Saturday Night Live (season 21)

Saturday Night Live (season 21)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	20
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 30, 1995 – May 18, 1996
Season chronology

The twenty-first season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 30, 1995, and May 18, 1996.

History

SNL once again dodged cancellation from season twenty's low ratings and scathing reviews about the show's decline in quality. The cast was mostly overhauled.

The season was home to the Rage Against the Machine incident. On April 13, 1996, the band was the musical guest, and was scheduled to perform two songs. The show was hosted that night by ex-Republican presidential candidate and billionaire Steve Forbes. According to RATM guitarist Tom Morello, "RATM wanted to stand in sharp juxtaposition to a billionaire telling jokes and promoting his flat tax by making our own statement."^[1] To this end, the band hung two upside-down American flags from their amplifiers. Seconds before they took the stage to perform "Bulls on Parade", SNL and NBC sent stagehands in to pull the flags down.^[2] Following the removal of the flags during the first performance, the band was approached by SNL and NBC officials and ordered to immediately leave the building. Upon hearing this, bassist Tim Commerford reportedly stormed Forbes' dressing room, throwing shreds from one of the torn down flags. Morello noted that members of the Saturday Night Live cast and crew, whom he declined to name, "expressed solidarity with our actions, and a sense of shame that their show had censored the performance."^[1]

Cast

Changes and notes

Only five cast members: Norm Macdonald, Mark McKinney, Tim Meadows, Molly Shannon and David Spade returned to the show from the previous season.^[3]

Although David Spade returned to the show, he had more of a diminished role, very rarely appearing in sketches except for Spade in America, a "Weekend Update" segment hosted by Spade that debuted at the start of the season and was featured in all but five episodes.

With the cast overhaul taking place, Lorne Michaels hired Jim Breuer, Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, David Koechner, Cheri Oteri, and Nancy Walls.

Molly Shannon was upgraded to repertory status.

Several episodes into the season, head writer Fred Wolf and newly hired writer Colin Quinn were added to the cast as featured players. Chris Kattan also joined as a featured player for the final six episodes of the season.

This would be the final season for David Spade. Spade had agreed to stay only for a year so that he could be a bridge between the old and new casts. Newcomers David Koechner and Nancy Walls were also let go after this season.

Cast roster

Repertory players Jim Breuer Will Ferrell Darrell Hammond David Koechner Norm Macdonald Mark McKinney Tim Meadows Cheri Oteri Molly Shannon David Spade Nancy Walls

Featured players Chris Kattan (first episode: March 16, 1996) Colin Quinn (first episode: November 18, 1995) Fred Wolf (first episode: November 11, 1995)

bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor

Writers

Steve Higgins, Adam McKay and Paula Pell join the writing staff.

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Host	Musical guest	Original air date
387	1	Mariel Hemingway	Blues Traveler	September 30, 1995
Jim Breuer, Darrell Hammond, Will Ferrell, David Koechner, Cheri Oteri, and Nancy Walls' first episode as cast members. Blues Traveler performed "Run-Around" and "Hook."
388	2	Chevy Chase	Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories	October 7, 1995
Mariel Hemingway appears during the "Braveheart" sketch. Don Novello appears as Father Guido Sarducci during "Weekend Update". Lisa Loeb performed "Do You Sleep?" and "Stay (I Missed You)."
389	3	David Schwimmer	Natalie Merchant	October 21, 1995
Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Jimmie Walker, Gary Coleman, and Barry Williams appeared in the opening monologue. Aniston also appeared during the "Spade in America" segment. Natalie Merchant performed "Wonder" and "Carnival."
390	4	Gabriel Byrne	Alanis Morissette	October 28, 1995
Colin Quinn, who was to become a credited cast member two episodes later, appears in the opening monologue as a dancing potato. Bill Bradley and Lamar Alexander appear during the cold open. Chipper Jones, Chrissie Hynde, Mark Wohlers, and Tom Glavine appear in a pre-recorded "Spade in America" segment. Alanis Morissette performed "Hand in My Pocket" and "All I Really Want."
391	5	Quentin Tarantino	The Smashing Pumpkins	November 11, 1995
Fred Wolf's first episode as a credited cast member. The Smashing Pumpkins perform "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" and "Zero". Robert Hegyes appears during the "Spade in America" segment.
392	6	Laura Leighton	Rancid	November 18, 1995
Colin Quinn's first episode as a credited cast member. Sam Waterston appears in the pre-recorded "Old Glory Insurance" sketch. Leighton's Melrose Place co-star Grant Show appears in the "Cydney" sketch. Sean Penn appears in a pre-recorded "Spade in America" segment, where he gives David Spade a tattoo. Rancid perform "Roots Radicals" and "Ruby Soho."
393	7	Anthony Edwards	Foo Fighters	December 2, 1995
Foo Fighters perform "I'll Stick Around" and "For All the Cows." Jim Breuer debuts his recurring sketch "The Joe Pesci Show."
394	8	David Alan Grier	Silverchair	December 9, 1995
Silverchair performed "Tomorrow" and "Pure Massacre."
395	9	Madeline Kahn	Bush	December 16, 1995
Bush performed "Comedown" and "Glycerine". Sam Waterston appears in the pre-recorded "Old Glory Insurance" sketch.
396	10	Christopher Walken	Joan Osborne	January 13, 1996
Rudolph Giuliani and George Pataki appeared in the cold open. Joan Osborne performed "One of Us."
397	11	Alec Baldwin	Tori Amos	January 20, 1996
Tori Amos performed "Caught a Lite Sneeze" and "Hey Jupiter."
398	12	Danny Aiello	Coolio	February 10, 1996
Chris Farley appears as a special guest during the Spade in America segment, promoting Farley and Spade's new film Black Sheep. Larry Brown appears during "Weekend Update". Coolio performed "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" and "Gangsta's Paradise" (the latter with L.V.). He also appears in the "Kevin Franklin Show" sketch.
399	13	Tom Arnold	Tupac Shakur	February 17, 1996
Tupac Shakur, accompanied by Danny Boy and Roger Troutman, performed "California Love" and "I Ain't Mad at Cha". Adam Sandler appears during Weekend Update, singing a song about his grandmother.
400	14	Elle Macpherson	Sting	February 24, 1996
Sting performed "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" and "You Still Touch Me".
401	15	John Goodman	Everclear	March 16, 1996
Elle Macpherson made a cameo appearance during the monologue. Kurt Loder appears during the "MTV News" sketch. Everclear performed "Santa Monica." Chris Kattan's first episode as a cast member.
402	16	Phil Hartman	Gin Blossoms	March 23, 1996
This episode marked the first appearance of Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan's "Roxbury Guys" characters. Gin Blossoms perform "Follow You Down" and "Memphis Time."
403	17	Steve Forbes	Rage Against the Machine	April 13, 1996
Rage Against The Machine performed one song, "Bulls on Parade." Their second song was cut after the band attempted to hang inverted U.S. flags from its amplifiers, protesting host Steve Forbes, a Republican presidential candidate. Forbes' family appears onstage during the goodnights.
404	18	Teri Hatcher	Dave Matthews Band	April 20, 1996
Sam Waterston appears in the pre-recorded "Old Glory Insurance" sketch. Sketch Spade in America was performed by Teri Hatcher (as David Spade) and Spade (as Hatcher). Dave Matthews Band performed "Too Much" and "So Much to Say."
405	19	Christine Baranski	The Cure	May 11, 1996
The Cure performed "Mint Car" and "In Between Days." Dennis Rodman made a cameo appearance in the cold open as Bob Dole's running mate, and then once again during Weekend Update. Jim Gaffigan appears during the pre-recorded "Fuzzy Memories" sketch.
406	20	Jim Carrey	Soundgarden	May 18, 1996
Soundgarden performed "Pretty Noose" and "Burden in My Hand." Last episode for stage manager Joe Dicso, who had been in that position since the show's 1975 inception. David Spade, Nancy Walls and David Koechner's final episode as cast members.

References

1. Anon., Saturday Night Live Incident, Public release and distribution. Retrieved November 12, 2007.
2. "Rage Against the Machine". The Flag Burning Page. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
3. Shales, Tom (2003). Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Back Bay. ISBN 0-316-73565-5.