2000–Present
The 2000-2001 season of Saturday Night Live began yet another transitional phase. Old faces like Colin Quinn, Tim Meadows and Cheri Oteri were gone. Molly Shannon would leave midseason (she stayed as long as she did—six and a half years—to ensure that she would leave as the longest-running female cast member on SNL, although her record still comes very close to Victoria Jackson's). Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell still dominated the show, but more and more time was given to newer cast members such as Horatio Sanz (who was groomed to be a new Chris Farley or John Belushi) and Jimmy Fallon. Fallon was the latest example in the marked difference in modern SNL compared to the early years, in that he was marketed as a personality, and his gift at impressions was slowly but surely sidelined so that he could play variations of Jimmy Fallon in most of his sketches. Although Fallon was quite popular, many believed that he and Sanz were far too derivative of Farley and Sandler, right down to Fallon playing the guitar and singing during Weekend Update. Both men were also criticized for their "going up" during many sketches—laughing through their lines and needling other cast members into doing the same. This became more and more common, in spite of the fact that Lorne Michaels swore his show would never become so insular or amateurish (one of the things he despised about The Carol Burnett Show).
In 2000, Tina Fey became the show's first female head writer (SNL had always had female writers but they often had little to no voice over the pacing of the show, sometimes not even their own sketches). With Colin Quinn's highly uneven Weekend Update tenure over, Lorne Michaels scrambled to find a different sort of format for the aging concept. He gambled on having Fey co-anchor with Jimmy Fallon, the first co-anchorship since Mary Gross and Brian Doyle-Murray in the early '80s. Fallon's frat boy antics and Tina's droll, knowing smirks were warmly welcomed by fans, so much so that Tina quickly moved from writer to featured player and within a year was a contract player.
The 2000 season was also noted for its well-received spoofing of that year's presidential campaign, with adroit critiques of all the primary nominees, but especially Al Gore and George W. Bush. The two candidates even appeared (separately) on a primetime special with the cast in fall 2000. Darrell Hammond's portrayal of Gore parodied the candidate's varying personas at the three presidential debates so well that Gore and his advisors watched the sketches to get a grip on his public perception. Ferrell's Bush impression—full of smirks, tics, and aw-shucks contempt—rocketed him to superstardom and in the process coined the term "strategery" in a sketch mocking Bush's propensity for mispronunciations. But the first season premiere after the September 11, 2001 attacks opened with former New York City mayor Rudy Guiliani and police officers, signifying that the New York-based series was both deeply affected by the terrorist attack and also reluctant to harshly criticize a wartime president. As a result, the political commentary was scaled back from 2001-2003 or so. The 2004 season began with parodies of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates, but they were far from hard-hitting and did little more than remind viewers that the show had over the decades gone from counterculture to safe and mainstream. The exception remained Robert Smigel's cartoons (one had the X-Presidents rescuing black Florida voters from prison camps), so hard-hitting and unrepentant that they seemed to be dropped in from another universe.
In 2001, the unsung supporting player Chris Parnell was fired. Less than six months later, he was rehired, marking the first time since Jim Belushi's dismissal in 1983 that SNL had ever fired and then rehired any cast member. The 2001-2002 season also marked the arrival of improvisational mastermind Amy Poehler, who was well-liked by fans due to her wide range and impressions and high spirits, in spite of a lack of strong material. One of the bright spots of these shows was Tracy Morgan, whose Brian Fellow's "Safari Planet" talk show host ("I'm Brian Fellow!!!") garnered plenty of laughs. Morgan left in 2003 to become one of many SNL alumni to have a flop sitcom (The Tracy Morgan Show).
More changes occurred when Ferrell left in 2002 and Kattan left in 2003, followed by Jimmy Fallon in 2004. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler co-anchored Weekend Update, the first time that 2 women were given the job. The show soldiered on, for the first time in many years having no "stars" to fall back on or popular recurring characters to hide behind.
In October 2004, musical artist Ashlee Simpson had one of the most newsworthy and controversial musical performances in Saturday Night Live's history. At the start of Simpson's second musical performance of the show a pre-recorded backing track for the wrong song was accidentally played. During the performance the vocal guide track was shut off but the musical track continued and Simpson walked off the stage. It appeared to viewers that Simpson had been lip synching, though the singer denied this, and the incident received wide-spread coverage in the news. The following week the incident was the subject of several skits.
Coincidentally, a team of reporters from the CBS news program 60 Minutes led by Lesley Stahl had been taping and interviewing during the production cycle, and recorded both the rehearsals and the immediate reactions by Lorne Michaels and others. Michaels said immediately afterwords that he had never been asked about using a vocal track, and would not have allowed it. However, since then the production practices of SNL have been scrutinized by reporters and Michaels has admitted that backing tracks are sometimes used.
Season Breakdown
2000-2001 Season
Opening Montage:
This newest SNL montage again contains various shots from around New York and has the cast members shown in a night club. The music that would accompany the opening credits for the next three years would garner some criticism from some SNL "purists" because of its heavy use of turntables and DJ equiptment.
(You MUST have Windows Media Player (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b446ae53-3759-40cf-80d5-cde4bbe07999&displaylang=en) in order to view videos.)
Cast
(contract)
(featured)
Notes
- After seven years, Molly Shannon leaves the cast mid-season, completing the longest tenure of any female cast member.
- Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon take over the Weekend Update desk. The first WU duo since Brian Doyle-Murray and Christine Ebersole in 1982.
- Chris Parnell is fired this season, only to return in the middle of the 2001 season.
2001-2002 Season
Opening Montage:
Same as 2000 opener with the only contrast being minor cast changes. The version shown here is from 2000.
(You MUST have Windows Media Player (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b446ae53-3759-40cf-80d5-cde4bbe07999&displaylang=en) in order to view videos.)
Cast
(contract)
(featured)
Notes
- Chris Parnell returns after being fired by NBC (claiming he was not funny) less than a year earlier.
- After seven seasons, Will Farrell leaves the show after becoming the highest paid cast member in SNL's history.
- Ana Gasteyer goes on maternity leave at the end of this season. After she has her child, she decides not to return to the show.
- Amy Poehler is upgraded to a contract player during the latter part of this season.
2002-2003 Season
Opening Montage:
Basically a "film negative" version of the 2000 montage, and new effects when displaying the cast's title cards.
(You MUST have Windows Media Player (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b446ae53-3759-40cf-80d5-cde4bbe07999&displaylang=en) in order to view videos.)
Cast
(contract)
(featured)
- Fred Armisen
- Dean Edwards
- Will Forte
- Seth Meyers
- Jeff Richards
Notes
- Dean Edwards is fired from the show at the end of this season.
- Chris Kattan and Tracy Morgan leave the show but make so many guest appearances during the 2003-2004 season that their departure is barely noticed.
2003-2004 Season
Opening Montage:
A brand new opening for 2003 has a Grand Central Station theme, with a "first-person" camera following the cast members who are found around various sections of the subway, and local eateries. Possibly the most "hi-tech" (for its time) of the show's montages since the 1984 season.
(You MUST have Windows Media Player (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b446ae53-3759-40cf-80d5-cde4bbe07999&displaylang=en) in order to view videos.)
Cast
(contract)
(featured)
Notes
- Will Forte and Seth Meyers are upgraded to contract players for this season.
- Kenan Thompson becomes the first--and thus far only--former "All That" cast member to join SNL's cast. He is also the first--and thus far only--cast member to be younger than SNL itself (born in 1978).
- Jeff Richards mysteriously leaves after 01/17 broadcast.
- Jimmy Fallon announces on the last Weekend Update of the season, that it would be his final show.
2004-2005 Season
Opening Montage:
Another brand new montage for 2004 opens on a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge, and basically shows the cast engaging in conversations around a local night club. The stage still has the Grand Central Station theme.
(You MUST have Windows Media Player (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b446ae53-3759-40cf-80d5-cde4bbe07999&displaylang=en) in order to view videos.)
Cast
(contract)
(featured)
Notes
- After the departure of Jimmy Fallon last season, Fred Armisen is upgraded to a contract player.
- Rob Riggle—a former US Marine—joins the cast as a featured player.
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