Country of origin United States Original network NBC | No. of episodes 20 | |
Original release October 7, 2000 (2000-10-07) – May 19, 2001 (2001-05-19) | ||
The twenty-sixth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 7, 2000, and May 19, 2001.
Contents
This season featured satire of the 2000 U.S presidential election, including the Republican and Democratic primaries, the campaigns of Vice President Gore, Texas Governor George W. Bush, and Ralph Nader, the Florida election recount, and the Bush v. Gore case that came before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Changes and notes
Before the start of the season, Cheri Oteri, Colin Quinn, and Tim Meadows left the show. With the three of them gone, the show added two new cast members. SNL head writer Tina Fey and Second City comedian Jerry Minor joined the cast as featured players at the start of the season. Fey had been a writer on the show since 1997 and began as the show's head writer in 1999. Rachel Dratch and Maya Rudolph remained featured players.
This would be Molly Shannon's final season on the show, leaving mid-season. Minor was let go after the season ended.
Chris Parnell was fired at the end of this season, but then rehired midway through the next season. Executive producer Lorne Michaels would later admit he made a mistake in firing Parnell from the cast and wanted him back.
With Colin Quinn's seat on "Weekend Update" empty, executive producer Lorne Michaels decided to have two anchors just as the segment had used in the 1970s. Jimmy Fallon and head writer Tina Fey were picked to anchor the segment together. Because of Fey's head writer status, she would appear rarely out of "Weekend Update".
Cast roster
bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor
The Ladies Man film
Based on Leon Phelps' popular sketches, The Ladies Man film was released on October 13, 2000. The film's star Tim Meadows left Saturday Night Live at the end of the previous season but returned to promote the film in the first episode of this season. The movie was panned by critics and flopped at the box office.