History of Saturday Night Live (1995-2000)

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History of Saturday Night Live series:

1975–1980

1980–1985

1985–1990

1990–1995

1995–2000

2000–2005

2005–Present

Weekend Update

Contents

The Late Nineties

1995-96 was a milestone year, marking the last season for David Spade, but also the debuts of a strong batch of new recruits — Jim Breuer, Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, David Koechner, Cheri Oteri, Nancy Walls, Chris Kattan and Colin Quinn. Ferrell, Hammond, Oteri, Shannon and Kattan became mainstays of the show for the rest of the decade and beyond. The last half of the Nineties arguably also produced some of SNL's best material in years, performed by one of the strongest and most versatile ensemble casts yet assembled. Many in this group were prone to mugging and overusing recurring characters, which gained them some success while on the show, but has not translated to fame outside of SNL (Will Ferrell excluded). This group managed to stop SNL's freefalling ratings and reputation, and at their best were highly entertaining. The most unfortunate circumstance was that the lack of subtlety and the refusal to give airtime to more than a handful of "stars" caused sketch comedy veterans like Mark McKinney to be forced out.

Ex-Groundling Ana Gasteyer joined in 1996-97, bringing an excellent singing voice and considerable musical skills, as well as creating some memorable characters — Margeret Jo McCullen, co-host of tedious public radio cooking show “The Delicious Dish”, ultra-square middle school music teacher “Bobbi Moughan-Culp” her hatchet-faced impersonation of home improvement guru Martha Stewart; and, in one of the most popular segments of the late 1990s, her often-scathing impression of Céline Dion hosting a talk show (the real Dion has never appeared on SNL due to her exclusive TV special contract with CBS). Also new this year was another regular black cast member, Tracy Morgan, a move that some cynics have suggested was motivated by persistent criticisms that the show did not feature enough black performers.

Darrell Hammond proved a great find, perhaps the most gifted impressionist in the show's history. He has built up a repertoire of uncanny and hilarious impersonations, including Bill Clinton and Ted Koppel, taking the show's political satire to new heights. This aspect of the writing task was assisted by some of the juiciest and most satire-worthy stories in years, including the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the O. J. Simpson trial and the various Michael Jackson scandals.

Will Ferrell was undoubtedly the keystone of this new cast and during his stint he performed superbly in all his partnerships, with Oteri, Shannon, Gasteyer and Kattan, as well as creating some devastatingly funny solo characters. One of his most popular impressions was his bellowing, belligerent parody of former US Attorney General Janet Reno. And like Carvey's Bush and MacDonald's robot-like Bob Dole, Ferrell's fake Reno continued the tradition of having the real-life target of the satire appear on the show to confront their tormentor. Ferrell stepped out as the star of the cast during the last show of the 1995-1996 season, where he appeared alongside guest Jim Carrey in nearly every sketch.

This period featured many classic recurring sketches and characters, with radio and TV parodies featuring prominently. They included the NPR parody “The Delicious Dish” (Shannon and Gasteyer), “The Ladies Man” (Tim Meadows), the geeky Spartan Cheerleaders (Ferrell and Oteri), Ferrell and Gasteyer's starchy, husband-and-wife music teacher duo Marty Culp and Bobbi Mohan-Culp, Kattan's campy “Mango”, the brain-dead, disco-loving “Roxbury Guys” (Ferrell and Kattan), Shannon and Kattan's delightful “Goth Talk” and Molly Shannon's star-struck, accident-prone Catholic schoolgirl, Mary-Catherine Gallagher.

This fine ensemble remained substantially unchanged for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons, although the later series introduced important new cast members — Jimmy Fallon, Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz. The only surprise departure was Norm MacDonald who left the series under a cloud in 1997 and was replaced by Colin Quinn as Update anchor. It was reported that MacDonald was fired on the order of Don Ohlmeyer, who claimed the actor was “unpopular and unfunny” but it was widely thought that MacDonald had been fired because the executive — a close friend of O. J. Simpson, a regular Weekend Update target — had taken offense at MacDonald's persistent attacks on Simpson and his blatant suggestions that Simpson was guilty of slaying his wife.

1999-2000 was the last season for Colin Quinn, Cheri Oteri and Tim Meadows, but it also marked the arrival of two strong new female cast members, Rachel Dratch and Maya Rudolph (daughter of the late singer Minnie Riperton and a lifelong friend of actress Gwyneth Paltrow).

Season Breakdown

1995-96 Season

Opening Montage:

Along with a virtually all new cast, this season also came with an all new opener. G.E. Smith leaves as band leader, and Lenny Pickett takes over. This montage has a theme similar to that of the NBC studios where SNL is broadcast, and consists of black and white images of the cast at a party, with purple and green titling. The SNL logo introduced here is the current logo the show still uses.

Cast

Featuring

Chris Kattan (debuts 03/16/96)
Colin Quinn
Fred Wolf (debuts 10/28/95)

Notes

The only holdouts from the previous season were Meadows, Spade, Shannon, MacDonald and McKinney, and of the five only Meadows and Spade were true veterans. The latter three were still brand new (MacDonald had a few bit parts in 93, but nothing notable; McKinney and Shannon arrived in early 1995). Spade only stayed one final year to help bridge the gap between old and new casts. Meadows was allegedly kept mainly because NBC did not want be seen as eliminating all of their African-American performers in one fell swoop.
Koechner and Walls are fired at the end of the season. Most of the other new regulars go on to become quite popular.
Chris Kattan was added to the cast at midseason and made an immediate impact on the show, thus making Koechner and Walls expendable.

1996-97 Season

Opening Montage:

This montage also uses a "30 Rock" theme, and is virtually identical to the 1995 montage, but with brand new cast photos.

Cast

Featuring

Colin Quinn
Fred Wolf (final 10/19/96)

Notes

Wolf is fired early in the season and McKinney at the end of the season. Ana Gasteyer and Tracy Morgan both join the cast.

1997-98 Season

Opening Montage

This opener is the only montage in SNL's history that did not feature any images of New York City. Instead, it featured colored bars that spun and revealed each cast member photo, along with mention of a TV Funhouse cartoon appearing on some episodes and/or a special guest.

Cast

This season is the first since 1984-85 to have no featured players.

Jim Breuer
Will Ferrell
Ana Gasteyer
Darrell Hammond
Chris Kattan
Norm MacDonald (until March 14, 1998; he was fired after a dispute with NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer, who lost his own job a year later)
Tim Meadows
Tracy Morgan
Cheri Oteri
Colin Quinn
Molly Shannon

Notes:

Tina Fey joins the writing staff.

Norm MacDonald's exit was widely publicized, with MacDonald appearing on such shows as Late Show with David Letterman and Howard Stern's radio show to discuss the ordeal. Both hosts comment that MacDonald was the show's sole funny aspect. Additionally, television ads for MacDonald's June 1998 film Dirty Work were initially not shown on any NBC broadcast. Adding to the publicity was Colin Quinn's takeover of Weekend Update in January 1998.

Jim Breuer is fired at the end of the season.

1998-99 Season

Opening Montage:

This montage was used for two seasons, including during SNL's 25th Anniversary season. It is similar to the 1997 montage in that various colored bars move and cross to reveal pictures, but the bars also contain various images from around New York, possibly due to criticism for the lack of New York culture in the previous season's montage.

Cast

Featuring

Notes

The changing of the guard begins yet again as Parnell, Sanz and Fallon are groomed for stardom, replacing several reliable players who will leave in the next year.

1999-2000 Season

Opening Montage:

This montage is the same as the 1998 season with little-to-no changes. One difference is that the SNL logo now has a small "25" superscript after it to commemorate its 25th Anniversary and season 24 feature players, Jimmy Fallon, Horatio Sanz, and Chris Parnell are now added to the main cast while Rachel Dratch (and later Maya Rudolph) would be added in the feature player credits.

Cast

Featuring

Rachel Dratch (first 10/23/99)
Maya Rudolph (first 5/6/00)

Notes

Quinn and Oteri leave at the end of the season, as does Meadows after nearly a decade on SNL.

The season was preceded by a live primetime broadcast commemorating the show's 25-year history. Over three hours in length, the Emmy-winning special included appearances by not only current and former cast members, but also from a wide variety of past guest hosts and musical acts. Pre-recorded segments were interspliced into the live broadcast; some of these did not make it to air and were shown on later 1999-2000 season episodes. Chris Rock performed the monologue. The featured musical acts were Elvis Costello featuring the Beastie Boys, Al Green and the Eurhythmics. Former SNL band leader G.E. Smith played with the current house band during the special. According to the IMDB, each and every living host and musical guest were invited to the show, except for O.J. Simpson.

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