Country of origin United States Original network NBC | No. of episodes 21 | |
Original release October 3, 2015 (2015-10-03) – May 21, 2016 (2016-05-21) | ||
The forty-first season of the NBC comedy series Saturday Night Live premiered on October 3, 2015, during the 2015–2016 television season. The season premiered on October 3, 2015 with host & musical guest Miley Cyrus and concluded on May 21, 2016 with host Fred Armisen and musical guest Courtney Barnett.
Contents
Kate McKinnon won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work in this season.
Cast
After two consecutive seasons with higher-than-average levels of cast turnover, no major changes occurred prior to Season 41; the entire cast of the 2014–2015 season returned. Before the start of the season, comedian Jon Rudnitsky joined the cast as a featured player. Beck Bennett, Colin Jost, Kyle Mooney and Sasheer Zamata were upgraded to repertory status, while Michael Che, Pete Davidson, and Leslie Jones remained as featured players.
This would be the final season for cast members Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah, both performers for the show since 2010, as well as the only season for Jon Rudnitsky.
Cast roster
bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor
Writers
Before the beginning of the season, six new writers joined the staff: Upright Citizens Brigade performers Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, and Will Stephen; former Late Show with David Letterman writers Paul Masella and Chris Belair; and stand-up comedian Dave Sirus.
Colin Jost, a cast member on the show and anchor of Weekend Update, who served as a writer since 2005 (and as co-head writer in 2012), was relieved of his position as co-head writer, although he remains on the writing staff. Rob Klein and Bryan Tucker continue as co-head writers.