Saturday Night Live season 27

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Saturday Night Live
Season 27
The title card for the twenty-seventh season of Saturday Night Live.
No. of episodes20
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 29, 2001 (2001-09-29) –
May 18, 2002 (2002-05-18)
Season chronology
← Previous
season 26
Next →
season 28
List of episodes

The twenty-seventh season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 29, 2001 and May 18, 2002.

Eighteen days before the season started, the September 11 terrorist attacks took place in New York. The season premiere (hosted by Reese Witherspoon) went on as scheduled, with a special cold open featuring Rudy Giuliani, the Mayor of New York City at the time, along with firefighters from the FDNY and police officers from the NYPD, declaring that despite the terrorist attack, New York City will run as normal and Saturday Night Live will go on as planned (with Lorne Michaels asking Giuliani "Can we be funny?" and Giuliani replying "Why start now?").

Three weeks into the season the show faced another scare when anthrax was found in the GE Building (from where the show is broadcast).[1] The scare caused most of the cast and crew, as well as that week's guest host Drew Barrymore, to evacuate the building.

Cast[edit]

Before the start of the season, longtime cast member Molly Shannon, who had been on the show for seven seasons since 1995, departed midway through the previous season on her own terms,[2] and featured player Jerry Minor[3] and longtime cast member Chris Parnell were both let go from the show after the finale. However, Parnell was hired back to the show mid-season in the episode hosted by Jonny Moseley,[4][5] becoming the second cast member to be hired back to the show after being fired, the first person being Jim Belushi in 1983.

Four new cast members were hired to the show this season: stand-up comic Dean Edwards, Chicago improviser Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler of the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy troupe,[6][7] and stand-up comic/impressionist Jeff Richards, who was previously a cast member on the rival sketch show MADtv.[8] Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, and Maya Rudolph were all upgraded to repertory status at the beginning of the season, and Poehler was promoted to repertory status mid-season.

Will Ferrell was absent from a number of episodes because he was filming Old School. This would also be the final season for both Ferrell[9] and Ana Gasteyer.[10]

bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor

Writers[edit]

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 27

Episodes[edit]

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		HostMusical guest(s)Original air date
5061Reese WitherspoonAlicia KeysSeptember 29, 2001 (2001-09-29)

5072Seann William ScottSum 41October 6, 2001 (2001-10-06)

  • Sum 41 performs "Fat Lip" and "In Too Deep".
  • Former cast member Chevy Chase made a cameo on Weekend Update as the Land Shark. Chase ends the segment by saying "Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow," the sign-off used by both Chase and Fey during their tenures on Weekend Update.
5083Drew BarrymoreMacy GrayOctober 13, 2001 (2001-10-13)

5094John GoodmanJa RuleNovember 3, 2001 (2001-11-03)

  • Ja Rule performs "Always on Time" with Ashanti and "Livin' It Up" with Case.
  • Former cast member Dan Aykroyd appears during the "Hudson Valley Community Circuit" sketch, during Weekend Update, reprising his role as Elwood Blues, and during the "Bad Conceptual Theater" sketch, reprising his role as Leonard Pinth-Garnell.
5105Gwyneth PaltrowRyan AdamsNovember 10, 2001 (2001-11-10)

5116Billy Bob ThorntonCreedNovember 17, 2001 (2001-11-17)

5127Derek JeterBubba Sparxxx
Shakira		December 1, 2001 (2001-12-01)

  • Shakira performs "Whenever, Wherever".
  • Bubba Sparxxx performs "Ugly" and "Lovely".
  • David Cone and David Wells appear during the "Yankee Wives" sketch.
  • Clips from the season 2 episode featuring musical guest George Harrison are shown after Weekend Update, commemorating his death earlier in the week.
5138Hugh JackmanMick JaggerDecember 8, 2001 (2001-12-08)

5149Ellen DeGeneresNo DoubtDecember 15, 2001 (2001-12-15)

51510Josh HartnettPinkJanuary 12, 2002 (2002-01-12)

  • Pink performs "Get The Party Started" and "Don't Let Me Get Me", and appears during the "Shout Out!! Show" sketch.
  • Amy Poehler is promoted from featured player to repertory player in this episode.
  • Will Ferrell is absent for this episode.
51611Jack BlackThe StrokesJanuary 19, 2002 (2002-01-19)

51712Britney SpearsBritney SpearsFebruary 2, 2002 (2002-02-02)

  • Britney Spears performs "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" and "Boys".
  • Dan Aykroyd, who co-starred with Spears in the film Crossroads (released a few weeks after this episode) appears during the Mormon skiers cold-open, the "Leather Man" sketch, and introduces Spears' second performance.
  • Justin Timberlake appears during the opening monologue and introduces Spears' first performance.
51813Jonny MoseleyOutkastMarch 2, 2002 (2002-03-02)

51914Jon StewartIndia.ArieMarch 9, 2002 (2002-03-09)

52015Ian McKellenKylie MinogueMarch 16, 2002 (2002-03-16)

52116Cameron DiazJimmy Eat WorldApril 6, 2002 (2002-04-06)

52217The RockAndrew W.K.April 13, 2002 (2002-04-13)

52318Alec BaldwinP.O.D.April 20, 2002 (2002-04-20)

52419Kirsten DunstEminemMay 11, 2002 (2002-05-11)

52520Winona RyderMobyMay 18, 2002 (2002-05-18)

Special[edit]

TitleOriginal air date
"SNL Remembers John Belushi"March 11, 2002 (2002-03-11)
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of John's death, Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey host this retrospective of some of his greatest sketches on SNL. Dan Aykroyd makes a cameo appearance in this special.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "SNL Goes on Despite Anthrax Scare". ABC News. October 15, 2001. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  2. ^ "Shannon to Exit 'SNL'". People. Archived from the original on March 2, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  3. ^ Wright, Megh (September 25, 2012). "Saturday Night's Children: Jerry Minor (2000-2001)". Vulture. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Graham, Mark (January 14, 2010). "Archer's Chris Parnell Talks Well-Endowed Cartoon Characters, Being Fired From SNL Twice". Vulture. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  5. ^ Rawden, Jessica (February 19, 2015). "How Chris Parnell Got Un-fired From Saturday Night Live". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  6. ^ Logan, Lizzie; Fox, Jesse David (March 1, 2021). "The History of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's Best Friendship". Vulture. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  7. ^ "Poehler". Toledo Blade. March 25, 2007. p. 9G. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  8. ^ "Sean Hayes to the rescue; In other people news…". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. August 16, 2001. p. 2A.
  9. ^ Bark, Ed (May 9, 2002). "Will Ferrell announces end of 'Saturday Night Live' stint". Sun Journal. Knight Ridder Newspapers. p. C8. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  10. ^ "Ana Gasteyer leaves Saturday Night Live". EW.com. August 21, 2002. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Boedeker, Hal (October 1, 2001). "'Snl' Falters After Moving Tribute". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011.
  12. ^ Huff, Richard (September 5, 2001). "Witherspoon on 'SNL'". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on June 20, 2023. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
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