Saturday Night Live (season 22)

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Saturday Night Live
Season 22
The title card for the twenty-second season of Saturday Night Live.
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes20
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 28, 1996 (1996-09-28) –
May 17, 1997 (1997-05-17)
Season chronology
← Previous
season 21
Next →
season 23
List of episodes

The twenty-second season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 28, 1996, and May 17, 1997.

This season is notable for the host selection. Seven of the 20 hosts were former cast members. They included Dana Carvey, Robert Downey, Jr. (the second of three season 11 cast members to come back and host the show, joining Damon Wayans [who hosted during the show's 20th season] and, later in season 23, Jon Lovitz), Phil Hartman, Chris Rock, Martin Short (who hosted before with Steve Martin and Chevy Chase on the show's 12th season, and the only cast member out of the seven to not have worked under Lorne Michaels, as Short was a Dick Ebersol cast member), Chevy Chase, and Mike Myers. This would mark Chase's final time hosting before getting banned (returning much later for numerous guest appearances).

Cast[]

Many changes happened before the start of the season. David Koechner and Nancy Walls were both let go after one season with the show. David Spade left the show on his own terms.

Ana Gasteyer and Tracy Morgan were hired to replace David Koechner and Nancy Walls.

Chris Kattan was promoted to repertory status, while Colin Quinn and Fred Wolf remained as featured players.

This was the final season for Mark McKinney and Fred Wolf. Wolf also left his position as featured player and co-head writer after the season's first three episodes. Also, this was the final season to show the Dolby Surround and NBC logos during the opening montage.

Cast roster[]

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers[]

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 22

Robert Carlock and Stephen Colbert join the writing staff in this season.

Episodes[]

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		HostMusical guestOriginal air date
4071Tom HanksTom Petty & the HeartbreakersSeptember 28, 1996 (1996-09-28)

  • Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers performs "Walls (No. 3)" and an electric version of "Angel Dream (No. 2)"
  • Olympic athlete Kerri Strug makes a cameo appearance on Weekend Update alongside Chris Kattan.
  • This is the first appearance of Robert Smigel's "Saturday TV Funhouse" segment and the first installment of "The Ambiguously Gay Duo", which originally debuted on the sketch program "The Dana Carvey Show" earlier that year.
  • This is the first episode to feature Chris Kattan's character Mr. Peepers – the man/ape who shreds through apples.
  • Ana Gasteyer and Tracy Morgan's first episode as cast members.
4082Lisa KudrowSheryl CrowOctober 5, 1996 (1996-10-05)

  • Sheryl Crow performs "If It Makes You Happy" and "Love is a Good Thing".
  • David Lander makes a cameo appearance during the cold open as Squiggy.
4093Bill PullmanNew EditionOctober 19, 1996 (1996-10-19)

4104Dana CarveyDr. DreOctober 26, 1996 (1996-10-26)

  • Dr. Dre performs "Been There, Done That".
  • The "Tom Brokaw/Gerald Ford" sketch was originally performed on The Dana Carvey Show earlier that year. Dana Carvey (as Tom Brokaw) and Robert Smigel (in a voice-over role as the director) reprised their roles from the original sketch.
4115Chris RockThe WallflowersNovember 2, 1996 (1996-11-02)

  • The Wallflowers performs "One Headlight".
  • Dana Carvey makes a guest appearance, most notably as George H. W. Bush, who tells Norm Macdonald's Bob Dole to give up hope on the 1996 election. Carvey also appeared as Charles Grodin in a parody of "The Charles Grodin Show".
  • Cameo by Abe Vigoda in "The Charles Grodin Show" skit
  • Show writer Stephen Colbert appears in the Excedril commercial parody.
4126Robert Downey, Jr.Fiona AppleNovember 16, 1996 (1996-11-16)

  • Fiona Apple performs "Shadowboxer".
  • Bob Dole makes an appearance in the cold opening in which he and his wife, Elizabeth, ask Norm Macdonald to stop impersonating him after Dole's loss in the 1996 presidential election. Dole also says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" and appears on Weekend Update.
  • Evander Holyfield makes a cameo appearance as himself in the "Don King's Press Conference" sketch.
4137Phil HartmanBushNovember 23, 1996 (1996-11-23)

  • Bush performs "Swallowed" and "Insect Kin".
  • Rodney Dangerfield appears on Weekend Update.
  • Cliff Robertson appears in the pre-filmed "Lux 420SL" commercial parody.
  • Hartman once again brings back his impersonation of Frank Sinatra on "The Joe Pesci Show" sketch.
  • This was Hartman's second and last hosting appearance on SNL before his death on May 28, 1998.
4148Martin ShortNo DoubtDecember 7, 1996 (1996-12-07)

  • No Doubt performs "Don't Speak" and "Excuse Me Mr."
  • Chevy Chase makes a cameo appearance during a sketch featuring Short's Ed Grimley character.
  • First appearance of the Celebrity Jeopardy! sketch. The episode re-aired in November 2020 following the passing of Alex Trebek, with a clip of Trebek in a Celebrity Jeopardy sketch from a future season following the original sketch
4159Rosie O'DonnellWhitney HoustonDecember 14, 1996 (1996-12-14)

  • Whitney Houston performs "I Got You Babe" with O'Donnell and Marshall, "Sleigh Ride" with Mary Katharine Gallagher, "I Believe in You and Me" and "I Go to the Rock" with Georgia Mass Choir.
  • Director/Actress Penny Marshall, then O'Donnell's co-star in Kmart TV commercials, appears during the monologue, in a Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch, and in a Rita DelVecchio sketch.
  • Mike Judge cameos as Beavis and Butt-head on Weekend Update.
41610Kevin SpaceyBeckJanuary 11, 1997 (1997-01-11)

  • Beck performs "Where It's At" and "Devils Haircut". He also appears in the "Marijuana Doctor" sketch.
  • Monty Python cast members John Cleese and Michael Palin have cameos, appearing in the cold opening as well as in select sketches. (In the "Marijuana Doctor" sketch, Palin announces that he is "the star of TV's Home Improvement, Tim Allen".) Cleese and Palin also perform their classic "Dead Parrot" sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus.
  • Norm MacDonald is David Letterman in a parody sketch of the talk show host wherein he interviews guest William Hurt, played by Spacey.
41711David Alan GrierSnoop Doggy DoggJanuary 18, 1997 (1997-01-18)

  • Snoop Dogg performs "Snoop's Upside Ya Head" and "Vapors". Daz Dillinger and Charlie Wilson made cameo appearances in both performances.
  • Snoop Dogg also appears in the 20/20 parody sketch and the "Knicks Tickets/Waiting to Exhale" sketch.
  • Stephen Colbert appears in TV Funhouse's "Wheaty The Wheaten Terrier" film.
41812Neve CampbellDavid BowieFebruary 8, 1997 (1997-02-08)

  • David Bowie performs "Little Wonder" and "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)".
  • David Spade makes guest appearances during the monologue and as Woody Allen on 20/20 sketch. He also performs "The Hollywood Minute" during Weekend Update.
41913Chevy ChaseLiveFebruary 15, 1997 (1997-02-15)

42014Alec BaldwinTina TurnerFebruary 22, 1997 (1997-02-22)

42115StingVeruca SaltMarch 15, 1997 (1997-03-15)

  • Veruca Salt performs "Shutterbug".
  • Sting performs "My One & Only Love".
  • Sting's wife Trudie Styler appears during the "Audition" sketch.
  • Mark Hamill appears during the "Shopping at Home Network" sketch.
42216Mike MyersAerosmithMarch 22, 1997 (1997-03-22)

  • Aerosmith performs "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" and "Nine Lives". They also appear in a Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch.
42317Rob LoweSpice GirlsApril 12, 1997 (1997-04-12)

  • Spice Girls performs "Wannabe" and "Say You'll Be There".
  • During the "Joe Pesci Show" sketch with Jim Breuer playing Pesci and Colin Quinn portraying De Niro, Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro make cameo appearances.
  • During Weekend Update, Norm MacDonald coughs during one of the stories and says "The fuck was that?" He quickly laughs it off and jokes "My farewell performance." When he signs off at the end of Weekend Update, he says "Maybe I'll see you next week."
42418Pamela AndersonRollins BandApril 19, 1997 (1997-04-19)

  • Rollins Band performs "Starve".
  • Anderson's then-husband, rocker Tommy Lee, appeared as himself in the "Movie Shoot" sketch and "Hey, Remember The 80s" sketch.
42519John GoodmanJewelMay 10, 1997 (1997-05-10)

  • Jewel performs "Who Will Save Your Soul" and "You Were Meant for Me".
  • Mike Myers makes a guest appearance as Ron Wood in a sketch featuring Chris Kattan's gibberish speaking "Suel Forrester" character as a talk-show host.
42620Jeff GoldblumEn VogueMay 17, 1997 (1997-05-17)

References[]

Retrieved from ""