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Saturday Night Live
Season 20
The title card for the twentieth season of Saturday Night Live.
No.of episodes20
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 24, 1994(1994-09-24)–
May 13, 1995(1995-05-13)
Season chronology
←Previous
season 19
Next→
season 21
List of episodes

Thetwentieth seasonofSaturday Night Live(also brandedSaturday Night Live 20), an Americansketch comedyseries, originally aired in the United States onNBCbetween September 24, 1994, and May 13, 1995.

Much like the1980–1981 seasonand the1985–1986 season,NBC worried overSNL'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 specialSaturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation,Lorne Michaelscredits this season as the closest he's ever been to being fired.[1]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.[2][3]

This season saw the deaths of twoSNLalumni: season 11 cast memberDanitra Vance(who died of breast cancer)[4]and "Not Ready for Primetime" -era writer and occasional performerMichael O'Donoghue(who died of a brain hemorrhage after years of suffering from migraine headaches). TheSarah Jessica Parker-hosted episode featured a special appearance byBill Murray,who introduced a clip from season3, "The Soiled Kimono", aired in O'Donoghue's memory.[5]

Cast

[edit]

Preceding the season 20 premiere, longtime cast membersPhil Hartman,Melanie Hutsell,Rob Schneider,andJulia Sweeneyall left the show, alongside featured playerSarah Silverman.[6]In their places, the show hiredLate Night with David LettermanwriterChris Elliott,as well as stand-up comediansJaneane GarofaloandLaura Kightlinger,to the cast.[2][6]Elliott and Garofalo were made repertory players, while Kightlinger was made a featured player.[6]

Jay Mohrremained a featured player andNorm Macdonaldwas promoted to repertory status and madeWeekend Update's latest anchor.[7](ThoughKevin Nealonwas no longer aWeekend Updateanchor, he still remained on the show to the end of the season.)[8]

As the season progressed,Morwenna Banks,Mark McKinney[9]and Molly Shannon[10][11]were added to the cast. (McKinney was hired from the then-recently ended sketch showThe Kids in the Hall,which was produced by Michaels.)[9]

Several cast members quit during the season. Longtime cast memberMike Myersleft after the January 21, 1995 episode[12][13](exactly six years after his first episode on January 21, 1989) largely due to his increasing fame as a film star (notably with his role in 1992'sWayne's World).[14]Garofalo quit the show following the February 25 episode, citing her unhappiness with the work environment and writing material.[15][16]She would later callSaturday Night Live"... an unfair boys' club" and called many of the sketches "juvenile and homophobic."[2][17]Longtime staff writer and cast memberAl Franken's final appearance as a featured player was on May 6 following the box office failure of theSNLspin-off filmStuart Saves His Family.[7]

Following the May 13, 1995 season finale, nine more cast members either quit or were fired: Banks,Ellen Cleghorne,Elliott,Chris Farley,Kightlinger,Michael McKean,Mohr, Nealon andAdam Sandler.Nealon, Cleghorne, McKean, Elliott and Kightlinger left the show at season's end on their own terms; Farley, Sandler, Banks and Mohr were let go after the finale.[18]

In his bookGasping for Airtime,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.[19][20]Mohr's account of his voluntary departure from SNL has been widely discounted, however. He was under a cloud of suspicion due to his admitted plagiarism of jokes during the season[21]and his multi-year contract with NBC did not allow him to unilaterally quit.

This was also the final season for directorDave Wilsonand bandleaderG.E. Smith,who had been with the program since its first and eleventh seasons, respectively.[22]

Cast roster

[edit]

bolddenotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

[edit]
Main article:List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 20

Notable writers during the 20th season ofSaturday Night LiveincludedJim Downey,Al Franken,andTim Herlihy.

Episodes

[edit]
Main article:List of Saturday Night Live episodes
No.
overall		No.in
season		HostMusical guest(s)Original air date
3671Steve MartinEric ClaptonSeptember 24, 1994(1994-09-24)

3682Marisa TomeiBonnie RaittOctober 1, 1994(1994-10-01)

3693John TravoltaSealOctober 15, 1994(1994-10-15)

3704Dana CarveyEdie BrickellOctober 22, 1994(1994-10-22)

  • Edie Brickell performed "Green" and "Tomorrow Comes".Paul Simonjoined Brickell for her first performance.
  • George H. W. Bushmade a filmed appearance in the cold opening and monologue.
  • Contains an "Office Space" cartoon byMike Judge
3715Sarah Jessica ParkerR.E.M.November 12, 1994(1994-11-12)

3726John TurturroTom PettyNovember 19, 1994(1994-11-19)

3737RoseanneGreen DayDecember 3, 1994(1994-12-03)

3748Alec BaldwinBeastie BoysDecember 10, 1994(1994-12-10)

  • Beastie Boys perform "Sure Shot"and a medley of" Ricky's Theme "and" Heart Attack Man ".
  • Christian Slaterappears during the "Celebrity Memorabilia Auction" sketch.
3759George ForemanHoleDecember 17, 1994(1994-12-17)

37610Jeff DanielsLuscious JacksonJanuary 14, 1995(1995-01-14)

37711David Hyde PierceLiveJanuary 21, 1995(1995-01-21)

37812Bob NewhartDes'reeFebruary 11, 1995(1995-02-11)

  • Des'ree performs "You Gotta Be"and" Feels So High ".
  • At the end of the episode, Bob Newhart wakes up next toSuzanne Pleshette(as he did on the last episode of "Newhart") and tells her about his nightmare hostingSNL.
37913Deion SandersBon JoviFebruary 18, 1995(1995-02-18)

38014George ClooneyThe CranberriesFebruary 25, 1995(1995-02-25)

38115Paul ReiserAnnie LennoxMarch 18, 1995(1995-03-18)

38216John GoodmanThe Tragically HipMarch 25, 1995(1995-03-25)

38317Damon WayansDionne FarrisApril 8, 1995(1995-04-08)

38418Courteney CoxDave Matthews BandApril 15, 1995(1995-04-15)

38519Bob SagetTLCMay 6, 1995(1995-05-06)

  • TLC performs "Creep"and"Red Light Special".
  • Al Franken's final episode as a cast member.
  • During Weekend Update, a clip ofHoward Cosellin anEd Grimleysketch is shown from when he hosted in 1985 as a commemoration to Cosell's death that occurred three weeks before the episode aired.
38620David DuchovnyRod StewartMay 13, 1995(1995-05-13)

Critical reception

[edit]

Negative critical reception of the show began building inseason 18,after the departure of veteran cast memberDana Carvey.[23]The criticism intensified afterPhil Hartmanleft.[6][24]Without Hartman and Carvey, critics expressed thatSNLlacked an anchor to hold its sketches together, leavingChris Farley,Adam Sandler,andDavid Spadeto carry much of the show.[25]Critics also expressed the show was missing its signature political humor, and pointed out that veteran writers likeJack Handey,Robert Smigel,andConan O'Brienhad already left the staff.[26]Byseason 19,the show's lackluster reputation had become a joke that was referenced by guest hosts during their opening monologue.[25]Sandler himself criticized the show's writing when he toldTV Guide"The writing sucks this season."[27][28]Sandler later said he was misquoted.[13]

Critics expressed distaste for the sophomoric, juvenile humor that characterized the "Bad Boy" era ofSNL.[29][30][26][31]In theNew York Daily News,Eric Mink opined thatSNLappeared to be exclusively catering to younger, male audiences with its humor.[32]Critics also pointed to the large cast size as a problem, as African-American members likeTim MeadowsandEllen Cleghornewent underused.[25][33]Another criticism was that the show had become much more interested in launching cast members into movie stardom than in the show's quality of writing and comedy.[24][33]Hartman attributed the drop in quality to the show's decision to hire mostly stand-up comics, saying, "[Stand-up comics are] competitive, and they don't generally work as well in an ensemble of actors who come out of an improvisational background."[34]

The critical drubbing culminated in a 1995New Yorkmagazine cover story that detailed the dysfunction among cast and crew.[2]

Norm Macdonald's first year asWeekend Updateanchor was seen as a lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing year.[35][32]

Stuart Saves His Familyfilm

[edit]

Stuart Saves His Family,a film based on the popularStuart Smalleysketches, was released on April 12, 1995.[36]Cast membersRobin Duke,Al FrankenandJulia Sweeneyappear in the film. The film received modest reviews from critics but was abox office bomb.During the season, Franken performed a Stuart Smalley sketch that parodied the film's poor box office returns. Stuart was depressed and bitter throughout the entire segment, eating cookies and lambasting the audience for choosing other movies (such asDumb and Dumberand anything Pauly Shore had out at the time) over his.

References

[edit]
  1. ^Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation(TV special). NBC. May 6, 2007.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  2. ^abcdSmith, Chris (March 13, 1995)."Comedy Isn't Funny: Saturday Night Live at twenty – how the show that transformed TV became a grim joke".New York Magazine.
  3. ^Rabin, Nathan (July 14, 2016)."Everything old is new again case file #65: the 1994-95 season of Saturday Night Live".The A.V. Club.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  4. ^Brantley, Ben (August 23, 1994)."Danitra Vance, 35, an Actress; Worked at Shakespeare Festival".The New York Times.RetrievedMay 24,2024.
  5. ^Fennessey, Sean (October 13, 2010)."SNL and The Curse of the Transitional Season".Vulture.RetrievedMay 24,2024.
  6. ^abcdHill, Doug (October 2, 1994)."TELEVISION; Can 'Saturday Night' Regain Its Bite?".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  7. ^abShales & Miller 2002,pp. 433–444.
  8. ^"Nealon jumping 'SNL' ship".The Spokesman-Review.May 8, 1995. p. B5.RetrievedMay 8,2024.
  9. ^abWright, Megh (June 6, 2012)."Saturday Night's Children: Mark McKinney (1995-1997)".Vulture.RetrievedApril 18,2024.
  10. ^Wild, David (November 27, 1997)."Looking for the Heart of 'Saturday Night Live'".Rolling Stone.Archivedfrom the original on June 29, 2022.RetrievedApril 21,2024.
  11. ^Wright, Megh (August 2, 2011)."Saturday Night's Children: Molly Shannon (1995-2001)".Vulture.RetrievedApril 18,2024.
  12. ^"Myers quits SNL".The Spokesman-Review.February 4, 1995. p. E5.RetrievedApril 21,2024.
  13. ^abHuff, Richard (February 19, 1995)."Sandler explains 'SNL' criticism".New York Daily News.p. 8E.RetrievedApril 21,2024.
  14. ^"'Saturday Night Live' cast changing ".New York Daily News.August 14, 1992. p. 9D – via Star-News.
  15. ^Shales & Miller 2002,p. 387.
  16. ^Wright, Megh (February 28, 2012)."Saturday Night's Children: Janeane Garofalo (1994-1995)".Vulture.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  17. ^Cerasaro, Pat (February 25, 2012)."InDepth InterView: Reality Bites? Janeane Garofalo on RUSSIAN TRANSPORT, GENERAL EDUCATION, BAD PARENTS & More!".BroadwayWorld.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  18. ^Stern, Marlow (September 12, 2014)."Adam Sandler Talks Getting Fired From 'SNL,' Bad Reviews, and His Desire to Play A Villain".The Daily Beast.Archivedfrom the original on October 3, 2023.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  19. ^Mohr, Jay (2004).Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live.Hatchette Books. pp. 284–288.ISBN978-1401399818.
  20. ^Wright, Megh (October 10, 2012)."Saturday Night's Children: Jay Mohr (1993-1995)".Vulture.RetrievedApril 19,2024.
  21. ^Gupta, Prachi (October 7, 2014)."5 sketches that" SNL "allegedly plagiarized".Salon.RetrievedApril 18,2024.
  22. ^"'Saturday Night Live': Show gets new blood to infuse sagging ratings ".The Washington Post.September 1, 1995. p. B12.RetrievedApril 19,2024– viaThe Vindicator.
  23. ^Mink, Eric (September 25, 1993)."Talent turmoil at 'Saturday Night Live'".New York Daily News.RetrievedJuly 4,2024– via Record-Journal.
  24. ^abRosenthal, Phil (May 13, 1994)."Saturday Night Live will always have its ups and downs".The Kingston Whig-Standard.Kingston, Ontario.RetrievedJuly 4,2024– via ProQuest.
  25. ^abcMendoza, Manuel (April 3, 1994)."Saturday Night Dead?;Viewers have noticed the show's decline. Ratings are slipping. What's next for Saturday Night Live?".The Gazette.Montreal, Quebec. p. F4.RetrievedJuly 4,2024– via ProQuest.
  26. ^ab"Dear 'Saturday Night': It's Over. Please Die".Newsweek.October 16, 1994.RetrievedJuly 4,2024.
  27. ^"Why the Complaints from 'SNL' Actor? 'The Writing Sucks'".Sun-Sentinel.February 13, 1995. Archived fromthe originalon June 9, 2023.RetrievedJuly 4,2024.
  28. ^Moore, Frazier (May 12, 1995)."Fans Hope 'Snl' Pulls Out Of Slump Comedy Program Concludes 20th Season Amid Biting Reviews".The Spokesman-Review.The Associated Press.Archivedfrom the original on June 7, 2024.RetrievedJuly 4,2024.
  29. ^Fretts, Bruce (March 11, 1994)."Is 'Saturday Night' dead?".EW.RetrievedJuly 4,2024.
  30. ^O'Connor, John J. (October 20, 1994)."TELEVISION REVIEW; After Two Decades, How Much Longer?".The New York Times.RetrievedJuly 4,2024.
  31. ^Bellafante, Ginia (February 12, 1996)."Television: The Battle for Saturday Night".Time.
  32. ^abMink, Eric (February 23, 1995)."'Saturday Night Live' facing uphill battle to fix problems ".New York Daily News.RetrievedJuly 4,2024– via Herald-Journal.
  33. ^abO'Connor, John J. (March 14, 1993)."TELEVISION VIEW; A Prosperous 'Saturday Night' Grows Tame".The New York Times.RetrievedJuly 4,2024.
  34. ^Funk, Tim (July 21, 1995)."'Saturday Night Dead' to be renovated ".Ocala Star-Banner.RetrievedJuly 4,2024.
  35. ^Huff, Richard (April 21, 1995)."Norm Macdonald a bright spot on 'SNL'".New York Daily News.p. 37.RetrievedJuly 4,2024– via Reading Eagle.
  36. ^"Stuart Saves His Family (1995)".Rotten Tomatoes.

Works cited

[edit]
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