Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Saturday Night Live (season 39)

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Country of origin
  
United States

Original network
  
NBC

No. of episodes
  
21

Original release
  
September 28, 2013 (2013-09-28) – May 17, 2014 (2014-05-17)

The thirty-ninth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 28, 2013, and May 17, 2014.

Contents

Cast

Prior to the start of the season, a large number of cast changes occurred. Veteran cast members Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis all departed the show. In addition, first-year featured player Tim Robinson left the cast to focus on his new duties in the writing staff, becoming the first performer to join the writing staff after being a cast member without initially being hired as a writer.

In their places, six new featured players were hired, including SNL writer Mike O'Brien who was upgraded into the cast, as well as new hires Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney of the sketch comedy group Good Neighbor, John Milhiser of the sketch group Serious Lunch, comedian Noël Wells (known for her viral videos and impressions featured on sites such as Cracked.com), and stand-up comedian Brooks Wheelan.

O'Brien has written for the show since 2009 and is the first writer to be upgraded into the cast since Jason Sudeikis in 2005. Mooney and Bennett's fellow Good Neighbor troupe member Dave McCary was also hired to direct Bennett and Mooney's digital shorts.

On May 12, 2013, NBC announced that Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers would be the new host of Late Night in 2014 succeeding Jimmy Fallon as Fallon will take over as the new host of The Tonight Show. Meyers remained Weekend Update anchor up until his departure from the show on February 1, 2014. Cecily Strong was brought up to co-anchor with Meyers. Colin Jost, a writer for the show (and head writer for season 38 and 39), joined the cast on March 1, 2014, as a featured player and as Meyers' successor on Weekend Update. This is the third time a featured player was also a Weekend Update anchor. The first two were Tina Fey and Brian Doyle-Murray. Strong was replaced the next year by former writer and "Daily Show" correspondent Michael Che.

During the season, the show came under criticism from critics (as well as cast members Kenan Thompson and Jay Pharoah) for not including at least one black female cast member, a topic which was addressed on the November 2, 2013 show hosted by Kerry Washington. As a result, Lorne Michaels announced that the show would be holding auditions for a black female cast member, expected to join the show in January as a new featured player. On January 6, 2014, it was announced that UCB-NY performer Sasheer Zamata would be joining the cast as a new featured player. She made her first appearance on January 18, 2014.

The addition of eight new cast members is the greatest since the 1995–96 season, during which nine cast members were added, making it the largest cast overhaul in eighteen years. The total of 17 cast members was an SNL record, and some critics argued that the bloated cast contributed to how uneven the season was overall.

Along with the other changes that occurred to the cast, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong were all promoted to repertory status.

This would be the final season for Nasim Pedrad, who announced her departure from the show in June 2014 in order to work on the Lorne Michaels-produced show Mulaney. Additionally, John Milhiser, Noël Wells, and Brooks Wheelan were fired from the show after a single season. Also, Mike O'Brien left to return to the writer's room.

This would also be the final season for longtime announcer Don Pardo, who died on August 18, 2014, at the age of 96.

bold denotes Weekend Update anchors

Writers

For the first half of the season, Seth Meyers, Colin Jost and Rob Klein were co-head writers. After Meyers' departure, Bryan Tucker replaced him as a co-head writer.

Prior to the start of the season, three new writers were hired:

  • Claire Mulaney, younger sister of former writer John Mulaney.
  • Mikey Day, a member of The Groundlings and cast member on MTV's Wild 'N Out.
  • Michael Che, a standup comic who had guest written for five episodes in season 38, was hired as a full-time writer.
  • Additionally, Tim Robinson was moved to the writing staff after one year as a featured player on the show.

    In December, Chicago Second City alum Katie Rich joined the writing staff.

    In January, comedians LaKendra Tookes and Leslie Jones were added to the writing staff. Both were part of the December casting call for a black female cast member.

    This was Seth Meyers' final season as writer. Michael Che initially departed following this season to join The Daily Show as a correspondent, but returned for the start of the next season to co-anchor Weekend Update alongside Jost.

    This was also the final season for longtime writers Alex Baze (Weekend Update writer since 2004, and head of the segment since 2011), Marika Sawyer and John Solomon (both of whom had been with the show since 2006), as well as the only season for LaKendra Tookes.

    References

    Saturday Night Live (season 39) Wikipedia