes (with Sudeikis) and Target Lady. Lorne Michaels extended her contract until the 2009–10 season (though she wouldn't officially leave the show until the 2011–12 season).

Leaving after this season were Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey, who had committed to working on Fey's new sitcom 30 Rock, as well as Horatio Sanz, Finesse Mitchell, and Chris Parnell, who were let go due to budget cuts. Fey had missed several episodes early in the season while on maternity leave, as had Maya Rudolph. Horatio Sanz took Fey's place on Weekend Update while she was away.

This season featured the first former female cast member as a host. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a cast member from 1982 to 1985, hosted in May 2006.

Opening montage

The opening montage for the 2005 season was identical to that of the 2004 season, except for several minor variations. The names were displayed in a different font. The montage was also produced in widescreen and high definition.[1]

Cast

Featuring

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

2006–2007 season

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 32)

Opening montage

The opening montage introduced on the 32nd-season premiere involved the cast on a roof-top party in New York City. It was a completely new production from the previous montage, featuring a completely new logo and VTR. The font was in a plain greyish colour with bold lettering, where each word is progressively larger than the last in both the title and cast credits, with footage of New York City in the background. The musical guest and host's pictures are simply seen over top of the background footage instead of inserted onto a billboard like the previous season.

With the Jaime Pressly episode airing on October 7, 2006, the montage was changed slightly to include an SNL logo changed to a design and typeface identical to the 1981–1985 SNL logo. The pictures of the host and musical guest were placed over the entire screen, instead of over the New York City footage. This new montage was also used for the rerun for the Dane Cook/The Killers episode, replacing the originally-aired one.

Also changing for the October 14, 2006 repeat was the logo. The logo kept the same look, but condensed to look thinner, and to fit wide screen.

Bumper format

The commercial bumpers featured the host and musical guest in a solid color background, that featured many colors. The logo usually featured the current logo of "Saturday Night Live", or bold lettering of "SNL". The font is Gotham Ultra Bold.

Cast changes

SNL had a smaller cast in the 2006–2007 season due to “massive budget cuts” at NBC. Lorne Michaels said that cutting staff was chosen over reducing from 20 the number of original episodes produced.[2] A separate announcement confirmed the departure of Tina Fey, who left to focus on her new show 30 Rock.[3] Rachel Dratch, one of the stars in the 30 Rock pilot (though subsequently replaced by Jane Krakowski), also did not return.[4]

In September 2006, it was announced that Seth Meyers would replace Tina Fey as co-anchor on Weekend Update.[5]

Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, and Jason Sudeikis were all promoted to repertory players at the beginning of their second season (the third for Sudeikis including his role as a featured player).

The final cast list included just 11 members, the lowest number since the 1997–1998 season, and the first time since the 1997–98 season that no featured players were hired.

Cast

2007–2008 season

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 33)

The 2007–2008 season of Saturday Night Live began on September 29, 2007 with LeBron James hosting the episode and musical guest Kanye West. Production was suspended due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, after which only four episodes were produced. The show's first episode after the writers' strike was aired on February 23, 2008, with former head writer and cast member Tina Fey as host.[6]

Opening montage

The opening montage for the 2007–2008 season was identical to that of the previous season, though the artwork for the host and musical guest is now a black and white portrait.

Bumper format

Instead of featuring a solid color background, the background colors for the bumpers were usually white. There were rare occasions of the background being black, or gray. The logo was the same as last season, either featuring the full current logo, "Saturday Night Live", or featuring a bold lettering of "SNL". The logos featured different colors.

Cast

Featuring

2008–2009 season

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 34)

The 2008–2009 season of Saturday Night Live began September 13, 2008 with host Michael Phelps and musical guest Lil' Wayne.

Opening montage

The opening montage remains the same as the last two seasons, but this time, the majority of the opening is in black and white, while the cast credits remain in color. The "SNL" logo and the cast credits appear smaller to fit into the 4:3 "safe area". In the second episode of the season, the video for Casey Wilson's credit was changed. In the fourth episode, the show went back to being shown in letterbox in some markets.

Bumper format

The bumpers now have variously colored backdrops instead of the plain white from last season. The season's first three episodes had the "SNL" logo within the 4:3 "title-safe area." From episode 4 and on, however, the logo has been in the 16:9 title-safe area.

Cast

Featuring

2009–2010 season

Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 35)

The 2009–2010 season of Saturday Night Live began September 26, 2009 with host Megan Fox and musical guest U2.

Opening montage

The opening montage introduced on the 35th-season premiere featured the cast in random places in New York City. The montage features the same logo as the previous seasons but instead of the greyish color it's now a light greenish color with bold lettering. The host and musical guest are pictures cover the entire screen when introduced. In the second episode the host and musical guest have a small picture that is circled with bright colors, the background features it going down a city street.

Bumper format

The commercial bumpers featured the host and musical guest in a light color background. The logo usually featured the current logo of "Saturday Night Live", or bold lettering of "SNL" (often with the number "35" attached to commemorate SNL's 35 years on the air).

Cast

Featuring

Notes

  • In early 2010, an online campaign was created on Facebook to get actress Betty White to host an episode of SNL. In March 2010, White confirmed that she would be hosting the May 8 episode.[7] White's episode garnered around 12 million viewers, the highest since the 2008 election.[8]
  • This is the last season featuring Will Forte, who was on the show since 2002. Jenny Slate's contract was not renewed for another season.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Kaplan, Don (April 27, 2005). "'SNL' Goes High-Def". New York Post. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  2. ^ Carter, Bill (September 21, 2006). "Bowing to Budget Cuts at NBC, 'Saturday Night Live' Pares Five Performers". New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  3. ^ "Tina Fey Leaving 'Saturday Night Live' for Prime-Time Comedy Show". Fox News. July 22, 2006. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  4. ^ Rosenblum, Emma (October 23, 2006). "Rachel Rolls With It". NYMag. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  5. ^ "Meyers replacing Fey on 'SNL's' fake news desk". Today. NBC News. September 21, 2006. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  6. ^ "Tina Fey To Host First Post-Strike Episode of 'SNL'". New York Times. February 12, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  7. ^ White, Nicholas (March 8, 2010). "Betty White Confirms She'll Appear on Saturday Night Live". People. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  8. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (May 11, 2010). "Facebook campaign for Betty White pays off: 'SNL' posts election-season numbers". Washington Post. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  9. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (September 7, 2010). "'Saturday Night Live' Cast Adds Four and Loses One More". New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2015.

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